I have been out of work for 7 months, had a lot of personal crises last year and have been depressed for months. I gained a lot of weight over that time. I need to lose at least 80 pounds. I started, on my own because I can't afford to pay for meetings or the on-line membership, using the materials I had from a a few years ago.

I lost 14 pounds the first three weeks, but I haven't lost anything the past two weeks. I am really upset because I write everything down, spend hours figuring out points and healthy combinations, and am already getting frustrated. Last time I did this, I lost 30 pounds in six weeks, but this time it just doesn't seem to be working. Granted, this week I fell behind on my water consumption, but would that make so much difference? I fill a half gallon container of water every morning and try to get it all in me every day, but even if I put lemon juice or something in it, I can't always force myself to drink all that water.

I try making things that my husband will eat, but so far the only thing he likes is the chicken dijon. He won't eat brown rice and now I'm stuck with this container I'm going to have to use up myself! I hate having to cook separate meals, or having him make his own, which he doesn't mind doing, but then we are not always eating together and I don't like eating alone.

I am allowed 28-33 points, but I am considering limiting myself to 28 or less. Would that be a problem? I don't want my body to go into "starvation mode" and start storing fat.

Sorry to whine, but I am just not in a good place right now. Could use some support. Thanks.

Hang in there, Chickie . . . we are here for you. The older we get, the more difficult weight loss tends to become. We all want it to be gone as quickly as possible; but please, please -- never forget that it was the tortoise that finally won that famous race.

Drink the water, it can make an amazing difference and just try not to get discouraged -- have you been posting on the Weight Watchers Forum here at 3FC? I'm sure you'll find lots of advice over there. IMHO, I really think you should stick to the points you are alloted; if you continually eat below your minimum, you risk not getting enough nutrients and eventually you will train your body to conserve out of the need for proper nourishment.

Good luck. The road to better health and fitness is a very long and a very bumpy one . . . but together we can all do it.

Hi Phillygirl,

I'm sorry to hear that you are going through a difficult time. If you would like to join a VERY supportive group of WONDERFUL ladies, please consider joining one of the regular threads on this site. I belong to Golden Girls & we'd love to have you join us.

About the rate of weight loss - we can be responsible for our efforts, but NOT for our results. This is a lifelong journey we are on. Try to not focus on the scale, but on your behaviors. Eat all your points, try to get some exercise, and join one of our groups.

Lynn

PS - Be careful of your salt intake.

I have had ups and downs, I tell myself I have made a positive change in my life , I exercise and eat healthy. The scale can be a cruel mistress! Eat your points and drink lots of water. I make only WW meals(I have 2 teenage boys) everyone has liked everything, I make brown rice for me and freeze portions and thaw in the microwave. Have you used WW online for recipes also there are tons of websites with great meal ideas. I never tell anyone that the meal is low cal. Don't give up!

Thanks for your kind support. I have only just joined this board last week. I discovered it looking for recipes. I don't quite know what you mean by "joining" a support group on the board, but I'll go over there and check it out. I am continually searching for easy, plain old recipes. I bought a Weight Watcher cookbook the other day, but the recipes are more gourmet and not my style. I hope the bookstore will take it back. Tonight, I cut up a red, yellow and green pepper and sauteed it with shrimp and cajun seasoning, and put it over rice. That's the kind of stuff I can deal with.

As for salt, at the supermarket the other day, I discovered that the canned broth seems to have 2% fat, while the broth in the cardboard containers has only 1%. They were both labelled "99% fat free." Whats the deal here?

I have also been very careful with the salt. I also discovered the other day that while regular salt has 590 grams of sodium, and sea salt has 580 grams (making those soup commercials touting that sea salt is healthier a joke, IMO), kosher salt has only 280! Why has this been kept such a secret?!

Anyway, as you can see, I do my homework. Thanks again, and I'll hang in there.

Phillygirl2, "joining" a forum just means visiting the forum page, reading posts, posting replies, posting a thread of your own--like you did here! Because people with different interests tend to read more of one forum or another, you can sometimes get more specific replies on WW, for instance, if you post in the WW forum. And so on! 3FC has age-related forums, size-related forums, and program-related forums, plus lots of others.

Sometimes the scale doesn't move even if we're doing everything right. I'd say, hang in there--be really careful figuring your points--don't get bogged down in the tiny stuff, but try to be as accurate as you can.

Jay

It's easy to get discouraged when you're trying to lose weight. We all want results and we want them RIGHT NOW! But, it's a slow process, and becomes harder when you get older. Just hang in there and you will see results. Try not to focus on the scale so much, and focus on nutrition and how you feel. The weight loss will come.

Hi Phillygirl -

First off - you need to congratulate yourself for the weight you have lost and the weight you have not gained back !!! Boy... we sure are hard on ourselves ! Also, remember sometimes the body goes into kind of a hibernation / weight retention when we lose weight quickly... and you have !

I don't know your age - no need to answer but I'm 53 and the weight just does not come off quickly anymore also... it takes it's toll on you when you lose it so quickly.

Yep... age does continue to slooooooow the weight loss process. This is my 3rd time around with WW. I joined a WW group August 06but really didn't commit until this past month... so what I got was losing and gaining the same 4 pounds talk about depression !

But seriously... we all have to struggle and recommit daily to lose this weight. Hang in there

gotta go will chaqt more later.

Patch