Stuck in my 160s!!!

While it could be that you need to mix up your diet a bit more, maybe eat more smaller meals throughout the day to kick your metabolism awake,

Mixing it up is good as your body does get used to what you are doing after a period of time. Eating more, exercising more, higher intensity, etc.

Eating more often throughout the day will not increase your metabolism though.

it could just be that you've been replacing fat with muscles.

First, you don't replace fat with muscle... and when you are a calorie deficit you will not gain muscle. Muscle needs calories. When you go on a deficit to lose weight part of those losses will be muscle along the way. The muscle loss increases if you don't lift heavy, don't get enough protein, and have too high of a deficit (and eating under 1200 cals a day is too high of a deficit).

OP, switch up your exercise. Eat more. Research BMR and TDEE and eat somewhere between that.

i stuck in the 190s so i know how u feel just cant break that barrier at all ;(

I have been stuck in the 160s for 1.5 years.
The ONLY time it moved into the 150s and I finally broke through that, was when I set my calories around 1500 and I eat my exercise calories.
I try to exercise 5-6 days a week and am about to start (for the 2nd time) the C25K program and I will be doing that every other day and weight lifting every other day.

Maybe you should reevaluate your calorie intake. I lot of people have had better results when they eat more, especially if they are working out a lot.

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

I am also 5'2 1/2 and stuck in my 160s. I must admit I havent been super strict on my diet but it has been hard getting through these ten pounds. I totally understand how you feel! Today I start working out with a trainer. I hope that helps.

Read this:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912920-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013?hl=road+map+2013

And eat 20% below your TDEE. You are eating far too little, that's why you aren't losing weight.

I don't see any reason for you to UP your calories. You're eating at 1200 NET, but on your workout days, eating up to 2,000 gross. For me at least, eating at 1240 NET is very close to the same thing as eating TDEE-20%. So just keep doing what you're doing. Switch up your exercise a bit, try to make better food choices, and hang in there.

Bump to read later.

I've been stuck in my 160s for about a year and a half now, and I am almost resigned to just being this weight forever. I started doing Intermittent Fasting, particularly 5:2, and I have lost three pounds in two weeks, which is huge for me. I'm of the impression that unless I simply go without food, I will not lose weight, and that appears to be true. I have tried upping my calories and working out more, changing them from day to day, eating back exercise calories, not eating back exercise calories...nothing. IF has worked for me, and I think you should give it a try, too! Friend me if you want, and we can encourange each other. Also, there's a great 5:2 group on here that is really helpful. And if it's anything, here are my stats: 29 years old (as of this July 31), 5'7", current weight of 155.6 (lowest in for frigging ever).

The closer you get to your goal weight, the harder it is to get the pounds off! I know exactly how you feel. Jillian Michaels wrote this book called Making the Cut that is great if you can find it at a library or on amazon. You should probably up your calories (I know everyone here freaks out that you HAVE to eat your exercise calories back, but I don't...I just make sure I'm eating more than 1700 calories a day and the exercise calories are just a bonus).

I just did a search for carbnite and the user about me commented with the link, which isn't super helpful but I will say, CARBNITE WORKS! I did insanity and was on a 1200 calorie diet for 2 months and lost 6 lbs. I started CarbNite about a week ago and I have already lost 4 lbs but my before and after pictures just from last Monday to this morning (Tuesday) looks like 8-10 lbs because I have gained so much muscle and burned fat. I am doing a kickboxing class 3x a week that I love but to get out of a no-weight-loss-rut, I have never experienced anything better. There is a book called CarbNite Solution that you can buy on Amazon for around $18 but I just read blogs and started following people on Instagram that post photos with recipes. I've heard it explained a couple of different ways but here is goes as I understand it.

The goal is to put your body is a state of ketosis so your body is burning your stored fat for fuel rather than carbs/sugars that you consume. You eat mostly all protein so you can lose weight while gaining muscle mass. For the first cycle, consume less than 30 net carbs every day for 10 days. Most of your carbs should be from vegetables. I eat pepperoni for snack sometimes, make bacon wrapped asparagus baked in the oven, omlets, and a lot of greens. EAS makes a chocolate protein shake called AdvantEdge that is great for a sweet tooth because it tastes great. 17 g of protein and 3 net carbs (4 carbs - 1 g fiber). They only have 110 calories so they're better as a pre- or post-workout snack vs a meal replacement but still a good supplement to use.
On the 11th day of your first cycle, starting at 5 pm (or about 6 hours in the evening), you get to carb load (or have your "Carb Nite")! Basically you can stuff your face with whatever sweets, pasta, pizza, ice cream, doughnuts, that you want. This will shock you metabolism and supposedly amps up your fat burning in the long run.
After your first cycle, you start over but do the high protein/low carb for 5 days and on the 6th day you can have your Carb Nite.

I have heard 2 different things on the scheduling. First cycle is 10 days and 5 pm til bed is your Carb Nite on the 10th day or how I explained it here, 10 days diet, 11th day Carb Nite. But I figured the longer I keep my body in ketosis the better.

You can look it up on YouTube. I found a review video of a girl who lost 18 pounds in a month. Crazy results.
I do know that they only recommend doing this diet for 6 months at a time (I'm assuming because really high protein is harder on your kidneys) but I know for myself, I can maintain like nobody's business. I just have such a challenge getting where I want to be.

In a week on this diet, I have accomplished 2/3 of the results that I accomplished in 2 months of Insanity and low calorie dieting. So I would definitely recommend it to anybody who has hit the dreaded plateau.

I suggest you rest more..stop working out six days a week and eat a bit more. When i hit a plateau.. that is what worked. I ate off my diet... then in a week or so.. hit it again..and the scale moved.

I've been stuck in the 160's for a while too! I'm thinking about carb cycling/low carb for a week or two to mix it up

Thanks for your input. I actually have been in my 160s for approximately three months now. It's almost like the scale is teasing me saying, "lololol I know you see the 157, 158 and 159 after your workout but you won't see me on your weigh in day." It's so annoying. I'm going to try to change up my diet routine and see if that helps. I try to aim to have my meals go from biggest to smallest, having breakfast being my biggest meal. That meal will be like around 500 calories or a bit over. I have a WW scale that measures my body fat, body water, bmi and all that stuff which definitely tells me I'm still overweight for my height (which I already know lol) but which is why I'm trying to lose weight in the first place. I'm 5'2 1/2 so it's a must that I get this weight off. But I'm at my wits end trying to get into at least my 150s. My overall goal is to be at 140 and I feel like it's so close but it's getting more difficult by the day.

I haven't looked at your diary but from this post, your story is almost identical to mine! My physician suggested that I NET a MINIMUM of 1200 cal/day. I have been trying to meet 1200 intake on my "rest" days, 1350 on my "weight training" days and 1500 on my "cardio" days. Since I started that, I have consistently been losing 0.5-1 pound per week. For me, this is the best - it is an actual lifestyle change and not so much a diet. And when I am adjusting my lifestyle mentality, I will keep it off!

Best of luck to you! Once you find what works for you, stick with it - even when you have a bad day (or week!) - AND NEVER GIVE UP!!!