Plateau Question

[Liveforit 0]

Hi there. I was just wondering. I've lost a TON of weight, and still have another 20 - 30- lbs to go, but I've been stalled for over 3 weeks now. I thought that maybe if I focused primarily on Protein and eliminated my carbs a little more that it might kick start my weight loss again, but no such luck.

Could it be possible that I've been eating too little. Here's my normal menu for the day:

Breakfast

2 cups coffee w/ fat free milk or light vanilla soy milk (usually 1/2 coffee & 1/2 milk)

1 Protein shake - 1 scoop Protein powder, 1 container light yogurt & either fat free milk or light soy milk.

(Sometimes I add a few teaspoons of sugar free Toriani/DaVinci flavored Syrup when I use plain yogurt).

lunch

2 slices oven roasted turkey breast and 2 slices Jarlsberg cheese rolled together with blue cheese to dip.

or

Leftover dinner from the night before which is always a vegetable & protein or just protein.

or

chicken Enchilada, Broccoli, Broccoli Cheese, Lentil or Split Pea Soup with ham. No broth based Soups.< /span>

Dinner

Steak, chicken or fish and a vegetable and sometimes a good carb like kidney Beans (when I make chili) or barley, but not much (maybe 1/4 c)

Dessert (not every night)

SF/FF pudding made with ff milk

or

1/2 c no sugar added or Breyers Carb Smart Ice Cream

or

Low Carb PB Pie made with whipped PB (3 carbs per 2 Tbsp), Neufatchel cheese and light Cool Whip about 2 carbs per slice).

All Day

Water or Crystal Light - TONS!!!!

Does anything look funky or like it could be making me stall?? I've never not lost and have never gained either. Could I be eating too few carbs??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance :0)

Liz

[honk 780]

I actually think you need to switch your calorie budget around. If you are having 1 cup of milk with your two cups of coffe that's 100 cal. right there. Your Protein shake depending on the powder could be about 400 calories (powder 250, milk 50, yoghurt.

As for lunch two slices of cheese is about 200 cal and 16 g of fat. I would eat more chicken (3 oz) add veggies and skip the blue cheese dipping sauce. I really like laughing cow cheese only 35 cal maybe 5 g fat.

Personally I don't keep dessert in my house. You mentioned not having it every day; but does that mean 1 day a week or 6? I would leave dessert for special occations or parties. I used to make No Pudge brownies but would eat the dough raw. My problem was I would make 2-3 servings worth one after the other so even though it was a healthier dessert it was more than I should be eating.

[Liveforit 0]

Honk - Thanks for your input.

I should have clarified a few things. I only use 80 cal. light yogurt and my Protein powder is 120 cal./scoop, 1 gm fat, 3 gms carbs and 24 gms Protein.

The cheese I use it Jarlsberg Light (50 cal./slice, 2 gm fat, 9 gms protein) or sometimes I do use the Laughing Cow Light and spread some on each slice of turkey.

Dessert is usually on a Friday and/or Saturday/Sunday night, because I tend to eat less and drink more on the weekends when I'm running errands. Never more than 2 nights a week though. I also eat VERY small portions if I do have dessert.

My doctor requires that I focus on protein and carbs and not so much on calories. I do buy lighter varieties of products if their carb count is not severely compromised. I'm VERY diligent about eating healthy foods. My husand and son get mad at me because I refuse allow them to live on junk food and am always looking at the nutrition info. on the products that I don't buy on a regular basis. Luckily, I've always been a healthy cook and eater and I want them to both have healthy habits as well!!

I'll try and do a calorie breakdown on Fit day or something and see what my calories look like. I don't think they're very high though. I could be wrong, but I will do some calculations.

Thank you for your thoughts!! I truly appreciate your response :0)

[kll724 3,055]

You've done so well. think just keep doing what you are doing. The last 20 lbs. are the hardest to loose, anyway. 3 weeks isn't really that much of a plateau. I was plateaued for a couple of months, but then boom the weight started to fall off again.

Maybe, you need to increase your workout a little, too. Karen(kll724)

[khath0620 20]

I noticed you don't really have much in terms of carbs. How do you feel without them? My nutritionist says that I should be having a carb at every meal....albeit a small portion....to keep my metabolism processing well. The majority of my meal is Protein of course. I just met with her because I have been plateaued for THREE MONTHS!!!! The first thing I said to her was "Should I get rid of the carbs?" but she said that would not help. What are your thoughts?

Thanks,

katie

[Liveforit 0]

kll724 - Thanks for your input!!! I've never gained before and I just seem to be yo-yo ing up and down around 4-5 lbs. So, for me, three weeks has seemed like FOREVER. I've read that a lot of people have been stalled and then suddenly drop 10 lbs. like that - without ever changing anything (as you mentioned). I'm hoping that I am in that same situation. It just kills me to get on the scale each morning and see that number going in the wrong direction!! As far as exercise goes, now that it's staying light out a little bit later I'm going to try to start doing more activities with my son when we get home each night. I also want to set up a workout routine on my Wii Fit. I love that thing, but I NEVER get to use it. Thanks again :0)

Katie - You are correct, I don't eat many carbs because my doctor wants me on low carb high Protein. I used to eat more, but since this stall began I've cut back on them thinking that maybe I needed more Protein and less carbs. It hasn't really affected the way that I feel - no headaches or anything from withdrawal. Do you think that maybe I'm being too restrictive and that I should try to add some back in to see what happens?? I've read that sometimes when you're too restrictive in your diet (with anything) sometimes your body holds onto as much of whatever you're restricting and that can affect your weight loss. I don't know if that is the case with carbs, but maybe. Does that make any sense?

Maybe I will start adding some carbs back into my diet and see what happens. I just really don't want to go back to my doctor next month with no progress since my last visit. Plus, theres just something about seeing that number either staying the same or going down each day that makes the day start out better. Right now I'm starting my days off with an "UGH" and a sigh :0)

Any thoughts??

Thanks again,

Liz