Im so frustrated and don't know where to turn i was hoping i could get some suggestions here, I have been faithfully working out 30-45 minutes daily and keeping my calories under 1700 and mostly really good for you food, i know it's only been a week but i haven't felt any different and i have gained 3lbs! im so upset i don't know what im doing wrong i know i can't expect anything big in only a week but a 3lb gain com on! what am i doing wrong?! should i do some sort of a detox or something to jump start the weight loss? i though being as heavy as i am it would show on the scale a little sooner what can i do? it's so upsetting because my hubby has lost 4 lbs and i haven't i've gained and he eat's way more than me!! anyone?

Hi, I would give it another week or two,and if you don't loose, then I would consider shaking things up a bit. It might be water weight, or too much salt. When I am near TOM's I gain weight, and then it comes right back off, there are lots of reasons, give it time and I am sure it will come off.
cheryl

The scale is a tricky, tricky thing. I don't know how frequently you weigh, but it helps to weigh at the same time in the day every time you weigh. Most experts recommend weighing right after you wake up and use the bathroom for the first time in the day. This way, you can get a more accurate understanding of how much you really weigh. I know that I gain at least two pounds every day if I weigh first thing in the morning and right before I go to bed. But the next morning, those two pounds are gone again, and if things are going according to plan, a little more will come off as well.

You also don't mention what kind of exercise you're doing. Beginning a strength training regimen will almost always mean an initial gain of water weight. If you are doing strength training, or even exercises that are building your muscle, you may be seeing some of that. The water weight will eventually go away, though, and the long-term benefits of exercise are so high they are tough to even quantify.

Cheryl also mentioned other reasons why the scale will vary. The fact is, the scale measures all of your body mass - organs, tissue, fat, muscle, undigested food, etc. - so it will fluctuate. The key is to start learning about how your body works and reacts to the scale. And the only way to do that is to continue with your plan and keep track of how your body is reacting to the choices that you are making with food and exercise. If you haven't already discovered it, fitday.com and thedailyplate.com are good places to track these kinds of information.

You may also want to incorporate alternative ways of measuring your progress. Most 3FC'ers will measure their bodies to see if they're losing inches, etc. Body fat percentage is another good tracker.

Great job for staying on plan for your first week! That first week tends to be the toughest, at least for me.

Hi Kimberly,

My standard practice was to pig out on absolutely everything right before I started my "diet." Did you do this, too? Its possible that overeating from last week may be just showing on the scales now.

Hang in there.

Give it time, give it time. Let your body get accostomed to the new lifestyle and surely enough you WILL see a drop in weight.

Just to be sure though, how are you tracking your calories? Are you reading labels? Measuring? Are you journaling them? Using an on line calorie counter, such as Fitday.com. Those sneaky little calories have a way of adding up quite quickly. Sounds to me like you have been doing all those things. So you can rest assured, the weight will come off. Hang in there. I'm sure you will be rewarded with a nice loss come next weeks weigh-in.

Seriously listen to Robin about making sure you are accurately recording every calorie. I was amazed when I started doing this how fast every little thing can add up.

Also, the scale is a tricky thing. I can gain 3 to 5 pounds from morning to night, during TOM, during ovulation, or even over the weekend because I don't exercise or drink enough water. So what I do is take my measurements on the first of every month. That is what I use for real indicator is on how I'm doing. The scale is just a way to obsess, which is one of my favorite hobbies.

i never thought of that but what rhonda said totally makes sense and hopefully is what's going on! I did eat a LOT before i "started" so hopefully it's just taking time to burn all that fat off thanks for the info guy's im going to keep chuggin along!