I hit plateau and I am MAAAD!!

How long has your weight been static?? I've been stuck for almost 2 weeks now...fluctuating in and around the same weight. And indeed it is VERY frustrating. I searched "plateau" here on the message boards and there seem to be a lot of different ideas on how to try and break through a plateau. The thing that scares me most is reading the stories about those who plateau for months! Sounds like you're on the right track. Chin up and keep plugging!!

I know how you feel. I have hit my plateau too. So I not only changed my exercise routine and my food consumption, I also started to consume supplements in the form of protein shakes.

Since I workout in the evening, I tend to consume half of the protein shake before and the remaining half immediately after along with a low carb snack that replaces my dinner.

Salads and fruits aren't bad. What you need to look at is your proteins to carbs ratio. You typically want to consume more protein than carbs (a 1:1 ratio is not bad) if you want to lose fat and gain muscle.

Maybe you could give that a try?

Also, don't judge your fitness by your weight. Judge it by the inches you lose/gain

Just a suggestion.... Maybe lower sodium and up water? It STINKS being stuck!! I understand that! You will loose, keep plugging away!

Mine lasted 3 weeks @ 13lbs & I know how frustrating is! But don't give up! I got out of it & so can you!
I upped my calories, which did the trick for me. Try out a few things & see what works for you

I've only lost 8 lbs and I'm already scared I'll plateau. It's just one more thing we make ourselves stress out over. DONT GIVE UP. Think of it this way, if you keep at it you'll at least maintain a healthy weight that you've already lost and eventually something will click and you will start to lose more again. Discouraged feelings and stress are only going to make it harder for you. I don't know a lot about weight loss but I read a lot of posts and there are some things I bet you can try to help you out...

-Try eating at different times of the day or different portions/contents of meals.
-Try getting more sleep (hard, I know with busy lives we have) but I read that people who get 8 or more hours of sleep at night lose 25% more weight.
-Drink a lot more water. I don't know why but I've also heard the more water you drink the more weight you lose.
-Take your measurements. You may not be losing on the scale but you might be shedding inches and that is an incentive not to give up.
-Take a multivitamin daily. Good for your overall health and may give your body that extra "thing" its missing.
-Be sure to eat back your calories from all your exercise. It's important because it prevents your body from going into starvation mode.
-Also be sure of the calories you're burning off, if you're not sure get a heart rate monitor. I don't have one yet, so I try to guess as closely as possible and if I'm really in doubt I just round down to be safe, that way I can eat all those calories back, but not be over on my goal in case I estimated my burned calories wrong.

GOOD LUCK. Don't give up. Your body is just being stubborn. Try to relax and try different things. Don't obsess over it. You will lose more, in due time.

You might need to bump up the calories. Search the message boards for plateaus and see what you can find. Most of the time people have managed to start losing again by eating more. I know this sounds weird but if you are exercising a lot your body needs the fuel or it will protect your fat reserves rather than let it go. The body treats exercise and calorie restriction as stress and will actually try and protect itself.

And you aren't going to lose steadily. You might get stuck and then 'whoosh' you lose literally overnight.

Maybe even try calorie cycling (low days and high days). You can do some research on that too.

And what kind of exercising are you doing? Is it all cardio or a combo of strength and cardio. Strength/resistance training is very, very important for fat loss (intense cardio and calorie restriction can also cause lean muscle mass loss although this is more pronounced as you get closer to your 'healthy' weight - this can slow metabolism). Get in some more protein - my macronutrient ratios are at 40/35/25 carb/pro/fat right now. And do some strength training to help preserve that muscle mass. This is what makes your metabolism

I know that hitting a plateau is FRUSTRATING!!!! Especially when you are working sooooo hard to lose!!

I hope you don't mind but I looked at your food diary going back about 2 weeks and what I noticed is that you are barely eating/netting 1000 calories a day plus you are working out, with a lot of days going well below 1000 calories!! You need to eat at least some of your excersise calories back!!!

For example on this past Monday you ate 1357 calories but you worked out and burnt 717 calories which means you only "netted" 640 calories for the whole day - not enough to live on and most of the days I looked at are like this!!!!! Go back through your diary and do some calculations (it's easy) to find out how many calories you actually ate that day - to figure this out take your total calories consumed for the day minus your excersise calories equals what you actually ate for the day.

Go to the tools section and find out what your BMR is, then try to at least eat as close to this number as possible (BMR is your resting metabolic rate, which is what your body burns for calories just by siting in one spot and not moving!!) I have my mfp set to lose a pound a week and I am given a calorie total to eat that is a little over what my BMR is! It would be different if it were set to lose 1.5 or 2 pounds but it will never give you a daily calorie total of less the 1200 (this is what nutritionists believe is the least we can eat and still get the proper nutrition our bodies need - it's 1500 for men)

Society has taught us that Less is More and that we have to suffer while trying to lose weight - but this is NOT the case!!!!! Believe me, I know it's hard to wrap your head around! But it's true!!

Here is a link that will better explain it - http://www.shouldieatmyexercisecalories.com/

Good luck Girl!! And don't be discouraged! You will kick this plateau's butt!!!!!!

Sodium played a HUGE part in mine and I just realized that! Platued for a long time too over a month would gain then loose, then gain and loose.

Don't lose hope!!

How long have you been at this plateau?

phew~ a ton of replies since I saw your post! lol!

okay, eat more fresh fruits and vegs and don't use the salt shaker when you do if you can help it. Try making things from scratch - and if you add up all the ingredients and then figure out how many servings you have made - you will be able to figure out things like the sodium. If not, just make recipes that you know have the nutritional facts listed.

I empathize with you because I felt the same way all my life - like I didn't know how to eat healthy. It's taken me a LONG time to learn and I'm still learning - it's never ending. Learn about serving sizes using the new serving size thing from the FDA - it lists actual amounts like 1/2 Cup, etc. So get used to measuring your food and weighing your protein.

Also sodium, a healthy amount is under 2,000. The FDA's recommended amount is actually too high as people should be reaching for more like 1,000-1,500 but it's not easy. The more fresh fruits, vegs, and proteins without salt or broth or solution added will help since it will be natural sodium (healthy and important!). HTH.... Just keep learning, you can do it.

You asked how to make yourself eat when you're not hungry. Try things that are good for you that are calorie loaded. Like a 1/4 cup of almonds, a couple tablespoons of peanut butter, a glass of milk. These things have a lot of calories for a small amount...and are healthy! If you need loads of calories, but are not hungry...these are great ways to get those calories.

You need to think about why you are doing this. Yes, we all want to lose weight and that is a big reason why we're doing this. But losing weight also means being healthy. Isn't being healhty important too? Most of the time, processed foods...and sodium...are not really that "healthy". I'm not saying I don't eat them at all...just try to limit them more. You don't have to guess if you're not eating processed foods. Buy a scale...you can buy ones that aren't that expensive that do the trick. Grab measuring cups. Sure it's an extra step...but it's really not that hard. And it helps you control your portion sizes. All in turn...will help you get healthier...and lose weight!

Again, you can do it.