[Hazy]

It's been a good month since I changed my whole lifestyle and stuck with it. I was so proud of myself, and still am. I started eating breakfast and taking vitamins. I make sure what I eat is healthy and balanced. I've been careful to drink a lot of water and control my portion size. I don't count calories regularly but I have done it a few days and always end up around 1,400 - 1,500.

I also went from being totally sedentary to walking anywhere from half a mile to two or three miles every day. More isn't really practical for me right now since I'm disabled, and there's no way I can run or do higher-intensity aerobics.

My first week on this plan I dropped five pounds. I was happy, though I knew I couldn't expect to keep up that rate. I hoped for one or two pounds a week.

Yet since then the scale hasn't budged. I feel like I could scream! All this work for nothing? A few days ago I weighed in at 145 and thought I'd managed to take off five more pounds, but I hopped on the scale again this morning and came in at 151!

What's going on here? What am I doing wrong? Sometimes it's so hard not to give up, stay in, and order a pizza when it seems like it will have the same result as working my butt off!

[chris313]

You're not doing anything wrong. Our bodies all lose weight differently. Just continue doing what you are doing. I am sure you will see a loss very soon. You may drop 2-3 lbs overnight. Body weight fluctuates all the time. I know it is frustrating not to see the scale budge when you are doing everything right, but it will move and when it does, it will be so rewarding!!!

[ShanIAm]

Originally Posted by Hazy

I also went from being totally sedentary to walking anywhere from half a mile to two or three miles every day.

We are the same height although you weigh a bit less than I do right now. I was a total couch potato. Actually, a bed potato. I was in bed within 15 minutes of coming home from work and stayed there until the next day! ZERO exercise. I found that my body holds onto water for at least 24-36 hours after exercise to help my muscles recover. And believe me, they really need to recover since they haven't seen the light of day for a LONG LONG time! When this happens, I easily see a weight gain of 3-4 pounds. And when it is that TOM, maybe as much as 5.

So if you are accurately counting calories and walking as much as you can, you can't be gaining "fat" weight. I just posted somewhere else that I learned not to let the scale define my sucess but instead see how my clothes are fitting.

DO NOT give up. I promise you that if you stay on plan you will eventually see results. From what you have said so far, you are doing GREAT!

[sacha]

Hmm a few thoughts

Since you have only counted "a few days", it's entirely possible that you overate on all the other days. How are you counting? Do you weigh your food? At 5'1 and 150lbs, you don't have much room for error.

Exercise, especially for beginners, always causes water retention (because it's impossible you gained 6lbs if you didn't pig out for days). Remember how much the scale fluctuates so you need to track trends rather than day-by-day (you can weigh daily, just don't take it as gospel).

I strongly suspect that you are still eating more than you think if you aren't losing. And if you aren't, and that's a true 4-5lb loss, then that's perfectly reasonable. You are not obese - you cannot sustain major losses. If you were 300lbs, then expecting more than 4lbs a month is fine - but you aren't You will loose at a slow rate and that's good.

You are doing great!

As for ordering a pizza and 'to **** with it', you said you are practically disabled but I can see you are probably slowly improving your fitness & mobility, right? Even if you aren't seeing huge scale shifting, isn't your life improving? Isn't that the real reward here? Realistically, if you eat right and exercise, you might be adding another 5-15 years to your life and improved quality. And you KNOW that if you stick to a good calorie deficit, you can't possibly stay at 150lbs forever.

The results are there, you just aren't looking in the right place yet

[bargoo]

Are you eating foods with a lot of sodium (salt) ? That is notorius for causing water retention.

[ShanIAm]

Excellent point, bargoo!

[Janel83]

I'm right along with you! I'm working out like a beast. Last week my girlfriends and I did a run challenge where we started with 2 miles on Saturday and added a mile each day. ending with Saturday's 8 miles. I felt lighter but the scale says different and my fingers swell. I know for a fact its TOM and sodium. The two play a huge part in our fluctuations. I'm 28 and this weight gain that my seniors used to tell me about has caught up with me. I need a new lifestyle in terms of food!

I just received the weight watchers point system. You should do that with me and see what kind of change you get..

[beerab]

Well 1500 is around what you need to maintain so I suggest either increasing the exercise OR dropping calories to 1300. Pick one and go with it. Personally I'd rather exercise more than eat less.

[ParadiseFalls]

I'd go a bit lower on calories. I lose 2 pounds a week on 1500 calories, and I'm two of you!

Also, if you aren't already, try drinking a ton of water. I hate water but have recently, begrudgingly, acknowledged that I do not consistently lose weight unless I drink 70-100 oz. per day.