[RavenWolf]

I'm so ready to quit. I measure portions. I'm counting calories. I'm sore from walking. I'm depriving myself of everything. And the scale went up 0.8 pounds!

This is such a fail. I just did 10 minutes of walking and quit. No motivation. No desire to bust my butt and get no where.

Losing this weight is a dream that is not going to come true. I'm beyond depressed.

[Mozzy]

How long have you been at this?
I understand your frustrations, things will get better. Hugs

[fitbyforty]

Could you provide more details about your diet etc?

[twinieten]

Giving up isn't going to get you to your goal!! So don't do it!

How long have you been doing this? How much weight have you lost?

Weight loss is not linear. Weight goes up and down. It fluctuates based on what you eat, TOM, how much exercise you do, and any number of things. Overall, it should go down. That's what you need to look at. The movement over time.

Really, when you think about it, you didn't even gain a whole pound! What you gained could be gone, and maybe even more, by tomorrow. It's certainly not worth throwing in the towel for!

Compare to me. I'm up 4 pounds from yesterday and 6 pounds from January 1!! That's really bad. I was normal BMI, and now I'm overweight again. Don't get me wrong, I'm frustrated. But I understand that this is reversible. I will eat better today, and commit to being better about what I'm doing and what I'm eating.

Don't give up now! It's too soon! Keep moving forward!

[kimberleyanddarren]

I know how you feel! I have felt like this a lot lately. I have 10 stone to loose and the road seems so long that I cant see a light at the end of the tunnel and so I end up reaching for the cookies again!

Are you nearly due on or something else which can trigger this? It can be really disheartening, but I think we have to try and remember that if we give up we will just be back here trying to start all over again in a few months time.

[RavenWolf]

In the morning I have low fat yogurt, a hard boiled egg, and a glass of milk or cofee, with measured creamer. I used to do a lot of sugar in my coffee but eliminated that.

Lunch is 1.5 cup spinach, 1/2 cup cucumber, 1/2 a tomato, 1/4 cup cheese, and 50 calories worth of dressing. Dinner is a whatever we are having and I portion on amount of calories I have left open.

I drink at least 64 ounces of water flavored woth real lemon or cucumber slices.

I am 226 pounds and walk 30-45 minutes a day, which hurts but I do it.

Small changes don't add up. Gave up mayo, butter, cereals, potatoes, sugar in my coffee, soda, ice cream, and other things over the years and never saw any good out of it. I havd bread oncr a week with lean ham, slice of cheese, and topped with half a serving of low fat ranch.

Serving of pasta once every two to three weeks. Rice abput the same.

[betsy2013]

I totally understand. This weight loss business is the hardest job that we'll ever do, and it seems like it's so easy to put on pounds and then takes weeks to get them off. There are times when I want to quit -- and, now that I'm in my 60s I have a lifetime of quitting diets to look back on. I also look back on having shot my hips and knees, from having to have lots of medical procedures done to make sure I haven't given myself cancer of some form from the obesity, and to missed opportunities because we all know that fat is the last acceptable discrimination.

So, use this forum to figure out what's working for you and what isn't. There are some true experts here. And it may take a few days/weeks/or even months to find an approach that works for you.

Also, you're walking a lot. That's great. It boosts your metabolism and it helps to build muscle. But muscle weighs more than fat so initially you're going to possibly even see a weight gain like you're seeing. But in a few weeks, the muscle begins helping with the weight loss, with keeping your metabolism revved up longer, and with just making you feel better.

One thing that has helped me is I have a weight loss buddy -- and she lives 3 hours away so it's being done via the computer. But it helps knowing that we'll be weighing in and sharing weight and inches lost every week. And it helps to share hints and what works and what doesn't.

Good luck.

[JohnP]

Educate yourself about the difference between fat loss/gain and water loss/gain.

Knowledge is power.

[vabs]

Think about what it's going to be like during weight maintenance. Will you be able to go for that walk when your weight goes up 0.8 pounds then? Will you continue to deprive yourself of everything to keep the weight off?

Because your weight maintenance is going to look very, very much like your weight loss. That's why having sustainable behaviors now matters so much. If you hate what you're doing at this point, then you need to change it! It's normal to be frustrated, but I noticed something about what you wrote: they're all negatives. Maybe you could focus on things that aren't restrictions (e.g. have veggies with each meal, or drink a certain amount of water each day, or try a new physical activity once a week). Add on new goals slowly, once they've become habits, and it's probably not going to suck as bad.

No, it's not going to be as fast as restricting from the get go. But this doesn't have to be a sprint. It DOES have to be something you can live with.

[teddine]

I signed up for "my fitness pal" and I find it very helpful. If you log everything, you realize what is going on. Before I would just think "I don't understand why I don't lose weight". Well, now I see it. HArd numbers. If you want to lose weight it is hard work... But once you start, and find the twist, the motivation comes back

[krampus]

"Motivation" and "winter" don't go together very well, but 10 minutes is better than 0 minutes.

You have no protein in your lunch and your breakfast is tiny. No wonder you feel deprived! I don't know what you usually have for dinner, but if it is heavy/salty and you weigh in the morning, you might not see your progress measured that way.

Deprivation sucks and I don't think anyone eats at a deficit without feeling hungry or annoyed they "have to" be doing it. That being said, if you decide you hate eating healthy and exercising and losing weight after sticking with it for a while, you can always go back - gaining is easy.

[GettinFit]

RavenWolf - I totally understand where you're coming from. The same thing always happens to me when I start working out. This time around, I decided to pretty much stay off the scale. I used to weigh daily but not seeing the scale go down or seeing it go up was messing with my mind and affecting whether or not I stayed on plan. Now I'm focusing on inches lost, how my clothes are fitting and my overall health.

I know if you hang in there and keep up your healthy habits, the scale will eventually go down.

[drixnot]

If you are sore... then you are also swollen with water. Water is quite heavy at 8 pounds a gallon. That .8 pound is less than a glass of water. Take a day or two off of walking but keep up with the diet and THEN weigh in. I think you will be quite surprised.

ALL injuries will trigger swelling and working those unused muscles create tiny tears in the muscle tissue.. so every place that is sore is filling with small amounts of water... the more you hurt the more water is there.

[fitbyforty]

Do you know how many calories that adds up to?

[NorthernChick13]

The fact that you posted on here shows us you don't want to quit! You want support and we're gonna give that to you!

Losing weight isn't just about pounds...there is an emotional side too. Ultimately, you've got to forgive yourself for putting on the weight and learn to love your body's successes and struggles. And as for depriving yourself, there are ways to eat healthy and still be full and satisfied. Maybe your plateau (if it is one) is your body's way of asking you to shake it up.

You can do this. I don't even know you but I believe in you. NOTHING is impossible. OKAY!?