I know how you feel. I'm in pretty much the same situation...I'm 5'10" and 11 stone, so not overweight, but I'm not at all confident about how I look, and would like to get down to 10 stone just to boost my image confidence. I was about 11 stone 8lbs when I started, and I lost the 8lbs easily from eating healthily and working lots, but I've been stuck on a plateau for about a month, never breaching the 11 stone mark!

What I've tried doing is working out what I'm eating on a regular basis that's the most fattening, and I'm starting to keep a food diary too. Also try to look at whether there's something in your lifestyle that's changed since you stopped losing weight....with me, I've had parties and things that I've been to, and in the last couple of weeks I've had a friend who's been staying for a few days each week who loves going out (alcohol) and also has a thing for chocolate, so I think that may be something!!

Or maybe just start putting some extra exercise in every day...that may make the difference? Good luck!!

Also apparently green tea is really good for you....my sister's been drinking it after most meals and swears by it, as apparently it speeds up the metabolism, and is really good for you....though I'm not so sure about the taste!! xxx

Also, try varying your workout your body will plateau and not respond to your exercise regimen once it's used to it. Flip flop days, if you usually jog on Tuesdays and Thursdays, switch it to Monday and Wednesday, etc...you get the picture. But your body needs a change, flip flop days, cut back or change the way you work out all together ( a different video/dvd or a different set of machines).

Hey everyone!

Thanks for all the tips. For those of you who asked, I usually really CHEAT on my cheat days. I have a weakness for pizza. Just plain old cheese pizza. And I tend to eat that on my cheat days. Perhaps I should try eating something very healthy BEFORE the pizza, that way I can still get my pizza carving, but only eat one slice instead of 3!

I was also wondering - About a month ago, I started taking CLA. It's a supplement from GNC. It apparently helps build lean muscle mass. Is there any way that the reason I'm not dropping pounds is because the CLA is causing me to gain muscle mass?

I am going to try and start varying my workouts. I'm pretty much on a basic routine. I'll keep everyone updated!

In answer to your question: YES!!!

The CLA is trying to provide your body with protein needed to build muscle mass. In order to build stronger muscles (lean or bulky) you must work them to the point of exhaustion. When I say exhaustion, I don't mean make yourslef dead tired. I mean WORK them, don't just keep them conditioned. Whenever a muscle is worked hard enough (doesn't have to be strenuous) its fibers will breakdown and rebuild. Your CLA provides the body with the protein needed to rebuild these fibers. But if this protein isn't needed (the muscles are not worked) then your body will eliminate the excess through excretion or store it as fat. As a result, CLA could very well be the cause for your plateau phase.

Something else I want to call to your attention is the food you are eating. Back in the 70's cheat days were fine, but now days, a liitle bit of the wrong food could be costly. Most of the foods we buy, whether they are fastfoods or produce from the supermarket, are nutritionally deprived and loaded down with hazardous toxins. Did you know that it takes ten apples today to receive the same nutritional value as one apple did in the 70's? It's true, and you would think eating apples and other fruits is healthy, but unfortunately, this is not true.

Many people experiance plateau phases due to these toxins. Your body's only defense is to trap these toxins in the form of fat, which cannot be burned off during excercise because they will be relesed into the body. This is why many people cannot seem to get rid of those last few, pesky pounds. Until now.

I cleansed my body of these toxins by using a product "Cleanse For Life" by Isagenix. It took around 9 days to complete but on day 3 I had already lost 3 pounds in fat and waste. Isagenix is the first company to offer a nutritional product that cleanses at the cellular level. For this reason, Isagenix provides amazing results.

I recommend that you cleanse, once a month, so that your body will be rid of the toxins, rid of the excess fats, and ready to absord nutrients such as the protein in yor CLA (although Isagenix had IsaLean, a lean-muscle shake that provides me with excellent results). You can check out Isagenix here at ISAGENIX International .
If you have any questions you can email me at roberttyler_06@hotmail.com

I have been working out for 8 months and I have lost 40 lbs...but I have hit a plateau. I have not lost anymore lbs in about 3 weeks, and I am doing the same thing I have always done....I need to loose 20 more lbs to get to my goal weight by Dec 1st. I do not think it is going to happen, but I wanted to see if anyone has any advice to help me start loosing weight again. I would like to loose about 10lbs at least by Dec 1st. Thanks...

Here is my current Schedule:

Kickboxing aerobics 3 times a week
Walking at brisk rate 3-5 times a week for 30 mins
Weight training 2-3 times a week for 15 minutes

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on losing so much weight!

You may want to take a look at what you are eating. It takes fewer calories to run your body now that you're 40 lbs lighter. Think of it like all the extra exercise you were getting as if you tied a 40 lb weight to yourself all day long. You may need to adjust your diet, or kick up the exercise just a tad to get the weight loss going again.

aye glad to hear ur putting the work in, sounds like u made and ace start!

however here lies the problem

just that


if you do what you have always done, you will get what uve always got

to lose weight u need to work harder, take ur exercise up a notch, push urself a little harder in each workout, you can do it!

What's your caloric intake? Has it been constant over the past months?

I eat about 1800-2000 calories a day...is that too much?

Hard to say. Do you know what your "maintenance" calories are? There are a billion places online to figure it out, google it and do a handful and you'll see a basic range. It all depends on your age, height, weight, bodyfat percentage, activity level, etc.

Most people seem to get good results breaking plateaus by either dropping or raising their calories by 200 or so a day. You could try dropping it, and track your progress for a few weeks, and see if that does it.

Some people find that just switching up the way they are doing their exercise routine is enough.

The key is to try something and KEEP TRACK - so you know what is and what isn't working. And remember everyone is different - someone in your exact situation might benefit from something that doesn't help you at all.

I agree, it sounds like it's time to shake things up a bit.

Our bodies get used to our routines and will learn how to function with that routine. Shake it up, add some calories for a couple days, ease of the exercise for a day or two and see if that can jump start your weightloss. (sounds weird to say eat more but it will freak your body out and make it say 'hang on what's happening!)

Hello Everyone, I've been away for awhile shortly after I became a member. When I first joined I weighed in at 205lbs from 262lbs, I am a Type 2 Diabetic with good numbers. I recently came off of an antidepressant called Wellbutrin, I mention this because shortly after I stopped I began to gain weight even after working out in the day and swimming in the evening. A small percentage of folks on Welbutrin lose weight, so I'm thinking maybe now that I stopped my body is gaining weight? I don't know if this has anything to do with my weight gain but that's all I can think of. I currently am at 214lbs and am determined to get under 200lbs, I am 5'10 so ideally I would like to get to 180lbs.

One of my problem areas is my stomach, I'm one of those men who get all the weight in the belly so naturally that is the last to come off, I have gone from a 44" waist to a 36" but my goal is a 32" ( I even have the jeans in the closet, they are my goal jeans).

I'd like to find a friend or two who have already accomplished their weight goal and are maintaining their weight loss, ideally someone who can give me some advice on how to step up my weight loss program in order to take off the weight I want.

If anyone is in San Francisco I'd like to find a work out partner too.

I'll keep checking back for replies.

Thanks in advance,

David
aka David1965

Good morning to everyone out there, I'm happy to say the Plateau is over!!!

For a couple months I seemed to hover anywhere from 205-209lbs, then my doctor removed me from a med I was taking which I feel caused me to put on some weight up to 212lbs.......I just returned from an 8 day cruise and sky rocketed up to 222lbs (How'd that happen?) so as you can imagine I was feeling like the battle was being lost. Well, what goes up, with some hard work and dedication WILL come down. The weight gain on the cruise was due to eating processed foods and more of them, I also retained some water due to the Mexican Heat and salt in the food and I'll admit I did drink more than I normally would at home (Vodka Martinia dry, lemon twist).

Within one week I dropped 9 of the 12lbs and didn't even work out. As for the meds, I believe my body just took some time to get used to not having this particular med in my body. A week after I returned, my workout partner and I have been hitting the gym daily, this morning I weighed in at 209lbs, so I am very happy and am still after my goal of 199lbs! I did change my eating habits by looking at what could I do to lower my fat intake, for one thing I drink a lot of milk, 2% but by going to Nonfat will make a little difference. I also like to eat cheese and hate the nonfat cheese so I just don't buy it anymore. Basically, I learned to cut corners but not starve myself, every little bit helps.
As for having Type2 Diabetes, I ran out of meds and my doctor took one week to refill my prescription, I wasn't too worried because my numbers are good and I was curious if anything would change since I was off the meds. Turns out on day 7 my numbers were still low and I attribute that to my diet, exercise and weight loss.
I hope someone out there is reading this and maybe it will encourage you to hang in there, don't get discouraged, I just got through a very hard plateau but I did it and now I'm feeling like there is no stopping me now.

Keep up the good work,

David
aka David1965

Congratulations on not giving up! Those cruise ships can be killers! I worked on the Star, Sun and Caribbean Princess ships last year, and went from 198 to 225.... I'm back down to 209 again and am back into my 33 waist jeans.
I think it's time for another vacation to celebrate now