I lost 90 pounds, but can't seem to lose anymore. Any tips?

So this may come as a shocker, but I used to weigh roughly 310-315 pounds, but in the last year to 15 months I have dropped 90 pounds roughly from purely driving myself to do it. (I'm probably going to write a blog post on this, as it's kind of a more interesting story than just that.) I walk and run a lot and keep my daily calorie intake to a very slim margin. However, while I've gotten myself down to roughly 220 pounds I can't seem to drop much more weight at the moment. I fluctuate around 5 pounds up and down and even though I push and push, my body has found a form of standstill in my weight. I've begun lifting weights right now, since I lost all my weight from cardio workouts and I am left with a body full of flab and excess skin and getting rid of that is not easy in the least. I've been informed that it will go away, but it will take time. Does anyone have any ideas why I lost so much so quick, but can't seem to drop many more pounds now?

Hacksaw your leg off.

Have you recalculated your BMR lately?

It's pretty normal to hit a plateau or multiple plateaus for rapid weight loss.

At some point you probably actually need to gain weight to lose more. That's because you need to build muscle to help your metabolism ramp up to keep burning.

Now that you are so much lighter, you are burning significantly less energy moving around and such, so progress is going to be slower.

I don't know what an ideal BMI is for you, but I wouldn't obsess over hitting perfect eight number, just concentrate on being fit at this point (healthy habits, exercise and diet) and the weight should take care of itself.

of course ask your doctor for advice before listening to any of us.

I don't have much advice other than "keep at it," but if your looking for advice on how to lose 100 pounds and gain half of it back, I'm your guy.

@slag: Of course my doctor is the first to ask. This was more of a general discussion of healthy living and seeing what works for some and may work for you.

Apply some more diversity to your workout. You body can get accustomed to your regime, so switching things up can help.

Edit: Oh yeah, and push-ups and push-up variations help a lot too.

@broomhitches: I actually have been trying to incorporate sit-ups and other workouts to work my core. Not easy at all. After losing so much weight, i'm actually weaker than when I was big. I lost a lot of muscle mass and fat leverage. So now that I'm trying to build muscle again, it's a lot tougher. I'll get used to it soon though, I'm sure.

I lost 40 or so pounds after college by changing my diet, with zero exercise (at the time, now I do some light stuff just to keep my strength up). Eating a smaller number of calories works if you just want to lose excess weight, but to better maintain your body for the long haul you need to eat healthy. Eat vegetables and fruits, as fresh and unprocessed as possible. Try and make any grains in your diet into whole grains, and cut out sugars. Fat is actually a better alternative, pound for pound, then any carbohydrate in terms of energy consumption, but make sure it's healthy fat and not the motor oil that fast food places cook food in. Get meat that's A) fresh and B) mostly unprocessed - I prefer grass-fed beef, not necessarily because of any health benefits (although they exist) but because it tastes better.

Any food product you buy in a store, look at the ingredients on the back. If there's a whoooole bunch of stuff in there that you have no idea what it is, i.e. all the mono-dihydroloxical-type stuff that chemists made in a lab, then really consider finding something else. I'm not super deep into the "100% all-natural-prairie-raised-free-range-we gave the chickens massages" type stuff that is perpetuated in certain circles, but there is a pretty distinct difference that I've noticed, from taste to texture to overall quality, from choosing certain foods over (mass-produced) others. Get rid of soda, and anything similar, because that stuff is liquid garbage and does nobody any favors. Like I said earlier, cut out processed and refined sugars if at all possible. The amount of sugar in my diet is incredibly small, but I have zero issues with energy or staying awake on a daily basis, and I work from 3 to 8 in the morning 5 days a week.

Exercise is good, but make sure you get outside as well. 10-20 minutes a day in the sun will get most people the Vitamin D that they need for their body to function efficiently, and given that we just got out of a 6 month winter here in the American midwest most people are probably pretty lacking in that department.

It's more expensive to eat healthy than it is to eat crap, though. It varies, but the meat I get is roughly $8/lb, and all the other stuff I eat is also noticeably more expensive than similar products, although the price increases aren't drastic considering that healthy food is more likely to fill you up than cheap garbage, and thus I eat less now than before. This is something to keep in mind.

Overall, eating healthy is far better than eating less, in my opinion. I would get semi-regular activity in college, but my diet was garbage and my weight was around the 220's. Now, with more or less the same activity but with much better eating habits, I'm around 180-and healthy, too. I can't guarantee that it would work for you or anybody else as well as it has for me, but I think most of the stuff I've done to my diet is general enough to help most people.

Light weight, lots of reps. Right now, at your weight, you can straight turn the fat remaining into muscle. Seriously, if I were you, and I'm pretty into body building, stop focusing on losing weight, and focus on turning what you got into muscle. Get some pure whey protein, and just start lifting like a wild animal. The pre-workout "C4" will get your juices flowing.

You lost the majority of fat, now transfer the remainder into muscle. Doing this will take a few months to see the results you wanna see, but the results stem deeper than just physical appearance. Take my word, bro. Just rep the fuck out of shit, man. You don't wanna lift heavy,. Lift lighter, and burn that shit away.

And eat healthy. Fruit smoothies, healthy cereal, and lots of water. That, with working out and running will speed that metabolism up.

hey, good job at losing 90 pounds.

Sounds difficult!

I hate to bring it up because people associate interval training or stuff like P90X with shlock science.

But, real sports physiology studies, show high intensity interval training (HIIT) for 13 (3+2+3+2+3) minutes burned more calories per minute on average and improves aerobic endurance. HITT is more than twice as effective at 13 minutes as a slow 40 minute workout. Here is the issue. You need to do 40 minutes of 3 minutes on, two minutes off to get a 'really' get a full workout.

Probably high intensity interval training because as primates our muscles work better at doing short burst of high activity - escape the big cat stuff or hunt the elk. It is biochemical in a way that is likley complex, it is counter intuitive to some extent, but it is scientifically demonstrable to work. You body knows when you are being strict, it adjusts when you do the same workout for weeks.

Here are a few things that lose weight...real science

1) Strength training/resistance training tears down muscle tissue, which “costs your body” calories as the body repairs and rebuilds in the hours following a workout.

2) Move more just in life. If you have a desk job, take the stairs and walk around. We're video gamers...don't spend a whole weekend on a screen!

3) Don’t go too low in calories or carbohydrates, your body will know. Eat some pasta, eat some fats...i.e. eat all sorts of foods just in moderation.

4) Take a break! Every few weeks slack off in some area - cheat on food intake for a day...indulge. One week just work out three days instead of five. Your body knows.

5) Don’t over cardio ist easy to get in a rut. But, some weeks do a few slow burns, but don't make them your base workout. Again your body knows.

6) Do high intensity interval training, but switch it up. Do a calisthenics one day. Do the bike & stepper another day. Weight train with light weights with fast high reps another day. Do a slow day of cardio too. At most do two days that are the same.

7) Dehydration slows down your metabolism a lot. Drink water! Drink when you work out, and drink after your work out. Your pee should be pale, not deep yellow. If you hate water drink 1/3 juice-2/3 water.

8) Avoid artificial sweeteners...just avoid them in everything. Some REAL sugar won't kill you.

9) Natural foods contain an assortment of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients that when consumed act as metabolic prompts to giving your body energy. Eat a little of everything.

10) YOUR BODY KNOWS. You body know when you on a strict diet, and it will change your thyroid level to save more calories. You body knows when you do one work out for weeks, it will change your metabolic rate to undo weight loss. You body knows when you don't drink enough water, it slows down to compensate. You body knows when you don't eat fats, starches, or high caloric items...it will adjust to make fat. YOUR BODY KNOWS!!!! If you eat fat your body is happy not to make it. If you body know you have tons of water it will ramp up your body's systems.

I know, I know so much to remember and do...but it works. And, by the way I know I should do interval training, but even I forget because I'm very lazy about switching up workouts. It is hard, but you have done so much already!!! Keep up the good work.

Having a weight plateau can be a pain in the ass. The smaller you get the harder it will be to lose weight. I was 330 pounds and now I'm around 218, and my weight has been going up and down since this year. If you've lost that much weight I'm sure you have enough knowledge of what to do. Just keep at it man the time will come for both of us. Btw...watching youtube fitness channels definitely keeps my motivation up, and overall just fun to watch.

There's an old saying in weightlifting. It goes like this:

"If you want to lose weight, cut your leg off and you'll lose weight. If you want to gain muscle and decrease body fat percentage, work harder."

It's basically true. I haven't worked out for about four months now (my schedule hasn't really allowed it like it used to, and it sucks). I dropped from 300 pounds to about 255 while I was working out, and then I hit a plateau. It was driving me nuts, and I ended up hitting my hard max on deadlifts, squats, and bench. My motivation was really strong, but it was rough finding that a five-pound difference on the bar was such a huge thing. Eventually, work and life cut so hard into my time that working out was nigh impossible beyond just a few body weight workouts here and there. I've been able to keep my weight within the 270-280 range, but it's nowhere near where I want to be (goal is still 230).

I found that the following things helped to decrease my body fat percentage:

• Deep stretches before workouts
• 20-minute walk at about 3 on the treadmill after my workout
• Protein, protein, protein
• Proper food portioning
• A small increase in my whole grains
• Making sure to poop at least three times a day

It really does come down to diet control, micro-managing your calorie intake, and just adding a few supplemental things to your workout. In all honesty, you shouldn't be too worried about it, as you've made some MASSIVE progress already. That's awesome to hear! You put in the effort, and look at the goals you've hit! You've hit your plateau, and now it's about maintaining and adding that little extra bit to everything to keep some shed happening.

Moreover, how tall are you? Make sure you know what the weight for your height should be.

Another thing that I would strongly recommend, and it's mainly because it helped me SO MUCH: follow Elliott Hulse. That guy taught me a TON, has some good instructional videos, and above all else, he speaks plainly. He doesn't try to bullshit you. He's also really big into how your nervous system plays into everything when it comes to working out. A lot of what he preaches on is strength training, though, so if you aren't looking for that, don't go TOO deep into his stuff. Here's his YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/strengthcamp

Keep it up! You are doing incredibly well, and it's always awesome to hear people being successful with their training!

GOTTA DRINK DAT HYPHY MUD.

(seriously though, I have no idea. Good job though!)

I don't know much about weigh loss but i do know a lot about staying in shape, first tip would be to make sure you eat right, sounds like you are already on that but some obvious tips would be dropping soda and other surgery drinks, this includes diet soda, those are just as bad. when it comes to lifting weights doing three sets of 8 repetitions is usually good, you should be able to increase what you lift fast in the beginning, increasing slightly every 2-3 weeks in the start. Be sure to use the big muscle groups as those are the once that burn the most calories. working out your legs, back and chest should be the priority.

I hope this helps in some way and wish you good luck in you quest!

This was the last deadlift session that I did before trying 375. I couldn't do 375. I'm going to hit 400 one of these days, though.

Lots of stuff in here already, so I'll just add a short two cents. I went from 350ish to around 240. That said, I'm probably back up around 300 after some stuff happened and I stopped working out, then eventually got back on bad eating habits. All that's a different, personal struggle I have, though.

I would say not to focus so much on weight. Look at your overall health and how you feel. 240 for me was amazing. I'm 6'4 and was lifting really heavy, much of that weight was solid. Obviously, you know how to knock the pounds off if you've lost 90 already. If you want to see gains in muscle, forget about losing weight for now. You've trimmed the fat, now start eating and lifting (low reps.) If you just want to trim down, eat right and do the cardio and light lifting (high reps.) The weight will go if you keep it up. Everyone's body is different, and despite popular belief being skinny does not equal being healthy.

If you feel you need to drop more weight, look more at what you are eating and when you are eating it than at your workout schedule.

Good luck! I'm hoping to get back on the health kick this summer, as well. Um... gotta go get this pizza from Domino's now, though. :)

Seems like a bunch of other people have better advice than I do but congrats on the 90! keep it up man!

Exercise and Caloric intake are the only things that matter in weight loss. So my question for you would be, what's your body fat percentage (not your BMI), how tall are you, and how many calories are you taking in a day? I generally gain and lose weight every couple years and I tend to lose fast. I'll gain to about 270 and then drop to about 230 in a few months by just exercising and cutting calories.

First off, congratulations on your hard work. I went through a similar thing in high school and have managed to keep pretty slim since then -- one of my proudest achievements and it should be one of yours, too! As some have already said here, you're reaching a pretty average weight for men, and at this point you may need to bulk up to begin losing weight again so your body continues to work hard during cardio. That said, if you're an average guy you can probably lose a bit more before needing to bulk up again.

Once again, as people have already said, this can be achieved by "keeping it up". Joining a running or sports club that involves significant cardio (soccer, ultimate frisbee, etc) is an excellent way to make sure that you use your fitness productively and regularly for extended time periods. Progress will be slower than it has been, but I can guarantee you that it will be worth it and feel just as good as it has up to this point. Good luck!

Everyone's body is different and responds differently to training, there is no single path for everyone to their desired goal. Perhaps you should look around a bit more at techniques?

For instance, while of course calories in versus calories out is the core of weight loss, have you ever heard of intermittent fasting?

Basically what it is: You stay at your normal weightloss calorie level, but instead of eating whenever throughout the day you restrict yourself to an 8 hour eating window. Something like 10AM - 6PM. Of course you can drink water outside the window, its just to restrict your calorie intake. Window sizes and times of day vary based on personal preference, but 8 hours is usually a good starting point. It helps with weight loss, as for the long periods of time when you are not eating your body is burning weight. It takes the will to do it though, its not easy, and you probably shouldn't unless you fully convince yourself you want to do it. I've tried it before but I unfortunately had to stop before I saw any results, I learned get massive headaches if I don't eat for long periods of time. My cousin though has seen definite fast weight loss results using intermittent fasting, I have seen them first hand. You keep doing your regular workouts and such as usual during it obviously.

If you've reached a plateau there's no harm in exploring other options, and I know intermittent fasting is a good one. It is fairly tough, but after a while it becomes completely normal and you get used to it. (Unless headaches set in like me.) It sounds like one of those dumb health trends that is all hand wavey, but its serious stuff. If you're looking for new approaches, at least try reading up on it. Here's some links for info:

A Beginners Guide to Intermittent Fasting

These guys have really good info and are pretty funny, try looking at some of their earlier vids: Fasting Twins

Cocaine

build more muscle is all i can say.

Do cocaine or meth.

First off - Congratulations!

Give your body a little time to recover. I don't mean just sit around, but set out on a goal where weight loss is just a side benefit. At 36 I was 205lb - about 35 pounds heavier than my in shape college years. Did P90x (great program by the way) and dropped 25 then bang - could not drop the last 10. I spoke to my brother (who is a personal trainer) and he asked if there was any type of exercise or sport I really liked. I told him Trail Running - so as a birthday gift he signed me up for a marathon occurring in 6 months (the little prick). I think he could see that I was obsessing over the last 10 lbs when I was already in a pretty healthy range.

Since then I have done 6 marathons and weigh between 168-172 depending on training- I'm 38 now. I'm not saying to do long distance running, that's just what floats my boat - but find a sport and a goal you can be passionate about for a while, focus on that and your diet. After a few months go back to whatever you have done to in the past to get the fantastic 90lb success you have already had!

Regarding the excess skin you mentioned - do as much research on the subject as you can. There may be only so much you can do about that - if its getting in the way there may be medical options.

ps. pay special attention to post 22 from LeSieg regarding intermittent fasting - my brother (that same personal trainer) swears by this way of eating.

Keep it up!

Well after thinking about it for sometime. I think its time for me to join a ''REAL'' gym, and hire a personal trainer. After watching my weight going up again today. I say enough is enough I don't want to be stuck like last year. I'm probably going to join L:A fitness that's around the area I live. Though having a trainer on the days I work will be tough especially since I don't have my drivers license, or maybe I'll just ask for advice from a trainer and just follow it.

Regardless its time for something new. The gym at my apartment complex sucks ass.

Its the smallest inconvenient gym I've been too. Dumbells that goes up to 25 pounds, 1 broken machine, 2 stair masters that are awful to use, weight machines overall feels clunky to use, and don't get me started if someone joins the room with you, it feels awkward as fuck. The last apartment I lived in was a shit ton better then this crap.

@falserelic said:

Well after thinking about it for sometime. I think its time for me to join a ''REAL'' gym, and hire a personal trainer. After watching my weight going up again today. I say enough is enough I don't want to be stuck like last year. I'm probably going to join L:A fitness that's around the area I live. Though having a trainer on the days I work will be tough especially since I don't have my drivers license, or maybe I'll just ask for advice from a trainer and just follow it.

Regardless its time for something new. The gym at my apartment complex sucks ass.

Its the smallest inconvenient gym I've been too. Dumbells that goes up to 25 pounds, 1 broken machine, 2 stair masters that are awful to use, weight machines overall feels clunky to use, and don't get me started if someone joins the room with you, it feels awkward as fuck. The last apartment I lived in was a shit ton better then this crap.

Yeah this is a huge issue. Right now I have a gym round the corner from home and super cheap however we are moving and the gym in our new condo building is not fit for purpose. That coupled with higher mortgage payments and it's worrying.

Lifting weights is the right answer. Also you can try incorporating fun and healthy activities like mountain biking and hiking. Those are huge calorie burners. GL

Any ideas on motivation? How do you get the willpower to want to lose weight? Don't mean to derail the thread but maybe it will help the OP too.

I found food intake has a much greater effect on loosing weight than exercise does. A couple hours of intensive exercise a day amounted to like one bar of chocolate off my daily intake. It's easier to just lose the chocolate bar. But the bonus with exercise is that you build fitness as well as loose weight which I guess is a bonus. I just hate exercise, I do about 40 mins a day and that's as much as I can bear.

Have you tried one of those services that allow you to log the calories you use and gain each week/day. My mum and sister seem to find them helpful and pointed out misconceptions they had (they use some free app on iOS). It may be that you're eating more than you think you are (or using up more calories than you think you are). Ultimately weight loss/gain is a conservation of energy trick - if you use more energy than you intake, you'll lose weight; and if you take in more energy than you use, then you'll gain weight. Your likely in the middle (using as much energy as your taking in). You may have then found a diet that's perfect for you but you happen to have reached it at a weight that you aren't comfortable with. Could be a case where you go a little further than your comfortable with (Either excess exercise or much stricter on what you eat) for a couple weeks and then return to your current diet when your happier to plateau at that point.

Also, you probably know this, but the easiest way to use a little more energy each day with the same routine is to simply replace when you sit down with standing up. It doesn't make a drastic difference, but when you're at a point where every little bit is very difficult, it can be very significant.

People are already giving advice way beyond my league, but as someone who was almost 300 pounds as well and am down below 200, let me just say even this far, congratulations, you lost yours a hell of a lot faster then me, I've been losing weight for a few years now, and have only just now begun to hit my wall or plateau so I've gotten a lot better with my diet and knocked my work out routine up a notch, bam! Hopefully our fellow duders have given you good advice, just stick in there.

I do it for the chicks maaaaaaaaaaaaaan, no but seriously, the best motivators I found were such the cliches, but did/have been working for me, build up more confidence by feeling better about how my body looks so I can be somewhat less freaked out whenever a nice lady is around, also my grandparents on my moms side of the family didn't live terribly long due to health reasons and I know I take after my moms side of the family as far as genetics go so the healthier I am, the longer I have, so that's cool.

I also find it really really helps if when you are working out you have something fun to concentrate on, I like to download a bunch of short videos or make a playlist of some kind and get enough that they roughly equal an hour or however long I am working out for so that I have something to keep my mind off how much I don't really want to be working out. There is someone on the forums who likes to make Giantbomb best of videos on YouTube, I adore them, it's something nice, funny and quick to keep my mind concentrated on.

For me I just got tired of being fat. Hell I want to be a aswome muscler man fucking alot of women. Granted I still got some ways to go, even though I've gotten alot leaner, and my muscles are becoming visible I'm still fat. Though I will change that this year and get ripped as fuck. What keeps me motivated is wanting to do better for myself. Since I basically wasted my Teenage years and didn't have a desire of wanting something more, but now I'm looking to change that around.

Also fitness youtube channels helps keep me going. Since I've been pretty isolated for years and had nobody cheering me on. Its nice to see vids of other people encouraging others to make something more out of thier lives, and telling people you have to overcome yourself to go beyond your limits.

BTW...CT says it best you have to become obsess with this shit or else you won't have it. I'm a psycho too I hear voices inside my head saying ''not to give up at all costs and overcome your fear''.