I know people have posted many times on weighht loss plateaus, but i guess im still confused. I am 24, i am 5'6-5'7 and started out weighing 240. I started dieting (calorie counting) and going to the gym about July 2nd, Since then ive lose between 49-50lbs. I kept track of my weight loss every week and its been pretty steady 2-3lbs a week normally with one or two weeks of a large weight loss. The large weight loss came right after i started with a new trainer and new diet he gave me. Currently i am at a loss though, its been 2 weeks and im fluctuating between 190 and 192, it just wont budge. I started doing my cardio daily, i use a recumbent bike for 45mins on settings 4 and 5, each for 20mins and a 5min cool down. Right now, my died is primarily protein, i dont snack on junkfood, snacks are usually a fruit or beef jerky. I try to eat every 3 hours if i can. I goto the gym 3x a week with a trainer, we do upper and lower on seperate days, he also has me doing an ab routine on my own w/o weight (but i dont see any change in my stomach). Any help/advice would be amazing, im getting really frustrated with the weight not moving. Any more info needed and ill post. Thanks!

Firstly it sounds like you've made some fantastic progress, so congratulations.

Secondly, weight loss isn't linear. So don't get disheartened, keep going the way you are for another two weeks and see what happens. If you're still on the plateau, eat more - yes you read right eat more. Go back on maintenance for a few weeks then start to lower it again. Your metabolism has caught up with you and you need to give it a little bit of a reset.

Also, change your workout round a bit if you haven't already, change the rep and set scheme around, try different exercises, your body may be getting used to your routine. Also remember that you can't spot reduce fat. situps won't affect the fat around your stomach.

Most importantly, whatever you do, don't give up.

You should also post the diet the trainer has given you and your upper/lower split. We'll be able to help you more accurately.

well, the trainer has me on a protein heavy diet. I am in school so what he set for me to do i pretty much modify to what is available. Currently...

Breakfast - 2 egg whites, cup of cereal (cornflakes) with protein powder mixed into the milk

Lunches - If im at school i go for 6" subway turkey breast on wheat with lettuce/tomato and vinegar or grilled chicken breast over yellow rice with lettuce and tomato or tuna sandwich on wheat with 1tsp of lowfat mayo

Dinners - these depend on where i am... sometimes subway or the chicken breast while at school... usually if i go out i get a salad with some form of grilled chicken and veggies.

Snacks - usually a fruit or beef jerky (to keep up with protein) Fruit consists of pineapple, banana or a apple sauce cup

Drinks - only drinking water or crystal light ice tea


For my work outs...

I can only go 3 days a week since im in school the other 3 days and i have 1 day of nothing (cardio only) my trainer likes to jump around but ill list the possible machines/exercises we do...

Day 1 - upper body - bicep curls, triceps, pullups, dips, chest press, pushups, shoulder fly's,seated rows, lat pull downs... (he likes to jump between these, we usually do 6 exercises a session)

Day 2 - lower body - leg extensions, squats, incline squats, outer thigh machine, laying hamstring, lunges... (same as upper body, we usually jump around and do about 6 per session)

Day 3 - repeat day 1

I am doing medium weight for ~15 reps per exercise, sometimes more depends. He likes to throw in muscle endurance training so for instance, after a chest machine set 1 he will have me do 15 pushups.. then set 2 chest.. another 15 pushups... etc He also has me on a routine for abs everyday (ill admit i havent done them everyday) its 3 different crunches (no resistance) 15 of each.. i jumped it to 20 each so i could feel it more. Ive started doing them daily, but need to wait to see results.


Sorry for the long post, thats pretty much the gist of everything im doing... any help is appreciated. The gym owner told me i should probably start going heavy weight less reps to build muscle.. but i dont really wanna get big, i wanna look lean and thin.

Your Gym owner is right. Go heavier and you won't get big if you are eating a calorie deficit, your body just doesn't have the fuel to grow muscle. What lifting heavy will do is force your body to hold onto the muscle it's got which is good, because the more muscle you have the more calories you burn and they will give you that lean look when you get down to a low body fat %.