Stuck in a rut.... suggestions?
I'm a healthy , 5ft 1 inch tall, 28 year old female looking to lose a few vanity pounds... My weight has gone up and down my whole life, anything between 100 and 125 lbs depending on how active I am, what I'm eating etc.
I was up to 125lbs a couple of months ago and decided I'd like to get down to about 108.
I usually don't have a problem getting the extra weight off if I put my mind to it, but this time I seem to be stuck in a rut and am not sure what to do. I've been hovering around the 116lb mark for about a month after losing about 1.5lbs a week leading up to it.
I get plenty of exercise- Mondays I do an hour of step aerobics and an hour of yoga, Thursday I do an hour of zumba fit and an hour of pilates. I take one or two days off a week and the other days I do 30-45 mins of cardio (alternating running on the treadmill, eliptical trainer, rowing machine and stationary bike) plus about 15 mins of weights. I also walk a lot, at least 2 hours a day at a brisk pace all told.
I'm keeping to 1300 calories a day, I'm vegan (not through choice, I'm lactose intolerant and can't stand meat) and eat a lot of fruit and veggies. A typical menu for me would be:
Breakfast: Cereal and almond milk.
Lunch: Salad with lots of raw veggies and a protein of some sort- beans, chick peas, tofu or other soy-based meat-alternative.
Dinner: Home-made soup or stew with lots of veggies, brown rice and some sort of protein-rich meat-alternative.
Snacks: Lots of fresh fruit, almonds, raw veggies with chipotle dip or hummous, air popped popcorn, vegan 'cheese' slices or veggie 'ham' slices.
I drink loads of water (usually with crystal lite) and loads if tea- green tea, rooibos or acai berry.
I'm pretty sure it's not muscle mass making the difference, at my best a couple of months ago I was 105lbs of muscle. I mainly go on how my clothes are fitting as a way of guaging how I'm doing and the muffin top(hahaha!) hasn't reduced in size any over the last month.
Any suggestions???
It seems counter-intuitive but is often successful -- up the calories for a weekly cheat day to 1800 or 2000. This has helped many folks on this site move beyond a weight plateau. The body maintain fat stores for as long as it can and gets more and more efficient at using the lower calorie intake, which puts you at a plateau.
If you check out the weight loss boards you'll probably find some threads explaining how successful cheat days can be. You'll notice on this blog entry that the blog itself provides all the usual suggestions, but if you look at the comments, you'll see how many swear by cheat days:
http://caloriecount.about.com/blog/partners/7 -strategies-deal-weight-loss-plateaus-b329301
Hope it offer something for you.

Figure out what type of eater you are and you might just find the answer to permanent weight loss.
Take the Diet Profile Test and learn to avoid the pitfalls and self-sabotage that often come with your personal profile.
