post-zig-zag plateau... now what?

i've been zigzagging my calories for the past six weeks, and managed to lose about 4-5 pounds this way. then, these past two weeks: nothing. nada. zip. am still exercising. am still counting. am still zigzagging. not TTOTM. drinking lots of water. now what?!

stats: fem, 5'4", 153-4 pounds, 27 yo, 28% bf (tanita scale and calipers confirm)

GOAL: 135 (honestly, i'd be happy to get back to 145, where i maintained before....i'm a stocky girl, i don't expect any of this 120 crap)

and yes, i did change my stats to reflect new weight loss/fat percentage.

http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm#

i have a long dieting history. here are the things i've tried:

Feb 05-Mar06: Eat 1400/day, Exercise 3-5x/week, lost 80 pounds

Mar06-Jan07: Eat 1650/day, Exercise 3-4x/week, maintain.

Jan07: Stop exercising and counting. Gain 10 pounds.

Jan07-Jun07: Eat 1650/day, Exercise 3-4x/week, maintain.

Jun07-Sept07: Eat 1400/day, stop lifting weights, exercise 3-4x/week, lose 10 pounds.

Sept07-Jan08: Eat 1650/day, start lifting again, exercise 3-4x/week, gain 10 pounds.

Jan 08-Mar08: Restrict to 1400/day, lose 3 pounds.

Mar08-May08: On the advice of someone here, decide to do a metabolism reset. ate continually more calories  (upping 200 at a time) until i did 2 weeks at 2000 cals (which is over maintenance for me), then dropped back to 1800 for two weeks. gained 3 pounds. one pound came off as soon as i went back to 1800. other two stuck.

Mid-May-Now: Zig Zagging calories a la this website: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calc ulator.htm#

Try measuring yourself, you could be loosing inches.

Congrats on your weight loss so far - well done.  I'm 5 ft 4 also, and currently 168lbs, we eat a similar amount of calories.

I had a plateau in April / May where I lost just a few crappy pounds overall.  I went back to basics, and re-evaluated my deficits, and ensured that they were what I thought they were.  In particular, I weighed every single morsel, and it appeared that my portion size had crept up due to "eyeballing".  I also mixed up my exercise a little, changing my routine.

I think that this helped break my plateau, as for the past month, the weight has been melting off me.  Sometimes, you just have to swallow your frustration, ensure that all your calculations are correct, and ride that plateau. When it finally breaks, you might find that you have increased weight loss which more than compensates for a few stalled weeks...Good luck, please stick with it (after all, what's the al ternative?).

i did measure myself recently... i had gained inches (!!!) but lost pounds. i definitely know something funky is going on with my lower body. i started doing squats, lunges, and deadlifts in january, and my legs are much harder now than they used to be, so i know i've built some good muscle there, but the jiggly fat is still on the back and sides.

i was mismeasuring portions for a while, but my boyfriend bought me a digital scale that read in grams, before i started the zigzag, so i've been able to be more precise (cereal and peanut butter were the worst... i was probably eating 1.5 times the recommended amount).

i know i just have to stick with it. i'm just the type of person who wants to be really proactive.

anybody have any recommendations for changing up my workout? i already lift (different body part each time-- chest/back, arms, legs), do my cardio after i lift and it's a mix of biking, elliptical cross trainer, and running.

try just the opposite of zig zagging then, and try to stay on a strict 1400 a day for a week, then return to your normal habits.

make sure you are keeping your body interested too by adding in some new activities here and there or trying new moves in the gym. if you never swim, try it~ if you have never tried a rowing machine, try it~ things like that.

Try dong some power yoga or pilates.  Instead of the elliptical, go to a spin class.  Try roller blading.  Boy does that do a burn. 

I'm also curious about this as I am currently doing the same thing; but no weight loss to date.