Hey guys I'm new and stuff to this site so I thought people here can give me good advice . Sooo I've been dieting for about 3 months now started at 265 pounds and now I'm 250 pounds. I've been running for a half hour for about 3 miles 5 times a week. But I seem to have stopped losing weight about 3 weeks ago. I haven't drank any soda or had any sweets and I don't eat after 6:00. So I kind of don't know what seems to be the problem I've seemed to have hit a plateau. I was wondering if someone would have some advice for me I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

Soda and sweets has nothing to do with it. Neither does eating after 6.

No food in and of itself makes you fat or prevents you from losing weight.

Eating at night doesn't cause one to store or maintain fat.

It comes down to calorie balance. If you're not eating fewer calories than your body needs, you're not going to lose any weight. There are other important factors but calorie balance is most definitely the foundation you need to get a handle of before worrying about anything else.

You might check out FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal

I'd also recommend reading through the stickies here on the forum.

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If wondering, my body dropped 60 "extra" lbs during the last 12 months - staring in Feb 2008. Slow and steady - like that turtle and rabbit race. Still, during my weight loss progress, my body hit several plateaus as well. Sometimes, for 4 consecutive weeks. I'd do the same exercises and same eating and still, the weight scale needled didn't move. GGGRRRRR. It was like my body was getting "too comfortable" doing the same thing over and over again.

For me, I found changing one's exercise routine had to be done. Sometimes, "more time" broke my previous plateaus. For example, increasing from 30 to 45 minutes on the TM. Or, skip jump roping 500 "double jumps" instead of stopping at 300 jumps. More time "most often" worked. But not always. During my last plateau, adding more time was adding too much pain in my knees and ankles. Sad to say but adding more time was "too much" on my age 44 joints. Thus, I changed my exercise routine to "less time" but with `more quality`. As some would say, it was time for me to add HIIT (aka: "blasting") into my normal exercises. For example, set TM for 35 minutes at 6% incline and speed walk at 3.5 mph for 5 minutes. Then, increase to 4.5 "super fast" speed walk for 5 minutes. Then, decrease speed back down to 3.5 mph for 5 minutes (for cardio to "settle back down"). Repeat up/down speeds in 5 minute blocks until all 35 minutes is completed. On my stationary bike, I'd set its LED display to rotate. Thus, showing both time and calories burned. For 4 minutes, I'd peddle at normal speed. For 1 minute, I'd peddle as fast as I can. After 1 minute, I'd slow down to previous normal peddle speed. Keep doing 1 minute "blasting" until all 500 calories is burned (which is usually 45 minutes). When I do my 4 mile jogs every other night, I pick 3 "short distance" strips of road and "open her up" (sort of speaking). Thus, blasting for 3 x short distances as well.

For me, HIIT (High Intensity Increase Training) into my normal exercises worked. It broke my previous plateaus - without adding more time. Especially since adding "longer time" wasn't working for my body anymore.

Hope this helps break your plateaus as well...

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Change for the sake of change is silly in my opinion.

I agree. If something currently works (like one's current exercise routine), then keep doing it. If one's normal routine no longer works, then one is forced to change. Try something different (like adding more time or use HIIT "blasting" in one's existing routine) to force the body out of its current comfort zone. Changing something that "is working" drives the body nuts. And sometimes, it backfires. Meaning, it has opposite effect. Thus, only change one's routine when it becomes less efficient (or stops working) for you.

Works for me...

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And even then, don't change everything. Far too many people think frequent change is necessary for success and it simply isn't the case, especially in the early stages of training experience.

And HIIT is most definitely not right for many populations.

I know you were throwing that out there as an example, but I wanted to add that for clarity for anyone reading this.

Why is it people always seems to get stuck at even numbers like 250 lbs or 200 lbs?

Why not stuck at 253 lbs or 201 lbs?

Dunno.

But invariably when someone claims to be stuck at a plateau, it's always an even number.