Originally Posted by shrinkingchica
Why oh why do people's weight plateau? I have not lost an appreciable amount of weight recently. It leads me to believe that weight loss is not a simple mathmatics and numbers game (calories in vs. calories out). I should be losing about 10 lbs a month if it were just about the calorie comsumption deal.
So, if you change up your diet and exercise routine, does it help to jog your body back into a weight loss mode? I know I probably not being that coherent, but any advice/commiserations that you all can give would be great.
Weight loss IS a numbers game -- burn more calories than you consume. However, it's NOT strictly "calories in, calories out" because the "calories out" part isn't consistent. Our bodies don't LIKE losing weight, burning off those fat stores. It sees it as a threat to survival. It'll go along with the program for a while, but then suddenly it'll decide "OK, that's enough" and resist burning off more at the same rate. Also, if you're doing the same exercise you did when you started, your body has learned how to do it more efficiently, so it doesn't burn as many calories. That doesn't take into account any health issues, medication, etc. that can affect metabolism.
It's frustrating, I know, I've been through it myself. But sometimes you just have to be patient, or be willing to change up your exercise routine, to let your body start burning again.