WEIGHT LOSS PLATEAU :(

it bothers me a lot. even at work, i want to double my workout but i just don't have enough energy to do that. i'm getting depress too. i'm scared of not loosing weight or might getting it all back! i'm also trying to stay motivated especially at this moment that im not loosing any pounds. i read one article saying that the minimum time of plateau weight loss is 4 weeks! ONE MONTH! and it'll last longer if i won't do anything about it.

anyone experienced this? could you just give me some advice on how to overcome this quickly? please.

Though I have not hit a proper plateau yet, but I did have a slow down period. I guess one should monitor their diet and keep up the minimal workout.

Patience is the only key here.

You're not eating enough. Period. Are you aware that <1000 is far too low a calorie level for healthy & consistent weight loss? I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt & assume you don't know this already. I see some 400-500 calorie days in your diet calendar, so it's no surprise to me your weight loss is stalling out. You need to get your intake up over 1200, at your weight 1500 is probably more appropriate considering you are exercising.

Keep your deficit (the column marked Net (kcal) on the right of your diet calendar) at 1000 OR LESS & you'll have more success. That means you'll either need to eat more (<=====THIS) or exercise less. And PLEASE get your protein intake up or you'll be exhausted all the time from all that exercise, if you're not already.

You'll see an initial increase in your weight when you bring your calories up, but that will pass quickly. Once your body is getting sufficient nutrition to perform its basic functions, it will burn fat more efficiently & isn't that what you want? At this point you're burning a lot of muscle mass along with the fat & you may not be happy with how your body looks when you reach your goal weight. Incorporating some strength training will help reshape your body if you're not already doing that.

I agree with the comment above, no wonder you do not have energy to be active since you are starving yourself.
You should measure your body fat not just your weight since especially with very unbalanced diets and the body shutting down because of starvation mode you might well have lost body fat (and very likely if your food diary is correct also muscles), but the water balance is masking the loss. The weight by itself is a meaningless measure, try to track fat mass percentage and your clothes size which will tell you a different story.
Starving yourself can only damage your long term fitness goals and hurt your health.

i did have some readings about the effect of cutting <1000 cal on your diet. so i tried to eat a little more, but i really feel full. and i eat like 5x a day, but just smaller meals, and since you've mentioned how serious it is not to cut too much calories on my diet, i'll try to eat more and increase my protein intake.

thank you so much guys for the advice. ill keep this in mind!

Many people have trouble eating the amount of food it takes to get up over 1200 calories. One reason is that so many people think you have to eat low-fat "diet" food to lose weight. For health reasons, all of us should eat "cleaner" whole foods, but if you're eating the lower fat ones like veggies & lean meats, you can get full before reaching your calorie target. The easiest way to add calories is to increase your fat intake, so choose fattier cuts of meat, snack on nuts/seeds, eat more peanut butter & avocado, cook with butter/olive oil. I wish eating more calories was my goal! There are so many delicious foods out there that are calorie-dense. You could even incorporate some treats once in a while, like a cupcake or something like that. There's nothing wrong with treats once in a while if you're being health-conscious the rest of the time. It's ok to enjoy food while you're losing weight.

When I started out I was AMAZED how much I had to eat. I was above 3000 calories per day and the weight was coming off at an incredible speed. kstub said it all. Eat more. Eat right. Enjoy the journey, instead of starving yourself. It's a LOT easier this way. It just takes a slightly different mindset on the whole thing, coming to terms with eating MORE to lose weight. It's so against all we know, until we know better. Good luck.

ohh you are so right kstub! i eat lean meat.. like, almost all the time since i started my diet. and i dont treat myself for any dessert, well i guess now i would be more comfortable eating a whole banana even after meal because i have to increase my calorie intake

and king.. 3000 cal?? boy you are a lucky man! and thanks so much kstub and king.. imma go print this out and post it in my room so i wont get scared of eating a little more

Take their advice! I was at a plateau for a long time. And I upped my calories from 1000 to around 1600. (Thanks KingKeld) I immediately started losing weight. SInce I lost I have had to decrease to about 1450 and am now losing again. Eat more, eat protein, eat fiber. Try a berry, yogurt, banana, soy protein shake.

well, majority wins it's just that, i'm getting scared whenever i eat like more than 800 cal/day. i already lost 22 lbs since jan 1'12 that i started changing my lifestyle upside down. so i'm really really scared of getting it back again,and this is the first time i really lose some pounds. before i've tried a lot of weight loss strategies but it doesn't made me stick to it. i always gain it back after a few months. but with all your help, and this site, it just makes me more stronger and motivated in meeting my goals. thanks so much.

and calannapy, dont worry, i will but ill raise my calories slowly coz its giving me some pain in my stomachs whenever i try to eat more than i used to

everything said is spot on, and wish I knew about that previously, but then again, I never had a resource like this site before!

I like to refer to plateauing as my weight "dead zone" - I've been there before with my previous attempts, and it always seems to occur about the same weight range - I swear it's like trying to conquer Mt Everest for me...

calannapy@ and since you've mentioned banana.. ill eat it now with some skimmed milk so will have some fuel for my intense workout at the gym later

Huwana, going back to lowfat dairy products instead of nonfat is another easy way to add back in some more calories. Good luck and please update us on your progress! Plateaus stink, that's for sure. I'm fighting with one now that just won't go away, despite my best efforts.

yes gnat, i'll keep you updated! thanks i already drop 2 pounds again, after 8 days of not loosing weight. so im hoping that with all this advices, i would not encounter plateaus anymore. goodluck with yours!