I've plateaued after 1 year

[Sandy Peninger]

I've been on the Maximum Weight loss plan for 1 year. I've hit a plateau and I seem to not be able to lose any more weight for a couple months. I'm down to 131 at 5 feet 2 inches. I'm trying to get to 120 pounds. I started at 164 pounds. I've gone from a size 18 to a size 14. I'm very happy with my results and I love this diet but I seem to not be able to lose that last 10 pounds.

I usually eat bowl of Cheerios with soy milk for breakfast, vegetable soup (with beans) for lunch, and Baked potato with salsa with beans and some kind of vegetables like steamed broccoki, and some fruit like strawberries. I usually drink water all day except at breakfast I have a cup of hot tea with 1 spoonful of honey.

Sometimes I'll eat rice and stir fried vegetables (stir-fried with water).

My homemade vegetable soup has potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, squash, celery, tomato juice, and spices. I usually add beans to it when I eat it.

From reading some of the stuff that others have written, it may be that I am eating too many carbohydrates and not enough green and yellow vegetables.

[Jackie J]

read Nettie's posts under testimonials. if i remember correctly, she hit a plateau and tried mary's mini -- but her post will accurately depict what she did --
congratulations on your weight loss so far

[green jeanne]

Sandy, you were where I am right now and I am working to lose 40 lbs. Congratulations on a job well done. I agree that Mary's mini diet might help to loosen you from the plateau making sure you use the less calorie dense veggies to fill you up. I try not to use soy products because of the added fat. Also you might be sensitive as I am to using products with ground grains (flour) of any sort because it raises the glycemic value. Good luck on that last 10 lbs.

[slugmom]

Congrats on your weight loss!!

A few thoughts ...

Cheerios wouldn't be MWL compliant, as they're made from flours. You could try switching to actual oatmeal. Actually I thought there was some reason Cheerios weren't even an approved food on the regular program? But I could be wrong on that.

Soy milk -- is it fat free?

Dr. McDougall talks about reaching a "set point" where our expenditure equals our intake and our weight settles out. We can push the set point lower by eating more green and yellow veggies, or push it higher by eating more flours, carbs, and of course high fat things and off-program foods.

So I wouldn't start *counting* carbs or thinking carbs are the culprit, per se, but you might try to shift the proportions - more steamed veggies at lunch, less potatoes in the soup, maybe reduce the beans if you're getting more than the MWL allotment. Try to up the veggies and down the carbs and beans just a little. But continue to eat until you're pleasantly satisfied!

Letha has a great post somewhere around here that summarizes the MWL rules, you might re-read them and check to see if your fruit and bean servings are within the MWL plan. And maybe add a little exercise. A walk around the block at night, or walking in place for 30 minutes while watching a video ...

hope that helps!

[txveggie]

How I wish I were at 130! How about ramping up your exercise routine?

[Faith in DC]

ok first off, I hope I come off ok. Please don't take this personal. I may have a suggestion just based on myself. You see, I'm 5'2" and weigh let's say 145, so more than you, a lot more. I wear a size 10 or large 8 now. I'm very curvy, but very porportioned gal. I'm not a pear.

If you are 130 and in a size 14 either you are wearing old clothes (sizes have changed I've found) or you need to concentrate on muscle building. Maybe the 14 is due to being a pear shape. If so, I'd still concentrate on exercise. You won't lose the shape.

At this point you weight is going to move slow. So relax and life your life, as you will have to after you lose. I've tried to learn to live my life as I intend when I'm in maintenance. This way I won't have to lose again.

Again, I wasn't meaning this to be mean. I know all folks are shaped different. I am a well padded woman, so that is why I'm thinking some more muscles will help you burn.

[Starchyme]

ok first off, I hope I come off ok. Please don't take this personal.

I also hope you don't take it personally. Faith means it from the heart and her experience. She's helped me out tremendously, both by being a living example and also by telling me like it is at times. I am thankful and grateful for all her input.

I reached a plateau a few years ago, also, and then suddenly the weight started coming off again, even though I didn't do anything that much differently.

So keep on keeping on and keep us apprised of how things are doing.

[f1jim]

I would add that shaking things up on either the diet side or the exercise side will probably create the change you are looking for. Changing your exercise regimen will sometimes use different muscles that were not being used as much before. Same with diet. You don't necessarily have to cut back calories drastically, just try new stuff. More greens almost always helps but don't dismiss the healthy carbs. I bet a minor tweak here and there will get you where you want to be. Congrats on your progress so far.
f1jim

[coverley54]

Hey Sandy,

You've lost 33 lbs, ****big congrats****

I'm 5'4" and when I weighed 131 lbs, I wore a size 6. Maybe it depends on where you shop for clothes.

Don't get discouraged, celebrate your success, and focus on maintaining the good progress you've made.

[erin]

i am just under 5' 2" and i just recently hit my goal of 115 and in fact i am a few pounds under that right now. what i did to lose the last five pounds was i began high intensity interval training ( H.I.I.T.) and also started eating most of my calories earlier in the day. i try to focus on beans and greens for dinner (examples are a taco or caesar salad) and i don't eat after dinner unless i'm seriously hungry.

FWIW, i don't think the cheerios are a serious problem and certainly aren't enough to keep you from losing weight. many of mary mcdougall's recipes contain things like nuts and tofu which would seem to be far more problematic than a cup or so of cheerios. they may be slightly processed but they are whole grain, 15% fat, low sugar, and have a decent amount of fiber AND they are approved for the original mcdougall program.

~erin

[SactoBob]

Cheerios look to me to be a classic case of what Jeff Novick describes as deceptive labeling in his dvd on label reading. Check the ingredients:
http://www.generalmills.com/stream_image.aspx?rid=27042

It is impossible to tell, but this product could well be mostly sugar and sugar equivalents. They break them up into many different starches in order to move the sugar down in the ingredients list - and they do it for a reason I suspect.

Plus, the cereal is a dried out product that does not satiate you - so you will have more - with more soy milk probably.

I know that for me, the fastest way i could stop my weight loss was with dried cereals. I think that you would notice a difference if you could substitute oatmeal for the dried Cheerios. It might be a good idea to run this idea past Jeff in his forum.

As you approach goal weight, the details really matter, as I am learning myself.

[proverbs31woman]

Sandy,

Congrats on your achievements, and for sticking with the program for so long, but as most of the other posters have stated, if you've been eating Cheerios, then you haven't been following MWL.

My advice: 86 the Cheerios and honey, increase your green and yellow veggies, and review the MWL book to make sure that you are following the program to the letter.

[Birdy]

Hi Sandy,
I agree with the others who posted that YOU ROCK for the success you've had so far! One thing I noticed from your description of a typical day of meals is that you aren't eating any green leafy vegetables and not many raw vegetables. Dr. McDougall does suggest shifting toward more vegetables on MWL if you want to speed weight loss. Also, are you walking 30 minutes or more every day? That really helps. I'm struggling to even make any progress, but you've had a lot of success already. Just keep up the good changes.

[MilesA]

Congratulations on your weight loss!

You might try the cron-o-meter which is food logger and calculator you can download for free.

http://spaz.ca/cronometer/

A tool like this is great for determining exactly what you are eating in terms of calories as well as vitamins and minerals, etc.

If your weight has been stable for a couple months that is an indication that your food intake in calories is balanced with your energy expenditure. If there are hidden calories in your daily meals, the cron-o-meter will reveal them. Otherwise, you'll have to work with the exercise side of the equation.

If you have not tried it, resistance training can be really helpful. By building muscle mass you can increase your basal metabolic rate.

You don't need a lot of equipment. Just a Swiss Ball (exercise ball) and your body weight can be enough. Add in a set of dumbbells for some of the exercises and you'll have everything you need.

[JessNZ]

You're doing great! It is fun to see the weight come off, and much less so
to have that stop.

Pick the advice you like best here and try it out for some variety.

The most important thing is not to get discouraged by the plateau so that
you go back to worse habits. Sounds crazy? It's really really common.
You can start thinking "what I'm doing isn't making any difference", when
what you're doing is keeping you as healthy as you have gotten already.

So keep on keeping on, and know that your healthy habits will continue to
pay off, and your body will catch up again...