Weight Loss Plateaus

I dont know if this is a response, so much as questioning. When you say exercise, what do mean? Cardio, resistance training? Both? That has something to do with it. Also, when you speak of calories, what are your carb/protein/fat ratios? That, also, has something to do with it. Lastly, what is your body size? You may need to focus more on pant/dress size and/or body fat percentage and focus less on the number on the scale.
I am not, by any means, a professional. I am a member of a gym, workout regularly and have a personal trainer. I have hit PLENTY of plateaus!!! I worked out in the month of November and GAINED two pounds!!!! BUT, I lost 2% body fat. Perhaps you can ask yourself these few questions to help identify your problem.
Good Luck and Happy Shrinking!!!
Margaret :)

Hi J.,
Unfortunately as you exercise your body becomes more efficient and accommodates changes that you make to your diet. That is why we plateau. There are couple of things that you can do to boost your weight loss. If you have great will power, try to have a period of 13 hours when you do not consume calories - Over night is the easiest time. This gives your liver time to use up its reserves and so your body starts to use fat stored in other body parts during this time. Also you can boost your metabolism by eating within 15 minutes after exercising. When you exercise and your body is pumped, eating within this window boosts your burn. Also I have heard that exercising before bed allows your body to rest at a higher caloric burn rate. That one I have not tested. I had to lose my baby fat quickly to resume my profession as a ballet dancer. I used these methods along with an aquajogging regime and was able to shed all my extra fat. Be careful that you don't underestimate the weight of muscles. If you are exercising well, you will gain muscle bulk and lose fat - which is good. It isn't the numbers that are most important to monitor, it is how you feel and how your clothes fit.

I wouldn't know much about the calorie counting, but you do need to eat small frequent meals through out the day. What does seem to help fend off the plateau is to confuse the muscles when your working out. I don't know your work out routine so this is kind of a shot in the dark. But if you do the same exercises everyday you start forming muscle memory and it slows down the calorie burning. So change it up. If you're willing to spend the money Jillian Michaels (coach on the biggest loser) has a great program online, I think my husband only paid 20-30 bucks for it. And it gives you week by week instructions. My husband is a sailor and he said that even some of these routines took him for a loop.

Congrats! Check out the www.thetruthaboutabs.com. This article discusses all of the issues you are talking about. I just read it and it was very helpful for me.

I have found that at the plateau times if I increase my protein I can break the plateau in a couple of days. Make sure you have protein for breakfast, lunch and dinner (I eat protein and leafy greens till I'm full, even if it's more than my usual serving of protein).

In addition, I have a South Beach protein supplement bar once or twice a day (10g protein, 140 calories). They're in the cereal section at the grocery store. SB also has meal replacement bars found in a different section, but I don't eat those... too many calories, and I don't like replacing meals since we need all the good stuff we get from fruits and veggies.

Back to the plateau. I drink lots of water or green tea, eliminate coffee and dairy, and make sure to have an orange in the morning and afternoon. And be sure you walk at least 20 minutes.

I don't think there are any tricks to weight loss, just gaining health, but this has gotten me through the plateaus. I hope it helps you. btw- are you taking a multi-vitamin? That's very important while you're losing weight.

I am going to a doctor right now and have lost 37 pounds. I have 10 more to go. He put me on 1500 and then 1400 calories. Instead of weighing every day now I weigh once a week. He said womens body changes like the barametric pressure. He has a web site www.hateyourweight.com. Email him and ask his advice. I have a friend that was dealing with plateaus and what she did was just walk 15-30 minutes a day 4-5 times a week and the plateau was over.

Not a professional answer here, but from what I have read you are doing what sounds right (not knowing your actual weight/height/BMI/etc.

Three things that helped me (lost 50lbs, 20 left to go). . . keep the calories about where they are, but make sure of these 3 things

You are properly spreading through out the food groups . . . don't totally cut out something that you use to eat a lot of (like carbs), your body will crave it and stash all it can incase it doesn't get any.

Make sure you are eating in a lot of little meals . . . most say about 200 calories at a time at least 6 times a day.

EAT BREAKFAST - some say eat at least part of your breakfast within the first 30 minutes of waking - - I have trouble with that myself, but I do try to always eat breakfast. At first it seems like you are hungry more when you eat breakfast, but then your body stops saying Oh food store and ask for more and just says thanks that was nice . . . I'm good for a while.

Weightloss is different for everyone and hard for most. Just remember, what the scale says is not what is the most important, it is how you feel about yourself inside and out.

good luck

Congrats on your weight loss! After baby #2, I'm working on it too! Cheryl Forberg is a nutritionist on The Biggest Loser and she has a new book that's helpful. You may want to see if they have it at your library and see if you like it before you buy. One of her suggestions when you hit a plateau is to eat low carb for a few days. It makes your body have to work a little harder and can make you drop a few pounds. Apparently that's what they do on the show and it obviously works! I think she blogs at cherylforberg.com Good luck!! :)

I agree with what Margaret and Christy told you. (and a couple others too).

When we are working on weight loss, there will be plateaus. Be patient and keep reminding yourself of how much you have done so far! Great job!

Our bodies hold onto weight when we consume too MANY or too FEW calories. We often forget about the too few part. Yes, if we consume too few, our bodies go into starvation mode and try to hold on to the fat stores for survival.

As a fitness instructor myself, I have a few pounds from winter I need to take off as well. I walk/ jog 2 days a week (30 min. of brisk walking/ jogging). I cycle once a week, and lift weight once a week. Your cardio workout needs to bring your heartrate into your training zone in order to burn fat. There is a formula for this that you can google; look for "training heart rate formula"

I am trying to add more yoga or Pilates into my week. Not only is changing up your exercise routine healthier for the whole body...but it keeps the work-out fresh and new!

Also, as I get stronger in the legs, back and arms, the muscles are more toned and I look better....but the weight often sticks around. I try to go by how my clothes are feeling or how strong I feel rather than focus on the scale. You NEED to be well hydrated and that water shows up on the scale. I only step on a scale twice a month...as someone mentioned....weight fluctuates a lot from day to day.

Hi J.,

When you eat too few calories for your body, the body reacts by not burning calories. It goes into survival mode. Then when you eat more, the metabolism is still in that mode. That could contribute to it.

I know of a product to be used in conjunction with exercise called Access Bars. They are scrumptious- often involving chocolate! The science behind it allows your body to more efficiently convert fat into energy. There is an Olympic athlete named Tammy Van Weisen (sp?) who uses them. She intentionally gains 30 lbs and then does these really long distance swims (like the English channel etc). Through the process, she loses the weight.

It might be helpful to check into it. I would be happy to tell you more :0)

Best,
S.

Way to go for losing 20 lbs! Plateaus are a natural part of weight loss. Although I'm not a professional personal trainer and I wouldn't consider myself a health nut, I have been doing Weight Watcher for about a year. What I've learned is that as you lose weight your metabolism does slow, so you need to adjust your calories accordingly. Of course you need to eat enough calories, drink enough water, get your fruits and veggies (4-5 servings) for it all to work. On the days you are exercising, you may want to try and up your calories a little bit, but no you do not need to eat all the calories you are burning.

It's trial and error sometimes. I plateaued and maintained my 33lb loss through the holidays, and now I am down 36. I found that maintaining for me was easy, getting back into the groove of losing not so easy!

It sounds like you are doing a program for yourself that is similar to Weight Watcher. I would reccomend you check out their site. They have a lot of free info, and if you subscribe online you can use all the online tools. They have great tips and articles too! I only do it online since meetings are not convenient. Just a thought!

I'm sure you will get over the hump! Remember we are in a marathon and not a sprint! Hang in there!

When your body goes into starvation mode you will stop loosing weight. You should increase your calorie intake for a day or two and then reduce it again. You might gain a pound or two but then you'll quickly loose it. I went from a size 20 to a size 10 in a year by having 900-1,000 calories a day and 2 hours of excerize a day every day but one day a week, or sometimes two, I ate a more normal diet. It seemed to work, obviously, as it kept the weight loss going!

S., mom to 5 and hopelessly fat again. :)

Some quick tricks, don't eat after 7:30pm, don't eat for an hour+ after workouts.

Not knowing how much you weigh or what kind of exercise you are doing it is hard to give a really good answer. You may need more calories, at least a few times a week. When we don't eat enough and are burning so many calories in a day/week, our bodies go into protection mode and store, instead of shed. Also, if you aren't already, start lifting weights. Don't be afraid to go a bit heavy. Use a weight heavy enough that you reach muscle failure by your 12th rep. You WILL NOT bulk up. This will simply kick your metabolism into gear. Also try switching up your routine, whatever you are doing. If you are running, try doing some kickboxing. Sometimes you need to create muscle confusion to get your body to respond.

Have you tried changing your exercise routine? I've noticed that my body gets used to doing the same exercise and stops losing weight. I switch up with step, weight training, running, and any class that I can take at the Y. Good luck, and good for you!

I would recommend Weight Watchers online. It tells you how much you need to eat and exercise according to your weight, height, and activity level. Good luck!