I have had so many plateaus over the years. Usually they cause me to just give up. But what I have found effective at times is jiggling calories, eating more one day, much less the next. also, believe it or not, sometimes boosting my crabs a little and throwing in a few more minutes of exercise has also worked.

Shake things up. If you have a 'regular' exercise routine, throw something new in there. Find a different routine that burns more calories for a few days. Change you old stand by meals. Changing things up will help. Continue to plug away at exercise and eating habits because sometimes you aren't losing weight but you are losing inches!

If it's been less than 3 or 4 weeks, it could be this.
If it's been longer, you're eating at (or very close to) maintenance. Try plotting a 28-day trailing average of your daily weigh-in. Does the trend line go down? If so, and if you are satisfied with that result, hold steady the course. If not, then see if your logging can be tightened up someplace. If not, your TDEE might be lower than you estimated. I hope it's not the last one!

ETA: For me personally when I'm losing, it's not uncommon to see nothing on the scale for a couple weeks then *whoosh* 3 lb gone in 2 days. I use the training average for weight so normal fluctuations don't make me crazy. Also, I lose really slowly to preserve that hard earned LBM, so the trend line helps me see progress that's not obvious with fluctuations.

I've been doing this for 21 months now and have broken through several plateaus. I find that most of the time when my weight loss stalls it's because I've either gone a little to crazy with a cheat meal here or there, I've become somewhat bored with my workout routine, or I'm just a little tired of eating at a deficit and lean more toward maintenance for awhile whether I realize it or not, usually because I'm not using my scale as often.

Generally, I just have to rededicate myself to losing, pick up the pace of my workouts or add in something new, and then stick to my deficit every day. Recently I added a bit of a jog to my dog walks and I lost a pound in the last couple of weeks. I'm nearly at, or at, maintenance, depending on who I'm listening to on a particular day, so I'm not that worried one way or another. It's nice to know I can still lose if I really want to though.

One thing about plateaus that are actually encouraging is that we're teaching ourselves to maintain which will come in handy when we do reach our goal weights.

I am on a plateau now. I don't know for sure what is causing it. part of the blame could lie with the fact that that special time of the month has not blessed me for two months straight. (No, I will not be the world's oldest mother!). Another part could be that I have been slacking on veggies. And water. I am going to shake a couple of things up and see where it gets me!

I was at 198 in May from over feeding my power lifting habit. Apparently it didn't all turn to muscle... I dropped 5 before my doctor appointment mid-May (one of the joys of heart disease) He read me the riot act and we agreed I'd be 185 before my next appointment in mid-August. Or I have to return the heart. (Kidding, just one stent in the original equipment) I dropped from 195 to 190, then plateaued for a few weeks. Dropping again now through serious attention to exercise and watching the quality of what makes up my 2000 or less calories. 187 today, heading for 178. I may go to 175 and if the gut is gone use 175-180 as my 'zone'. My BMI number, 165, I feel is not reasonable with heavy weight lifting twice a week. We'll see if I have to beat women-folk off with a stick at 175.

marekdds wrote: »

That is marvelous progress.

Thanks. I was 240 once at my worst. I was at 185 and fit when I had my heart attack last year. I was running 5k's once or twice a week, had gone bow hunting in deep snow for seven miles two days before, and fought a fire the day before. I couldn't believe I was getting dropped by a heart attack. Genetics just doesn't care.

nikkib0103 wrote: »

Farback wrote: »

marekdds wrote: »

That is marvelous progress.

Thanks. I was 240 once at my worst. I was at 185 and fit when I had my heart attack last year. I was running 5k's once or twice a week, had gone bow hunting in deep snow for seven miles two days before, and fought a fire the day before. I couldn't believe I was getting dropped by a heart attack. Genetics just doesn't care.

I am pretty sure no one thought anything could get the drop on you. As a friend of mine told me after my stroke: 'God was throwing pebbles at you to get your attention about your health. You ignored Him so he dropped a brick wall on your head. Now are you listening?'. These events are the biggest alarm clocks in the world. You are doing super. your doctor has nothing to complain about,

I like that quote from your friend. We all need to watch for the pebbles!