[yhahmd]

Okay, so I technically don't weigh in officially and record it for... 9ish days, but I do weigh every day just because I'm a spazz like that. I just like to do it. I recently got down to 178, then never saw it again (scale bounced up to 180 again) I figured it was water weight or something, and not to worry. As long as I'm there, or lower, in 9 days, I'll be fine.

I think it's muscle. That, or I'm not eating enough. I've been doing a lot of ab exercises lately, along with regular exercise.

Every day (besides yesterday, I'm giving myself 1 day off) I bike for 30 minutes. I also do either a Jillian Michaels or Billy Blanks tape (I do both his cardio and ab bootcamp). Sometimes two, an hour or so later. Depends on how much energy I have to burn off. If the weather isn't in the 80s, I try to walk to this store down the way, there and back is a mile.

I haven't switched over to "super healthy" yet because my dads laid off this week and we don't have any money coming in, so I have to make due with what's here. Here's my meal plan for today, for example:

Breakfast:
2 slices of toast + butter
1 glass of milk (the reason it's so little is because I woke up REALLY late today and knew I'd be eating again in a couple hours)

Lunch:
1/2 cup broccoli
1 carrot, sliced
1 celery, sliced (veggie garlic medley)
1 slice of bread with 1tbs cream cheese (just to try something different.)

Dinner:
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
20oz noodles
1 cup meat

That totals me at about 1175.02 calories for the day, and gives me 300 (more like 301.something) to play with if I get hungry later on or want a snack. (I aim for 1477 calories a day)

I had chicken 2 nights ago and we're having it again tomorrow, so I'm getting enough protein. There's carbs in there, veggies, meat, and some not so great stuff.

So am I eating too much? Too little? Too bad of choices? Could it be muscle, or gained back weight from 2 days of losing track of calories and possibly under/over eating? Too much bread? (1 slice is only 80 calories)

Any ideas would be appreciated. Like I said, I still have 9 days to tip the scale, but if I'm doing something wrong I'd like to find out now and fix it.

[Natalia]

I mean, its so hard to say because we're all so individual.
Personally though, for myself I know I would at minimum stall out on 3 slices bread and that amount of noodles. Unfortunately my body is just too sensitive to sugar and flour products.

Some people lose weight exactly like a math equation- calories in-calories out for example. For others it may take a bit more tweaking. You could always try lowering your starches and replacing them with veggies, lean protein or low fat dairy and watch the scale.

[yhahmd]

Maybe it is too much bread. It better be. The scale hasn't moved in over six days and I'm starting to get antsy. I still have a week left before my official weigh in but the scale definitely should've moved by now. I'm trying not to worry about it, but it's disappointing, of course. 2 more days until the end of week 1... we'll see what the scale says friday. If it hasn't budged, I'll cut back on the bread.

[PeanutsMom704]

20 oz of noodles? Meaning 2.5 cups cooked pasta?

I'm not sure exactly how you are measuring things but I'm getting 955 calories just for your dinner.

I would definitely try to add in more protein (you should have some with each meal) and have fewer refined grains.

[Gold32]

Your scale shouldn't move every day, not necessarily every 6 would mean anything. Weight fluctuates by 2-3 pounds on average because of daily body changes. You know this, cause you said so! So just keep in mind that you have to look at a long time trend. Much longer than a 6 day period.

Your stats show you've lost 7 pounds already. If you've found something that is working for you, be very careful in how, and why, you tweak it. Oh, and for reference: I'm similar in height and weight to you, and I'm losing at 1400 calories a day. Often a tad lower, but not by much. So I don't think you need to lower your calories.

[eclipse]

I agree that I can't really tell how you're measuring things - for example, what do you mean by 1 cup of meat? What kind of meat is it? More importantly, how much does it weigh? Is 20 oz of pasta right? that's a lot of pasta - is that the weight, 20 oz? Also, I don't see how you're getting nearly enough protein if that's an average day. There's a bit in the milk and then the meat, and that's all.