So glad to find this post! I've been on the plateau for about 6 months or so. I gain and lose the same darn 5 pounds. While I haven't been exactly "good" about trying and I have definitely carried the holiday season well into February, I'm making a new committment today! No more making excuses and it's time to get back on track!

Thanks for starting this thread Pam and I'm sure you all will be seeing me around here from now on!

Alyssa

6 month plateau
 

Hi, this is my first time posting, but in looking through the plateau thread I thought I'd throw in my two cents - and maybe get some advice from all of you.

I lost 30 pounds between February and September of last year, and then come September I hit a wall. I have managed to stay under 200 but my problem is, I'm not losing any weight either. I still have quite a bit of weight to lose (I am 5'8" and currently 195) - my goal is 160 - so I don't think I should be encountering such a slow down yet.

I know one problem I have is the gym - when I had been losing fast I was at the gym 6 days a week - since the winter hit I've been sick on and off and haven't been to the gym more the 4 days per week (but closer to 2 or 3) since November. But my diet is pretty solid - according to the FitDay calculator I should be losing 2 pounds per week on pure calories alone. Yet I struggle just to maintain my weight.

I had been doing a low carb diet (not no carb - I still ate fruits, dairy, beans - just no processed carbs) - I am wondering if maybe I should go back to that. Also I am feeling better now - so plan to up my gym days again. And I am starting to train for a 5k this month - so all these things put together will hopefully equal some weight loss. I have been looking at the 190s for so long now I am getting really sick of it. I just want to see the 180s already!!

Anyway - sorry for the long introduction. Any of your advice or encouragement is welcome!

Pam, thanks so much for noticing! I was gone for a while, just dealing with "life maintenance" stuff as my friend Steve calls it. I wanted to see how I was doing, not tracking. Plus I was on Fitday forums A LOT. Maybe too much. It can suck up time!!! But I did miss you guys. You're so inpsirational.

I really emphathesize with what people here are saying. It is so frustrating to be stuck in one spot or to keep going and end up back in the same spot.
Like princesstimbit I am trying to figure out what I did to lose in the first place so maybe I can do it again.

So I am hopeful I will do it this time. It's just like fifteen or so pounds. Others have done so much more.

Hi everyone,

I thought I might join you all.

I joined fitday a while ago - guess what? - I gained weight. I've been stuck at 133 and want to be at 123 which is my normal weight. I've grown out of my favorite jeans.

I'm going to do a low carb approach. I know I've been consuming more than I need. I also got hurt and wasn't able to exercise recently.

I would like to check in with you guys daily. Especially in the evening to keep myself accountable.

Thanks!

I am totally frustrated too. I lost 16lbs out of the 110lbs that I need to lose. Now I have hit a plateau and my weight is not budging at all. In fact it is fluctuating between 2lbs up and 2lbs down. I have been eating only 1,100 - 1,400 calories a day exercising 6 days a week and nothing. I can't afford to be on a plateau I have way too much I need to lose! Any suggestions to get over this??? Help!

Nice to see this thread coming back up
 

I seemed to have broken the last plateau, but man...I am fighting for every little pound right now. :mad:

About 2 weeks ago I wrote a long and thoughtful post responding to princess and mirage and it all went to electron heaven! I am usually pretty careful about making sure I copy my post before submitting the reply so that if it does disappear I still have it in the clipboard. But this time I forgot, and I was so annoyed I just dropped the thread.

Hi Bluejay, haven't seen you for a while.

Welcome huangxinxin, I think the best advice is patience and perserverence. A lot of people have mentioned that changing the diet or the exercise program really helped get them over the plateau. You are exercising 6 days a week and that's super. Can you maybe change your routine a little like adding more aerobics (if you aren't doing much now) or some weights (again if you aren't doing much now)? Your calorie intake looks great too, but maybe change the protein/fat/carb ratios a little.

But most important: DONT GIVE UP you will get through it.

Pam

Thought I'd drop in again. This is a much tamer thread! It's easier to keep up with people.

Huang - I recently felt like I was at a plateau, too. I've been tracking my weight for years, and I've always gone up and down, up and down. But each down is just a little lower. another thing is that I plateau, then all of a sudden I lose 2#. So I try not to worry about it too much, as long as I eat well and exercise. My exercise is not always as consistent as I'd like it to be. Recently I changed my workout routines entirely. Instead of splitting weight training into upper & lower body days, I do full body workouts twice weekly. It really helped! And I really mix up my cardio days: tennis, spin classes, zumba, walking/running, and whatever else.

Pam, how's the crossfit going? Because the class here isn't filling up, the instructor is going to once-a-month. I know, I know, I can do it at home but I'm not that motivated to work out alone in my basement. I'm truly a social gym-rat. But since I do regular weight lifting, I think I'm fit enough to jump in once a month. Problem with that is getting injured!

Bluejay, I hope you check back soon! It looks like we have similar goals, and I'll need a "maintenance buddy" when I reach my 122 (or a little less). Jan. 1, I was 135 and today I'm at 124. Yippee! It's required a lot of focus, especially around diet choices. You can do it!

Sandi

Sandi

Hi Sandi,
Glad to see you're back.
Crossfit is going really well - totally love it! (125# deadlift, 85# squats.. and each day seems to be something of a PR. I guess when you start pretty low, building up is easier :p).

Bummer about the cutback at your gym. I am with you on the difference between going to the Box (crossfit lingo for the gym) and trying to do the workouts in my basement. I really admire the women who can get up and after the DVD workouts every morning - I just don't seem to have the discipline. Believe me I have tried. I have a whole bookcase of DVDs and none of them hold my interest for very long. I have also tried joining gyms many times, but find I get restless and bored there too. Or I just spend the time yaking.

My diet doc tried, from day 1, to get me to add resistance training to the Run, Bike & Ski routine. It wasn't that I didn't want to, it just tooke me a while to find the right fit, and Crossfit fits right... like have a personal trainier every time I go. I still enjoy the social interaction, but the coaches are always there to keep you moving.

I'm on the Plateau.:mad: I've been stuck at 130 pounds for the past 4 months. I was hoping that if I gave up fast food (I'm almost done with my 30 day no fast food challenge!), that I would lose at least a couple of pounds. :/ I'm going to add weight training 3 times a week and see if that helps. God I hate being here. Last week, I restricted my diet (by accident) to about 800 calories, now I'm back up to 1000-1500 calories per day, if I'm lucky. I don't know how to shed 5 pounds, why isn't exercise and diet helping me lose weight! :confused:

Hi Ace,
I just don't know what to tell you. Your body obviously has a mind of its own! Have you had a body fat measurement done recently? With your activity and lifestyle you may just be at your optimum - like it or not. If you BF is in the low 20s or teens, you are probably perfect. And we all know that weight is just a number.

I think it was Julia who pointed out that 130 lbs can look very different on different people. I'm somewhere around 135, 5'4" and a size 4. I have never been this small in my adult life. But I totally understand where you are coming from - somehow I keep thinking I really, really want to be in the 120's. I'm beginning to think that I am a being little irrational here :rolleyes:.

I suddenly realized this morning that at age 53 I was experiencing the very same thoughts about my size and weight I did as a teenager - I always thought I was too heavy. And looking a photos of me at 18 I was pretty close to perfect, so maybe at 53 it is time for me to grow up ;).

It was likely those thoughts that lead me to give up on eating healthy in the first place (well, if I can't be 110 lbs why bother controlling my diet!). Don't want to go there again :eek:

PAM