For the...what, third, fourth week in a row?...the scale is NOT going anywhere. Not to mention, I can't even tell if it's an accurate reading, because it's a dial scale, and the dial's all messed up. I'm deciding if I can afford to splurge on a digital scale.
But it is SO FRUSTRATING and incredibly discouraging to see that, despite working out all last week, despite trying to keep my food intake healthy and low-cal...it's not doing anything. Not doing any good. I'm just about ready to throw up my hands and say "Fine, I'm just NOT GOING TO EAT." See if that does it.
Either that, or I'm going to go curl up in bed and cry.
Get a digital definitely. I'm too short sighted to read the dial properly on a regular one and frankly they always seem to be influenced by exact positioning, frame of mind (theirs and mine)! You've probably lost weight so don't get into a downer over something that's easily sortable
Sounds to me like it's time to re-consider diet and/or exercise. Try something different than what you've been doing.
Especially where exercise is concerned - sometimes you need to just "jump start" your body. For instance, if you've been walking for exercise, try walking up & down stairs, or biking for a change.
Sometimes it really IS the little things that can get that needle moving again!
I can't remember if you track your calories or not. If not, you might try that for a week and see just how much it comes out to. Since I started doing that, I've realized that I was pretty clueless about just how much some of those foods were adding! And that was a problem.
And yeah, it helps to have a good scale--but it sounds like the scale is only part of what's happening here...
Jay
P.S. I posted something that people might find interesting about food attitudes--A Buddhist View of Eating over in the Faith-Based Support Groups forum.
I kinda half-heartedly track my calories. Fitday is really tedious for me, so I only do it once in awhile, or when I want to see if I have enough wiggle room for a particular treat or something.
I've been looking at scales online, and I'm probably going to get a cheapie digital this week. Or maybe I'll wait until I go to my mom's this weekend; she always wants to buy me SOMETHING to take home with me. Particularly if I can talk her into a trip to Barnes & Noble to spend some of my gift cards, cause Bed Bath & Beyond is right next door. Devious, I am. Anyway. I'm so sick of trying to re-zero the thing in between weighing myself, because it NEVER seems to zero properly, which throws off the reading when I weigh, etc. Yeah, the scale's probably only part of it, but it still bugs me because I don't even KNOW if I have a real problem I need to work on, cause I can't get a single steady accurate reading.
*sigh* It's just...discouraging, you know? You guys understand.
I understand how frustrating it is, but for many of us plateaus are a real part of this process.
Even if your scale was perfect, remember that it is a poor tool for the job. You are trying to train FAT loss, right? Well, the scale you use measures all of you: fat, muscle, water, bone, etc.
So, lets say that you HAVE lost a pound of fat, but are retaining a pound of water. The scale will stay the same. Or maybe you're exercising and over the past month have gained a bit of muscle.
Find other ways to measure your progress. I haven't lost a pound in over 3 months, but I've gone down a size because I've been doing a lot of weight lifitng.
Is your stamina improved? Do your clothes fit differently?
I also agree with the poster who recommended really tracking what you're eating. I know that another reason I haven't lost weight in over 3 months is because I'm eating a little more than I should to lose weight.
Finally, think about this: If you give up now just because the scale doesn't move, what will you have gained??? Even more weight!
I'm with Wyellen, track your progress by other means for a while... PLUS track your food intake too. Sometimes it's not the quantity of food but the quality of food... Stick to as unprocessed foods, as close to nature as possible. Sometimes those treats ARE the culprit. For me the weekend treats although fitting into my calorie count of the day, according to Fitday, are the bad guys that make me stay the same or gain weight...
Bed Bath and Beyond is having some sort of sale in my area....I bought my Tanita there last year......get your 20% off coupon, they don't even worry about an expiration date, they are good forever.
If the scale isn't your friend, the tapemeasure will be, especially if you are exercising regularly. You might also take an article of clothing you haven't worn and try it on weekly to see how it fits....I use a pair of jeans.
You guys are right, I know that. Intellectually, anyway. But it's hard to quell the part of me that goes "But it's supposed to WORK!" when I see no concrete change.
I haven't got a tape measure; I've occasionally used a piece of rope and then measured that with a ruler to get some of my measurements, but I've never written them down. Next question is, for stomach/hip measurement, is that when I'm holding the muscles taut or not? Cause it's significantly different. Not just "sucking in" - it's just contracting the muscle more fully.
I may have to start measuring by jeans. Gods know I've got enough old pairs of size 12(long) jeans sitting around left over from when I was thinner that I've been hoping to one day wear again. Currently I'm wearing size 16 with a belt cinched pretty snugly, but the 14s are just this side of being comfortable so far. Gotten better though.
I guess I just have to remind myself of that truism - time's gonna pass whether or not you're losing the weight. Might as well spend the time now, instead of waiting and having to do it later.
Ilene, that's exactly what happens to me, too. All calories are not created equal!
"I kinda half-heartedly track my calories."
Well, gosh. So would you say you are half-heartedly losing weight? Just teasing you a little--try being really strict for a week and see what it looks like, that's all. Just for your information. Because after 4 weeks, something is not working...
Lol, Jay. I try to keep a sort of mental tally, I just get bored trying to enter everything into Fitday to do it "officially". Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to do it daily for a bit and see a more full version of the picture, yes?
We tend to eat the same things for a while, so if you enter the things you eat regularly into fitday then its much easier to update once your custom foods are in there. I agree with Jay though as I was "halfheartedly tracking calories" and it honestly got me no where fast. I didn't start losing until I really knew the amount of calories I am taking in and the number of calories I'm burning through exercise.
I find fitday tedious too. Some weeks, before I eat I enter it to see where it puts me. Some weeks, I just jot it down the old fashioned way, paper and pen, then when I see a stall, I add all of it in and let fitday do the math for me. Alot of times, 5 bites of whatever will have put me over the edge.
I kinda half-heartedly track my calories. Fitday is really tedious for me, so I only do it once in awhile, or when I want to see if I have enough wiggle room for a particular treat or something.
I've been looking at scales online, and I'm probably going to get a cheapie digital this week. Or maybe I'll wait until I go to my mom's this weekend; she always wants to buy me SOMETHING to take home with me. Particularly if I can talk her into a trip to Barnes & Noble to spend some of my gift cards, cause Bed Bath & Beyond is right next door. Devious, I am. Anyway. I'm so sick of trying to re-zero the thing in between weighing myself, because it NEVER seems to zero properly, which throws off the reading when I weigh, etc. Yeah, the scale's probably only part of it, but it still bugs me because I don't even KNOW if I have a real problem I need to work on, cause I can't get a single steady accurate reading.
*sigh* It's just...discouraging, you know? You guys understand.
I find fitday tedious at times too. And I was going on 5 weeks with no loss (after having gained 8 pounds between Thanksgiving and Christmas). I devised my own plan:
I typed out a weekly menu with 5-6 choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. I put the calories for each one next to the food. Then I printed out 7 copies. Each day, all I do is highlight or circle the calories corresponding to the foods I ate and add it up.
Sure it took a good hour or so to figure out the calories on all the things on the menu (but since I often eat the same things over and over, especially for breakfast and lunch) after doing it once, doing the plan for the next week is a cinch!
Whyyy?????
For the...what, third, fourth week in a row?...the scale is NOT going anywhere. Not to mention, I can't even tell if it's an accurate reading, because it's a dial scale, and the dial's all messed up. I'm deciding if I can afford to splurge on a digital scale.
Particularly if I can talk her into a trip to Barnes & Noble to spend some of my gift cards, cause Bed Bath & Beyond is right next door. Devious, I am. 
