Hi everyone!

I have been eating let's say, 90% of the time clean but almost always teetering around 1450 calories. I do have cream in my coffee every day, maybe 1.5 oz of half and half, and once a week or so, a dinner treat like pizza etc. I am quite close to my goal weight (I'm 144 wanting to shed another 10-14 lbs) and find that I have hardly changed at all over the past six weeks or so. It is discouraging. :mad: Do I have to give up the cream, etc to really see a difference? Should I do more than 20 minutes of cardio a day? Maybe twice a day? :confused:

Thanks,
Danielle

Hi everyone!

I have been eating let's say, 90% of the time clean but almost always teetering around 1450 calories. I do have cream in my coffee every day, maybe 1.5 oz of half and half, and once a week or so, a dinner treat like pizza etc. I am quite close to my goal weight (I'm 144 wanting to shed another 10-14 lbs) and find that I have hardly changed at all over the past six weeks or so. It is discouraging. :mad: Do I have to give up the cream, etc to really see a difference? Should I do more than 20 minutes of cardio a day? Maybe twice a day? :confused:

Thanks,
Danielle

Sounds like a plateau! :(

Maybe it's time to try mixing things up. Calorie zig-zagging, different lifting routine, different cardio? Give your body something to think about.

:gl:

I am quite close to my goal weight (I'm 144 wanting to shed another 10-14 lbs) and find that I have hardly changed at all over the past six weeks or so.


Yes, Chopaholic is right. You've reached your plateau and need to change up your cardio / weight training plan. Using a set plan for anymore then around 8 weeks, your body gets used to it and adapts itself for it.

At that point you have to start mixing it up to keep your body guessing. Just keep at it and eventually you'll shed those pounds!
:gl:

I had a similar issue when I did my initial weight loss (260 down to 165). I was allowing myself a cheat day and coffee with cream - all I did is cut back the cream and slim down the cheat day to a cheat meal and voila - pounds started flying off. All the cream prob adds up to 500-1000 calories a week! I know its not the same, but I believe there are some healtheir choices in the "non-dairy" creamers.

Good Luck and whatever you do - dont let this stop you...let this help you push harder to achieve your goals!

I wouldn't do cardio twice a day tho... it's easy to over-train really. What I would do, as some before me suggested, is to mix things up. Maybe you are eating the same thing every day? Mix it around without breaking your diet split (which I presume is 40/40/20 in carbs, protein, fat). I would stick with 3/4 days cardio, 3 days weight (no, you won't bulk up just because you are lifting weights :) ) and do different cardio (HIIT) sometimes. Go with the stairclimber monday, weight tuesday, stationary bike wednesday, weight thursday, eclipse friday and weight saturday. This togheter with a 40/40/20 split with cals equal to your current weight times ten makes a good diet.
:gl:

Yup - I'd say try to mix your cardio routine up a bit...

You could try walking or power walking to and from work (if you can, of course!...don't try to walk for more than 60-80 minutes to begin with :nod: ), making sure you use the stairs and not the elevator...etc.

It's the little things that make the big differences!

And stick with it! Weightloss is a war of attrition...it takes time and effort. :tu:

And stick with it! Weightloss is a war of attrition...it takes time and effort. :tu:

I like your phrase. Nicely said. The questin is "Do you really want to lose the war?" I am on a plateau for a lmost a month now. I am starting lifting hard today for 2 to 3 months and hope that this will do the trick.

are you lifting weights? if you are that may be why you are losing weight slow, because you are gaining muscles at the same time

I like your phrase. Nicely said. The questin is "Do you really want to lose the war?" I am on a plateau for a lmost a month now. I am starting lifting hard today for 2 to 3 months and hope that this will do the trick.

Thanks!

The thing is that the time it takes to lose weight is often the reason why people give up on their diet/exercise and slip back into eating Big Macs watching TV....

I mean, lets face it;
If your idea of a good meal is pizza, and your idea of a good time is a couple of beers watching the game on TV...then a diet combined with exercise will probably be something you do because "you have to"..A chore.

It takes time and it takes persistence to lose weight. After all, think of how much time it took to gain the weight in the first place...probably a couple of years, right?

Besides from staying motivated and persisting, you need to make the transformation as enjoyable as possible. I find that when I feel like skipping todays workout, or having a cheat-meal, its almost always because I've been doing the same workout, or having had the same food for too long. It gets boring if you don't mix things up!

Today I'm trying out a new split in my workout routine...This is enough to make me really want to go and do my workout. Last night I had a small serving of noodles with tuna, something I haven't had for a couple of months now (I love noodles! :o ). Still, this wasn't a cheat-meal per say, I stayed within the constraints of my diet as far as fat/carbs/prot is concerned. But it made me feel good anyway!

One last thing when it comes to motivation - be sure to give yourself a good pat on the back when you see the results - however small they may be!

Try drinking organic green tea. I love it, and you will learn to replace that coffee with it soon!

Knock off the cheat day too.

Make sure those cardio sessions are brutally intense and short. Longer cardio sessions consume muscle, the absolute last thing anyone would want when getting in shape.

Please post a typical EXACT day of your diet, so we can evaluate further....

Try switching from creamer to 1% milk, then 1/2%, then go skim. Don't use those powders - they're full of hydrolyzed fat - the worst kind.

After you get to skim - go black! :spaz:

And change a cheat dinner to a cheat *item*. For example, if you usually have a chicken salad, drown it in creamy dressing, or switch out grilled chicken for fried chicken. :drool:

Change out one of your exercises for the week for something else. Is it warming up where you live yet? Take it outside and get some fresh air!

I wish I only had 10 pounds to go! Keep up the awesome work! :claphigh: