About 7 months ago I set out to lose some weight and live a healthier life. I was 5'4" and 145 lbs.After years of being dissatisfied with my increasing weight I had finally reached the point where I could not deny it anymore. I was officially overweight and though the scale hadn't said so until that day, I had been growing out of my clothes at a ridiculous rate. from size 6 to size 10 in just over 4 months to be exact. I had gained 10 lbs in a month! So I threw out my drinking habit, my usual 3-4 sodas a day, and my midnight candy binges and went to the gym. After a while I counted calories, limited myself to 1200. As i started to work out a bit obsessively I felt like i needed more calories so I gradually bumped up my calorie intake first to 1400 then 1600, and for a couple weeks 1800. The results were great! I had lost 9 inches of my waist in 6 months! But i couldn't continue eating the 1800, it had turned into about 1400 and I continued to work out intensely for 1-2 hours a day. Oddly this was when my weight loss came to a screeching halt. Two months had gone by with no further loss when I decided that I had hit a plateau. It was clear that I couldn't eat less or exercise more than I already was so I decided to take a break from cardio and focus on strength and I bumped up my calories to 2000 to give my body a chance to readjust and hopefully increase my metabolism (I know I'm not going to lose weight at this calorie level). It's really scary for me because I am committed to reaching my goal (only 3 more inches) and I don't want to mess it up. How long should I give it until I start exercising again and should I go into it more gradually or jump right back in to something more intense. Does anybody have any other advice for breaking out of a plateau? Thanks for reading, all!