please help! plateau going on for too long! :-(

firstly well done on what you have lost so far

i have had a quick look at your diary on the days you have logged you have eaten in most cases under 1000 , you need to eat a mimnim of 1200

fat is not bad, good fat are important .

more exersice would be good if you can


good luck on your journey

Yep, eating fat doesn't make you fat....eating too many calories and moving too little does that. It's hard to get off the low-fat bandwagon, though. I think we've all been brainwashed.

I am stuck there myself ( I have changed my calories and started going to the gym 3 times a week and working with a personal trainer, my body is starting to change even though it doesn't show it on the scale! I knew I was going to have to change something even though the walking and diet change worked for me before.

My advice, do what the others say and change it up some, your body won't know what to do and should start losing again!

I was 240, now I am 190 looking towards 145...........

good luck!

Lean protein and high fiber diet usually helps me, also go easy on starchy foods.....good luck

I was stuck too for a while. I was eating to few calories. Try to eat what your allowed and dont forget to log your exercise. Changing up your work out to more intense cardio (which I dont love) also helped. I have added all natural shakes and protein to my diet too. BIG HELP Isagenix is an all natural nutritional cleansing product that has amazing results. I did the 9 day cleanse and lost 7 lbs. And its not a poopy cleanse, it a deep cellular cleanse. It removes all the toxins from our system that way we can burn calories and process our food a lot better. Check it out. And have a great day! www.carrecrisman.isagenix.com. Good luck xo

you've made a LOT of progress, so don't think that this plateau is permanent!! you've proved you can make changes, just keep it up!
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/9433-expectations

I didn't peek myself, but someone said you were netting 1000cals a day. this is low.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

more on that:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

I broke a plateau during my weight loss journey by zig zagging my calories. There are different ways to do it. The way I did it was I would keep my calories at around 1200 for 3 days, eat maintenance calories for 3 days, and then have 1 cheat day. I did this for about a month and shook up my exercise routine and BAM! NO MORE PLATEAU! But seriously, especially if you're exercising...your calorie intake needs to come up to 1200+. You're body may be hanging on to every calorie you put into it if you're not eating enough. Also, did you ever consider that physical changes may be occurring even though you're not losing? I need to find my before and afters post so you can see. I only lost 15lbs from one pic to the other but the change in my body composition was awesome! I'll go find it

HI!
firstly, good job on losing all that weight@ what an inspiration.

So, to begin, you are not eating enough calories. Calories are NOT fat. I cannot stress this enough. A calorie is a unit of energy, measured in kilojoules. So calories are good, just not calories from t too much fatty foods...
anyway, when you don't eat enough relative to your exercise plan, your body holds on to the fats in your food for extra energy, because it needs it to function properly. So, eat more of the good stuff- that should definitely help.

Another thing, you DO NOT need to exercise more- that will only stress out your body. You just need to change up your exercise routine. If you do the same exercise everyday, your body becomes accustomed to it, and instead of losing the weight, you gain muscle mass, thus keeping your weight the same, or even increasing it. (this is an example of how fitness does not equal small number on the scale). So basically, you need to keep your exercise routine for each day slightly different, emphasising on different parts of your body each day.

Next, set your calorie target each and every day to just under your required calories to maintain your present weight. Attempting to lower your calories by too much will ruin your time and effort, because your system will go into hunger survival mode. If you are supposed to consume 1568 calories each day, you need to set your goals at around 1200 – 1300 each day to lose weight effectively.

Another thing that can lead to a plateau is if you do not have a rest day. Your body, when you exercise each day, needs time to recover, so the muscle tissue can grow healthily and not be worn out, so take a day not to binge, but to exercise lightly, or maybe not at all, depending on your own needs. so basically, Shock your system every week. Your system starts to get used to a consistent diet, even if it is a calorie-restricted one. To shock your system, give yourself a break every week. Eat restricted calories and extremely nutritious foods throughout the week, but on that last day, allow yourself to have pleasure in your favorite “no-no” foods. Don’t binge or go overboard, but consume things you normally wouldn’t. This will cause your body to readjust, allowing you to lose weight again.

so, that was my lame 1st year med student explanation, but here are the main things you should really be doing to get rid of those last few pounds:

1.switching up your workout, and work at different intensity levels
2.reducing carb intake, and increasing protein intake- your body NEEDS it!!
3.Drink more water, so your body doesn't hold on to excess water, which can lead to "water weight"
4.have a rest day

sorry for the long post, i was bored...
Good luck for the rest of your weight loss journey!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/247123-15lbs-down-w-embarrassing-underwear-shots-eek

Here it is!!! Now remember, this is only a 15 lb difference. Not that much weight on the scale, but a huge visible difference! The day I took these afters, was the day I stopped giving the scale so much credit. You CAN do this! Best of luck!

Wow great job on your weight loss! Sometimes I think in our pursuit for weight loss and to hit that oh so magic number for our goal weight we forget to enjoy our new body along the way. I have hit a small plateau myself but I am not too worried. I finally fit into a size 18 and though that is no where near the size I want to be it is smaller than the 24's I was wearing. I play and run with my kids now. I am more cheerful and energetic and my family sees it.

Take time and enjoy the work you have put in. Strength training, muscle is key if anything do not stop this but make new goals. Play around with your exercise and eating like they have suggested. Do something different each week and track it and see what happens. Good luck!

Here is an interesting thread about breaking a plateau. Good luck


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/501511-great-read-on-plateau-ing

There's not really much I can add to this that the other posters haven't already said. The only thing that comes to mind for me, I would advise you to work on changing your mentality about the whole reason for why you're eating right and exercising. From what I read in your original post, I gather that it seems to be all about weight loss for you. It shouldn't be about numbers on a scale. Your journey should be about getting HEALTHY. One thing I've had to learn is that, even if the scale isn't moving, the healthy eating habits and daily exercise ARE GOOD FOR MY BODY. My lipids have improved, my energy level has improved, my heart, lungs, and other internal organs are healthier, my muscles are stronger, and my body is leaner. If I start going back to my old habits just because it's "easier" than pushing myself to eat right and exercise, within six months to one year, I'll be right back where I started last May at 297lbs...and I'll be MISERABLE. So I remind myself EVERY DAY that this journey on which I've embarked is NOT about weightloss, it's about being HEALTHY. Any weightloss that happens is simply a positive side effect of a healthy lifestyle. Even after I reach a healthy weight, I will still have to maintain healthy habits or I will gain the weight back. It's a lifelong commitment. Don't give up. Keep pushing. You'll get there.

There is a really good article at the Mayo Clinic site regarding this subject here.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss-plateau/MY01152
From everything I have read and my own experience, I have to eat the extra calories I burn doing exercise in order to lose weight. I am much more successful tht way. I have had days where my cal intake is over 1200, but far below my burn because it was an exercise day and I lose more weight. The days I have eaten calories that = 1200+ the calories I have burned working out I lose more weight. GL and congrats on the weight you HAVE lost!

Bump

what is really helpful to some is to set MFP to maintain, and then the calories burned is the deficit. It works fairly well if you are very active. If you want, you can log the exercise minutes, but just log 1 calorie burned so you don't get confused. Upping the calories is a great way to break the plateau as well!. It worked for me.