Frustrated

[KSH]

I would mix it up. Try jogging or fast walking. Start doing some weight training & review your diet. Do intervals on the bike, fast pace for a minute & recover for two minutes. Get a heart rate monitor so that you keep yourself honest during your intervals. Fast means 80% of your max heart rate - you should be breathing hard & sweating!

That could be the case here. You need to shock your body with another type of routine.

I can tell you that if I only rode 3 days a week on my bike, I would not lose weight... in fact, I would gain it. My body is use to that. For me to keep my weight down with a healthy diet... I have to do about 8-10+ hours of cardio a week (I'm a triathlete). If I only do 2-3 hours of cardio a week, my weight climbs... because my body is use to doing a lot more.

[tulip]

Adding weights or pilates or yoga may also help. I found that when I started to do pilates, things really changed. I also cut out my morning coffee and muffin (which is really just cake), and added an apple a day. Drink lots and lots of water every day.

[han-grrl]

I just added a post on my blog about weight loss/management

There are so many factors to consider

exercise, eating, food allergies (some you might not be aware of), medications can cause weight gain and there is an article that plastics can also cause weight gain...as can lack of proper sleep and rest and high stress levels...

One of the best ways to start is by journalling food, exercise and symptoms/moods along with your weight. also measure girth of waist, arms and legs to get another baseline measurement.

Good luck (and keep smiling)
Han

[Keepmovin]

I hit that wall too....

I swim, spin, bike, weight-train, play racquetball....at one point I was averaging about 15-18 hours per week of exercise and my calories were pretty low. It's taken a year and I've lost about 40-45 pounds of pure fat, gained some lean muscle and my blood-work has tremendously improved....but at this point I keep looking in the mirror and wondering when it's gonna come of.

When I go on long rides I always wear a heart-rate monitor that measured calories burned...what used to take me 1,200 calories I can now do in about 700: the body becomes that much more efficient...and let's not forget, I'm not carrying around as much weight when I ride, so it's easier! Point being, your body adapts!

Also, it's almost unfair how calories can add-up!!! I had lunch with my nutritionist and afterwards I asked him to estimate how many calories he took in....he figured about 1,100. When we really sat there and broke it down, it was closer to 1,900. It's almost unfair how many calories food has!

You're body has simply found an equilibrium....if you want to see further progress, you'll have to change it up and tweak the numbers. Sounds like your lower-body is ripped....perhaps look to do some swimming to nab some upper-body and lean things out in that direction.

But yeah, congrats on the weight-loss and especially being an instructor!!!

[Dogmama]

Also snacking - grabbing a handful of crackers, tasting while you're cooking, it all adds up.