Hi Kazie!.

Same here. Started 5/23/06 have lost 106, goal 35 more. Still will leave me 20 pounds overweight by charts.......

Anyway, my experience is that I can get off a plateau by:.

1) Drinking more water.

2) Eating more protein and veggies (like doing a 4&2).

3) Changing up the foods or times I eat.

Whenever I get into a rut, normally my body will just get off the plateau by itself. But sometimes when it does not happen right away I will just change something up (not too much though) Usually that water will do the trick though. Everyone is different, so do what you think will work for you. I bet if you just wait, it will have to break though and start on the downward trend again. You know our bodies and minds have to just catch up with each other sometimes when we are going through these changes. Let's see each other to goal. I know that "Goal City" is ready and waiting with a coming home party for both of us!!!! :-)..

I just read something every interesting on another web site. This woman (who has maintained her weight loss for a long time) said she used to look at her plateaus as "practice maintenance.".

The reason is, you no longer have that dropping weight on the scale to motivate you, so you have to learn to find OTHER reasons to keep eating healthy and excercising. We will all face the same problem after we reach goal weight, so might as well get some practice under our belts now..

I really like that idea and hope it will make my next plateau a little less painful, because we really are in this healthier eating process for life...

VERY intersting, I mean!.

How I wish we had our edit buttons turned on.....

Maybe bump up the calories and protein with some peanutbutter and see what happens. I think sometimes, our bodies get "used" to what we are doing and we need to throw it a curve. Add a few calories and see what happens...

To break plateaus, I either:.

1. Eat bars every other day and eat them at a different time.

2. Up my water another 8oz.

3. Increase the intensity of my workout slightly (go for 5 mins longer, or .2 miles an hour faster on the treadmill, etc)..

I would have to agree with Gatita...I have been tryin to lose these last 15 pounds for over a month, up and down... I DO look at it as I am still eating the right foods, and continue to push myself, I KNOW they HAVE to come off. I refuse to let my brain play tricks on me, and try to talk me into giving up...keep on keep on! Dont give up ladies, we will hit our goal. ~Shannon~..

I am so glad this post is here!!! I'm down 50 lbs. and have hit my first plateau. It is crazy frustrating and I came looking for answers and support. Thanks you all! I've been trying to incorporate some of the suggestions already and will try some of the others today and this week. I guess the I just need to relax and practice getting my motivation from places other than the scale - great advice. Once again, it's nice to know I'm not going through this alone..

T..

I'm glad this post is here too. I seem to have hit my first plateau and it's tickin me off!! I was really, really depressed when I got up trying to figure out what the heck I was doing wrong?? The only thing I've done differently is ADD exercise and I stopped losing...ARGHHHHHHHH. I was about to stop the exercise, but it's so hard to get motivated to get started again...maybe I'll try some of these other suggestions and see how that works before I stop the exercise...Thanks for the tips everyone!!!..

I LOVED the idea that a plateau is "practice maintenance"!.

I also think that our bodies try to figure out what we're doing! My (silly) thoughts:.

We were settled in to a state of obesity, even gradual weight gain. Now we make this radical change, and the body is in shock, shinking fast! Then the body says, "Uh-oh, we're getting starved, hold on to the weight!" When we don't starve, but keep up the calorie inflow/exercise outflow, the body adjusts again at a gradual weight loss.

We add exercise. The body says "Uh-oh, hold on to the calories, we're being worked!" or maybe even, "Build muscles! We're workin'!!!" Eventually, those calories get used for our exercise demands, and we get back to gradual weight loss..

That's two potential plateaus..

Then we throw the body a curve by adding some treats, holidays, etc. Maybe add more exercise to compensate. Body says, "What's all this? Hold on to the calories until we figure out what's going on!".

Another possible plateau..

Add in monthly hormonal changes.... the body has to deal with an enormous variety of things!!!.

But in our heads, we know the answer. Calories in must be less than calories out, and we will loose weight.

I've obviously been thinking on this recently!!! I have decided that it's important to have a goal (mine is -15 lbs by 2/15, my b-day). But instead of just focussing on that goal, I need to focus on the day-to-day diligence, follow the plan, and I'll get there..

Thanks for the post and all the replies. They really help!..

Plateaus are the worst!!! I have just went through one myself. I think the thing that upsets me the most is not seeing the results when I get on the scales. So, solution, put the scales in your car, drive to nearest friend/relative's house and drop them off. Continue your program as advised by MF. Then, after a couple of weeks, drive back and pick up scales. If you don't see results then, repeat process...

I find that adding calories helps it to get started again, add some more lean protein to your day. I think we are on that very fine line of calories and it is just not sure what to do...

I'm so glad I searched this forum about plateaus. This is the third week that I haven't lost any weight and was starting to get really upset. Now I have a totally new perspective on the situation, I'm in "practice maintenance", not plateauing! Thanks to all of you for making this journey so much easier. Have a beautiful day...

You can also look at the graphs and see what you are doing differently now that might not be obvious to you. I had a little stretch where I lost less than 2 pounds a week for 3 weeks in a row and looking at my history graphs made it very clear why. In my case, my sodium was higher during that time and also my carbs. I adjusted my food choices and the problem went away (as you can see by my progress log below)..

Something else that has consistently worked for me when the scale slowed down was to do some exercise. Right now, my schedule is so hectic I don't have time for daily exercise, but when I see the scale slowing down, I squeeze it in and it jump starts me..

This coming week is the last week of school and I am a teacher, so starting next week, I have a goal to crank out daily exercise for the entire summer. My daughter and I are planning to transform our spare bedroom into our yoga/pilates room and exercise together. We are also planning daily bike rides to the park that is 2 miles from our home. I will get to spend quality time with my child and exercise too!! I love twofers!.

One more tip... If you notice, your TEE weight reduces each week when you log your weight loss. The more weight you lose, the more important it is to get in the exercise so that you keep your net calories burned consistent...