Lost 35 pounds so far, but feel stuck now. Help

I am in the same boat right now! I started losing weight last June and I lost 25 lbs. before August. Then I took a little hiatus from dieting from August til Jan. I have lost another 10 lbs. or so since Jan., but I have hit a definite plateau.....

We should be weight loss buds!

I know this isn't going to be what you want to hear, but I feel like reaching 1200 calories as your daily goal (as that is the lowest it will let you set) is the signal to slow your weight loss/wk goals. Once I reached this point (about 8-10 lbs ago) I manually set my calorie goal to the range of my BMR (roughly 1350-1400) and just let the rate of loss take care of itself.

I'm in a similar boat as you (started at 174, now 141 and would ideally like to be 125-130) but at this point, working of the end of the body's fat reserves, I've just come to accept it's just going to be a bit slower. Some days/weeks it feels like nothing is happening, but when I look at the overall loss for the monthI realize that I have lost (its just harder to see).

1200 calories per day seems extremely low to me.

When I was stressing about my goals, this was helpful for me. It helped keep me on track to know I had a little wiggle room.

It dawned on me that it's not hitting a number exactly, but falling within a range consistently...
So, I went to the goals section and kept playing with the data I input. to get the following info
You can figure out yours, but here's the idea...


To lose 1lb/week I get 1240 cal (target)

To lose 1/2lb/week I get 1470 cal

To maintain my GOAL weight I get 1670 cal
....unless I consistently go over my target by 400 cal
I should still lose (maybe a little more slowly, but no reason to throw in the towel).

To maintain my CURRENT weight I get 1720 cal
....unless I consistently go over my target goal 500 cal
I should not gain. So I'm not losing any ground. (I can take a break and then pick-up where I left off)

Even if I am not hitting every goal dead on I'm still doing much than I was before MFP.
which, for me, is reason enough to stick with it.

Remember, it's not about being perfect it's about doing better.
No matter where you start from it's all about taking baby steps.
Later you look back and realize that all those baby steps add up to something substantial.

35 lbs is a great achievement don't throw in the towel because of a plateau. Breath, relax and think about a calorie range.
I've been on maintain for a month or so because of a health issue. but when I was losing I gave my self a target of 1240. but as long as I fell in the range of min/1200 cals and max 1670 (the amount to maintain my goal weight) I refused to beat myself up. I found that after 3-4 days at 1200-1300 I was feeling too deprived and too hungry and I'd have a 1400-1500 calorie day. I'll never stick to this if I'm feeling deprived all the time. My goal is to be healthy well into my eighties.

Also recently read a couple of articles, one said that one factor in successful weight loss is having measurable goals.
I think this site is great for that. The other said that the slower you lose weight the more likely you are to keep it off.

Good Luck! Keep at it!
and
BE KIND TO YOUR SELF

Weigh in once a week to avoid the frustration. your weight can fluctuate as much as 5lbs in one day

Thanks everyone. One thing that bothers me too is my weight will go down then back up a couple of pounds within a day or two. I guess I just gotta watch the overall trend.

To lose 1lb/week I get 1240 cal (target)

To lose 1/2lb/week I get 1470 cal

These are the goals I meant when I said you should consider slowing your weight loss per week goal. Right now MFP assigns you 1200 calories because you have it set to lose 1 or 2 lbs a week. You should choose the next lowest loss/wk goal, or manually set your calories higher (and it will project your loss per week based on your manual adjustment)