14 months and I've hit a plateau

shaydon80

I've been on the healthy living bandwagon for the last 14 months and so far I've lost just over 80lbs. From my absolute heaviest in 2008 I have lost 100lbs!!!

For the last few months, however I've barely lost anything. It's going sooo slowly! I used to be on fatsecret.com but recently joined MFP so that my friends could hold me accountable. I had a good loss (2ish lbs) 2 weeks in a row but now I've gained back almost 2 of those pounds.

I've stayed within my calories and eaten my exercise calories, I workout 5-6 days a week at varying intensities including running pilates and intervals, I never go over my sodium intake (I hardly ever even come close to my limit) and I drink plenty of water... So why am I not losing any weight?

I'm 5'5", 146ish lbs and would love to be fit and healthy. I'm thinking like 135-140lbs. How can I achieve that? What am I doing wrong? I thought I had this in the bag!

shaydon80

bump for suggestions please

FungusTrooper

Since I've really only just started (did it for 2 months, had surgery so it went on hold, now I've been at it for another month), I can't comment on the plateau.

The only difference between what you're doing and what I'm doing is eating your exercise calories - I never do that. As long as I eat over 1200 a day, I don't force myself to eat any more.

That being said, many people would disagree with the way I do it and have great weight loss. Maybe try it for a while, see if it helps? And if not, go back and try something else.

samb330

I think the reason why you've hit a plateau is because you are so close to your goal weight. That last few pounds are always the hardest to lose. I'm sorry I really don't have any suggestions. It looks to me like you're doing everything you need to be doing. Good luck you're almost there. Look how far you've already come. Congrats on that!!!

shaydon80

Since I've really only just started (did it for 2 months, had surgery so it went on hold, now I've been at it for another month), I can't comment on the plateau.

The only difference between what you're doing and what I'm doing is eating your exercise calories - I never do that. As long as I eat over 1200 a day, I don't force myself to eat any more.

That being said, many people would disagree with the way I do it and have great weight loss. Maybe try it for a while, see if it helps? And if not, go back and try something else.

I never used to eat my exercise calories and I wasn't losing any weight. When I started to eat them I lost 4lbs in 2 weeks... I really can't figure it out. I figure if I'm only eating 1230 calories (my base amount) and burning 500 through exercise then my body is going to go into starvation mode so I aim for 1230 Net each day.

FungusTrooper

Different people work differently, that might be the case for you. Maybe it's like samb said, then, and it's just that it's 5lbs to go!

cmriverside

Different people work differently, that might be the case for you. Maybe it's like samb said, then, and it's just that it's 5lbs to go!

The difference is she is five pounds from her goal, and you are 45 pounds from goal. That makes a world of difference when it comes to those exercise calories.

In 20 pounds or so, you will need to readjust, as well....

FungusTrooper

Uh, I wasn't comparing her loss to mine. I was comparing her loss to her loss earlier on her journey.

Comprehension?

mrs_dwr

I agree that it's probably because you're so close to your goal. What is your MFP account set to? When you've only got 5-10 lbs to lose, you should be aiming for only 1/2 lb per week. If you're set to 1-2 lbs/week, that could be too low of a calorie total. Try increasing your calories to lose at a slower rate. You're so close to maintenance, your body doesn't need a big calorie deficit anymore. Even though 1/2 lb sounds like nothing, it's better than what you're currently experiencing, so it's worth a shot.