Attack of the 4-month PLATEAU!

Help! I'm starting to lose it. Not the weight - I wish. The mind. And the motivation. About a year ago, I started looking into WLS. I weighed 311 lbs. and could see no conceivable way of losing 166 lb. on my own without help. Then, something miraculous happened; I suddenly began losing. I dropped 40 lbs in 3 months. My doctor decided to hold off on WLS because I was losing without surgery. I lost another 20 lbs. over the next 4 months, and then just sort of stagnated. Now I'm hovering around 250 lbs., unable to budge, but with a BMI just under what my doctor would require for me to be eligible for WLS. I'm still not sure if this is a blessing, or a curse. I lost weight on my own, which if I could keep it up would be great. But I haven't lost in the last 4 months, and now I don't qualify for WLS anymore, which just leaves me feeling stuck. I modeled my diet plan after the RNYer recommendations, filling up on protein first and staying as far from sugar and starch as my will power can manage. I'm also insulin resistant, so my doctor loves this plan. I exercise two to three times a week, a half hour at a time. I've been reading blogs and posts about plateaus, and have tried a few different things to break through. I tried drinking protein shakes all day and not eating a meal until dinner time. I lost 4 lbs in a month, but my body had gone into starvation mode and as soon as I began eating normally, I regained the weight. I tried eating more, because I'd read on quite a few blogs that eating a little more helped some people break through their plateaus. I lost 4 lbs, then gained them again. I've decided to up my exercise from 30 mins. two to three days per week to 30 mins. five to seven days per week, but I haven't been able to figure out what to do with my eating habits. I realize that after a certain amount of weight loss, the body holds onto all the fat it can because it thinks it's going to be starved, but I would have thought I'd get passed that after 4 months. Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to kick-start the loss again? Even just sharing your experiences with plateauing and breaking through it would help. At the moment I'm feeling very alone, and very discouraged. Peace, Somayeh 311/250/145

First of all, congratulations on your weight loss! That is wonderful! Have you considered weight training? It makes a huge difference. Also, I agree with you about the need to exercise at least 5 days a week. I will tell you that when I was trying to actively lose my weight, I was exercising 1 hour per day, 7 days per week of cardio w/ 30 minutes of weight training M-W-F. Now that I'm maintaining my loss, I'm down to 30 minutes per day of cardio with 20 minutes M-W-F of weight training. Although it's a lot, the exercise is key. Also, you need to consume enough calories to keep your body fueled. IMO, starving yourself won't work in the long run. Have faith in yourself that if you take it off slowly, it will stay off. It took me nearly 3 years to lose 120 lbs. Good luck!

Good Morning Somayeh! First of all, congrats on coming as far as you have. Any weight loss is worth celebrating! Plateaus suck. I know. While I was actively trying to lose weight, I plateaued every 10-15 lbs or so. I'm stuck in a rut right now, actually.... have been bouncing between 150-155 for MONTHS now. HOWEVER.... it is my fault. I'm not "trying" to lose weight. I'm sort of taking a break from the stress of making myself lose the weight, and concentrating on just maintaining.... for now. ANYWAYS... Some of the plateau buster ideas I used were this: -- Increase your water intake by 2x. -- Decrease the time between meals..... but eat as light meals as possible. -- Eat foods that promote a healthy active metabolism and digestive system. -- Meet with a Nutritionist/Personal Trainer! It is DEFINATELY worth it. Sometimes they figure things out about your body and how it handles certain foods, that you would've never known. -- By a pair of pants that are a size or two too small. Use them as inspiration, try them on once a week to see the little changes. Eventually you'll fit into them, go out and buy another pair. This is what kept me going, actually.... (I don't have ANY right now... maybe I'll go out and get some today and kick-start myself!!!) These are just some tips that have helped me. I know one thing I noticed about myself.... Sometimes I had to take a "break" from trying to lose the weight, and focus on maintaining. Maintaining is a little less stressful, and it allows your mind and body to regroup. Thats what I'm doing right now.... sometimes, when we stress out about losing weight, our body shuts down from the stress alone. We could be doing all the right things, but our bodies wont let us lose weight due to stress. A break to regroup isn't a bad thing sometimes! Good luck with breaking your plateau, and keep us informed on how you make out!! -CJ 250/154/140

Hi Somayeh, I have been on a plateau now since July 14. I have been fluctuating between 210 and 215 for five months now. It is very frustrating but after losing 142 pounds I realize that at some point my body has to stop losing and settle somewhere. In addition it's very nice to see the scale settling somewhere instead of yo-yo'ing all over the place. Have you tried tracking what you eat? Sometimes there are things that we don't see or recognize until they are right in front of us. Have you spoken to a nutritionist or someone that can help you figure out what you need to do? I'd track what I'm eating, carefully. Then I would see what can be changed, added or removed. Sometimes it takes a while for the scale to show the changes. Have you been measuring? Let us know how it goes. Donna

Hi everyone, Thank you thank you for the encouragement and advice. I've been talking to my friends and family about this, but it's difficult for someone who's been 125 lbs all their life to truly "get it." Their advice is usually hollow, sometimes condescending, and almost always useless. I'm going to try the suggestion of eating more often, with smaller portions each time. I'm also going to take the stress and focus off of weight loss for the time being and focus on exercise and increasing my stamina and strength. When I was in therapy, my psychologist suggested that when it comes to psychological issues, things move as a group, but we can only focus on one issue at a time. If we hit a barrier on one thing, it usually means we're actually being held down by another issue that needs to be addressed. It made sense, and I think it applies here pretty well. I've made an appointment with my PCP for this Thursday. She hasn't really worked very closely with me on this at all. Mostly she's just said "keep doing whatever you're doing, since it seems to be working." Now that it's not working, I'm going to ask her for a referral to a nutritionist, and possibly a bariatric specialist. I'm sure there is a lot they can suggest or bring light to that I don't know. I also really liked the suggestion of keeping track of my food. I had started a journal of my eating, but having a group to be accountable to would be helpful. I tend to be a lot more motivated that way than if I'm only accountable to myself. Thanks guys. I wish you all the best in your efforts and a blissful journey. God bless, Somayeh

I had a 3 mo. attack after just having the surgery 4 mos. prior. I was so frustrated and thought that the surgery wasn't going to work for me. I needed to lose 300# and at 4 mos. I was down 95# and stayed there for 14 weeks. My inches were changing but that scale held tight, froze on that number. One morning I got on the scale and dropped 15# seemingly overnight. I changed from protein drinks to cottage cheese, they say dairy will help you lose. Well I don't know if thats what did it, but in the last 4 weeks I dropped 30#. Now I have plateaued again. But at least I won't freak out. I realize that I have carried this weight for 45 years and it won't just melt off, it has to regroup and then leave. So hang in and keep a food log to analyze anything you might be missing. I keep track of Liquids, Calories, Fat, and Protein.