Weight loss plateaus

Amy, you are absolutely not allowed to get frustrated and give up. I don't care that you've followed this "ten pounds and then stuck" many times before. You CAN lose weight--lots of people do it, so why not you? But I think you also have to face the reality that your body is really good at holding onto weight, better than most that is.

So what can you do to jump start the next 10 pound weight loss? I figure if what you're doing now doesn't seem to be working, try adding something else. When I've hit my "stuck" times during this process, I increase the level of exercise I'm doing (either by adding a session or increasing my level or speed on the treadmill) and I go back to counting calories. For me, weight loss only seems to happen when I keep my calories between 1300 and 1500 a day, and it's really easy to go over that limit. I know it doesn't make sense--they say you're supposed to cut or burn an extra 500 calories a day to lose one to two pounds a week. For me, that means that I *should* be able to eat 1800 calories on the days I run and 1600 calories on the days I don't, but if I did that, I'd never lose weight. So I'm back to counting calories and keeping them low.

So what can you do? I think you should have a "no excuses" gym policy--it doesn't matter if you're tired or busy, just schedule the trips three or four days a week and go. If doing it in the afternoon doesn't work, start taking your lunch break at 11 a.m. On weekends, you used to drag yourself out of bed to go to Catonsville for class. So now drag yourself out of bed and go to the gym instead. It couldn't be any more dull than that class, right? And it takes less time and is closer to home.

One of my ongoing problems is nighttime snacking. I think I'm going to start "packing" my nighttime snacks like I do my daytime ones--set them out early so that they are accessible, low-calorie, and healthy. I was really good about nighttime snacks back when we started this, so I know I can get back to it.

I really want you to succeed and I sense that you're close to giving up, figuring that you'll never lose the weight. But you've been thin before, and in recent memory, so you can do this again.