Stuck at 130 lbs forever! what can I change?

I have been stuck between 127-130 for the last 2 months. I am 5ft 3in, femal, eat ~1300 cal (1200-1500 range).

usual food intake goes as follows:

breakfast (on the commute to work 2 cookies 130 cals + tea, I know pl don't scream , but I just cannot drink milk and cereal)

half a banana or 5 dates at 10 am

lunch : one bread+ tomato+1 slice of ham or turkey

dinner: rice, fish/meat, veggies

Activity during the day: at work walking around much and generally quite active. After work : 2 days of 1 hour of cardio excercise (DVD) , 1 day of 1.5 hour of Dance and 2 day of 1 hour of circuit. Someweeks I  add after dinner walk at 4 mph for one hour. So, I am putting an average of 500 cal burn each day I excercise.

What is interesting is when I started the weigh loss I would excercise only 3 days for half hour and lost much more consistently. I am not sure what I am doing wrong but  perhaps need to jumpstart my metabolism somehow.

Reading through the discussion boards, I think I should eat between meals more, so my plan would be to eat a fruit or so between meals. Also, I should perhaps drink more water. I forget to drink water at work.

Any suggestions, recommendations would be helpful. Anyone experienced what I am going through and have overcome that?

The food plan that you have up there is not 1300 worth of calories...Unless you didnt include things like mayo, dressings, butter and other condiments. What else are you drinking? Be really really honest and exact about what youre consuming. I have said it before: sometimes I like to pretend that I didnt eat something bad like a pastry for breakfast, but your body isnt going to be fooled even if you are.

This is what a 1300 calorie day looks like:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2094931/1300-calori e-meal-plan

Great snacking ideas..:)

Your metabolism has probably slowed depending on your workouts, you may not be burning as many cals as you think.

Yeah, you may be right! Luckily, I have written down what I ate last 7 days (by the day). Need to add them. I may be eating less than 1300! I feel full though. Isn't that a sign that my body is happy with the food/cal it's getting?

Also, I read dinner should be the lightest meal. Is that true. Unfortunately, culturally, i am used to dinner being the biggest meal of the day and is a family affair.

If you are feeling full...try eating more calorie dense smaller foods like nuts as snacks. Be careful though with them, since they pack so many cals into such a small quantity, it can be easy to eat a lot of them and mess up your daily intake.

Ideally, to maintain or lose weight dinner shouldnt be this massive feast! Its a total culture thing that dinner is our biggest meal of the day...In spain-lunch is the biggest most important meal of the day. Dinner there is made up of tapas-which would be considered like little appetizers here. However it is typically eat much much later in the day, like 8 or 9. But then again, they also are up and sleep in later there as well.

My great aunt says to eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner. It makes sense to me because if we eat the bulk of your claories earlier in the day, you have the time to burn them off.

I don't think you are eating enough. I know, that's what everyone trying to lose weight does not want to hear. You have increased your exercise and therefore need to increase your caloric intake. Your body will begin storing fat as fuel thinking that you are starving it....(starvation mode). Also, it does not matter what time of day you eat. It's calories in- calories out. I have pretty much the same stats 5'4 - 131- 21% BF- 31 yrs old. It would probably be helpful to figure out your RMR. That is what your body burns simply by "being", now add any activity onto that. To lose weight, you can decrease that number, maintain-eat that amount. DO NOT go below 1200 calories a day. The more you exercise, the more fuel your body needs. You do not want to lose muscle, just fat. If you don't give your body enough fuel that is what happens. Good luck-hope that was helpful to you!

so, i know that women should eat at least 1200 calories a day for health reasons. my question is that if i were tryin to have a defecit of 500 cals each day, should i eat 1700 calories if i were to burn 500 calories through exercise each day (i.e. cardio for an hour, etc.)??

Not necessarily.

Think of the 1200 cals/day as the energy your organs need for basic function.  Any extra calories you burn, your body doesn't mind burning fat for - but if it has to start burning fat to feed your organs, it gets worried and starts slowing down your metabolism for what it sees as the impending famine.  It's also worth noting that your body can only burn about 1000 cals fat/day, so if your deficit is any bigger than that, it starts burning muscle. 

Susiecue-very lnterseting!I did not know a body could only burn a certain amount of fat in a day. Does that apply to all people? I mean, super athletes and the like? Does it depend on anything or that is just the way the body functions? You learn something new everyday!

I don't have any advice as I am also stuck, but I do have empathy.  I feel like I am doing everything right, but am stuck right around 134-136.  It's not the greatest, but I do find that I am looking better each day.

It is extremely frustrating to go weeks with no noticeable changes on the scale.  I've gotten to the point where I find myself weighing twice a day just to make sure....::sigh::

Your diet is carb heavy and even your lunch of 1 sl. ham/turkey doesn't add much protein. All of your meals should be similar to your dinner - which is perfect.

Your exercise output was probably sufficient initially but your body may have adapted to the needs you have placed upon it. Meaning, it has found a way to burn just enough fuel to move you around at work and during exercise but you have to remember that our bodies want to maintain status quo in terms of fat stores - it likes fat and doesn't want to see it disappear which means you may have to increase your exercise intensity or do more even more of the low intensity exercise you're already doing.

Original Post by vinny186:

Your diet is carb heavy and even your lunch of 1 sl. ham/turkey doesn't add much protein. All of your meals should be similar to your dinner - which is perfect.

Your exercise output was probably sufficient initially but your body may have adapted to the needs you have placed upon it. Meaning, it has found a way to burn just enough fuel to move you around at work and during exercise but you have to remember that our bodies want to maintain status quo in terms of fat stores - it likes fat and doesn't want to see it disappear which means you may have to increase your exercise intensity or do more even more of the low intensity exercise you're already doing.

I agree with this opinion and want to add 2 very important tips:

- for dinner don't have carbs like rice, potatoe, bread. Have just very big piece of lean meat plus big fresh salad. You need to increase the amount of meat you eat.

- workout - try to do weight exercises. Muscles burn calories and training muscles speed up metabolism combined with more calories from protein (meat) this is the perfect way to lose the last mile weight.

Wish you luck :)

Yeah, plateaus are tough.  Just looking at your diet, it does look as if you aren't eating enough, and not in enough balanced portions.   The previous commenters are dead right about starvation slowing down your metabolism.  I blew out my metabolism for years by crash dieting in my late teens...back in the "500 calories a day is virtuous" 80's.  It was a real issue for a while. I'm back to a pretty fast metabolism now and have been quite trim/fit for many years, but that's only through consistency, and being less of a brutal judge of myself.  Ironically, the less I try to force myself to be the perfect ideal, the better I feel and thus the better I look!

Here are some things trainers and nutritionists have told me through the years that may apply to you:  

1) Eat the most (healthy, nutrient-filled) calories possible while still losing weight.  Starvation doesn't work, and even if it does, it damages your metabolism, sometimes critically. Rather than cut your calories below 1300-1400, add in another thirty minutes of exercise twice a week.

2) Eat more protein and less carbs.  

I know this is controversial and I've never agreed with the Atkins theory (although it does work in the short term - my business partner has lost 20-30 pounds in a few weeks with it several times - but note the several times.  It always comes back with a vengeance as soon as he begins eating normally again.  It's a vicious cycle and look what happened to Atkins himself- he died of heart failure!)

So do NOT drop your carb count by extremes if you want a lifetime weight loss. But in general, balancing your protein throughout the day is what every athlete/bodybuilder/trainer and my pro-cyclist doctor has ever told me to do.  Two cookies for breakfast doesn't cut it.  Have a high-protein breakfast bar instead.  Kashi makes some great ones...and you'll get good carbs in the bargain. And when you have a fruit snack, add some protein/fat to it, like a spoonful of peanut butter with your bananna, or seven almonds, or an ounce of cheese.

3) Build muscle by adding resistance exercise.  Seems like you are doing a lot of cardio and very little resistance.  With the little amount of food (especially protein!) you are eating, you are almost certainly burning more muscle than fat.  That's something I used to do in the 90's!  I was the aerobic queen, very thin, but I had NO MUSCLE on me.  I looked like a small marshmellow.  Today I never missed at least 3 weight training sessions at the gym per week...or I do body weight bearing exercise at home (push ups, sit ups, squats)...or pilates and even certain kinds of yoga can qualify as weight-bearing.  When I started weight training seriously in 1994, that's when my battle with my body really turned around for good.  Muscle burns so many more calories than fat...and even if your scale weight stays the same, you will look better.  I weigh about the same as I did in high school now (I'm 47) but I wear 2 sizes smaller clothes.  One half hour of weights or something similar three times a week will make a huge difference.  It's very meditative also - I go into a trance state when I'm doing it!

4) Change it up!  I recently was told by the fitness director of a very famous spa that our bodies, brilliant machines that they are, get accustomed to whatever regular exercise we are doing and then adjust the metabolism down accordingly.  That means every month or less, it's important to change what you're doing.  If you're doing the same exercise every day, do something else every other day.  Add in a new sport every month or so to snap your body out of it's doldrums...go on a really difficult hike, or add sprints to your walk (that's another thing - intervals REALLY speed fat loss.)  I do my best in the spring/fall/summer when I can alternate between walk/runs, bike rides, and the gym.  In the winter, when I'm forced back to the elliptical every day, I always lose progress, even though theoretically I'm burning the same calories.  But a ski trip will start things up again.  Try this; it really works.  And more important, your overall fitness will improve tremendously.

5) Write everything down.  I couldn't be bothered to do this for years, but last year after I gained a few pounds during an intense work project, the same fitness director showed me the study that proved people who kept diaries had the best results.  He couldn't have been more correct.  Even if you go to a special event and eat 3000 calories (and I have!), by writing it down,  you just become so much more aware, and see where you could still have indulged and eaten 1000 calories less.  It keeps you honest and so much more aware of everything you put into your mouth.  I'm maintaining now, but I still do it and will continue to.  It really gives me an inner awareness that I didn't have before.  (Instead of taking a handful of almonds, I'll count out five, for instance.  It's automatic.)

Hope these tips help.  And don't be afraid to EAT.  Our bodies are made to use food as energy!  As long as we're giving them energy to burn, food is the fuel that makes us go.

Totally understand your plateau frustration!! I was stuck too for awhile as well. I looked at what you are eating - not enough, true, and it looks like what I used to eat and think I was doing a good job.

I cut WAY back on carbs and added more protein (if this sounds a lot like Atkins, you are right). Within 2 weeks, I lost 8 pounds and feel so much better. I am not sleepy during the day anymore, much less sluggish, much more energy....

One warning - I felt like crap the first 4 days, I was so used to a carb-heavy diet. If you research Atkins-type low carb diets, you will see that this is normal. At day 6, I realized that I didn't miss the carbs anymore (wasn't begging for Honey Nut Cheerios...) and the fat was melting off. It does work, but it's probably not for everyone.

Good luck with your plateau!!

If you are looking for a boost in your metabolism I have a couple of suggestions:

1.) Eat a real breakfast!  Two cookies and tea wont cut it.  You will have so much more energy if you have a good nutritious breakfast.  I also eat in the car on the way to work, but I usually have oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, yogurt and fruit or eggs in toe.  I know that it is difficult to drive while eating some of these items, but I take bites at stop lights or down it once I get to work.  Also, you are suppose to eat within one hour of waking up to 'awaken' your metabolism after a long fasting sleep.

2.)  Since you like tea, try drinking at least 3-4 cups of green tea a day.  The longer you let it steep, and the more bitter it is, the better it is for you.  This will lessen your appetite, give you extra energy and a metabolism boost.

3.)  You are right about drinking more water.  It is so important to keep a healthy body!  It will boost your metabolism and help keep your workouts strong.

4.) The intensity of your workouts is much more important than the legnth.  Push it harder for a shorter amount of time and you will notice a difference (especially with cardio).

5.) Try a wider variety of more nutritious foods.  This may not push you past your plateau but you will feel much healthier!  Your body will thank you!

I'm on a plateau right now.  I have been maintaining for months!  Here's the deal.  You need to EAT MORE.  I know, booooo.  Increase you calories a little bit more everyday till you're eating 1,500-1,600.  I mean REALLY eating that much.  Your body's metabolism will adjust, and you will maintain for a while.  After you let a month or so pass, decrease your calories again to 1,250 ish for a month-month and a half.  The weight should melt off.

Right now your body is keeping the little bit of food you're giving it, and that's not what you want.  You need to play your cards right to get your metabolism to adjust the healthy way, and therefore forever! :-)

Go to bed earlier.  You are putting serious change/stress on yourself therefore you need more rest.  I sware going to bed no later then 11pm has changed my whole prespective & body.

You are eating too little. If you increased your exercise that much, you needed to increase your food intake as well. I agree with other comments that suggested you increased how much protein you get. Breakfast also needs to include more protein and more high quality, filling foods. Try to incorporate yogurt if you like it. When I hit a plateau, I started eating a little more, and ultimately lost my last pounds. I ate fairly healthily, however.

Also, what's your weight goal? That weight is pretty average for your height. Heck, it's what I was striving for and reached.

Original Post by hope2577:

Susiecue-very lnterseting!I did not know a body could only burn a certain amount of fat in a day. Does that apply to all people? I mean, super athletes and the like? Does it depend on anything or that is just the way the body functions? You learn something new everyday!

 The concept applies to everyone, but everyone's number is slightly different.  I believe the research shows it to be 31 calories per pound of body fat (so people who are already thin can't burn as much fat per day as people who are heavier).  That's why we need to reduce our deficit as we get smaller.  A 120 pound woman is unlikely to have 32 pounds of fat to burn (which is the pounds of fat corresponding to the 1000 cals/day limit), so she needs to keep her deficit even lower - closer to 500 or 700 cals/day - to keep from burning too much muscle.

Alot of people may not agree with me, but if you are really consuming 1300 calories a day, I think that may be too many.  I was on LA Weight Loss and lost 60 pounds before I got pregnant with my second child.  When I was on their plan and hit 130 pounds, I still wanted to lose more, but seemed to hit a plateau.  So they took a few foods away from me and I think I was eating between 900-1000 calories a day and it worked.  I got down to 117 when I found out I was pregnant.  I am about the same height as you are, so it is possible do to that.  I know people say do not go below 1200 calories, but I live a very sedentary lifestyle.  I have a desk job and go home to take care of my kids and my house and then it is bedtime, so I don't have much time for exercise.  I wanted to go back to LA Weight Loss after my baby was born because I had prepaid for the rest of my weightloss plan, but they had gone out of business.  So I started counting calories myself and when you hit plateaus you may need to reduce your caloric intake.  That worked for me, so it could work for you too.  And yes, drink plenty of water!!

Original Post by huntermom:

Alot of people may not agree with me, but if you are really consuming 1300 calories a day, I think that may be too many.  I was on LA Weight Loss and lost 60 pounds before I got pregnant with my second child.  When I was on their plan and hit 130 pounds, I still wanted to lose more, but seemed to hit a plateau.  So they took a few foods away from me and I think I was eating between 900-1000 calories a day and it worked.  I got down to 117 when I found out I was pregnant.  I am about the same height as you are, so it is possible do to that.  I know people say do not go below 1200 calories, but I live a very sedentary lifestyle.  I have a desk job and go home to take care of my kids and my house and then it is bedtime, so I don't have much time for exercise.  I wanted to go back to LA Weight Loss after my baby was born because I had prepaid for the rest of my weightloss plan, but they had gone out of business.  So I started counting calories myself and when you hit plateaus you may need to reduce your caloric intake.  That worked for me, so it could work for you too.  And yes, drink plenty of water!!

I know what you mean, because I am active and I eat 1200-1500 calories per day and I am 112 lbs, probably if I am not active I would eat around 1000 calories. I found that I don't need much calories to sustain life, but my calories come from very good and healthy food like fish, cheese, milk, eggs, vegies, nuts and probably this makes difference.

Original Post by huntermom:

Alot of people may not agree with me, but if you are really consuming 1300 calories a day, I think that may be too many.  I was on LA Weight Loss and lost 60 pounds before I got pregnant with my second child.  When I was on their plan and hit 130 pounds, I still wanted to lose more, but seemed to hit a plateau.  So they took a few foods away from me and I think I was eating between 900-1000 calories a day and it worked.  I got down to 117 when I found out I was pregnant.  I am about the same height as you are, so it is possible do to that.  I know people say do not go below 1200 calories, but I live a very sedentary lifestyle.  I have a desk job and go home to take care of my kids and my house and then it is bedtime, so I don't have much time for exercise.  I wanted to go back to LA Weight Loss after my baby was born because I had prepaid for the rest of my weightloss plan, but they had gone out of business.  So I started counting calories myself and when you hit plateaus you may need to reduce your caloric intake.  That worked for me, so it could work for you too.  And yes, drink plenty of water!!

It might work for you, but the original poster does not live the sedentary life that you described. She is active at work, and engages in exercise--whether at the gym or in sports like dance---several times a week. Also, if you do not exercise and live a very sedentary life, you may not have as many muscles to support as the original poster. In my opinion, it is much healthier to be an active, fit person than someone who is skinny due to very low calorie-intake, but if it makes you happy, then that's what matters. However, for someone who is as active as the original poster, cutting down to 1000 calories can only be detrimental.