Stopped Losing weight while working out

Okay Weight loss gurus tell me this.  I started CC back at the end of March and dropped about 15lbs in only a few weeks. I was averaging about 2lbs a week. I was eating about 1525 calories.

So then I started working out.  I was doing the couch to 5K running program.  Three weeks into the program and eating back my calories I stopped losing weight.  I was also doing strength training and bike riding on my days off from the running program. The scale hung around the same number for over a month. I continued to train and continued to try and eat enough calories. I have posted about my calorie intake issues and seem to have fixed that issue.  However, with eating "enough" calories the scale didn't move.

Now, I got sick two weeks ago with a respitory illness.  I couldn't run or work out.  The next week I was just lazy.  Now I have a busted toe and cannot work out until it heals.  The finalresults of eating and not working out. I lost nearly 5lbs. 

So someone tell me ...why is it that I plateaued when I finally started working out strenuously. 

Does my body really need that many more calories if I get off my ass. I am not buying that I was starving myself...but perhaps I was and just didn't know it. 

BTW, I am 5' 2", My starting weight was 188 my current weight is 169ish.  I eat any where between 1450 and 1550 calories a day.  

I eat up to 1700 on days I do hard cardio work outs (I am also 169ish, 5'2" and learning how to run).  After an hour spinning class or a long run my heart rate monitor says that I burn 400-500 calories and that 30% or so is actually fat.  This number is much less than the estimate given by calorie count (so if you are like me you could be eating back too many calories). 

Also, I will stop losing weight if I work out on my "rest" day.  So if you don't have a rest day, I recommend adding one.

Good luck finding out what's going on.  I am interested to know the answer.

It could also be that you're gaining muscle, especially if you are strength training.  Muscle weighs more than fat so even though your weight isn't decreasing, you could still be losing fat.

I agree with tmck99!  The harder I workout the harder it is for me to lose weight... but when I add in rest days the pounds come off. I think I was working out and pushing it too hard without eating back enough calories. Also, getting a heart rate monitor is a great idea (if you do not have one) so you will know exactly how many calories you are burning. :)

Fat weighs less than muscle. The scale combined with a tape measure and if available a trainer than knows how to use calibers to do body fat is one of the TRUE way to measure progress. People that are training hard and eating correctly are not necessary in a 'plateau'- you could be buillding lean muscle and burning fat with no change in body weight.