Not There Yet!?

Hello All!
I've been on this site since early last year, before my surgery.  I do a lot of lurking, but not posting.  I'm of a mind not to ask anything if I can do a search and find my answers in something previously posted.  Well here I am 1 year out and I'm writing now for a little input, affirmation or just a smack from everyone.  I am 10 or so pounds from goal, and I honestly thought I would be there already, but no...  I am limited in the exercise I can do for a number of reasons, so most of my weight has come off from diet alone.  I've been stuck at this weight, + or - a couple of pounds, for the past 2 months.  Other than excising more, which is really not an option, what else would you suggest?  I have a protein drink every morning and then tend to eat small things during the day, and I don't typically over do it.  I do measure my food, most of the time and I try to avoid "slider" food other than yogurt and cottage cheese.  I do graze, so maybe that's part of my problem.  I never feel hungry, and I don't go over 1000-1200 calories, and always get in at least 80-100 grams of protein.  Here's an example of what I eat each day:

• 5:00AM:  Protein Shake
   
• Breakfast: 4 oz. Dannon Light & Fit Diabetic Friendly Yogurt & 1/2 cup Strawberries OR Kashi Protein Oatmeal
   
• Morning Snack: 1 Low-Fat String Cheese or 1 Light Babybel Cheese & 20-25 Natural Almonds
   
• Lunch: 4 oz. 2% Cottage Cheese OR 1 Cup of Soup OR Chili
   
• Afternoon Snack: 6 Low-Fat Triscuts & 2 Laughing Cow Light Cheese wedges
   
• Dinner:  3-4 oz. Chicken Breast OR Fish  & Salad OR steamed vegetable
   
• Night-time Snack: 1 Edy's No-Sugar Fruit Popsicle

I do splurge and eat a little pasta occasionally, but mostly I follow, low-carb diet.  And, yes, I do eat a lot of cheese!  Any input would be appreciated.  Thank you all!

Sharon

it sounds like you're doing everything right... i've heard the best way to get over plateau humps like this is to change your workout routine around. i know you said you can't do too much, but whatever you are already doing... switch it up. if you're walking a bit and then maybe lifting some weights... do the opposite and lift the weights first. whatever your workout routine is right now... i suggest turning it upside down. our bodies adjust and adapt to what we put it through and consistency in workouts sometimes is our downfall.

It takes many people more than a year to get to goal. 

Basically, if you are maintaining your weight on your current plan, to lose more weight you either need to burn more calories (which means move more) or taken in less calories (which means eat less) or do a little of both.  If you cannot increase your physical activity at all (and even if you are limited in the type/amount of exercise you can do, you may be able to be a little more active - due to severe back problems, pretty much all I can do is walk, but I can increase how much I walk if I want to), then I would work on sticking to 1000 calories a day.  You could also consult a physical therapist to find out if there is any type of exercise you can safely do.

I got my last ten off by following some advise from Dr Atkins.  He advised switching from high protein low carb to low protein high carb for a while.  It worked wonders for me.  The high carb is not from white carbs, those are still out, but instead of chicken, fish, beef, yogurt, or cheese, I ate a lot of strawberries, blueberries, apples, oranges, fresh pineapple, peaches, cherries, cantaloupe, melons, and garnished with sugar-free cool whip. 

It took about a month and the weight loss was amazingly quick and easy.  Every meal was a fruit salad.  No bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and very, very little protein.  I don't remember eating any protein that month.  I think I sometimes had lettuce and tomato salad, but mostly just fruit. 

I really enjoyed all of the fruit after avoiding it for so long and had been struggling with losing for months on my high protein low carb plan.  Fresh pineapple was and still is my favorite treat.  Your plan and eating is great but your body has adjusted to it and changing it up might work as well for you as it did for me.

Now I balance protein, vegetables, and fruit and find it very easy to maintain.

I use a nutritional tracker to help me get off the last 15 pounds. I like sparkpeople.com.

WhiteDove your posting was very interesting-that is the first i had ever heard of that - i will have to keep that in mind down the road as i get closer to my end results of this weight loss journey! 

Thank you all for your advice!  I try to eat at least 2 servings of fruit a day, strawberries & blueberries are my favorite.  I should also switch up my workout, but like Kelly, I have back & hip issues and can't do much other than walking, I'll see how much I can push myself, or maybe talk to my PT.  Tomorrow is my 1 year surgiversary and I have an appointment to see my NUT for my one year follow-up, she always suggests cutting calories though.   Maybe I can cut back on 1 of my "snacks" and see if that helps.  My sister had her RNY over 2 years ago, and if I remember correctly she stalled the same way near goal, and then all of a sudden she dropped the last 20lbs. rather quickly.  Hopefully that will be the case for me.  Well thanks again everyone for your input, I'll post again to give an update.