[GetFitFast]

I know it's a really long post... but please bear with me! It's been 3 weeks since I decided to change my lifestyle, get healthy and prepare my body to have a wonderful baby. I started eating healthy... 1200- 1300 calories a day, no fried and fatty food, no sugars except for 1 tsp in my coffee every morning, lots of lean meat and vegetables. That apart, I have started exercising. I'm training for a 10k so I've been running, walking and some strength training. I was 165lbs when i started went down to 161.4 at one point and now I'm back up to 163.7. I'm feeling so let down . In this entire time, I haven't eaten out in fear that I might binge or over eat. All i've done is be good and now I feel so dejected.

Almost every time that I've started eating better and exercising, I get to this point and give up because I don't see any changes. I just can't let that happen this time around. I need all the support I can to get through this. Have any of you been through the same when you started off? TIA!

[sheramama]

Personally, my weight is a real bugger too. I will eat perfectly, exercise, the whole bit and it wont move for WEEKS. It's frustrating; I completely understand. What helps me is changing it up. I actually eat semi-bad (as in a few snacks i wouldnt otherwise eat or one meal that isnt fantastic) and go over my calorie range for 2-3 days. I'm not saying binging. I mean get some of your calories from a different source ie if you eat say chicken, change it to fish with some olive oil. Have a slice of bread with it if you don't really do carbs. etc.

The other thing is, are you measuring yourself? You said you are working out, you can be slimming down and gaining muscle. It will balance the scale more than just losing. I measure everything (the OCD in me): neck, upper arm, elbow, wrist, above bust, bust, waist, belly, hip, upper thigh, above knee, knee, calf, ankle. In June, I evened out at 10lbs loss, but 12.5 inches. July avg 6, 4.5 inches. I started losing in weird places, like my ankle and neck. Try it. You might be pleasantly surprised.

When my scale doesnt move, there are plenty of time I want to say "F it". But I don't. If I slip, it does happen, I get right back on. Because I am tired of being a "Before". I want to be an "After".

You can do this. I believe in you Much luck, hon.

[Mama Bee]

Even if you haven't lost yet you are still getting more fit. I would go through weeks at a time where I'd lose maybe .2 or .3 pounds, or maintain... then every 4 weeks or so have a 5 lb drop all of a sudden. Just the way my body was working (especially when I was working out a lot). I only lost about 5 pounds the entire summer last year while I was on plan... but my fitness level changed immensely! At the beginning of the summer I could not run for 10 seconds and at the end I finished a half marathon. Just keep on track. Don't be discouraged. What you're doing is healthy.

I would advise looking up a calculator online that lets you know about how many calories you should be taking in. If you are exercising A LOT... you should probably have a few hundred more each day so your metabolism doesn't get screwed up. Might help in the long run or boost the weight loss.

[kaplods]

Originally Posted by GetFitFast

Almost every time that I've started eating better and exercising, I get to this point and give up because I don't see any changes. I just can't let that happen this time around. I need all the support I can to get through this. Have any of you been through the same when you started off? TIA!

You're getting discouraged because you don't understand that fluctuations are absolutely normal, and are not a sign that you're doing anything wrong.

Even if you were twice your starting weight and had lost zero pounds, I would have told you the same thing. The idea that you'll see progress each and every week, is complete nonsense. Many people even with lots of weight to lose do not see steady, regular progress of more than 1 lb per week.

It's not unusual, especially when you have very little weight to lose, to lose less than 1 pound per MONTH.

If you opened your own business three weeks ago, would you expect to be a millionaire by now?

You can decide to quit when you don't see the progress you want, but the progress you want isn't realistic. You're seeing failure where there is only huge success.

I whined to my doctor that I was only losing 1 lb per month, and that at my size I should be losing a lot more like "normal people." And my doctor told me I was being foolish, that even 1 lb a month was more than most people accomplish. Most people get discouraged and give up because they don't know that 1 lb per month is amazing success not dismal failure.

You can choose to give up, or you can choose to look for realistic measures of progress and success.

It's not at all unusual for weight to fluctuate up and down during the month, especially for women, even if you do everything "right." If you allow yourself to expect more than you can realistically accomplish, you're going to give up. If you understand that your results are great, not horrible then you'll be encouraged rather than disappointed. You can only be disappointed if you don't understand what is normal, and your experience actually isn't normal - it's far better than normal. Most people who start at a weight in the healthy range, aren't going to see a monthly loss of more than one pound, and might not even see more than a few ounces.

You're failing to see a tremendous achievement only because you don't know how tremendous it is.

[Lovely]

Good advice here!

The reason you aren't seeing changes is that you're only focusing on the scale:

1) Have MANY measures of success. Scale is the usual, but grab your measuring tape and measure your arms, stomach, hips, thighs, etc to start tracking that progress, keep a short written journal about how your clothes are fitting each week, if anything is feeling loose or is fitting better than it used to.

2) Have goals that are non-weight related. You're training for this 10k -- one of your goals must be to improve your run time as well as your stamina. Look at those things as equal goals, too. Improvements are improvements. They are victories. Not just when the scale number is down. Remember that each day you follow your plan is a day to feel victorious about.

3) You're beginning within about a normal weight range. Your weight loss is more likely to be different from someone who has 150 pounds to lose. You maybe have 20 pounds to lose, but since you're also training for fitness your body might get to where it needs to be in only 15 pounds or 10 pounds. That's usually going to mean slightly slower weight loss.

4) The scale fluctuates. It's a fact of life. Whether we're aiming to lose weight, maintain, or for some people gain weight (muscle), the scale is going to flip flop around. Some weeks it's going to be up. Some weeks it's going to be down. And frankly three weeks is too short a time to make comparisons. Changes happen over time.

5) Speaking of time -- If you're getting discouraged, then make a goal where you're forced to look past it. Would you like to be, in general, still eating healthier and exercising regularly a month from now? Then make a 30 days goal. You promise to yourself that 30 days from now you'll still be here. You'll still be eating healthier. You'll still be following your training program. A month from now you will be thrilled you met that goal and pushed through a trouble spot.

And lastly, must agree with Kaplods "You're failing to see a tremendous achievement only because you don't know how tremendous it is."

Push past this little road block.

[jendiet]

I agree. At your size, focus on building those muscles and giving them good nutrition...the weight loss will have to follow. Also you mentioned about "having a baby?" I assume you are wanting to get pregnant. Are you on any meds? Those can affect your losses too. Overall, you are healthy, and your focus needs to be on improving your stats. Great job by the way!

[sontaikle]

I'm not going to just repeat what others have said. They've given you the best advice. You're starting at a healthy weight so it might take you a lot longer to lose. You've also still gone DOWN so you must look at that as a success

The scale WILL fluctuate, even for someone with a lot of weight to lose—like me! Here's my chart to prove it. I weighed myself daily and you can see that while in general I went DOWN, it's not a straight line down. I went up and down and up again. Even though I did everything "right," it still happens.

[IsobelRose22]

Good advice from everyone.

I know how you feel, when I first started dieting, my weight stayed around the same point for weeks. Sometimes when your body is used to eating a certain way, and eating a certain amount, it takes a while to get used to a dramatic decrease in calories and a change in the types of food you eat. Keep up the good work and you'll find that the weight will come off if you stick with it.

Also, those online calorie counters like livestrong.com or myfitnesspal.com have helped to get me over plateaus. Because they tell you the carb, fat, and protein content of everything you eat. When I hit a plateau I looked over the previous few weeks diary and realised that while I was eating within my calorie limit the saturated fat content was to high, so I made a few small changes like using low fat spray instead of cooking oil, and switching full fat cheese for low fat cream cheese and over the next 2 weeks I lost 5.5lbs. Myfitnesspal.com and others, make it easier to spot patterns and bad food choices.

Good luck!! And stick with the plan, let us know what happens.

x

[Mama Bee]

Oh and by the way, are you sure you're not already pregnant? I tried to jump back on the weight loss bandwagon after the holidays this past January (and right after getting married). I didn't lose anything for about 3 weeks and was exhausted, and then I found out that I was pregnant. Little bit of a weight loss stall there that I'm still on.

[mamamorgan]

I agree with the suggestions above. Pull out a measuring tape & keep track of your measurements. Its hard not to depend on the scale but I didnt see a dip in the scale until a month after I started...it was like all of a sudden, my body started reacting to my efforts. I saw inched lost long before the scale started showing improvement.

[GetFitFast]

sheramama - Thanks! Best advice ever! I measured every little part of my body that I could possibly measure. I've asked hubby to hide my diary so I wouldn't keep obsessing about checking my measurements all the time. I'm only going to check again in a month. And thank you so much for the encouragement, I'm going to keep at it!

Mama Bee - Thanks! I am tracking everything I eat on MyNetDiary. Congratulations on your half marathon! I hope to get there someday. And about me being pregnant, I'm positive that i'm not. I had a miscarriage a little over a month ago, so I'm not going to be trying for atleast a couple more months.

martini - I am in the overweight range right now because I have a small body frame and the ideal weight for me is 126-140lbs. My problem is that I need to get into a healthy weight range and be a better runner. Luckily for me, one of them is going in the right direction!!

kaplods - I realized that. I saw a fluctuation of 4lbs in a day and realized I was looking at it wrong.It's just that I read so many posts about women who're in the same height/weight range as me and are losing about 1.5-2lbs a week and that put a wrong notion in my head. I now appreciate the tremendous achievement and I'm not complaining again!

Lovely - I realized I had unrealistic expectations of the results I wanted to see. I'm going to continue with my great new routine for a month before I measure myself again.

Jendiet - I'm only taking my prenatals everyday. I'm assuming that's not going to affect my weight loss. And, thanks!

Sontaikle - Wow.. the chart really helped put things into perspective for me. Thanks! I'm going to make one of my own, I'm sure it'll help!

IsobelRose22 - Thanks for understanding. I just needed a tiny push to move past this hurdle and I sure have got that! I am keeping track of food on MyNetDiary. That app on my phone is my new BFF! Thanks again!

mamamorgan - Yup. That's the best advice I've got. I now have a looong list of measurements! Thnaks