HELP! How to break a 2 month plateau?

I had surgery on 11/7/03. I was 287 day of surgery & am now down to 219. Problem is I have been stuck at 217 - 220 for 2 months now. I don't know what to do to get this to move. I did quit going to curves 3x a week, but I added swimming 1hr a day for 4 days a week and cycleing for 45 mins or more 3-5x a week. I useually eat a 2 egg omlette w/ swiss for breakfast around 9am, 6 slices of thin turkey sanwhich style (no bread), or 2-3 roasted chicken breast tenders w/ bbq sauce for lunch around 1 pm, a snack of tropical trail mix or a protien bar around 3-4pm and dinner can be anything from hamburger helper to 2 pieces of extra thin crust pizza (pepperoni & veggie). I am having a hard time fighting the mental hunger again, so maybe I am not portioning my food properly. Any suggestions on portioning? It has become harder since I seem to be able to eat a lot more than I used to. Anyway, any help, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

Beverly - wish I could help you. I'm in a similar boat. I'll be waiting anxiously to see what people say to you! Karyn

I feel your pain, Beverly! I feel like I'm standing still at 211 when all the others have broken the 200 pound mark long ago. I struggle every day with making good food choices--what seems to come so easily to others is a real fight for me. It sounds simple--eat protein, stay away from too many carbs, don't eat sugar--but every day is a fight to make myself do what I know is right. I walk 3 miles 5 days a week and I do the best I can with the food choices but it is a constant struggle to eat right. I try to remember that I feel and look better than I have in years and not let other's success get me down, but it's hard not to compare if you aren't one of the big losers. Of course, I'm happy for all the others--just wish I was with them!

Hi. I had my surgery 11/17/03, so I'm about the same place as you. I just came out of a mth. + plateau myself. I tried a fruit fast yesterday and it worked....I ate fruit all day long and I lost 3.5 lbs. I hope that the weight will continue to come off, too, so we'll see. If I might make a suggestion to you, it seems like you may be eating too many carbs. Try to cut out places where you eat carbs, such as the pizza....the crust (even if thin crust) has tons of carbs and the tropical trail mix probably has lots too. Remember, carbs make you crave more carbs, plus it stimulates hunger, so you don't feel full eating just carbs. I would suggest remembering the protein first rule...always have protein first as the first/primary course and a LITTLE carbs, try to stay less than 15 per meal if you can help it. I'm no angel either, but it just seems like you may be consuming too many carbs. Also, try to get in more non-starchy carbs, like salad and green beans, etc. I know it's hard, but you really need to make the most of this time to get your weight off. You may also want to switch up your exercise activity and do the ones that you did when the weight was coming off. Make sure you are drinking enough H20, for sure. I hope these tips help. I know that alot of the time, you just need to jumpstart things but doing different foods and different activities...mix it up because your body gets adjusted to certain foods/activities and sometimes we need to give it a shock to help move things along again. Good luck!

Here are my suggestions: Go back to Curves. Any exercise is good exercise but swimming and cycling are pure aerobic. Strength-building or resistance exercises like on the machines at Curves are more effective at promoting weight loss because they increase your metabolism. I actually am going to suggest you increase your carbs for a short while--eat lots of carbs for 5-7 days, then cut them completely! I will sometimes plateau for a week or two on the low carb thing, but if I relax it for a while and then restart the weight starts falling off again. Last time I did this I gained one pound over a carb-happy week but the following week I lost 8 pounds for a 7 pound net loss. Carolyn DS 11/03/03 317/196 (-121 and counting)

Just broke my 6 week plateau. I think all I did was "weight" it out. I try to keep in perspective that I am eating a small fraction of what I used to and absorbing less than what I take in. I do limit snacks though, I find the more times I eat, the more I can eat (4th of july picinic I made myself sick). The plateau will break. I lost 13lbs this past week after not losing more than 2-3lbs in the previous 7 weeks. Even when the scale was not moving though, I did notice my clothes were getting looser and looser. Good Luck!

I had a similar plateau from month 6-8 and it finally broke. I still do protein Mondays ( only protein drinks) have been drinking alot of water and crystal light, upped my exercise and make sure I'm getting 90-100 protein per day. I'm down to 209, my surgery was 11/4 I'm also waiting to break the 200's and move to an over 100 lb loss like I keep reading about. It seems there are some of us that are slower loosers, but I've heard that that is a good thing. I'm just happy the scales are moving again.

Congrats on breaking your plateau!!

I am in the same boat as you. I have been stuck at 125 for the last 6 weeks and it is driving me nuts!!!! I started to increase my carbs this week and will be cutting them out tommorow . I hope this helps my body to lose those last 15 pounds that I want to lose. ((((HUGS)))) Dawn

Thanks all for the suggestions & encouragement. Also, I realized I forgot to mention that I do weight training at home with regular weights & a BowFlex. That was the main reason I quit Curves (had the resistance stuff at home). I also didn't say that when I do have Pizza I useually only eat a potion of the crust on 1 slice (if that) then just the topping on the other. Well, I think I will try the "shock" the system approach. Maybe that will work. Totally of this subject, but I went to Marine World this last weekend and was able to ride all the roller coasters without issue!! One goal met! I am a roller coaster fiend and it seriously got to me the first time 7 years ago that I went to ride a coaster and couldn't because the buckle wouldn't fasten because I was TOO big. Now after 7 1/2 years I can go on anything and not worry about the harness not fitting!!!! So even though these plateaus SUCK, I am VERY pleased with my weight loss and the energy I have now that I didn't before.