Uggg....

I started my journey last month, and in my first week, I lost 6 lbs. While I knew it wasn't a rate at which I couldn't continue to lose weight at, it was great motivation. Went through a short cycle of slipping, then getting back on track, losing 1 pound here, 1 pound there. I joined a gym, started working out 3x a week, and making sure I drank my 64oz of water each day, but my weight has stagnated. It's been about 10 days and I haven't lost any weight.

Don't get me wrong, I know there will be stalls in the journey, but I didn't expect it to happen so early on. Then I went and did a body fat calculator (online) today, and found out that apparently my body fat is about 60%. I knew it was high, but that's horribly depressing, especially combined with the fact that I can't get any weight to come off.

I am just very discouraged right now. I had put my scale away on the weekend, so I wouldn't obsess about it so much, and pulled it down today, and got on, and nope....no weight loss. SIGH.

Keep your chin up. I have kind of been in the same boat. The first week I lost 6.2lbs then the second week I gained 1.8 then the third week I lost 2. You get the picture. The whole process is sometimes very frustrating, but don't give up. Know that you're not alone and we can all get through this together.

Stay strong ~ your weight stall could be a myriad of things: PMS water retention, TOM water retention, water retention from exercise, the list could go on and on...

The main thing is to stay focused and keep looking at your goal. Your BMI may be at 60% right now, but you know what? You can change that and you are on the right path! Just stick with it and don't get discouraged to the point of giving up.

A motto that always helps me is: "The only way I am going to fail is if I give up." Don't give up!!

I know from the core of my soul how frustrating it can be.

But know this: it's physically impossible to NOT to eventually lose weight (barring some rare disease) if you are operating your body with a consistant calorie deficit.

I am eating 1300 calories, working out for over an hour 3x a week at the gym, and then some very light weights on my off gym days....maybe I am just not doing enough. All I was doing the first week was walking about 20 minutes a day, and counting calories.

It's just so frustrating to not have SOME loss, I'd be fine with slow loss, as long as it was a loss!

For your height and weight 1300 calories, IMO, is too low to start at. If you eat too little calories and work out, your body may hold onto the fat because it may think that it is being starved. I eat 1650-1850 calories every week, work out 4-5 times a week, and I lose weight easily. Up your calories for a few weeks (not just a few days) and see what happens. Don't be scared to try it. It seems scary, like "why would I go up in calories if I want to lose weight?" I started at 1500 and wanted to jump up to 1700-1800 to see what would happen and everything is going well.

HANG IN THERE! I know we all have been there & it is really hard to stay motivated. But know that we are all right there with you. I'm a slow loser too. And it is so, your BMI will go down as you lose weight........that is a very good thing. Maybe put the scale away for awhile & just concentrate on the exercise, etc & see that after awhile your clothes will be fitting much better, etc. Remember too you lose body fat but gain muscle. And you have harsh winters in Sask. so you can't be outside. I don't "do ice" myself. GOOD ON YOU for going to the gym! Keep it up & you will see results. And keep in touch!

1300 calories isn't very much for a person at your weight. Have you tried eating a bit more? Although "starvation mode" is pretty much a myth, some aspects of it hold true. You will eventually lose weight if you're operating on a deficit, but your body can make it more difficult if you're not eating enough to fuel your activity. Just something to think about.

Ohmydogs: it seems like you are doing the right things! Keep on trucking! I've been struggling too but this isn't the end!! You can do this! Maybe you're calories aren't in the right area. Someone told me that I wasnt eaten enough calories when I was exercising alot and my body went into starvation mode which caused it to store EVERYTHING!

stalls happen...but there may be more to why!

If it makes you feel any better my bmi morbidly obese and i have a 53% body fat content, I went to the doctor and got tested to
See what my body fat percentage was.
It happens to the best of us! It helps to focus on the positive, although sometimes it hard. You'll get over this slump and when you do, take me with you!!!

I have to agree- at 288 you should eat more like 1800 calories a day- try that for 2 weeks and see how it goes If you still don't lose go up to 2,000.

Theoretically your body needs 2880 calories to maintain cuz you are 288 lbs. Now if you take 75% of that number that's 2160 so technically you can eat 2160 and still lose- specially cuz you are working out.

OF COURSE those should be nutritionally sound calories overall- not 2000 calories worth of chips lol.

also at 288 pounds it's recommended you drink more like 144 oz of water I'm 193 and I get at least 100 oz of water a day. SO far it's almost 2 pm and I've had almost 40 oz of water- I drink water more at night for some reason.

I went with 1300 cause it's the low side of what SparkPeople said I should eat. I don't exactly know what that's based on. It was 1200 until I added my gym activity.

I have been surviving on 1200-1300 calories a day since Jan 11 (aside from some slips), and would love to have a little more caloric freedom. How do I determine how many calories I actually should be eating? I will admit to being afraid I will put weight back on, but honestly I'll try almost anything to get out of this slump. I had a breakdown on Sunday about this, then put my scale away. I felt sure that I had gained some water weight with having started the gym (scale went up by 4lb in 2 days), so when i got back on today, I honestly expected there would be a drop of some sort. When there wasn't....ugg...well here I am.

Thank you for this information!!! I will up my calories (I am having my afternoon snack now, and it was a piece of bread with peanut butter and 2 cups of green beans LOL).

As for 144oz of water OMG....that's DOUBLE what I have been drinking...more than!! All I can do is try! I am working on my second litre now, and will go through at least a litre when I go to the gym tonight.

Wow...up my calories by 500 a day...that's like an extra snack AND supper!!

It's nice, right?! I felt the same way when I upped mine from 1500 to 1800. Woo-hoo! More food (but not junk food)!!!

Nope, no junk food here....I had fast food last night, but that's a whole other threat (it really is, it's in Calorie Counters though)...for the most part my eating is pretty clean...I am eating way more fruits and veggies than I used to, a lot less carbs, way less refined sugar too. My energy level has been a lot higher than before I changed my eating and before I started exercising. I am not using mayonnaise anymore, nor am I using salad dressings, tzatziki and salsa are my "sauces" of choice.

Now, if only I could find a way to make hot wings low cal! LOL

The equation was given to me by my old trainer- so it's weight x 10 x .75 (for 75%) = what you need to eat to lose weight.

He said he feels 75% is low enough to lose while not so low the body freaks out.

That sounds like a good snack to me! I love a slice of wheat toast with 1 tbsp of pb

Oh and the water is take your weight, divide by half, and that's the number of oz of water to drink a day

Oh and fast food kills me cuz it's so loaded with sodium and fat- I only eat out once a week now and I try to make it low carb- full of protein and veggies IE something like chicken fajitas with no tortillas or an omelette with veggies and protein and a size of tomato slices or something- I only drink water also.