Plateau Problems

wideturn

Hi there! (first post, sorry if its in the wrong place)

Let me give you a bit of a background. Over the summer I was a working student at a horse farm where I worked 12 hour days 6 days a week. Thats 12 hours of constant physical exertion. Needless to say I was pretty in shape, but my diet left something to be desired. Because of this, I was around 150lbs at 5'3". This is the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I am a sophomore in college and since starting college I have only gained weight each semester.

After starting school and leaving my horse job, I continued the physical activity and tried to go running a few times a week. Being at home again helped somewhat to straighten out my diet, but not completely. January 1st came around and as cheesy as it sounds, I made it my goal to eat better and so far I've stuck with it since then! I haven't eaten any fast food (I used to eat one if not two fast food meals a day) and have incorporated almost strickly whole foods into my diet. Somewhere along the way I've turned almost completely vegetarian, only because most meat doesn't appeal to me anymore. I went from 150 lbs in september to 138lbs in january.

Since January, I've fluctuated from 138-142lbs back and forth. I am on a pretty low carb diet I suppose. I only allow myself to have bread once every other day. I usually eat things like fruit, vegetables, yogurt, and eggs. I also take vitamins as well as green tea and green coffee bean extract supplements. Only within the past couple weeks have I started working out again. I do not have a scale at home so I only get to see my weight when I sneak on the scale at my friend's house. I like it because I only see it maybe once a week so I don't get to obsess over it. For the first time in a long time I hit 135lbs last week!

SO anyways. My goal is 125 but I will be thrilled if/when I hit 130lbs. Most of my friends are guys and all of them are mutual friends with my boyfriend. I have a bit of a self esteem problem and they will most definitely want a beach trip when summer rolls around and I do NOT want to be flabby (especially standing next to my very athletic bf). Whether or not this is the best motivation for wanting to lose this weight by may/june, it is what is keeping me on track.

My biggest problem is my belly pooch. I can't seem to lose it! I've started adding cardio to my schedule because my mom and bf both said thats the best way to lose fat. I do a lot of squats and weighted stair walking and punching and ab workouts in addition to the high intensity cardio.

SO I need help getting through this block I seem to be having. For the life of me, I can't seem to reach my goal. I keep bouncing back and forth and its super frustrating. What sort of things am I doing right and what do I need to change? (sorry for the long post, I'm at my wits end!)

Commander_Keen

Yes to lose the fat, the best thing for you do is cardio.
But I would recommend either Insanity or swimming.. as I believe it will be more bang for you buck since they both work all parts of your body.

SezxyStef

Yes to lose the fat, the best thing for you do is cardio.
But I would recommend either Insanity or swimming.. as I believe it will be more bang for you buck since they both work all parts of your body.

really???

To lose fat eat at a calorie deficet and...note the and...eat enough protien and do resistence training...that way you will retain as much of the Lean body mass that you can while losing the fat...

Oh and not need to take the green coffee bean extrat it hasn't been proven to do anything but make your wallet lighter.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

DavidSTC

How do you lose fat? Count calories and eat at a calorie deficit.

Are you counting your calories every day? You need a scale to measure your input. Weigh food (preferably in grams, because they're more accurate) and measure liquids. Stay active, and try to keep track of your calories burned. Your diary is not open, so people here can't help you adjust what you're doing.

A lot of MFP users will tell you to get a heart rate monitor to track how many calories you burn. That's a good idea. I've been able to lose weight without it, but you have to estimate your activity level if you don't have a heart rate monitor.

Just based on what you've said, you probably just eat a little too much. It sounds like you exercise enough. Reduce your calorie intake until you start losing again.

wideturn

I haven't been counting calories because I tend to obsess over food anyway.. But I don't eat that much in a day. Often, but not a lot. I will keep a diary (art student, so I already keep a sketchbook) and log in what I eat and calculate how much that adds up to.