Thread: HELP!!!!No weight loss in a LONG time

Sure, it goes down 1/2 a pound here, up 1/2 a pound there, but I have lost NO weight since around the beginning of March. I had moved out of induction when I stopped losing. Last week, I moved back to induction to see if I could jump=start my weight loss and have lost NOTHING!!! My little strips are turning VERY light pink. I'm so frustrated!!! Here is a typical menu....is there anything wrong with it?
(this is only a typical menu...I dont eat the same thing everyday)
Breakfast...bacon and eggs, sometimes a protein shake if I'm in a rush
Lunch...salad. My favorite is taco salad, which I make with ground beef, cumin, and chili powder, serve over raw spinach with cheese and sour cream (not mounds of sour cream, just a little).
Dinner...steak, chicken, or pork chop, one or two veggie sides (I favor green beans and broccoli or cauliflower)

Snacks that I've been eating: pepperoni chips, one minute muffins made with either zero carb bake mix or flax meal or both, hard boiled eggs, cucumber slices, an ounce of cheddar cheese.

I drink about 80 to 100 ounces of water every day. I exercise 5 to 6 times a week. I lost 28 pounds in the beginning of this wol, now nothing. I don't buy that my body is "trying to catch up," because it has been so long since I've seen any losses. I *certainly* don't buy the muscle weighs more than fat argument, because I am not buffing up. LOL!!! And this is *definitely* not my body's natural, healthy weight.
So, pro's, please help me! I really want more weight loss, and I am not getting it. I'm tired of getting on the scale and seeing the same number. I can do that and eat carby foods. I am working so very hard to lose weight. I'm so frustrated!!! PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

***It's 8 a.m. and I am eating my breakfast...2 hard-boiled eggs and an 8 ounce shake with 2 grams net carbs (no sugar alcohols)
11:30 am...saald: 3 cups baby spinach with 1 h/b egg, 3 strips bacon crumbled, 2 ounces of cheddar, 2 slices (1 carb each) turkey breast, 1/4 cup red onion, 1 TBSP flax meal, and ranch dressing.

Rosie,

I know this is something that you don't want to hear but seriously, think about it. You lost 28lbs in a short amount of time. That will take the body a while to adjust too. THat's not 10lbs but almost 30lbs. Yes, it's a lot. A lot for your metabolism to adjust to, not to mention your muscles, heart and other organs. Have you tried the tape measure? If not, I'd suggest using THAT to measure your progress rather than the scale. I know it's nice to see #'s but you'll also see #'s in measurements. People notice measurements, and clothes react to measurements more than lbs.

That's my 2 cents.

Michelle, My thoughts are to look at your calorie intake. As I've been on this WOE for quites some time, my metabolism has dropped to a near stop. It seems like I can gain weight on about 1500 calories a day. It all boils down to calories expended less calories taken in. Even on LC we can eat way too much. In the early times on this WOE the intention is to get your body used to using fats as fuel. Now it is time to add in calorie counting mode as well. Still staying LC. Just watch the quantities taken in. When calculating your calorie intake look at your GOAL weight and see what the calories are to maintain that weight. Then reduce maybe 500 calories a day from that.
Good luck and hang in there!!

Oh Rosie, I know how frustrating this is - and frankly, I'm agreeing with both Shannon and Tom... when I'm doing everything right and re-inducting - I can get to a particular place and then no matter what I simply won't lose. I only lose again if I am VERY careful with the calories... and I've found that for me the calories have to be at 1200 or below to kick start the losing... and even then - it can take a week or two...

..and Shannon is also spot on - 28 pounds was more than 13% of your body weight! That is a shock to your system, it really is!

Hang in there m'dear... and patience is a virtue... you'll be fine!

one last opinion, but thats really all we have.
we don't know your body or your lifestyle.

but the thing I see is that you are exercising 5-6 times a week, drinking plenty of water, and from what I see, are not eating enough for this level of activity.

Do you use fitday?

honestly, I have seen in the past that with an increased level of activity (higher exercise) you need to have the higher carb intake - more like 40-50 or higher - to sustain it, or you are putting your body into that 'starvation' mode. How high did you actually get when you moved into the OWL stage?

Michelle, losing weight is not a race, despite how much we want it to come off quickly. IMHO one of the worst things you can do is set an artificial deadline by which you want to reach a certain weight. It is easy, and very tempting, to extrapolate a weight loss rate and say "I have lost xxx in 3 months, therefore I should be down to yyyy in 6 months." Unfortunately, it dosen't work that way. Stalls can be very frustrating. While on Induction, I had 1 stall that lasted for over a month. After shifting to OWL, I had another that went on for almost 6 months. I did not get discouraged because I knew from DANDR and from posts on this and other boards that stalls were to be expected and to just keep with the plan. After years of a vicious weight loss/gain cycle, I have come to accept stalls as a positive event, afterall, I am not gaining and that is a victory. Hang in there.

With 5-6 days of working out you probably need extra protien.... could be that might help jump start your weight loss....I would watch the pepperoni (lots of salt, can be keeping water from flushing...)
Did you measure yourself before you started... have the inches stopped getting smaller???

while you don't believe that muscles weight more than fat cause you are not buffing up... but to be real muscles do weight more than fat because you aren't buffing up you are making them stronger and thereby they are heavier than the fat that they are taking the place of....I have seen pictures of what 5 lbs of fat looks like and what 5 lbs of muscles look like and the fat is about two times as big as the muscles....(believe it)

anything else change, sleep habits, just trying to see if there is something else that is happening besides the stall....
hope some of this helps

Carolyn: I only eat pepperoni once or twice a week. Around this house, it goes fast. The girls love it. The inches are not leaving either. Nothing is changing about my body. My clothes are not fitting different either.

Mary Kay: How? Just suddenly start eating a ton of carby stuff? Or slowly? B/C going into OWL started my stall. I was up to 30 grams a day. Gained at 30. Wasn't working out quite as hard back then. How do I increase to such a big amount? What the heck do I eat??? I can't eat THAT much salad lol. Please advise!! Slow, or faster because I work out so hard? I'm petrified that it'll cause me to gain!!!

I wish I could be more help.
there are 2 'sticky' threads in the ongoing weight loss forums

An Unreasonable Fear of Owls?

Where to get your 5 GMS for OWL

I really wish I knew a magic answer for you.
Heck I wish I knew one for me.

but check out the above and see if it gives you any insight.

hey michelle-sorry to hear you have a stallout. those stink, i know! it sounds like you're doing lots of things right...first off, don't panic! sometimes it works this way. the most important thing right now is that you don't let getting discouraged derail ya.

keep the faith. sound silly? sometimes, people do have to ride out for a while before the losses start again. and yeah, sometimes it can be quite a long time.

start tracking your food, if you're not. see if you can find anything out of whack. menus aren't my best thing personally, but yours looks pretty good to me.

you may want to experiment cutting out various things, and see if any of them are causing problems for you. some people cannot eat many one-minute muffins. some have trouble with the shakes. some, with the lc bake mixes or any wheat product. some have problems with diet pop or caffiene or specific sweetners. it's very much an experimentation process.

sometimes people will shake things up. eating more carbs for a few days, eating less. some shake up their exercise routine. some change supps or add green tea.

i understand your frustration. heck, i feel frustrated sometimes for the same reason. it's so much slower now than it was at first, when i'm losing. but i also know that i'm taking good care of myself and, usually, making good choices.

i wish i had more and better suggestions. unfortunately, sometimes the best answer to "pauses" are patience. let us know how things go.

Thank you, all, for your advice. This is soooooo frustrating, but I'll just keep plugging along.

Michelle -

You asked how you could up your calorie/protein intake w/o adding too many extra carbs.

I noticed you don't have that much sausage in your diet. I recommend going to a nice delicatessen for pastrami and knockwurst with a strong german mustard, fresh cole slaw and pickles.

Seriously, I think you should be eating more - not less. Starving yourself is not the solution in this WOE. Stuffed red peppers with ground beef, cream cheese onions and garlic is.