WHEN did it happen for YOU?
 

A week.

I've been steadily dropping 2 lbs weekly since I started calorie counting. :)

Before that, it was pretty erratic. But then again, so was my "diet."

When I first started calorie counting I lost weight in the first week.

However, I've been between 154-151 for like 4 months now and it's SO annoying.

Ah, the dreaded plateau! Hang in there Jadey! :hug:

When I first started in May I lost 12 pounds in the first month. I stay between 1200-1500 calories a day but more towards the 1200. Maybe you can drop it to 1400 and see how that works?

About a month. But I have insulin issues so it's slower for me.

Thank you!:)

I will break this stupid plateau this month though! Gotta fight it!

I had to up my calories before I started dropping weight. It still freaks me out!

When I first started counting I saw slight movement in the two months or so - though sometimes the movement was back up from the week before... :( Once I bought a food scale and realized I was eating more than the 1200-1300 I thought I was eating things really started to move - 1.5-2 pounds per week for the last month and a half... I did see some inches lost from the exercise during the time of slower loss...

Jadey & BuuBuu, don't worry - this will break and you will start seeing a change. cdiem is right - sometimes you have to up your calories to see a change...

When I first started counting, I lost about 7 pounds in the first two weeks. However, most of that was definitely water weight since I very rarely drank water beforehand and when I started calorie counting, I really jumped on the water bandwagon.

I know it's frustrating that you aren't seeing much of a difference yet...but you have to be patient (I know, easier said than done). Once everything clicks, it works!

I have been steadily losing since I started counting calories. I keep my calories between 1300-1500 most days.

When the plateau comes I will probably up my calories to around 1500-1800.

I started losing weight immediately when I started counting calories, I started with 1500 calories and I am now on 1700 calories per day because of more exercise. I started in Jan 2008 and to date have lost 145 pounds in that 8 month time period :) the most I lost was 8 pounds in a week (in the beginning) and the least was .8 of a pound but I have had losses every week since starting.

Good luck with your weight loss, just stick with it, its worth every second of your time!

As Ever
Me

I've been counting for almost 4 weeks and have lost 23 lbs since, soI started losing right away. I'm not complaining. :D

I just had to look at my 'chart' that I keep. I started calorie counting last October at 251 pounds (I had lost 20 pounds a couple of years before that- from my highest at 271). I lost pretty quickly at first. I lost 50 pounds in about six monthes. The last 10-11 pounds have taken about 5 months. It's been slow. But, like the tortoise in the story "Tortoise and the Hare" - slow and steady wins the race.

A 2 lb loss in one week is a perfectly exceptable and HEALTHY rate of loss. You don't want to lose too quickly for a variety of reasons (muscle loss, metabolism issues, etc.) Really you shouldn't be losing more then 1% (maybe 1.5%) of your body weight per week. Example, if you weigh 200 lbs that's only 2lbs per week, max.

The only exception would be the first week when some people typically lose a lot of water weight.

When I started I lost 8lbs the first week (water weight) and then steadily lost 2lbs per week with a few weeks in there of no loss. As I got closer to goal, that 2lbs became 1lb per week.

You don't list your weight and height. It's possible that 1500 calories is too little or too much.

Well, 1500 is my calorie target. When I was sedentary, I would lose on average 1/2 lb a week. But it was easy to miss that in the fluctuations. When I added a bunch of exercise, I started losing around 1.5 lbs a week.

I do think the type of food also matters. It is easier for me to lose weight with lots of unprocessed foods, higher fiber, and limiting starchy foods.

I went back and looked at my daily weigh-in charts. It looks like I lost 3 pounds my first week and have lost between 1 and 3 pounds every other week -- except this one. I seem to be kind of stuck this week. I don't really know why, except I think it might be a TOM thing -- some other telltale signs point to that. Since my toddler was born, I have been really irregular so I have not had to deal with it in the month and a half or so I have been doing this. I'll have to see how much water weight I retain...hate that.

As for calorie levels, I cycle between 1200 and 1800 a day, averaging 1450 or so. I also do at least 30 minutes of cardio daily and strength training every other day.

Have you tried cycling your calories to trick your metabolism into staying up? Or weighing your food to make sure you are only getting what you think you are? Upping the exercise? Otherwise, just stick to it, and you will lose...eventually.

Walking a mile every day is great! That certainly counts as exercise. Walking is what I do for exercise.

I think 1500 is too low (I mentioned this in the other thread too.) I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you up your cals a bit. Good luck!

I just started counting cals Aug. 1st and I did my first weigh in Aug. 31st and lost a total of 10 lbs. I eat between 1200-1500 a day. Try not to go under 1200 or over 1500. I exercise every other day. 30 mins to 1 hr. I don't eat past 8 pm most of the time I eat dinner at 6 pm so most of the time I don't eat past 7 pm. I noticed weight slowly coming off and so have my friends