Stalls/plateaus

I am hoping if I tell you all my story, that maybe someone will have some wonderful advice. I am in a stall/plateau right now and I have tried many things to get over this hump and I apparently still have not found my missing puzzle piece to get back on track. Before surgery I lost 23 lbs with the preop diet and doing atkins. Since surgery (10/11) I have lost 17 lbs. I have lost only 1.5 lbs in the last 5 weeks though. I have totally kicked up my exercise, count every calorie, have tried 6 tiny meals instead of 3, make sure I always get at least 60 grams of protein and tons of water. I know that with increasing exercise I can possibly see inches lost vs pounds lost because of losing fat and gaining muscle and this is happening. I dont know what I should be expecting in the weight loss dept though. The calorie deficit I have every day is closer to 1000 instead of the 700 suggested to lose 2 lbs a week. I have gone to the nutritionist twice and her advice so far was 1) do 6 small meals to increase metabolism (even though she knows my surgeon wants only 3 meals w no snacks), and after trying that for 2 weeks now she wants me to increase my calories ( average 800-1000 a day now) to 1200-1400. I dont know how to get in those extra calories! As it is I have good restriction and I am NOT hungry unless it is at a normal meal time or I have done an especially hard workout. My mindset over the past 6 months has been to watch calories and not eat empty ones and for what I eat and getting in my protein it comes to 800-1000 and keeps me full and going so I dont know how to do the 200-600 more a day. If anyone has some wonderful piece of advice or something that I may be overlooking please chime in! I really dont want to get into a funk with this scale not moving even with working my butt off. (And a fill is NOT what I need, I wouldnt be able to get the calories I do now if I were any tighter.)

 i just have one question....do you have a tape measure to know how many inches you have lost?  
When i hit a plateau, I usually find that i have lost inches while the scale hasnt budged. 

some people like to weigh everyday and some people just once a week. me?  i just get on a scale once in a while when i "feel lighter"      (doesn't always work though)

I do measure, and have lost inches. I take pics every couple of weeks too and can see a difference there too. I just really wonder about what I should expect when I am working out. Shoud I expect NO loss scale wise? Should I expect half of the normal 1-2 lbs a week as long as I am losing inches? Does the inches lost without lbs lost last for a certain amount of time and then get back into weight loss also? My exercise has increased dramatically and I am really enjoying the "high" that comes afterwords and the benefits of feeling better so I dont have plans to quit or anything. I am just confused and frustrated with working so hard and knowing that next time I go to the dr they are going to see such a small amount of weight loss and think I am not doing my part. I dont want to "get fit" and still be the weight that I am!  How is this supposed to work out in the getting fit and losing weight game???  I did lose the most weight on atkins preop, but I also did not work out then and I dont believe I would have had the fuel to get me through these workouts if i go back to it, but I would REALLY like to see the scale moving again!

There's so many variables in play and i probably won't explain it very well because i worked a night shift last night and havent been to bed yet but i wanted to suggest until a more verbally capable person responds here, that you can use the search function in the top right corner and type in "plateau" or "stalled" and you will find many with this same issue.

The heavier you are to begin with, the faster you may lose....at first. How much have you lost or have left to lose?

The only other thing i might offer is to say...you are not alone. Stalls happen.. sometimes you just gotta shake up your routine a bit but it sounds like you are doing just fine. I would just keep on doing what you are doing (minus the worrying) and jus****ch those inches get less and less and before you know it, the scale Will catch up with ya.

I went back to the shakes since Oct. I use the Jillian Michaels vanilla and chocolate.  Make sure and add a 100 cal greek yogurt and some strawberries to the vanilla one. The yogurt is the secret it ups the protein put it in both shakes. I do one for breakfast and lunch  snack I have 1 cheese stick and 50 cal pretzels and eat a Healthy Choice meal for supper. I love the turkey and mashed potatoes and it has butternut squash with apples and cranberries for 250 cal. for a snack before bed I eat the 100 cal popcorn or the 100 calorie fudge striped cookies. I have lost 19 lbs since Oct. This has worked better than anything that I have done. I am 31/2 years out I have finally lost 85 lbs. I just got the zumba dvd's I love them. I have done them for 2 weeks I sure can tell I am shrinking. I was a super slow looser. Are you on meds? I was taking two antidepressants and my metformin. I got off the antidepressants and now I can keep loosing. I got these skinny wraps I did 2 this last week. I lost 2 inches off of my loose skin. Yea just google it works body wraps. I am fixing to sign up for 3 months you can get 4 for 59.00. I paid 25.00 each for the ones I just did but I wanted to try them they work for 3 days. Don't get down on yourself! I got stuck too. I only lost 50 the first year and in July I was at 222 I nearly died I had gained about 20 lbs. I am now at 189 so I have lost 33 lbs since July. I also take diet pills pentermine I don't take them all the time but when I am at a stall I do. I keep changing it up and trying new things. Your body gets used to something and it doesn't work anymore. Good Luck Hugs and Prayers Renea

Sounds like you are doing everything right........it is amazing how our bodies are able to adapt itself......... I would keep on doing what you are doing, only weigh once a week...........eventually if you keep it up your body should give in.......I have always been a slow loser, and some loose in clumps...none for a few weeks then one week 3 or 4..........all in all it should average out to 1-2 pounds a week..........

Kind of hard to beat yourself up when you are doing everything right) (at least you can feel good about that)..........the only thing I can think of is to make sure that the portion sizes are right...it is easy to overestimate.

If you are losing inches then you are losing... screw the scale for the meantime (I know it is hard and I wish I could always do it).........1 pound of muscle is the same as 1 pound of fat it just takes up less room so there is something going on and more muscle means a higher metabolism........

You are doing great!!!!

Michele