I need some help with finding out why I have stayed the same weight for a few weeks now. I have been running and lifting for 8 months and went from 190 pounds to 160. I dropped most weight when running and lifting together, I have made gains and have become a lot stronger but I am nowhere near where I want to be.

I am 23yrs old female
Height 5' 7''
Weight at the moment 166 pounds
BMI 25.8
Pant size 8-10

I go to the gym about 3-4 times a week for a 1hr- 1hr 1/2
full body workouts-Circuit training(Focus on legs one day arms the next switching back and forth) Hoping to loose body fat and gain lean muscle.
assisted pull-ups
leg press
stiff dead lifts
lunges
leg press
step-up
bench press
squats regular,box,
DB hang-clean,military press to squat
curls
t-bar pulldowns
hamstring curl
leg lifts & ext.
calf raises
Abs planks,crunches
wall sits
donkey kicks,leg lifts
(3-4 sets 15-20 reps)Four exercises in each circuit

I started to run every morning again around 6am-8am range for 30 mins and have noticed a weight gain of about five pound in two weeks.
I take fish oil and one a day weight smart vitamin.
Foods are always fresh fruits and veggies, I stay away from dairy (eat only eggs) Can only eat 2tbs of cottage cheese or yogurt for snack.
No coffee only water
O.j after workout sometimes
Eat nothing with sugar and high fructose corn syrup
Only eat Fish red meat and chicken small amounts

I eat around 4-5 small meals ( meals consist of the same foods listed, small amounts)
Before run 1/2 banana Tps. of natural peanut butter 6am
9:30 breakfast one egg, steel cut oats w/ flax seed 5 almonds some blueberries
After gym protein shake (Dinner) small piece of chicken and random veggies
Three hours after some nuts or fruit.

QUESTIONS
Should I carb cycle?
I was also thinking about using Protein shakes as replacement meals, would that help aid in weight loss?
How do I get out of this Plateau?
Is it normal to gain when running after not doing so for a few weeks,is it my body is trying to adapt to it again?

Lay out your daily diet, it'll give more info for people to advise on....


LR

Today I had
one egg with flax seed
steel cut oats with walnuts,almonds,bananas mixed in

Pre-workout
shake with a spoonful of frozen sugar free yogurt mixed in
Post work out shake with some O.J mixed in

Post workout meal dinner
steak salad and veggies

Before bed cottage cheese

Water all day

How many cheat meals per week do you have? Do you let loose on the weekends? Because that was my undoing.

Like the others mentioned, getting your diet in check will help- if you're stalled then you might want to count calories. Also, getting a better laid out workout might not hurt.

What you're describing doesn't sound like a lot of food. But you're pretty vague about the details. For me personally, vagueness usually means I'm forgetting about a MASSIVE Amount of calories I ate somewhere. Therefore:

EXACTLY HOW MANY CALORIES HAVE YOU EATEN OVER THE LAST THREE DAYS. Need to put a number on it.

Another possibility is that you're eating a tiny amount of calories, like 1000, and not dropping weight. Which begs the second question: any current or previous medical issues? any history of eating disorder?

Don't sweat a five pound weight gain, btw. I can gain five pounds of water weight in one meal. Any trends will take a long time to become apparent.

Well this morning I went back to 160 pounds so it could be water weight.
I eat around 1200 calories most likely less

I eat more carbs on my running cardio days like today I ran the track and went up and down bleachers.
But yesterday was full body 4 set of circuts 15-20reps At the last set heavy 5 times till failure
(1)stiff dead lifts w/bar 30 pounds ,one leg lunges w/ 15 pound DB,outer legs
(2)box squats w/bar 20 pounds,step-ups,pull-ups
(3)isometrics squat,Frog squat,squat thrust All till failure


This morning I had steel cut oats with apple and almonds and one egg
Banana before Running
Shake after workout
dinner chicken w/ veggies
snack almonds

Firstly, your diet is laid out in the most horrible and un-organised way possible.

Second, it makes me think that you have no planned diet on a day to day basis, and you totally have no clue about what your daily macro intake or calorie intake is.

Third, you seem to have an astonishingly low food intake, and if it's been like this for a while, your metabolism may have slowed down drastically, meaning you need to take a few weeks off from dieting and eat at maintenance to get your metabolism working optimally again.

Fourth, there are hundreds of great nutritional programs here in the archives, so there's no need for you to just wing it. You'll find that a lot of people are using these nutritional programs to cut fat, and you'll have a lot of support on the forums from people on the same diet should you stall or get stuck.

Fifth, lay your diet out a lot better. You need to know what your calories are, and where they're coming from, this is a very important point. If your can keep track of this properly, you'll know what you can tweak or change for the diet to work better for you.

Here's a layout of one of my diet days, just so you get an idea;

Type 2 Day - 60% PROTEIN / 40% FAT

1710 Kcals, 256g Pro , 76g Fat

Breakfast;
Eggs - 3 (18g P / 16g F)
EVOO - 1 Tbsp (13.7g F)
Brie - 50g (10g P / 12g F)
Celery - 100g (0.5g P / 1g C / 0.2g F)
Omega 3 Liquid - 2 Tbsp (9g F)
True Whey - 2 Scps (38g P / 3.6g C / 3.4g F)

(66.5g P / 4.6g C / 54.3g F)


Lunch;
Chicken - 100g (30.7g P / 1.7g F)
Fry Lite - 9 Sprays (1g F)
Broccoli - 100g (3.6g P / 7g C)
Omega 3 Liquid - 2 Tbsp (9g F)
True Whey - 1 Scp (19g P / 1.8g C / 1.7g F)

(53.3g P / 8.8g C / 13.4g F)


Dinner:
Chicken - 100g (30.7g P / 1.7g F)
Fry Lite - 9 Sprays (1g F)
Cauliflower - 200g (7.2g P / 7.2g C / 1.8g F)
True Whey - 1 Scp (19g P / 1.8g C / 1.7g F)

(53.3g P / 5.4g C / 5.3g F)


Bed Shake:
Total Milk + Whey - 3 Scps (75.9g P / 3g C / 1.8g F)
Glycine - 5g (5g P)
Leucine - 5g (5g P)

(85.9g P / 3g C / 1.8g F)


Totals
259.g P
74.8g F
21.8g C

Total Kcals = 1709 (1796.4 with trace carbs)


Note: This is an OFF day. On workout day, I only have 1 Whey Scoop with breakfast and the other 3 are moved PWO. I also add 5g Glycine PWO, and remove the Leucine from my Bed Shake.

Hope this helps you a bit.


LR