I'm on a diet. For some reason I hit a plateau. I have only lost 3 pounds in the last week

[applegrove]

I need a challenge to keep me goal oriented like:

- I will not break my diet until health care reform passes.

Or

-I will not break my diet until Cheney comes out of the crypt again and says something pathetic about how Cheney was the only one who ever really kept the country safe.

[Arugula Latte]

1. "Only" three pounds?

Three pounds = great!

But, if you need a challenge, maybe resolve to stick to your diet until Sarah Palin says something intelligent, insightful and truthful.

[applegrove]

3. I'll have anorexia in no time. LOL! That is way too extreme. Needs to be

a medium term goal.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear applegrove...

Plateaus are normal...

I remember hitting one at 180 pounds, and I thought I'd never get past it. But by redoubling my diet, and my exercise routine *cough* I was able to resume losing weight...

Stay with it!

The body doesn't want to lose that fat. It wants to hold onto it, in case of starvation. We are designed to hold onto excess calories.

It's how we're programmed...

You will succeed, no matter what goal you use!

[applegrove]

4. Thks Peggy.

[Skittles]

5. you shouldn't be losing more than 2 or three pounds a week

the faster you lose them, the faster you will gain them back - try this - lose some, then MAINTAIN at that weight for some time before continuing to lose more

[applegrove]

6. I've pretty much accepted that I will have to change my eating habits for life.

Thankfully I am not a real potato or rice or bread person. But yes I did try and slow down how much I was losing (my first week I lost 6 pounds). I'm just ready to lose another few pounds and I don't seem to be able to make the scale move one bit these past few days.

[Highway61]

7. hang in there

Oh boy, will you loose Trust me

[applegrove]

8. Thks.

[DarkTirade]

9. Are you also exercising?

I found when I switched from working at a pizza place to working at a warehouse, I lost a bunch of weight at first but then I plateaued after a month or two. Couldn't figure out why until one day I looked in the mirror and said, "Wait a minute... I didn't have a muscle there yesterday..." :P

[applegrove]

10. I'm planning on exercising in the spring. Right now I just don't. Yes I need muscles.

[DarkTirade]

14. I'm just saying that muscle weighs more than fat, so plateauing weight-wise

sometimes just means that you're replacing one kind of mass with another. :)

[quakerboy]

11. Thats not a bad thing

Loosing slowly and steadily is better than major changes, from all I can determine.

[old mark]

12. 3 pounds a week is great....that's 48 pounds in 4 months.

You are doing fine....don't worry so much.

mark

[MrScorpio]

13. You need to eat more

I know that sounds weird, but that's what you have to do

You need to speed up your metabolism

Lots of small fist sized meals all day long, natural foods without HLCS, lots of water, exercise more and get plenty of deep sleep for recovery, fat burning and muscle building.

[Generic Brad]

21. Mr. Scorpio is correct

I have lost 18 pounds in the last five weeks. Last week I hit a wall and only resumed losing again after I started spacing out my eating. I did not change what I ate, only when. But if you don't go into it with the intention of permanently changing the way you will eat for the rest of your life - all is lost.

[caty]

15. It's really so simple......

You cannot break your diet until the repubs become the party of "yes" and state that they want to be more like Democrats. There. Problem solved.

[applegrove]

19. Anorexia here I come LOL!

[Beaverhausen]

16. 3 lbs is great. My advice- pay attention to your salt intake

Try to eat as little salt as you can. You need some, but just be careful.

[caty]

17. Let me suggest that

you get on a "healthy" diet that you can stay on for the rest of your life. A weight loss diet is only temporary and eventually will work against you when you lose a certain amount of weight.

I am a semi vegan. I only eat meat at four meals per week. The only dairy product I consume is a little butter now and then. I eat grains, veggies, and fruit most of the time. This is also a natural way to cut sodium intake. And there is something about it that has caused me stop craving sugar. I consume very very little sugar.

I didn't make this dietary change to lose weight. I did it to feel better. And it worked. I feel great and sleep so much better. And on the plus side I have lost weight. Another plus is that this is a way of life I am happy to stick to.

I'm not saying you should follow "my" diet changes. You should find your own. Healthy changes that you can keep for the rest of your life.

[applegrove]

20. I'm already visualizing what my maintenance diet will look like. I see blueberries. lots and lots

of blueberries.

[Silver Swan]

18. The last time I lost weight

it took me three months to lose the last ten pounds.

But that was just the last in my many successful weight loss episodes, and I am now fatter than ever.

So good luck you, but diets, for the most part, don't result in long term skinniness.