We've all been on diets before. What is your strategy when you hit a plateau and the weight just isn't coming off no matter how good you are being with your diet? And has it worked at all?

I give up. Unfortunately. And, no, that is not a good strategy. It doesn't work well.

My friend made a great recommendation to me:

He said to keep a journal of everything I eat, and add up the calories. Make sure to get on a food schedule so I eat about the same number of calories a day.

Also, keep an exercise journal, and exercise the same amount every week.

If you are not losing weight or want to lose weight faster, either decrease how much calories you eat or increase how many you burn through exercise.

A slight decrease will have significant effects over time. The simple fact is, if you eat less calories than you burn, you lose weight. You lose weight at about 1lb per 3,500 calories.

Sometimes, though, you do everything right, stick to the diet, exercise, and you don't lose an ounce for weeks. I think your body just rests and adjusts for a while. I've tried changing what I'm doing for exercise. It seems to help, or maybe I'm just glad for the variety and don't mind the plateau so much.

I asked because I'm thinking about dieting until I hit a plateau, then starting xenical to sort of kickstart the diet. What do you think?

Yes, I know what you mean. I think the body tries to adjust when you eat less. You feel less energy, and burn less calories. I think the only way to get it to work is to exercise more in addition to less.