Frustrated and Need Help!

debski9949

I need some suggestions, please!

I have lost a total of 40 pounds and seem to be stalled. I got down to 136 then over one week, not changing anything, I bounced up to 140 and now I cannot seem to get those added pounds back off.

Here is what I am doing. Any ideas or suggestions on changes to make to get these pesky pounds off would be appreciated!

I am eating between 1200-1400 calories per day
Only whole foods; no processed foods. Rarely eat out.
Taking Multi-vitamin, Magnesium, potassium, calcium, fish oil, ginko, CoQ10 supplements daily, 5 prunes per day.
Working out 5 days a week (about 8 hours a week) doing brisk walking (3.5-4.0 mph), weight training and yoga/pilates.
I drink 3-4 liters of pure water per day. (no sodas or anything like that)
Try yo keep my nutritional balance at 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fats per day. (lean meats in 3-4oz portions, the rest are fruits and veggies.)

I just can't seem to shake these 3-4 lbs. I am trying to get down to 135 and am really frustrated. Anyone out there have some suggestions?

Thanks everyone!
Deby

lauracouncil

You might be in the plateau phase..your doing great! dont stop though! Soon itll pass and you will be where u want to be!

timetoembrace

Hang in there, Platues are no fun, but you will break through...

bcattoes

How tall are you? Do you look fit? Could you be at your healthy weight?

graysmom2005

You may be at the weight your body is comfy in...also switch up/make the exercise more intense. Start to jog instead of walk in intervals...or if you're like me and walking/jogging bores you to tears try some group exercise classes. They saved my life. Every pound I've lost I owe them. They kept exercise fun, and different...I also made some best friends out of it. Maybe get a HRM too. They make a huge difference. HTH!

reegordon

I think we've all been there and can relate. When I hit my plateau, I got frustrated and didnt work out for two days straight (which never happens). I stuck to the same eating pattern but I did treat myself to one of my favorite foods that I hadn't had in a while. A week later, I was losing weight again. I guess my body needed a little bit of a break because it had become accustomed to my normal routine. Maybe you should mix it up a little bit and see if that helps. Best wishes!!!!!!

suzooz

I agree with the previous posters -- your body is close to your goal weight and it's probably getting comfy. My body plateaus every 9 pounds or so.

Have you tried zig-zagging your calories? This (in addition to mixing up exercise) has helped me break mine.

debski9949

Thanks, y'all.
Ok...I cannot jog/run because of some back/neck issues, but I do regularly change up my walking routine. I do intervals of faster/slower speeds (up to 4.5 mph), intervals with incline and decline (up to 11 incline). I often use the various programs on the treadmill to change it up, and I walk to and from the gym which is about 3 miles round trip on a fairly flat surface. I also have short rest times between reps when I am doing weight training to keep my heart rate up.

I also do yoga, pilates, PiYo, and high impact pilates - all are group classes.

I will occasionally work in cupcake or fro-yo with fruit as treats, but it is infrequent. I do that to shock the metabolism and just for general well being.

I guess the reason I am so frustrated is that I had lost the pounds before and they just came back out of nowhere! So I know I can get there because I have been there before; I just cannot seem to get back there no matter what I do. I have even tried cutting my carbs down wayyy low, but realized that is not the healthy way to do it.

I will keep at it; hopefully these pounds will go away! I have just 35 days to be beach ready!

Thanks everyone!

collymorels

When you are doing your brisk walk crank up your speed for 45 seconds to 1 minute. I read a great book on boosting metabolism and this was a suggestion that has worked for me. I jog at about a 4.2 and every 10 to 15 minutes I up my speed to about a 5.5 for a minute. It has made a big difference.

llkilgore

I cannot jog/run because of some back/neck issues...

Can you manage an elliptical? They can get you up in the same burn range as jogging without all the pounding on your joints.