Can you do too much exercise to stop / slow down weight loss

Only if you aren't eating enough to balance out the added exercise.

2.5lbs in 4 weeks isn't bad, especially if you have relatively little to lose.

Don't forget the importance of patience with all this. It can take your body a good 4 weeks to adjust to changes in diet/exercise. So if you up your cals, don't freak out the first week if you don't see what you want on the scale. Same with increasing exercise.

Slow and steady wins the race.

I have the same thoughts. I lost 95 lbs doing bearly any excersise, then i started excersising, and bam no weight lose. 3 months now! I know im gaining muscle and probably losing inches but still. I wasnt eating back my excesise calories for the longest, now i am and still nothing! Interested in feedback!

It is just sooo frustrating isn't it - the previous time I reckoned it was down to simple maths of in - out = weight loss - but this time it just doesn't seem to be working the same way. I'm not sure if it's down to the fact that I'm fitter than I was and therefore need to mix up the exercises or not.

They say to mix things up and not do the same things will help!

yep. there is no reason for someone to sit on a treadmill, elliptical or bike for hours. I keep my cardio to under 45 min and only 3 times a week.

Don't forget the importance of patience with all this. It can take your body a good 4 weeks to adjust to changes in diet/exercise. So if you up your cals, don't freak out the first week if you don't see what you want on the scale. Same with increasing exercise.

Slow and steady wins the race.

This.

I eat up to the recommended 1400 a day - occassionally I go over but not by a huge amount but I should still have a deficit from not using all the calories I gain in exercise. I did start to include some weights but thought that might hinder rather than help so have gone back to just cardio

Lifting weight to tone actually helps your body burn calories. You will be better results (both with weight loss, and toning) if you do weights. Remember - you're just using weights to tone. So doing 12-15 reps per set, and 3-4 sets will help with the toning. The 1st reps should be fairly easy, but the last set should be difficult enough to where you almost dont want to finish. Hope that helps!

I upped my caloric intake to 1600 cal (40% protein, 40% carb, 30% fat) and work out pretty vigorously. I'm losing about 1lb/week if that (with the cheating it keeps on fluctuating though!)

Strength training might add some pounds in the beginning on but you're losing inches. Get that measuring tape out. The weight will come off afterwards.

If you're only doing cardio w/ no weights you're going to be "skinny fat"...that's obviously person's preference, its definitely NOT mine.

My advice is do interval training. Running on a treadmill at 5mph for 30 minutes is WAY less effective than running on and off for 2 min for 15 min at 6-7mph+. My first big weight drop came when I did Insanity (no, I'm not trying to sell it--but it seriously is awesome). It was basically body resistance moves (pushups, dips, burpees, etc) mixed w/ other cardio and what he'd basically do was work for 2 min and rest for 30 seconds, repeat, repeat, repeat. Intervals are KEY. Strength training will get you there faster.

Good to know! Thanks

Yes and it has nothing to do with not eating enough. Excessive exercise is stress and the body treats it as such. There is a fine line between training hard and overtraining.

"During exercise our bodies get temporarily weaker, not stronger. It’s during rest that we recover and make all our gains. This is a huge, unspoken problem with even the most popular weight-training and exercise programs. Whether you’re at the gym lifting or on the treadmill treading 6 days per week, you can’t possibly have time for the rest your body needs. It’s as if you were trying to grow a delicate crystal in water, but every day you come by and shake the glass. The crystal never has a chance. In the same way, too much exercise can be just as bad for you as too little. You reinjure yourself over and over, and never let your system reset itself and recover. You get muscle tears and strains, joint problems, chronic fatigue, and weakening of the immune system, so you get sick more often. Instead of building your body, you may be tearing it down. It amazes me how many dedicated exercisers hit the wall in their fitness programs and then stay there, month after months, without knowing why. They train harder and harder, when all they need is a little more rest.” (Power of 10. Not liking the nutrition side of the book, though)

Read through some of these serach results regarding "chronic cardio": http://www.marksdailyapple.com/search-results/?cx=004987908667488763946:kd-fp2c7jek&cof=FORID:11&ie=UTF-8&q=chronic+cardio&oq=chronic+cardio&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=1&gs_sm=3&gs_upl=84711l87289l0l87555l16l13l1l4l4l0l281l609l0.1.2l3l0

I am struggling with the same. I lost a lot quickly, losing 30 pounds, but it seems to have slowed. I purchased a fitbit so I can track my walking more closely, and most nights my net intake of Calories is only around 600. I'm arriving in the evening with 600-800 calories to intake and I'm just not that hungry at night