Plateau... Ughh!
 

I have been working my but off for the past seven months, and this last 15 pounds does NOT seem to want to budge.

I've tried the zig-zagging approach

I've tried changing up my routine from elliptical, to treadmill, to stair-master, to bike and using intervals.

I'm watching my calories and nutrition.

I started weight lifting at home as well.

I'm trying not to get discouraged, but I'm so close!!!

Any tips or tricks ladies? Tomorrow morning I'm going to try a spinning class or a Piyo class at the gym.

I am not sure but if it is located in your belly, you might want to try some ab crunches or sit ups.. anything to target the abs. If it is spread out.. I really dont know what to tell you other than if you keep doing what you are, the plateau eventually does give way.

Keep up the great work!

One suggestion... If you've been tracking your food intake, go back to a week when your weight loss was successful, and try to replicate that (what you ate and generally your exercise).

Good to have your own personal meal plans for success, handy in your ‘back-pocket’.

Be patient; wait it out. This could be your body's way of resetting itself and regrouping. You are doing everything right, and it's not unusual to see a couple, three-week plateau, especially as you get close to the end. The closer you are, the harder it is; stinks, but it's true. Keep pounding away at the weight training. The more muscle you build, the more your metabolism kicks into gear. Drink a lot of water, make sure you're getting your fiber, eat as clean as you can. Put the scale away for a week or two and see what happens; I truly believe that the more you stress over it, the more likely you are to hang onto pounds.

You've come a long way; you'll get the rest of it off eventually. Congrats on your success...shift focus and celebrate it :D

Gamegal: My weight lies in my lower half....ie thighs unfortunately, and I've been doing about 150 crunches about 4 times a week. (Copying the Jillian Michael's workout)

Thank you all for your support!!!!

I got nothin'. I'm in exactly the same boat, only I have another 30 to lose. I'm going to try dropping my calories and raising my protein, sort of take it closer to Atkins for a couple of weeks. I'm a little concerned that if I hard core it through the holidays, I'll fall off the wagon in a hard and ugly way.

How much do you eat, are you possibly eating too little and exercising too much? It's okay to lose slowly, don't cut calories too much and set yourself up for a "feast." Have you been at 145 in the past and maintained it? What kind of foods do you eat? How active are you outside of the gym? You are making permanent changes now so be patient.

I believe all of the info is in my signature, but I'm 5'9, goal weight of 145. I was this weight back in college (2002-2006), and it is realistic based on my height. I aim for 1200 calories a day, but range up to 1500.

I exercise about 6 times a week (usually take Sunday off) and do a variety of activities ranging from jogging intervals on the treadmill, the elliptical, bike, zumba and once a week I hit the stair-master for 20 minutes and try to beat my last weeks floor record (mine is 60).

Outside of the gym, I'm slightly active ie. mall trips, errands, cleaning the house. But I sit and do a TON of work on my computer which is how I gained this weight in the first place along with eating way too much unhealthy food and no exercise.

I attempt to keep my protein levels the highest in my nutrition ratio. Tonight we had tilapia in a fat free lemon butter sauce (delicious). I eat a lot of cottage cheese and drink a ton of water.... the list goes on and on. I've changed my eating habits dramatically when I started this journey in April which is awesome and I've learned to pick healthier choices when we go out to eat at restaurants.

I think I answered all the questions, lol, it is getting late here!

Mmm, my personal trainer swears by squats, lunges and dead-rows to help lose fat from the thighs. If you don't know what a dead-row is I'm sure you can find the right technique by googling or swearching YouTube. :) Good luck!

Have you tried using the elliptical? I've been averaging about 4 hour/week on mine, and it's whittled away my thighs and fanny down to a level I never expected to see again. I've got a little hip left, but that's been melting away too.

Elliptical...Yes, all the time! It's been my favorite machine at the gym for the past two months. I usually set it on the interval mode and typically burn 500 calories in an hour according to the machine.

I actually just returned from the gym and spent an hour on it. My plan was to do a PiYo class, but the instructor was a no-show.

My thighs are the absolute last part of my body that looses the fat. Ughhh!

On a random note, I think my bra size has gone from a 38B to a 34B or 34A, lol. Ohh well!

I feel your pain, Luckygirl. I'm sitting here in a 34A as well, although it is a big plus during the summer to wear the strappy tops with the built in bra and not need any more support than that, or to not have to wear one at all and just layer up.

As an interesting side note, on a bet, my mom, who has double D's, put one on a kitchen scale once. It weighed five pounds. So, multiply that by two and it's ten pounds you don't have added on for you ;).

My thighs are also the last to lose. I read something several months ago; it was an interview with Jillian Michaels. She said that she reached the point where she stopped wanting to be long and lean and "willowy," for lack of a better word, and came to accept her body shape. That made something click for me. I had also admired that long and lean shape, but no matter what I do, it's not my body type and I will never get it (especially not at 5'2"!). Giving up that ideal really helped me to be more comfortable in my body image. I worked on developing the muscles and I don't see my thighs as bulky or big; I see them as strong. But I will say that running twice a week has helped tone them up a great deal, and I remember that when I did Pilates, that did too...so I'll probably get back to that when it's no longer nice enough to be outside daily.

Relax and go with what you got, girl. Your body will eventually realize you mean business and give up those last few pounds!

New, stuck too
 

Hello, I'm new to this forum.

I don't know how to define "starting weight". At my heaviest I was 215, that was in 1998. By 2000 I was at 185 and I stayed there for ever. I lost into the 170's but gained it back... so I'd say I was a stable 180's gal.

Then a few months ago I saw a Dr. who put me on low calories (1,000-1,200) per day and high protein.., I lost down to 169.

Now I'm stuck... stuck stuck stuck. I've been here for months. I gained back up to 172 and worked really hard and got back to 169.., and again... no change beyond that. I can't seem to stick to the eating plan. I think I'm crazy or something. Why could I stick to the eating plan before but now I can't. I wake up in the middle of the night eating peanut butter.

I go the gym at least 3 x's per week. The issue is that I am eating at a maintenance level when I need to be losing. I'd be OK with 169 except I have type II diabetes (diet controlled) and a family history of heart disease... and I want to live.

I guess I just need to share. It's been going on for months and I feel like I'm just going to stay at 169 and die early. Sounds mellow-dramatic... but that doesn't change that it's how I feel.

Take a break girl!!
 

You might want to take a week off from training...one week of rest (which you no doubt need and deserve) will make a huge difference in how your body metabolizes food again. It sounds like you have been working really hard and your body needs some time to regroup.
Keep up with your good nutrition during your off week and then start back into your favorite routines...I can almost guarantee that you will see the weight loss start again.

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!

I am with one of the previous posters....squats, lunges, wall sits, etc. If you have p90x, anything in the Plyo tape will help since it focuses on that area. Try it and see if that helps.