I've been so good and now I gain a pound!!
 

Sorry, I just need to vent some frustration. Since Jan 1, I have made a major committment to losing weight and eating healthy. The first week and 1/2 I dropped 10 or 11 lbs - woohoo! But I realize a lot of that was probably water weight. There hasn't been a day that I've went over 1200 calories, and this week I even started walking again. I've only walked two days, a mile each day, but it's a start for me. I'm going to walk again this evening.

So I'm expecting to see some encouraging number on the scale today - nope I've actually gained a pound!!! Ugh, it's so discouraging. I really believe there is something wrong with my body, that won't allow me to really lose weight. I have dealt with this off and on last year too. No matter how good I am, the weight just won't come off. I even had my thyroid checked, and it is fine.

I have no plans to give up, but I just had to vent a little about this. I know I need to start doing some cardio and am slowly building up to that. I also realize that maybe I need some more calories, so I'm going to try to eat an extra yogurt at night. But really, when I was in my 20's and followed a diet as good as I have been, I would lose an easy 2-3 lbs a week.

Anyone experienced something like this?

Thanks for reading this long post!

I personally think that 1200 calories is too low for you at your current weight, plus with the amount you are exercising. I would think you would lose better at 1500.
When your calorie count goes too low, your body will hang on to every bit of food you give it. You can actually gain weight on a low amount of calories, I need to find the article link for that, but will post it when I find it.

woah 1200 cals? maybe your body has hit that weird starvation point and now it won't let go of an ounce of fat to protect itself? it's weird sounding but it's true - eat more and you'll lose LOL that sounds counter-intuitive but maybe even 1500 cals for a few weeks to try? we're all different to be sure, but that seems low -- even Nicole Richie eats more than that ;)

Okay - found the article!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/core_march_8.htm

Maybe it's your exercise routine. Maybe it needs to get alittle more intense too. or do something different. My husband says your body will get used a routine after alittle while and it needs to be adjusted somehow. I used to walk 3 miles a day and on a good diet plan and I would lose 1-2 pounds a day. It was a low carb, high protein diet and it worked so good for me. Good luck.

Definitely up the calories! 1200 is the absolute lowest a woman should ever go, you should never be under that. I am betting this is a lot of your problem, your body needs the fuel and nourishment to burn off that fat and keep you moving.

I used to limit to 1200 a day and I was losing 1 lb. about every other week. Then I started taking Jillian Michael's advice from her book and calculating my calories for the week and eating different amount each day, my average calories being about 1400 or 1600, and I am now losing 2-3 lb. every week. I do have 1200 calorie days, but it is maybe 1 or 2 days a week, the rest will be between 1400 and 1700 a day...I just work out the calories so they meet the weekly goal, giving more calories to any days I might need more for whatever reason. I am much happier than I was eating only 1200 a day...and I am losing so much faster.

Every body is different and I agree that below 1200 calories is probably too little for you when you are initially starting out. Unless you derived at that number based on how many calories you were eating before you started losing weight.

Last year, I had a period of a few months where I didn't drop any weight. I exercised every day, I ate healthy, restricted my calories, etc. For 3 months, I didn't drop a pound. After 3 months though, one day I dropped 6 lbs and then I kept dropping weight steadily after that.

You may need to tweak what you are doing a bit. Also, weight loss certainly isn't linear. When you start exercising, your body also tends to hold more water so it may appear as a gain when it isn't.

People are different, but 1200 calories is only enough food for a 120 pound women lying in bed all day. I hope I live to see the day when most women realize it's freaking ok to eat! It's like we want to eat nothing, and weigh nothing. We set ourself up with unrealistic goals and then are shocked when the don't pan out.

keegster some of what you dropped was fat, second you are neither a being good or being bad. You are trying really hard to change your life and what you eat doesn't determine who you are, so keep up the good work.

You realized that you must have dropped some water weight during the first week in a half of your program, yet when you gained a pound you didn't assume it was water weight? You get what I'm saying?

You most likely are holding on to a little water. You should keep with the exercise, add some light weight training and up your calories to a more realistic and satisfying level. One other thing, maybe you ought to weigh yourself less often. Maybe once per month and cut back on sodium a couple days before you weigh in.

Anyway, good luck with you're weight loss you seem very determined to make this thing happen. :)

Also, I heard Gillian Michaels say in week 2 of TBL, that week two is notoriously bad, with small losses. I know TBL is not the be all, end all. But I know from experience that week two is almost always that way.

Follow the advice above...and BELIEVE in yourself...don't let this get you down!

:hug:
Linda

Thank you ladies for the great advice and encouragement. I love this place!
And thanks Lori for the great article - it totally makes sense!

Okay, starting today I'm going to up my calories to around 1400-1500 a day. (That's going to feel like a lot of food compared to what I've been eating!) I'm also going to walk a mile after work and then later I'm going to try and do some cardio. Hopefully I can build the cardio up to 30 minutes a day, but it will take a while to get there. So I hope that will make a difference - and I'll report back to y'all either way.

Thanks!!

I think it was probably the water thing too. You lost a lot of water weight the first week, so now you are re-hydrated a bit. So don't worry yet!

Is this +1 up for a weekly weigh in, or is this +1 up from the day before? Remember that your body weight fluctuates throughout the week.

I think you just have to be patient. It will come off if you burn more than you eat. That is a PROMISE! It is difficult though.

that was a good link!