Just don't know what to do anymore..

[vodevil]

Been on my calorie counting diet for over a year now and I've lost around 4 and a half stone [hoorah]

Now though I'm just stuck, the weight isnt shifting AT ALL and hasnt since around November

I exercise a few times a week and eat between 1000 - 1300 calories a day.
I've tried upping and downing to trick my body but that didn't work
Anything I should do to make it work?
Should I go to my doctor and ask him?
What is a doctor likely to advise me to do?

I really want this and I'm getting really upset that I'm not going to finish where I want to be :sigh:

 

[IrishMum]

How about taking a break for a while? Experts reckon when we lose 10% of our body weight we should take a break to allow our 'set point' to adjust to our new weight. They recommend eating maintenence level of food for a few months, then starting again? Your body may have just got used to the amount of calories it's been getting for such a long time, and is now used to running on that amount? I know that you don't want to delay getting to goal, but really- you're so close now you need to think about getting your body back to eating 'normal' amounts of food anyway?
Congratulations on the HUGE losses by the way!!
As for your doctor- well, mine told me NEVER to go under 1500cal a day, as did a dietitian. Needless to say that resulted in me not losing anything over 6mths, but I gave it a go to prove I was taking their advice seriously and it wasn't working? He'll probably advise you up your exercise to increase your deficit. A GP isn't trained in nutrition/exercise so probably won't be much help to you. I know others have posted similar experiences.

 

[Scanbran]

Without being an expert, I would echo the good advice above, but emphasise the exercise thing.

I would just increase the frequency or intensity of the exercise for a while without changing anything else and see if that makes a difference, maybe changing from strength work to cardio or vice versa to mix things up a bit.

 

[CrazyBrit]

Ditto on IrishMum's advice. Let your body adjust, maintain for a few months, then con your body by "starting another diet"

I'm at that stage now, where I'm just coasting along. Gently losing half a pound here or there, but for the most part eating about 2,000 calories a day and maintaining. Then I'll go "Gosh, I think I'll diet!" and my body will go "Crikey! I need to burn some fat!"

Bodies have fairly short memories