*sigh* I hate to ask a repetitive topic, but I am on a plateu and I can't stand it.

So I started counting calories in April and lost 20 pounds VERY fast. I was so happy that it was all coming off.. but now it has comletely stopped. I've been sitting at 257-259 for like 3 weeks. I even started exercising everyday and increased my calories but nothing is working.

I just can't believe I haven't lost anything. I'm obese for gods sakes, aren't we supposed to lose weight faster? GR :(

I think I need to start taking fiber suppliments and lowering my carbs or something. I just dread lowering carbs because I was on Atkins once and it destroyed me mentally. Any ideas on what else I should be doing? I just hate this plateu and I don't want to lose my willpower.

Your stats might help. :)

How tall are you, how old are you, how much do you exercise, how much do you eat?

Try changing your workout routine, what you eat, and try zig zagging your calories. PS -Are you sure you are eating enough?

I'm 5'7", 18 years old, and do Power90 for exercise 6 days a week (half an hour) probably burning about 400 cals every exercise. I eat around 1700-1800 calories a day if I exercise.  If I don't exercise I eat 1300-1400.

When I hit my plateau I made a few changes - somedays I would walk/run for about 30 minutes in the morning in addition to my afternoon workout, less calories, more water, I started drinking green tea. I busted right through that plateau. I haven't worked out for a few days now but the numbers on the scale are still going down. I'm not sure exactly what did it.

Same thing happened to me.  I lost a bit of weight fast then bam, it stopped for three weeks.  I tried all kinds of things too.  I have no idea what it was though that broke it.  I think that when you plateau just keep adding variety and don't give up.  This site is so helpful for getting thru plateaus, we all exerience them and they are always such a drrrraaaagggg!

Patience, soon enough it will start coming off again.  Give your body time to forgive what your doing to it.

I know exactly how your feeling.  I too lost 22 lbs like it was nothing then dead stopped for over a month.  I stuck with it.  Then just as suddenly it started comming back off again. I'm down another 8 lbs (which incidently came off just as quickly).  I figure this is just the way my body compensates.  Stick with it, & try to have patience.  Soon the weight will start rolling off again. 

I'm feeling like a failure because I've plateaued after just a few pounds!!! I've been stuck at 169-170 for 3 weeks. I gave up this last week because of reunions/the 4th, etc and I immediately went to 172!!! During that time I even went on a 7 mile hike that took like 4 to 5 hours! **screaming**. I'm 39, female, 5'7". I think my metabolism is whacked, I don't know. I'm eating about 1,400 cals a day. exercising 3 times a week. what to do, what to do. . .

I have been stuck in this stinkin plateau for 6 WEEKS!!!!!! UGHHHHH. I feel like I am completely failing myself here.!!I have tried everything. Nothing works. Am I being punished???

kirstinedaqueen - apparently we both are -- maybe because we're both from Idaho, maybe the altitude stops the weight loss : )

check out a couple of books by Covert Bailey: "Smart Exercise" and "Ultimate Fit or Fat". I swear by Smart Exercise -- its my bible. It's very possible you aren't consuming enough calories, and you should not be eating that much less on your resting days than on your workout days, because your body needs the calories for muscle repair on your resting days.  Ideally, your calorie consumption should be pretty consistent each day, along with a consistent  exercise routine that includes resting days interspersed with workout days.  As Bailey explains, the resting periods are when the repair happens, and that is when your body learns how to burn fat efficiently, like an athlete's body.  Myself, I have all the usual challenges sticking to a healthy diet and exercise routine, but I've never had a problem with a "plateau",  and when I follow Covert Bailey's advice, the weight comes off predictably and consistently.  The other thing that is great about the Smart Exercise book, is he explains precisely what kind of exercise routine and eating routine is most effective, depending on your goals (weight loss, distance running, weight training, basketball, whatever). It's just science, and once you understand it, you'll be in control.

So you don't think 1800 calories is enough? My deficit is around 850 so it's not out of the healthy range. 

I'm not an expert so I can't say with certainty, but from my own research I was a bit concerned about your 1300-1400 calorie non-exercise days. I'd be inclined to stick with the 1800 level on all days. Or even 2000 calories/day, and focus your effort on increasing aerobic exercise to maybe 40 or 50 minutes 4 or 5 days a week.  If you're trying for a steady loss rate of about 1 lb/week, then your deficit should be around 500 calories/day -- anything more than that, and it gets very tricky to keep your metabolism fired up.  Not impossible, I suppose, but I've never been able to figure it out.... to get an impression of how important those calories (and especially the carbs) are, check out this article at Peak Performance: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0127.htm  Here's a taste of what that article is about: a bunch of athletes training for an ironman triathlon participated in a study on nutrition and sports. Before the study, the "athletes weighed about 154 pounds, possessed 8-per cent body fat, and trained about 11 hours per week. Average daily caloric intake was 2318 calories."  To participate in the study, "the athletes then raised their daily caloric consumption to 3992 calories..." but most important boosted their carb intake way up. Results were significant improvement in performance, and *no* weight gain.

Sure, these are elite athletes, so the rules are somewhat different, but still, this is what we're all working towards isn't it? To exercise enough to be fit and strong, and to eats lots of healthy foods... That's my attitude anyway -- I focus on the exercise and the right balance of healthy foods, and the weight comes off.

A really important point that Covert Bailey makes in his books is the importance of getting a "systemic" aerobic effect from your exercise. He says you must work the large muscles (thighs and butt) long enough and hard enough to get a full body aerobic effect.  For example: walking isn't nearly as effective as a very slow jog, because walking mostly works the smaller muscles of the feet and calves, where even a reeeaaaally slow jog uses mostly the thigh muscles.  Even if you're walking fast and huffing and puffing, your exercise isn't as effective as if you were jogging more slowly.  You said you do the Power80 routine, which I'm not familiar with, but just food for thought, you want to focus on working those big leg muscles and get your body into the aerobic zone, then keep it there for 40 minutes or so.  If you're doing that, and consuming enough calories and plenty of complex carbs, I'm sure your plateau will be history.  Plus, Bailey has great tips on Interval Training,  which is a technique athletes use to improve performance, but it also works for overweight people, to "shock" a lazy metabolic system into burning calories and fat like an athlete's body does... but blah blah blah, you can read the book for yourself if you're interested.

I'm no expert either but I would think 1800 for the nonexercise days and at least 2100 for the other days. What kind of foods are you eating?

I eat just regular meals. I have a lot of grilled chicken with vegetables and I eat a lot of fruit or nuts for snacks. I also eat potatoes/bread so I don't know if I should lower my carbs any? But I rarely have sweets. The only really bad thing I do with my diet is I'll drink a pop every couple of days. I only have one though, I don't over-do it.

I can't believe I should try to up my calories even more! I never see anyone on this site eating even 1800 calories. This website's tools tell me to eat 1900 a day when I exercise. I guess I'll try to up them to 1900-2100?

Well, I live in Florida, which certainly isn't known for its altitude and yet I'm right there with you Idahoans.  I live on a freakin' plateu.  *grumble grumble*  lol

I thought I broke mine.  Well, the scale finally moved in fact but one night on the 4th of July not even eating all more than my maintenance amount of calories, and having not sat down & danced for at least 5 hours I managed to gain 3.5 lbs. and it's still here.  How nice it is to be looking at 186.5 again!  Gee, I saw it for so long you'd think I missed it or something.  grrr

Oh, I was eating about 1420 for sendentary days, btw.  Then I cut it down to 1250 for sedentary days and figured I'd add more for exercise.  I wasn't coming in a bit short of 1250, but I had planned to institute a sort of organized "cheat" night once a week or so to make sure I got enough calories & was less likely to plateau.  Also figured it's unrealistic I'll never eat some of those foods again, so in the long run better to have them now and then now as I go.  Yeah well the scale finally moved after 4 days of the lower cal. count.  As soon as I upped it I'm back where I was stuck for weeks on end.  Sometimes I feel like if they put my metabolism on a moniter it would be a flatline.  :P

I eat a ton of carbs. I think it depends on your body and how it handles them. Keep a food log and see if you notice any patterns.

I stopped drinking sodas and switched to Diet Cherry Rite which has no sodium, no calories or whatever. But then I didn't even care for them and phased out sodas completely.

My longest plateau was 20 days.

Have you had any cheat days? Sometimes they help you bust through a plateau if you have been very strict and eating very clean.

Switch up what you eat. For example, if everyday you eat the same thing, change it around a bit. During a plateau I changed the foods that I ate before and after my workouts as an experiment.  I have also made a note of how late I eat and whether or not that has an impact. I tend to eat very late.

Instead of doing the treadmill everyday, you could do the bike and elliptical. But since you are doing Power90 I would think that there is a lot of variety...

Good luck! With persistence you should be able to get through this. Don't give up!

Thanks a lot Jenny :) Yeah I am pretty strict with my calories usually. Maybe I should let go one day and just eat what I want to, haha. I remember I KINDA had a plateu a couple weeks ago.. but then I ate a lot because of a graduation party and then I lost like 4 pounds.

So maybe I should try that.. to kick my body back into weightloss gear. Good suggestion :)

Yeah there's a lot of variety with Power90, I just got done with the cardio workout and I definitely feel it all over my body!

I highly recommend an e-book by Tom Venuto, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle.  You can find it at www.burnthefat.com.  He is a body builder, but this book is for the average person wanting to shape up for the long term.  This is a no-nonsense book about nutrition, calories, and metabolism.  It is well worth the $40.