Help!!! On A Four Month Plateau

by Katina
(Calgary Alberta)

I am desperate to lose more weight and have been on a plateau for about four months now. I am 36 years old and over the last year have lost 50 pounds.

I eat about 1300 calories a day and workout at least six times a week.

Weight training one hour three times a week, indoor cycling three times a week, and running 5k at least twice a week.

I have tried decreasing calories, increasing calories, switching up my workout routine and I am still sixty pounds away from my healthy weight.

Any ideas on what to change or not change would be GREATLY appreciated. I have a family cruise booked for June 2011 and would like to be at my goal before then. Thanks!!

Note from Dr. Dan

Katina,

I find your question fascinating. Here you are, exercising and working out. You know that what you are doing works, because you lost weight with it.

Yet you hit a plateau, and now what?

Now, many people just give up and say, "Dieting doesn't work... Exercise doesn't work... Nothing works..."

You can see why it would be easy to get discouraged. But you haven't given up, and I really admire that. Not everyone can stick to it like that.

Here are two basic facts about weight loss:

1. You can get to your ideal weight.

2. If you are not at your ideal weight there is something that you can do to get there.

Now, there's a couple things about these two points. It's true that there is something you can do to get to your ideal weight. But what you need to do might not be easy. And it might not be as fast as you would like.

And those two points -- fast and easy -- trip up a lot of people. But if you are willing to do what you need to do you can solve your problem.

This is covered in detail in my book, Dr. Dan's Super Weight Loss Plan. Anyone having trouble with their weight should get a copy.

Where to start? In your case there are a lot of possibilities. I think you should start with the basics.

And the most basic thing I can see from your question has to do with your diet. You said, "I eat about 1300 calories a day."

So, the question is, what do you eat, exactly? Your next step, if you are willing to do it, is to keep a food diary for a week or so.

Continue to eat just like you are now. You would need to weigh your food and keep a record of everything you eat and drink, including coffee and tea and anything you add to it, and including diet drinks.

You need to add up the calories, fat, protein and carbohydrate of each thing you eat and make a total each day. Then post your results here and we can analyze what you find.

If you need any help with doing this let me know. If this is something that you can't do -- if it just seems too hard -- let me know that and we'll go on to the next step.

Dr. Dan