I've hit a plateau, actually been on one for a month. I didn't lose or gain (thank god) in May. How long do these last? Any suggestions for how to jump start the weight loss again. Someone suggested varying my workout. I walk on treadmill for about 30-45 min. per day about 6 days per week. Should I increase or decrease or try something else all together. It's hard to do much else with 2 kids under your feet. I'm about 10 lbs away from lowering my points. I don't eat my activity points and I sometimes don't even eat all my points per day. I always get the fluid in and then some. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!!

Oh, one more thing...I know I'm building muscle. I can tell and my clothes are still getting loose, so I must be losing inches. So, that's a good thing!

Sounds like walking the treadmill is enough to maintain Your present weight. Not sure how much You weigh, but if You are 10 lbs away from going down in points, did you just recently start using your present daily points??

Looking back over my progress, i see that i stayed in my targeted daily point total for an average of 3-4 wks,but that was with losses.

I do almost daily AP, if You read the thread, "what exercise had You done today" I do cardio one day then i do some form of weights/resistance training the other day.
Some days i walk.some days i don't. Some days i do 30 mins, some days i do an hour.

I understand trying to do things with 2 kids,but can you do different exercises before they wake up or after they go to bed.

There are alot of exercise videos out there and tons of exercise programs on tv.

The past past few weeks i would weigh in and have a great loss. The next day i would weigh myself in the morning and have a 3 lb gain.!!My body would hold on to that weight all week, until the next weigh in. Then the weight was gone.Again this week it did the same thing, i weighed in, lossed and the next morning i am up 3 lbs. So i looked at what i was eating, looked at how i was exercising, could it be i was building muscle? i have no clue.Like You, my clothes are fitting differently than they did 2 wks ago. I dont use my AP, some days i have 3-4 daily points left over and i dont touch the 35 weekly. I have lots of Weigh-ins to go to use any and all of that if and when i choose to.
So yesterday i decided no AP at all. And i elimanted the watermelon i have been splurging on.
This morning the scale went down to where it had been, so i needed a change.

I think that is what You need, maybe increase the walks on the treadmill or combine it with another AP activity.


Never think You are alone in the struggle.

Good luck.

Dear Carrie,

Presonally, I think it is just that a plateau in which your body is getting used to your new wt and setting new set points, since I read that you are doing so many things correctly. However I would say that you need to focus on you eating all of your daily food points.

Here is a list of somethings that my leader has said if your wt is not moving, but you are to check:

1. TRACK EVERYTHING you EAT since you may not be counting every point if you are on Flex. Likewise CHECK your all you can eat food list against that of teh WW book if you are on CORE AND double check the satisfaction feeling as a 2/3.

2. Are you getting at least 6 glasses of water/fluid per day to flush out toxins.

3. Watch/review portion size. Study the pictures or descriptions of what WW says a serving is. Palm of your hand or a deck of cards for 3 ounces of meat fish or poultry etc.

4. Are you getting enough fiber to move everything/waste out of the body? Water will flush out soluable liquid waste. Fiber flushes out solids. Recall 5 a day and 9 a day if you are over 200 lbs is a goal for fruits and veggies.

5. Are you exercising yet? enough? time to increase time or intensity?

6. If you are using your points for exercising then may be stop! If you are not using your points for exercising then maybe use all or some of them.

7. Are you following the 8 guidelines? Including too much sugar or limiting alcohol? Sugar can hold water too! How about enough oils?


8. Review your fat intake: Some people (like myself) cut out oils since they believe they have enough on their body, BUT research data shows that we need healthy monosaturated or polyunsaturated fats or oils to help our enzymes process certain foods and conduct body metabolism and other processes. When my scale was not moving in March I read this site about oils and put my two cents in. But when I added some oils back every other day the scale moved. Coincidence,luck, right timing or science?

9. Are you eating ALL of your daily points? If not you could be telling your body's fuel engine that its okay to run on fumes! You need energy to keep the fire going! You need to get a spark going to fuel the fire! So eat all of your daily points! Just likeyou have to 'stoke a furnace' you need to stoke your metabolism. I am sure some one else will add to this thread about you eating your daily points and exercise points and probably explain it much better! So stay tuned!

10. Change up your menu!!! If you are eating the same old thing day in and day out then STOP! Add new foods, the same principle as what someone told you about changing your exercise routine!

11. Put down the salt shaker! Salt loves water. I will add: Where ever sodium goes water follows! 2 grams is what the AMA says we should plan as a goal. 2 grams is 2000 mg per day. Watch fast food the average meal is already 1500 mg of sodium!

12. I will add: Spice it up! There is some research that says may spices can be thermogenic! Translation: Aid in metabolism and wt loss! Cinnamon, Tumeric, black and cayenne pepper! Along with this same thought is about HERBS: such as GREEN Tea.

13. Change the way you cook! If you are always fryint then bake or roast. If you are always roasting then try a bit of saute.

14. Are you counting the condiments that count? Mayo? Catsup?

15. Are you starving? Feeling hungry all the time? OR Edgy? Refer back to # 9 of this list

Okay if I think of anything else I will let you know.

Jean Cat

Wow, you guys have gave me much to consider. I am a creature of habit and tend to eat the same things over and over each day. I like those Quaker Oats oatmeal raisin breakfast cookies and I think I've ate one for breakfast 21 days in a row (maybe more--would have to go find old notebook). I don't eat again until noon and it's usually a panini or a WW meal or chicken salad/crackers. Usually have a Fiber one bar around 3:00 and then eat dinner. I usually save most of my points for dinner/late eve. snack. I'm drinking about 40 oz. of water a day and maybe 1-2 glasses of diet green tea/citrus and possibly 1/2 diet coke w/dinner. So, I think I'm getting my fluid in. My mom even suggested eating all my points b/c with all the treadmilling I need the points. I just haven't ate them b/c I don't really feel hungry or starving. I'll try doing this this week and see if that will get things moving again. Oh, I rarely ever cook a fried meal and if I eat out - again creature of habit - I love those fresco taco's from taco bell. I have them at least once a week. How many grams of fiber is one to have a day?? I think between the salads I eat with dinner, the fiber one bar, the oatmeal cookie--and the other 1-2 grams in other stuff - I think I should be getting plenty. I probably eat way more veggies than fruits.

WW can't stress enough about Variety, thats a boost in itself.. Our bodies get bored with the same old same old...

You actually must eat all your points, and if you exercise your body needs more fuel to burn the fat.
so its suggested that you also use you activity points.

Journelling is also a very important factor, this way you can vary your foods. don't get stuck on the same old....

One morning I'll have an egg and lite eng muffin
the next day, I'll have yogart and fiber one.

lunch I do the same, I don't eat the same thing daily, and at dinner I vary my foods, rice, pasta, and different meats, chicken, pork, shrimp, a wide varity of veggies and different drssings on a salad.

I do the same with WW deserts, one night it might be a smoothie, one nite it might be ice cream, or maybe a pc of FF angel food cake with strawberries and cool whip....

Again the name of the game is variety, and all the points we're allowed in the course of the day.........

Here are sites to help you know Daily Required Fiber.
But following WW guidelines will keep you in the required amounts.

25 g/day to 38 g/day males ages 19 - 51 yrs old
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_fiber
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/PUBS/FOODNUT/09333.html

You can really change things up and do CORE for a week. Also when one is close to goal, they say a plateau may happen.

Akus,

I forgot to mention previously--I am a long ways away from goal, even though I've lost 40 so far.

I'm doing the Winning Points - Not sure what Core is although I know of some people that do the Core program. How is it different than Winning Points?? I'm doing Winning Points b/c that's what worked for me in the past after having a baby years ago and it's what I know and am familiar with. I should have mentioned on this thread too (I did on another awhile back) that I am going this alone--not attending meetings due to financial reasons at the moment. I wanted to get a little more off and get closer to my own personal goal and then "join" WW again for support as I move into maintenance phase. Carrie

YES Carrie changing to CORE is one trick that WW does mention as a possible solution to a plateau.

CORE is a food plan much like the diabetic diet in the types of foods, but with less limitations in portions. There are no points to count. You will learn how to assess whether you are hungry, satisfied or overstuffed, using a scale system from 0 to 5 (I believe). You must eat before you get too hungry and stop before you get stuffed. You should go through the day with a satisfied feeling, not a feeling of empty or stuffed like many of us have done before WW. You basically are given a list of foods and told eat as much as you want; but eat only these foods and eat only to avoid hunger or being overstuffed.

Since the program list of foods is considered Proprietary Information (sold and copyrighted) I will not publish this on the site. If you would like the list of foods and more specific COREinformation, I would be glad to email it to you.
Please email me at rxjm2002@yahoo.com just put AIMEE in the subject so that I do not think it is spam or virus! :)

After you read what I wrote (the list of possible causes of plateau)and you said that you are a 'creature of habit'. Most of us are. You might want to notice that 'changing up' something came up in about 7 of the 15 items that I wrote about. In addition the specific WW directives ARE changes themselves when we compare them to what we were doing before WW. So in essence CHANGE is the KEY!

I believe it was Ms Susan Powder who once said the definition of INSANITY is when you keep doing the same thing, over and over again, but expect change!

Stay on Program and hope to 'see' less of you next week as my leader always says!

I say or will add: hope to hear more (read more posts)from you next week!

JeanCat