I have been stalled for about a month now. I am 8 to 15 pounds away from my goal. I have been lcing for 6 months now. I have been scouring the pages of the forums to find a way to break me of this stall. I thought maybe someone could maybe see what i'm doing and how I can improve. I'm going to write my normal menu and exercise regime. Let me know what you think.

Menu:
Breakfast: Protein Pudding ~ 1 Carb., Sweetened with splenda, 10 g Protein. (i don't have means to make breakfast because I go to gym then work.) Maybe better breakfast?

22 Almonds
string cheese

Lunch: Salad with LC dressing, or potroast, or grilled chicken. with veggies.

Dinner: Salmon, veggies, or LC shake with berries and strawberries/whey protein

Snack: 3 peices coconut bark

This is a normal menu. I average between 20 and 40 carbs a day.


Exercise: HITT 5x week. CARDIO 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours week, run, walk incline, swim, elliptical

I'm VERY active. I know my weight will stall with the gaining of muscle but I just can't seem to get rid of this belly fat. I was thinking about doing a meat and egg fast but I can't stomach hard boiled eggs. I just don't want to feel like i'm punishing myself when it comes to food. I enjoy what I eat now and I don't feel like i'm overeating or eating bad foods. it's just this belly fat doesn't want to budge. Anyone, have any advice?

The nuts may be a problem...... you say u go to the gym because you don't want wait to get rid of the belly fat ....then u say its not going anywhere. You need to try to change everything around to see what happens.

Hi KatieAZ:

Looks like a lot of cardio; are you doing any resistance training at all?

Yoga's a terrific adjunct to any workout program. Maybe you'd like Pilates? As that focuses on "core" building, you might find posture/core stability improving.

Cheers--
Terry24

Are you drinking lots of water?

the last few pounds are always the hardest to get off! And, by the way, you dont have to eat hb eggs on m/e. You can have your eggs any way you like them!

I would ditch the shakes and maybe even the coconut bark. Coconut oil is good for you, and it's less likely to be stored than other fatty acids, but it's easy to eat enough of it that you're maintaining, not losing. From the research I've seen, it does not improve metabolism; I'm not sure why that idea keeps floating around.

I don't know why M&E has become the stall-buster-du-jour when the more common (and superior, IMO) approach was something like Atkins K.I.S. It's LC whole foods only; you eliminate the common stallers. You ditch dairy, artificial sweeteners, nuts, and anything overly-processed like meats or salad dressings with too many fillers. So you're left with eggs, meat you cook yourself, lowest carb veggies and fruit, and plain fats.

Good luck.

I had the same problem....worked out intensely 6 days a week but nothing was working. I kept blaming it on being post menopausal. NOT!!!

Then I started eating differently kind of like South Beach and keeping my calories between 1000 and 1200 (I stay full) and upped my water and guess what....the scale is moving down finally!!

I eat anything I want to but I stay strict to my caloric plan and only workout 3 x a week for 1 hour doing only HIIT for 20 mins. and lifting weights to maintain the muscles.

I try to keep my carbs at a healthy level (no more then 40) but there are some days that it goes over like yesterday I ate some M&M's but cals were at 1200. I was fearful of gaining again so I weighed and it didn't effect my weight. I have just started losing after 15 months of trying desperately to get down below 170 which I stayed at forever!

I agree with everyone that has posted.....either you aren't getting enough calories or too many. You may have to just tweak it and incorporate several plans into your diet. As far as the belly fat.....if it is in your genetics it will be harder to get rid of.

I have a problem with saddle bags on my hips.....so does one of my daughters....it is a genetic thing. When I weighed 145lbs. about 10 years ago I still had those bags and the thickness in my booty. Nothing I can do will change that other then lipo and that is not an option for me.

Hope some of my input might help you.

HN

Katie, I'm going to play devil's advocate here. Please don't flame me. I googled BMI and put in a weight of 141 and height of 5'6" as you list. It comes out to be a BMI of 22.8 which is well within a normal weight range for your height. Now, I will admit that a goal weight of 125 is also within the appropriate weight range for your height, but it may be possible that is the weight where your body feels healthy and it just isn't going to go any lower. I struggle with the same thing. I'm only 5'4" and I have a goal weight of 125, but I'm pretty much convinced that I'm never going to see it.

Your diet looks good to me. I agree with weight training. That has tremendously changed my body shape. Cardio will burn off the fat, but weights will reshape your body and make you look hot!



Barb

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have decided to do South Beach diet. I'm going to see if it makes a difference. Cameramom~ I agree 125 I may never see. I know though that I can weigh 135. I will be okay with that because of all the muscle I've put on. Mostly, I'm looking at my measurements and how clothes are fitting. i would like to get to a size 6. Write now I'm a size 10 comfortably. We'll see how it goes.

I have been in a similar situation myself and here are the things that helped me. Please note that I do not lose weight that quickly. This is from the time that I went down from 170 pounds to 135 pounds in 8 months on Atkins back in 2004-2005. Instead of going for the meat/egg fast or fat fast, I tried a high FAT to PROTEIN ratio. I ate mostly good monosaturated fats.
The average FAT to PROTEIN to CARB ratio was 75 : 20 : 5
And I tried to stay at about 1200 to 1400 calories

And of course I drank tons of water and instead of working out 6 days a week....I did 4 days a week. I think my body wanted some time off to rest up.

And I am back here again to lose the last 10 lbs

I would have to say its probably the nuts or dairy. I have been in a stall for a few months now and I just started the Meat and Eggs fast, which people have said will help. I too have the last 10lbs to lose and I agree with everyone, the last 10 are the hardest to lose! If you are interested in the Meat and Eggs fast it is in this section first page. Good Luck with the last few lbs!!

if you are only 10 pounds from goal - you are going to probably have to be very very strict.

meaning probably very strict 20 grams of carbs per day plus watch your calories.

I would also recommend more weight training less cardio. I love Joyce Verdal books, she has some great routines with weight. When I consistently do her program 4 days a week with weights and do 3-4 days of cardio, I look more fit and lose the weight. I don't do her diet by the way I do Atkins. My problem is I lack the motivation and energy to keep it up. I have 3 small boys and tend to get busy. Either my house is clean, I'm a mess or I am doing great, and my house is a mess. One of these days, I'm going to get it balanced!

Guys, the real issue is that people somehow believe they can eat unlimited stuff provided the carbs are low. Wrong. You will stall, every time. The only way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories than you consume. But the Rosemary Stantons of the world and other 'sugar -diet' pushers will have you eat bread and potatoes and all that stuff, ie - everything that converts to sugar. Low carb combined with low cal is absolutely a winner.