[davina]

Ive drastically reduced calories and haven't binged the last 6 days and the scale has moved maybe 1/2 a pound. Reduced carbs way down. I havent tried to lose weight in at least 3 years but from what I remember the more you have to lose the weight should just fly off in beginning. to be hungry AND not losing makes me feel like screaming, crying and giving up.

[IsobelRose22]

It sounds hard to believe but you may be eating too few calories. I used to be your weight and I found that when I went below 1500 or so the weight just wouldn't budge, I lost most of my weight eating about 1600/1700 cals per day with exercise 3xper week. keep going with low carb but maybe include some snacks i.e nuts, fruit, vegetable crudités and low fat dip. As you get lighter your body needs less calories to function as it does when you are a higher weight. I hope this helps, good luck with everything and keep us posted

[seagirl]

You are in a marathon, not a sprint. Breathe, make a plan, and stick to it. Weigh once a week. If it starts going up a few weeks in a row, reevaluate your plan. If it is going down slowly, you are on the right track. Cutting back on things drastically to see a giant drop is just going to lead to being hungrier later and possibly seeing the weight go back up.

I am losing about a 1/2 pound a week. That's 25 pounds by the end of the year. I'm pretty excited about that.

You have a long ways to go, take it easy, make a plan you can live with and just keep going.

[KatMarie]

How many calories are you eating and are you sure you're being accurate? I used to measure and weigh everything. Are you exercising hard? Sore muscles will retain a lot of fluid.

[Mrs Snark]

Originally Posted by seagirl

You are in a marathon, not a sprint. Breathe, make a plan, and stick to it.

Perfectly put!

And KatMarie -- you look terrific, your photos are so inspiring!

[gardenerjoy]

davina: another possibility is that you haven't reduced your calories as much as you think. When I was binging, what I ate without the binges was pretty much maintenance calories. Stopping the binges halted the gain, but I didn't start to really lose until I started counting and measuring at least some things.

It was a marathon for me -- I took two years to lose 70 pounds. But I'm so happy to be here now, no matter how long it took. I went from being in pain most days, to hardly ever having pain. It's worth it.

Are you following a plan of some kind? That can be so helpful in helping you get the right amounts and in getting the maximum nutrition from your food. If you like the lower carbs, you might try South Beach. There's an active support group for that here on 3FC.

[worththeeffort2]

It sounds like your body has gone into starvation mode. Try using a free online metabolic calculator to determine how many calories you should be consuming daily to lose, let's say 2 pounds per week, then take some time to plan how to spread those calories out into three meals and two snacks eaten at 3 hour intervals, daily. This will help prevent you from feeling hungry and spread the caloric intake out evenly over the day.

If you're going low carb, up your intake of lean protein so your body isn't digesting your muscle mass. You'll need those muscles to increase your metabolism and increase your fat burn as you begin exercising regularly. Another option to consider, if you really, really like vegetables, is to check out the Eat to Live diet program by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I lost 17 pounds in six weeks when I did that program but I couldn't maintain it because I'm not a big fan of vegetables.

Right now, I'm doing a medically supervised weight loss program using nutrimed protein bars that need to be prescribed by the bariatric doctor. I've lost about 25 pounds in 8 weeks on this program. My weight loss is accelerating as I increase my exercise levels.

Just a couple of thoughts.

[amandie]

Worththeeffort- Starvation mode is a myth. And I might be inclined to agree with you only if the OP was like 80-90lbs with no fat and STARVING as in eating nothing at all... At OP's current weight and since she's still eating, that won't happen.

Sorry, Getting off my soapbox now, just irks me when people try to continue the starvation mode myth.

[shcirerf]

We could be more helpful, if you would let us know the plan you are following.

Give us a journal of your food for the last 6 days.

As someone very wise above said, this is a marathon, not a sprint.

Figuring out what exactly works for each of us requires, patience, and tracking of our food, moods, stress, life, etc., and weigh ins, and evaluating, what is and is not working.

This is a great trial and error process, and while not each and everything will, or will not work for each of us, with patience, we can find what works for the individual.

One phrase I hold dear to. There is no failure, only feed back!

Track, journal, blog whatever, if A isn't working, move on to B or C or whatever works. The key is keeping track in some form another, and learning from the information!

[Arctic Mama]

Screaming isn't useful. Giving us more dietary details and taking a deep breath or three would be much more productive

[davina]

I really appreciate the replies.
I gorged myself today, can't even last a week. I don't know who I was kidding thinking I can control this after 25 years of binging and overeating. This is a last attempt before seriously looking into vertical sleeve surgery.

For example one day was (my schedule is erratic so not always typical breakast/lunch/dinner}
-a creamy (cauliflower/cheddar) medium size soup for lunch about 250 cals
-2nd meal tuna salad with mayo/mustard/relish/carrots/onions NO BREAD
-last meal grilled chicken buffalo snack wrap from mcdonalds
-snack handful of almonds(handful) and yogurt
-Cold cappuchino from coffee shop (250 cals)

Another day was:
-spinach feta wrap from starbucks
-soap for lunch(creamy tomato)
-dinner was a blt cobb salad from wendys with one dressing
-snack almonds (handful) and yogurt
-cold cappucino from coffee shop(250 cals)

Diet pepsi for drinks.

[shr1nk1ngme]

Originally Posted by amandie

Worththeeffort- Starvation mode is a myth.

Starvation mode is not a myth.

I have had an Eating Disorder in the past and I can tell you it is totally possible to eat 350 calories a day, <15 carbs a day, exercise 8+ hours a week, be 150 pounds, 5'2" and lose almost no weight for weeks at a time. I was STARVING, living on vitamin pills, metamucil, a single scrambled egg and a daily protein shake, and still only losing 1/2 pound a week. ~ In spite of 60 minutes on the elliptical four times a week plus daily one hour walks with the dog. No one would have believed I was anorexic because I wasn't a stick figure. I think I could have gone on for a few years like that before I actually started to look like a stick, but it would have been the worst torture.

When I ran the numbers, my software told me I had the metabolism of a 100 year old woman on permanent bed rest. My max daily calories to maintain was 650. Any more and I would GAIN. Seriously. I still struggle with a very low metabolism even though my thyroid and bloodwork is normal.

The solution is increased calories, a low-carb diet, good quality protein, and serious weight training. It builds your metabolism.

[worththeeffort2]

Originally Posted by amandie

Worththeeffort- Starvation mode is a myth.

The ultimate point of my post is that there are healthier methods of weight loss than dramatic calorie reduction. Excessive calorie restriction without looking at using a balanced approach can ultimately be damaging to both the body and psyche--like reaching the point you want to scream in frustration.

There are a lot of free resources available online now to assist with finding a balanced diet and exercise program. MyFitnessPal and SparkPeople are two sites that jump to mind immediately. Eat to Live is not free but has an MD doing the oversight and has a very strong focus on building a healthy lifestyle.

The most important thing any of us can do is to not lose hope and search until we find what works for us, individually. For me, personally, that was to finally get into a medically supervised program where I must be accountable to the doctor. This means, I get called on efforts to calorie restrict. I answer to not exercising, etc. The reward is that I'm steadily losing weight in a healthy way for the first time in my life. That's what has finally clicked for me. Davina, I hope you find what works for you, too.

[gardenerjoy]

davina: I'm a librarian, so I recommend the books by Judith Beck to help you stick to a diet -- even on Christmas! Well, with some special additions for special days, but well under control.

Given that you're eating fast food and soups, it may take more than six days to see a result because you're still getting lots of sodium. If you have no choice but to eat pre-prepared foods then I have another book to recommend: The Thin Commandments by Stephen Gullo.

If you can manage some food preparation at home and you like the low carb idea, you might try South Beach. There are lots of books for that and also a very active support group here at 3FC: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/south-beach-diet-110/

[pixelllate]

I wouldn't worry unless its been like 3 weeks - 6 days is a super small stall. Also, the binge that you did on the 7th day will also mask whatever loss you may have had.

Maybe experiment with various ways of eating/calorie amounts until you find something that you can stick with for at least a few weeks and before looking for any movement on the scale. Easier said than done, but so worth it!

Don't be too hard on yourself! I woulda overeaten too if I ate such little food =D
I would replace that cappuccino with more vegetables/protein in my meals for more solid food. Yogurt for some reason makes me hungrier (but that could just be me).