have thought about doing it in a way you shouldn't? I am kinda feeling stuck right now. I have lost about 40 pounds now, and I am happy about that, but I just feel like if I can lose another 10 that I will be exactly where I want to be. The problem is that my body is so used to working out. I go on vacation in 2 weeks and I would have loved to be at my goal by then. But between my body wanting to keep those last 10 pounds and the holidays, I have just felt stuck for a while.

Since I am not in school I have had extra time for cardio. THe last 3 days I have been to the gym and have done about 90 min of cardio, on top of my weights. I go to the gym 6 times a week and have for a while, but I know my body is more settled in and is used to the workouts so it is not longer shedding for me. MY problem for a whiles has been the food. I eat --for the most part healthy-- but what isnt super healthy comes in the form of fudge, cookies and chocolate. So I was looking online for the calories in cabbage, and came across one of those 7 day diets, that consists of a lot of soup, veges, fruit, and juice. I am actually thining about it, though I am pretty sure its not the best idea. I obviously know how to diet the healthy natural way, I lost 40 pounds doing it, but now I feel so tempted to try to go to the fad diets and pills... have you guys ever done the same?

No, fad diets don't work. Anything you lose will probably come back. What I *have* done when stuck is try a completely different healthy plan. The shake-up seems to have given my body a jump-start and gotten me losing at a better pace again (I was plateaued for nearly a year...).

I used to do low fat with my calorie counting. Now I'm doing a high-protein/low carb-ish thing (recommended by my personal trainer), and still count calories. It's something I never in 1,000,000 years would have chosen for myself -- I *love* carbs -- but I'm doing it, and it's working!

My advice is to explore some forums here for plans you've never considered. Chat with some people who've tried those plans and figure out which one(s) might be do-able for you. It might not give you the results you're looking for by the time of your vacation, but it'll be healthier, longer-lasting, and much less frustrating than being stuck!

Good luck!

Lisrey :up:

:lil: Hi Elsie. It is good to see your pics. You are very pretty, and have a gorgeous body. Well done for you! As I am a lot heavier than you, I have to think back to when I really cared about my body weight, and was roughly 123lbs. I'm an Australian, but was living in Vanuatu at the time as a teenager. Basically I was constantly dieting, and although I don't recommend it, you have to cut back your cals a bit in order to maintain or lose weight. I did heaps of walking and arobics. Loved it! Are you thinking about your vacation, and worrying about it? Perhaps doing some regular walking/ jogging while you are there. Going for regular walks is a nice way of getting about. If it's really hot (you lucky thing!), go for a swim. Good hols, and hope to see you again soon.

Truthfully I have done everything I really know how to. I eat pretty high protein low carb anyway --though I couldn't do the low car thing specifically anyway-- I gave myself a week or so off of working out hoping to kick start my loss again, and that didnt work. Truthfully I would be ok if the weight didnt stay off anyway, I would like to see if I would be happy at that weight, or if it is just the tapes in my head. I would also just be fine --for now-- with losing the weight for Jamaica. In the midle of winter when you are all bundled up it doesnt really matter all that much if you are carrying a couple of extra pounds.

While I wouldn't recommend that 7-day diet, the cabbage soup might really be a good idea. It makes a big batch and you could have some for lunch or a snack quite often and then just go with your regular meals (minus the cookies and the chocolate, of course! :D ) It's basically a super low-cal soup and it might give you the spurt you're looking for. As you know, the last 10 lbs. are tough, but if you vary things some and cut out every bit of junk, it will happen. Good luck!

:bell: Mel could be right, esp. as you seem to be doing enough exercise to keep it off. I definately need to up my exercise, as I'm currently doing long distance university studies, so my butt is stuck to the seat! Looking forward to getting to know you. You sound very intelligent (gosh looks and brains into one!). Naomi

Hello NaomiAnne,
I'm with you I need to exercise and keep my weight off. Now its about to be a new year and I don't want to have any set backs:( I always make New Years Resolutions and I don't follow through with them and i'm looking to loose weight before we go and visit my Uncle and his Wife in Fla in the Summer Time. Its going to be a Bittersweet visit because we're going to be househunting down there too:( I don't want to move because I just joined a church where I lived and I would hate to leave after only 2 years of being at this church... So have a wonder New Years Eve!

Be Safe

I think I am going to do a diet on sparkpeople.com Its a cool website, but I definately like the forums here better.

Excercise is the big thing. I know the only reason I can eat the way I do and maitain my weight no problem is the excercise. I have always had a slow metabolism, until now. The excercise made all the difference for me. If you can just get yurself to do it, it makes you feel so much better. I would suggest excercising first thingin the morning, for many reasons. After the day you are tired and a lot less motivated to move. Also they have found that people who work out in the morning are more apt to stick with it. Plus it gives you that burst of energy in the morning that everyone loves. I wouldn't say everyone should wake up at 4 in the morning like me, but whenever you have to get up to get it done while kids are asleep or whatever.

Naomianne- thanks for the compliments. I know the feeling, I am also a student, but I manage to squeeze the time in and also workout at school. The trick is to park far away, make use of time between classes and run the stairs, and whatever it takes.

Tiana- house shopping sounds like fun! I am sure you can find a great church everywhere. It is always nice to be near family, heck I live next door to my father.

Elsie, have you ever thought that maybe your body is where it wants to be?!!! Maybe you are at the weight that is right for you. I think alot of people have these ideal numbers that they 'need' to be at, but forget that their bodies function best possibly at a different number. Is it about the 'perfect' body(which you know doesn't exist) or is it about being the best your body was made to be???!!!

Yeah I know, but where is the fun in that???

I would love to lose it, find out if I am still as un happy and if I am then who cares if I have the extra weight. I will then just know I am a nutbag. Hey I am a woma, I can't help but to be crazy.

Happy New Year Nancy!

well I guess everyone has the right to be crazy, lol, but you have to think about what the risk is too. Just a thought.

:jn :not: Hi Elsie. You are much brighter than me, I can tell by your writing (god that feeling sucks!). I am just starting Australian Open Uni, which is by long distance, hence not being able to park a block away.

You go for it girl! :)

naomianne- short of parking a block away form your house I can see what you mean :)

Nancy- Like I said I have changed my mind to od a diet on sparkpeople instead. Sometimes I get a wild hair up my butt to do things incorrectly, but when it comes down to, I guess I know better.

Hi Elsie

You must do what feels right for you. The exercise is great and you seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on healthy eating. I agree with others who have said to steer clear of 7-day diets - it tends to be just water weight that you're losing with these quick fixes. I also have to agree with Nancy (you and I seem to agree a lot, Nancy!) and say that maybe you are already at your body's optimum weight. 131 pounds (or 9 stone 5 in English!) is a perfectly good weight for your height.

I'm 5' 5.5" and have spent years making myself crazy over my weight. I used to think I was overweight when I weighed 10 stone 4 (144 pounds) and that was how my dieting career started ... I now weigh about 14 and a half (203 pounds). When I look back at photos of me at 10 stone 4 I can see now that I looked great. I would do anything (within reason!) to look like that again. But at the time I thought I was overweight and that thought kick-started my obsession with dieting - and therefore food - that has continued ever since.

So, I don't want to tell you what you should or shouldn't do, but just be sure that your body really is the way you think it is before you mess it about too much. A weight of 131 sounds pretty good to me.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

Congrats on being SO close to where you want to be :up:

I tried the cabbage soup diet long ago and must warn you that if you follow it to the letter, you will want to stay CLOSE to a bathroom. LOL There is a lot of lower tract gas involved too, hehehe So, be forewarned. It is healthy but the only reason its ok is because you're not looking to it to help you lose big amounts.

Now, IF you do it, why not also up your water consumption (since you'll be running to bathroom frequently anyway).... I'm saying this as I track EVERYTHING and I've noticed several times that on weeks when I've been extremely faithful and had the most water consumption.... that is also the weeks I LOST the most.

If you're not counting calories.... START. Then eat tons of steamed veggies, fruit... fish & chicken breast and try making your calories 'bounce' like this:
Day 1 : 1200 calories
Day 2 : 785 calories
Day 3: 1300 calories
Day 4: 950 calories
Day 5: 725 calories
Day 6 : 1100 calories
Day 7: 850 calories
Day 8: 1300 calories
Day 9: 695 calories
Day 10: 975 calories

You see what I'm saying? Scatter a few very low calorie days in amongst not so low.... Never let your body go into starvation mode which lowers metabolism. Make sure you take a good multi-vitamin a day. Make every calorie COUNT... meaning its not 'empty' like high fat/sugar items. Remember that if you weigh on a certain day of the week, no high calorie days within 3 days of weigh in, as it takes approx. 2 days for a 'splurge' to show on the scales.

Ok, tricks I use to lose consistantly:

green tea tabs

exercise (aerobic to burn cals.) early in morning before eating

eat heaviest meal at lunch

eat every 3 hours ... small amounts

no eating past 8:30pm

You're goal for water consumption should be around 65 oz a day... add more if you sweat a lot due to temps. or exercise.

I hope there's been something in here to help you.
Best wishes! I know you can do it! :cheer:

I know you're not supposed to go below 1200 or whatever, but in my experience GotFruit's method works. As long as it's not long term, you should be OK.

For me at least, my body gets used to a certain calorie level and adjusts metabolism to that, even with exercise, so you have to shake it up a little bit. You could also go a little higher calorie one or two days, then a little below what you normally would eat for the next day or two, and so on. The calorie spike jumpstarts your metabolism or something like that.

Good luck losing those last few pounds, and I think I'm going to check out that site you recommended.

I workout 6 days a week, I do cardio for a min of 40 min and somtimes for 90 minutes and weights for about an hour, there is NO way my body would be happy with that little of food. I have actually been debating on whether the reason my body doesnt want to go any lower is because I am actually not eating enough. I already do most of those things, I drink loads of water, I dont eat for at least 2 hours before bed time, I eat small meals all the time. I go through my phases where I am not happy, but at this point in time I say who cares. It is obvious that I am not going to get whree I want to before the 14th when I go to Jamaica anyway. I am sure I will be fine until June or so when I start worrying about going to Hawai'i. But thank you all for the kick in the butt!

Got Fruit, there is no doubt that all of those things you mentioned are exactly what a person needs to lose weight, they all got me this far! It is obvious it is continuing to work for you, you are doing awesome!

For someone as active as you, I would go high cal for a few days--maybe 300 up from where you usually are--and then back to normal and so on for a few weeks.

Doesn't it suck when you feel like you're doing everything right and it's not working the way it should? So aggravating! I hope you find your solution soon.

My advice is, the day before going on holiday, if you want to feel really good about your body, go for a long, tough swim, and watch your cellulite disappear. Mine always VANISHES for about a day after a swim - no idea how that works, but it does.

If you want to enjoy yourself on holiday, you don't want to be dying of hunger from some starvation last-minute diet or clinging to the toilet from a cabbage soup blowout. It's not how much you've got, but how good it looks. Anyway, you can't shop for holiday clothes if your size keeps changing.

B-) Enjoy the size you are for a few weeks and polish it by swimming away the bumps. How about lots of moisturiser for your skin or some well applied fake tan? It'll make you look even more groomed. Shimmery after sun lotion looks fantastic in the evenings.

To be honest, quick fix diets are more about raising your self esteem by a number on the scales than being actually visible to other people. Having a great time of holiday, getting lots of walking, outdoor exercise and delicious healthy food, in friendly company, is the best self-confidence booster there is. Most people do much more exercise on holiday than they normally do in 'real' life - it's a great lift to the spirits and helps to lose even more weight.

I workout 6 days a week, I do cardio for a min of 40 min and somtimes for 90 minutes and weights for about an hour, there is NO way my body would be happy with that little of food. I have actually been debating on whether the reason my body doesnt want to go any lower is because I am actually not eating enough. I already do most of those things, I drink loads of water, I dont eat for at least 2 hours before bed time, I eat small meals all the time. I go through my phases where I am not happy, but at this point in time I say who cares. It is obvious that I am not going to get whree I want to before the 14th when I go to Jamaica anyway. I am sure I will be fine until June or so when I start worrying about going to Hawai'i. But thank you all for the kick in the butt!

Got Fruit, there is no doubt that all of those things you mentioned are exactly what a person needs to lose weight, they all got me this far! It is obvious it is continuing to work for you, you are doing awesome!
Thanks, Elsie! :D Hey, when do you come to Hawaii? Will you be here on Oahu? If so, we GOTTA get together for lunch and/or coffee. Also, a word about being self-concious here... DON'T. Especially if you get away from Waikiki and find a nice beach filled with mostly 'locals'. Because we don't have any hang ups at all about someone being heavy and being on the beach in a swimming suit. Our culture is very Fat Friendly :)