slow progress
 

I've been on this 5 weeks now. I lost 10 lbs in 2 weeks and thought this was going to be easy! Then nothing the third week and actually gained 1 lb the 4th week, all while I was going hungry and thought I was eating less.

A week ago I started walking 2-3 miles a day and *finally* am showing results again. 1 lb lost the 5th week.

If that's what this takes (2-3 miles a day and being hungry every day) this is going to be a longer road than I thought.

Did it take you a lot longer than you wanted? Does it get easier?

I had lost from 236 pounds to 150 and due to pain and two hand surgeries just now got back into losing weight and working out.
For me it didn't get easier but it did get simpler if that makes any sense. After a while I could work out longer and harder but with that came being hungrier so I had to figure out how to balance the two a lot of the time. I made it almost a game to see if I could make it. I think I signed up for every tracker and ticker I could find and if I got hungry instead of eating I would go to someplace and update. Just to always be able to see a new record of how far I had come.
I think the length of time it takes varies so much and it is so easy to get discouraged. We want to lose it fast, we are working out and eating less and we need to see results fast or we give up. But you have to keep in mind that even if the scale stays the same for a while your body is changing inside, more muscle, less fat, more stamina. I think for me it was kind of a circle, weight loss, weight stall but 2 more minutes of working out, weight stall but pants were slightly fitting better, around and around.
I think your mind can get healthier as you go along as well, I know I made myself the main priority. If I needed to workout I did it, and didn't worry about what others thought. 2 teenage boys can be brutal when they want to be. I didn't care I jiggled and wobbled and told them to go away if they didn't like it. lol
You can do this, try to not be discouraged and try to focus on the long benefits not the quick results, the long term will be the test.

So you've lost 10lbs in 5 weeks? That's AWESOME!! Losing 2lbs a week is incredible. This is what I think happened:

weeks 1 and 2 - your body weight dropped because you were probably drinking more water, eating less sodium and consuming less food AND lost 2 "real" pounds each week.

weeks 3 and 4 - you lost another 2 lbs each but probably had some sort of hormonal shift (possibly due to calorie restriction) to retain water to hide the loss. And of course didn't have more of that initial water/food weight to lose.

week 5 - because you have still managed to eat well and now exercise, the retention is now outweighed with your progress and you see another pound.

My prediction - week 6 will show another loss and week 7,8,9 probably another stall followed by a whoosh on week 10.

My advice - eat more and stop restricting. It sounds like you are getting resentful of your diet. Try adding more volume of foods - adding more fruits and veggies in with your meals and see how that makes you feel. Personally, I believe that hunger is the enemy to weight loss. Also, if you don't enjoy walking, don't do it. Do something else. Or try ways to make it more fun. Listen to music, walk with a friend, etc.

Someone told me that as hunger is the body's response to being out of food, it means it is burning fat (which would be good, if true, though could be lean tissue, I suppose.)

I guess it's not that I am resentful, just thought it would be easier than this. I think you are right that changing up the diet a little is good, more low calorie volume, I don't think I have enough of that.

I should say you shouldn't be truly hungry all the time but sometimes your body is used to eating a lot of food so it takes time to re-regulate. If you are hungry all the time, you could look into upping your calories but also looking into nutrient-dense food (vs calorie-dense) can help some.

How many calories are you eating per day?

I am not counting calories, just trying to eat less than I normally would. Basically people who were successful at keeping weight off told me that you need to change your lifestyle. I can't imagine counting calories as a permanent part of my lifestyle, I am not that kind of person. But I can consciously eat less calorie dense foods.

@ BeachBreeze, you are right, this week is turning into another major loss, 3 pounds gone in as many days, to 280.8 this morning. If I level off for the next 3 weeks, I won't try to understand the reasons, just expect it as normal.