So I have been fast food free for over 6 weeks (yay!) but I feel like I have gained more weight and don't fit into stuff as well anymore. I am trying to drink more water, and try and cook and eat healthier but it just doesn't seem to be doing anything. I know 6 weeks isn't a long time in the long term but I hear of people cutting out soda and losing 20lbs. Isn't fast food worse than soda? Shouldn't it have aided in me losing at least 2lbs or something? I almost caved because I was just like "screw it.. it's not helping me anyway". Anyone else run into this or anything? I am just.. at a loss and getting depressed about it.

Hi Lady Ardrox! Have you considered calorie counting? I found that I didn't start losing weight until I really had a handle on what I was really taking in. There are plenty of healthy foods that are really high in calories. And when it comes down to it, calories in must be less than calories out to lose weight--regardless of what you eat. I hope that helps.

Calorie Counting for a week made me tired, lethargic and de-motivated like I wasn't giving myself enough of anything because I was so deathly afraid of going over my limit that I wasn't eating enough or stuff added up too quickly, even with cooking with fresh ingredients.

Oh dear! It sounds like calorie counting isn't going to be the plan for you. You've come to a great forum to explore various weight loss options. Whatever plan you choose, you'll still need to eat fewer calories than you burn--regardless of whether or not you calorie count. Weight loss is all about tipping that energy balance. Stick with it, keep your chin up. There is a plan that will work for your needs too.

Usually you cut salt with fast food minimally and it helps but quantity matters so if you are compensating with too much of other things it might not make a big scale difference although it's probably more nutritional.

Calorie counting is boring I agree, but at least if you do it here and there you might get a sense of what you are eating to get you in a groove of slow steady weight loss.

You might need to track macronutrients - carbs, protein, fat. 1500 calories of mostly carbs is going to make you feel much different than 1500 calories of mostly protein.

please don't give up! First, kicking the fast food is STUPENDOUSLY good, for your body AND for the environment. I don't get too zealous over anything but a few subjects, and fast food, and what it's done to our environment, cows, and our perception of eating, and our kids, to everyone, and to low income people..is horrible and you should be proud of not contributing to it (ok off my soapbox on that)

It is perplexing that you haven't lost on the scale yet..6 weeks is a kinda long time..but don't give up! That you are buying and preparing fresh food is fabulous. Please give it some more time, maybe try to look up online what are reasonable portion sizes as you don't want to do the calorie count deal. Best wishes!!

Were you not eating enough calories? Some people only eat 1200 calories when the begin counting, which is generally not nearly enough.

And just because you have given up fast food, doesn't mean your caloric intake has gone down. You could be eating the same amount of calories in other foods.

You could try writing down precisely what you eat for a couple of days and then logging that information into a calorie counter to give you an idea of where you are at right now. Then if it seems like it is too high, think of ways to change it.

Calorie counting can be a pain, but even a few days of it gives you data that can help you.

Have been doing a lot of roasted veggies, grilled or sauteed chicken, some crockpot stuff. I almost always cook with boneless skinless chicken breast, on occasion I will make steak or a burger. Also, steamed green beans. I try to take left overs to work. I just started with Overnight Oatmeal, definitely filling but I have to somehow get used to the taste and smell of greek yogurt (any suggestions? all I smell is sour cream basically) if I am going to continue with it. I don't wake up in enough time for breakfast so its usually oatmeal of some sort when I get to work, or a banana. I have been trying to increase my water intake and decrease my soda intake (have to do that slowly because of the gnarly caffeine withdrawal headaches) and implement herbal teas in its place. If I forget lunch, I have some Amy's frozen organic southwestern burritos, and I will have one while I work but I get so busy that I sometimes forget to eat and my co-workers yell at me. I am trying not to gorge on food so I have been implementing a 20 minute walk with my grandpa after work, as well as starting to lift weights, but on MyFitnessPal it doesn't count weight training as lessening the deficit, so I guess I get confused with weight training not burning anything. I am trying to do more so of a.. lifestyle change, rather than a work on it for a few months and forget about it. That's why I have focused so much on cooking for myself so that it is implemented into my schedule (I'm a planner).

A few things jumped out at me - since you said you want to make a lifestyle change, maybe change things like getting up a little earlier to make sure you can have a breakfast you like (there is nothing magical about oatmeal and greek yogurt. don't eat it if you don't like it). Take a few minutes the night before to prepare your lunch, and remember to bring it. Set and alarm to go off to remind you to eat lunch.

Don't worry about the MyFitness Pal subtracting numbers for weight training, you are going to benefit from it regardless of what MFP says. I prefer trackers that keep my calorie limit the same regardless of exercise, since until I'm hiking for 5 hours I don't need to eat back what I burned.

It sounds like you are on the right track, and just need to do a little experimenting to see what will make the scale go down.

Thanks Seagirl, I appreciate the input tremendously, as well as everyone one else who has commented!

I've lost 62lbs since September 2013 from calorie-counting. What I did was eat a 500-1000cal deficit everyday according to my body weight. I adjusted this deficit as I got lighter.
http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
For example, you at 5'3 and 246lbs, have a BMR rate of 1913/daily.
SO that means you probably should eat in the range of 1500-1700cal daily. Zig-zagging calories throughout the week is important. I'd eat like 1500cal for 3 days, then eat 1700cal for two days. I'd just keep mixing it up to keep my metabolism confused. I counted and logged calories rigorously, but it's not like you have to be 1500cal exactly. If you happen to be 1530cal a certain day, big wup. That's fine. The point is to be in the rough area of the amount and just zig-zag throughout the week. I lost 2lbs/a week for the first 6 months. Before slowing to 1/lb a week. Now I'm losing about .5-1/lb a week since I'm so close to goal weight.
I've smacked into about 3 plateaus and I got off them by eating far less than usual or eating far more than usual for a week to confuse my metabolism again before I returned to the typical deficit. It's all a guessing game of trying different things to keep your metabolism up and running.

Healthy food and exercise help, but calorie counting is a MUST and your most powerful weapon.

Another good calc: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

Fast food and soda are equally bad.... drinking just 1 can of soda a day will make you pack on 10-20lbs over the course of a year.
Don't give up though! If you stay focused and determined it'll happen!
My suggestion is always more fruits & veggies and less everything else.
Good Luck! stick with it!

Thank you Arwen!!! that is so helpful!

Are you drinking soda that has calories in it? That can add a lot of calories. Some people find that drink sodas with artificial sweeteners at least cut some calories. Others don't want to do that.

I recently replaced my sodas (artificial sweeteners) with tea and found that drinking green tea which has caffeine but has some health benefits worked well with me to help the withdrawal from caffeine. I still get some caffeine but not as much as before.

AS for Greek Yogurt, I can't stand it so I can't help there.

Basically, if you aren't losing weight I would be counting my calories for awhile to see how much I'm taking in. While what you are eating may be much better for you than fast food if you don't have a calorie deficit you won't lose weight.