I dont know..The curves near me said I could come in and try it for a whole week free....I may take them up on it...it seems like such a silly idea to me though..how can you only use each machine for 30some seconds each?! Everyone I know who does it says it IS a good workout so I believe them...but I still dont think it;s for me..plus it's so expensive..doesnt seem worth it when for about the same money you could join a gym with a pool and the whole deal!


I dont know what to say Liz in regards to your questions. I've only been doing this a few months as you know and the only stalls I've had so far were self inflicted I think from me being inconsistent. sorry I hope you find what works though!

Like everything else, BFL is what YOU make of it. If you can only work out twice a week, fine.....five years from now you will thank your lucky stars you are at goal weight....WITH a great metabolism. Two full-body workouts per week is more than adequate. Theres a reason 200 lb bodybuilders have to eat 6000 calories a day just to maintain, I just wish I learned that 20 years ago.

There is a big Curves thread on the exercise forum, so check it out. Their training is based on circuit training, so yes 30 seconds on each machine is fine. Then later on you can do a 2nd circuit and so on.

The hand and ankle weight thing is a gimmick, so don't bother with those.

Very interesting topic, Liz. I've thought about this a lot myself. You are right - a VERY common stalling point is around the 80-100# mark. I've seen this over and over with over a hundred dieters I've known online and IRL. It has even happened to me. This time it seemed to hit around the 130# mark, but this is the first time I've done LC and a lot of things are different for me this time around. I hit the 130# loss on 10/20/03 and it has taken me this long to get to 136# gone. There was a lot of up and down in between, including some rebound water weight gain from when I was able to get off my HBP meds (a diuretic).

Of course, for many of us, our first tendency is to blame ourselves. It MUST be something we are eating, drinking, doing or not doing. We don't want to think that this just may be something our bodies are doing that we have little or no control over. Yes, I eat LC treats and use products and don't always eat my veggies like I should, nor do I exercise as consistently as I could/should. BUT - I've had these issues from the beginning. In fact, I didn't exercise at all for the first 110# of weight loss and actually slowed down my losses once I started exercising (at a curves-like exercise place).

My calorie intake has naturally decreased from what I was eating at 400# when I started. Like you, I try to listen to my body and eat when I'm physically hungry. Now that I'm on Atkins I actually know what that feels like. So, could I tighten things up and get things moving more quickly again? Possibly. I have had weeks where I've been stricter and had small losses and weeks where I've had a lot of 'junky LC stuff' (for lack of a better term) and had great losses. There have been weeks I exercised 5x and stayed the same and weeks I skipped it altogether and lost 5#. It's beginning to seem like it's all a crap shoot to me.

I think you could go either way - maintenance or just accepting the smaller losses. Personally, I'd think of it like I was in maintenance and not change the food if I was satisfied with it. This way when the (small) losses come along, it's a pleasant surprise and not a disappointment b/c we all want to speed our way to the finish line.

BTW - I've just noticed that we have lost a similar percentage (over 55%) of what we want to. I wonder if it's the percentage of total loss which is the common denominator for when people stall.

Hi June,

That is exactly what I meant. Yes, doing some resistance training would probably be good for me, but I am actually fairly strong and muscular, so I don't think that is really my problem. Besides, how would that explain the fact that I lost steadily and fairly rapidly for the first 80 pounds and then boom, I slowed to a crawl. There has to be something else going on rather than the fact that I don't lift weights. Besides, I exercise a lot -- I just finished three miles on the treadmill and I often do more than that.

It is interesting that we have both lost about the same percentage and are having a similar problem. I've done some reading on weight-loss surgery web sites and they sites say that at either 100 pounds off or 50 percent to goal most people's weight loss starts slowing down or stops. After that, even people who have had surgery have to seriously work at it. No, I'm not considering surgery although I was 100 pounds ago. I don't think I even qualify anymore, which is a wonderful thing in and of itself! They generally want you to be either 100 pounds overweight or to have a BMI of 40 and I am below that mark.

Right now, I'm going to just hang in there and do what I have been doing. However, at some point I may experiment with adding back in a few more foods. I have a feeling I can do that and not change my weight in any way.

Actually, Liz, you're below BOTH the benchmarks for surgery--congratulations!

I can't advise you about the slow down--you and June are so far ahead of me that all I can do is say...I'll be there too one of these days!

Jude

That's what I'm planning on doing too. I'm going to keep doing what I've been doing other than I do plan on making more of an effort to get the veggies in. That's more for health though than to speed up the weight loss. It's sort of an ongoing effort for me to eat my veggies.

Other than that, I'm planning on just taking things as they come. I figure I'm going to be eating this way for the rest of my life anyway, so I'll just keep at it. Size changes come more quickly in the lower sizes anyway, so the slower/smaller losses may seem more obvious than the quicker losses at the higher weights anyway. If that's not too confusing to follow.

That's not too confusing to follow -- I've been thinking the same thing. My last pair of jeans got too big after about 17 or 18 pounds. When I started, it took me 25 or 30 pounds to change a size. I think that once we get closer to 200, we'll change a size every 15 pounds or so.

One thing that has helped me is thinking about this in terms of percentage of weight lost. When I weighed 360, I had to lose 36 pounds to make a 10 percent difference in my weight. Now, I only have to lose 26 pounds to make a 10 percent difference in my weight. That's why smaller weight losses are more noticeable now that we are somewhat smaller.

That's what I've been thinking. Maintenance is for life...in a sense we are already there, since we've all experienced the fact that adding or reducing carbs in a given week may not affect weight loss.

Liz, just a note on weight training: in Atkin's Anti-Aging Diet book, he recommends weight training as a way to boost HGH (human growth hormone), which he sees as important in slowing the signs of aging. According to that book, cardio does not convey this benefit. Arguably, you would do well to drop some of your cardio and use the time to weight train, for this benefit alone (which is not related to building strength, as far as I know). I will ask my husband, who is quite experienced, if he knows of a book to recommend for learning free weights at home (though I do think it's best to have some supervision). I think Body for Life is too intense for you, based on my knowledge of it and you (time demands, esp) . In my own case, I was trained on circuit machines at my rec center gym and found I was able to learn how to do it after a couple of sessions (and there were floor trainers available when I needed pointers). The new exercise class I just started is called "Strength and Conditioning" and incorporates free weights into a class setting.

I know you think I don't like exercise, but you can see I have had quite a few encounters with it. I just don't think it is a panacea, or even a moral good.

What a great topic. I've been wondering this myself. I am of the opinion that it's more the percentage thing. More specificaly it seems to slow down after you get to the halfway point. Many people on this forum have blown past a 50 pounds lost but I seem to be fighting for every pound I loose now. I was kind of hopping things would speed up on its own but now i'm thinking its up to me to kick start things.

Gabrielle

Maybe we need to start a new support group for people who are about halfway to goal and suddenly fighting to lose every pound! At least it is better being in this position than only 10 percent of the way to goal and having the same problems.

I totally agree with this. Quest is a genius!

The ONLY long term way to increase your metabolism is by weight training.

Two full-body workout per week is all it takes.

I suppose I can die happy now .

Well, count me in if you start one.

Glad I'm good at math so I can follow you guys' train of thought!

I just came off a 6 wk stall after losing rapidly previously. I was stuck at a weight which I had previously been at for at least 10 years (a setpoint?) with my highest weight being a shorttime weight. Did you find yourselves getting stuck at weights you'd previously lived at for long periods???? (I know, not a mathematical question but I was wondering)

Also, you are giving me food for thought as I approach 50% lost.