[rhanson41]

I'm a woman in my 20's who can't seem to lose weight. I have restricted my calories down to 1300 (also trying to watch carbs a little) and drinking at least 80 oz of water a day. I haven't lost a pound in 3 weeks. I'll admit that I haven't exercised much, but if you compare my diet with how I was eating, it seems like it'd be impossible for me to be maintaining my weight. I'm not proud, but I would binge almost every night, consuming what had to be at least 3,000 calories (probably a lot more) just in eating binge food. Any ideas? I'm going to have my thyroid tested in a few weeks

[PandorasBox]

Hi Rhanson41, I too am a women in my 20s and new to the site, and have a considerable amount of weight to loose. So Far I have rid myself of approx 39 pounds.

Just a few thought to share that may be helpful.

When I began my new eating habits I restricted my calories to approx 1200 per day, very similar to yourself and saw very underwhelming results. What I learned through using Myfitnesspal on my phone and actually logging my calories ( VERY! EASILY!) was that I was eating quite a bit more than I anticipated. I was very roughly generalizing my calories, but using this app I was able to be accurate. So instead of thinking I was eating 1200 calories I was sometimes closer to 2000! Which isnt far below my maintenance level. Considering my job is only lightly active I was not creating a big enough deficit to lose! Just no longer gain!

So Just a thought, if you haven't used a counting method, maybe try one..it is really deceiving how all those "mouthfuls" add up and you just blow them off.

Another great tool to help with exercise is to download a free fitness app, something that tracks exercise. It really encourages you to walk more when you can see those calories being burnt off! It has convinced me to walk home from work and skip the bus!

Keep Pushing, the results are worth it.

PandorasBox.

[yoyoma]

One of the things that makes losing weight so difficult is that the scale will often give you deceptive feedback. There are many factors that will affect your weight that can camouflage weight loss or weight gain. Especially for women, monthly menstrual and ovulation times can move the scale several pounds. Salty foods and exercise will add water weight. Eating healthier, bulkier foods (more fiber in produce) will also cause a temporary bump on the scale (eat several pounds of celery and it shows on the scale).

So you want to buckle in for the long ride and look at the trend of your weigh-ins over several weeks. You probably need at least a month of data to be able to see if you are trending in the right direction or not. If you lose weight slowly (like I do) it can take longer than that to see the signal in all the noise.

It sounds like you've made some significant changes to your diet and I'd guess that if you keep it up the scale will likely start showing progress in another week or two. You may see a "whoosh" if there is some other factor involved. Hopefully, you have found a way of eating that works for you and although it's very frustrating that you haven't seen any progress yet, it's the long run that matters.

[superherothin]

My first suggestion would be to drop your calories a little more. You could be eating more than you realize, and even if you're not, each person is different and maybe 1200 is just not quite low enough for you to lose reliably. Tracking your food is helpful at first (and then once you get the hang of dieting, you can go on without it)

I would also suggest that you try to weigh yourself at the same time (mornings before breakfast, for example) to keep consistent. I had a kind of rough start same as you (about 4 weeks with no loss) and lowering my calories further gave me (surprisingly fast) results.

Good luck!