Hi meltaway -- DO NOT give up! I am new to 3FC and gave up on Atkins today, but I'm not giving up on the quest to lose weight and be healthier. I hope you will hang on, hang in, keep doing all the good things you are doing to make healthy changes and the weight loss will come. I'll not give you any advice since I'm hanging on by fingernails too....BUT I will send my best wishes your way.....you just have to keep on.....we won't get there if we quit now....

Great post NEMom!!

Don't give OP - I think most people struggled to see results at some point. I started very slowly and for 3 months didn't lose a single pound....but I stuck to it and just over a year later am nearly at target.

All that work you're doing IS paying off - I'm sure you feel much fitter. Try taking body measurements so that you can see progress even if there doesn't appear to be any on the scales. I measure myself once every couple of months and the results are really interesting to look at - I lost inches in those three months I didn't lose pounds!

Keep at it - it'll be worth it in the long run

Wow, I know just how you feel. I remember the last time I tried to lose weight. I lost 14 pounds the first two weeks. I was so proud. Well now, I'm at least 45 pounds heavier and didn't lose a pound my first week and a half. I lost the next weigh in but it was an incredible amount. I figured a reasonable short-term goal for me would be 50 pounds lost by June. Well, I'm no where near making that goal.

I appreciated many of the posts here. The posters are right. If you and I give up because of slow weight loss, just imagine where we'll be a year from now. And if we are to truly conquer our weight problems and not just lose weight temporarily, we have to find a way to make it through these hard times.

I was really struggling today. I wanted to eat everything under the sun. I know part of it is tomorrow is a weigh in day, and I'm stressed that I won't have lost "enough" weight to make me happy. But, I know that giving up is not an option. Even if I screw up one day. Because giving up would require me to give up on ME, and I'm all I've got.

i guess nobody told you that little secret, eh? you NEED at least one day a week off where you do NOTHING.

you give six days a week to your body - you NEED one day a week, minimum, for your mind and spirit. one day a week where you lounge in the hammock with a suitable beverage (i like flavoured black tea, myself, or lemonade made with stevia) or soak in teh tub with candles on the edge, cucumber slices on the eyes, and something plinky-plonky on the disk player.

if you have kids, send 'em to a sitter.

it's called "down time" and trust me, it's just as essential as butt-kicking time.



what gets the results is not diet, and it's not exercise.

it's not even diet AND exercise.

without persistence and consistency, all the dieting and exercising in the world isn't going to help.

give it two more weeks - if you still don't see results, do NOT fret. just review your diet: you obviously cannot go any lower, so review what you're eating - are you getting enough protein? if you're not eating enough protein, that'll hurt because your body will scavenge protein from your own muscles (including your heart!). if everything's good there, then add some calories - not a lot: a recovery shake (protein + carbs) after your workouts is a good start.

do not give up.

For the first month and a half, I lost 3 pounds. I worked my hiney off, ate right, gave up soda, and lost 3 pounds.

Since then, I've lost at a decent enough clip. I see a downward change almost every weigh in. I haven't moved up at all.

I've tried to not focus on the weight, instead to focus on how I feel, being healthier, and considering how my clothes feel. But it's still frustrating as heck to see no change.

Just know that if your clothes feel better and you feel better, you are definitely making progress. Don't ever give up.

Thanks everyone I really needed to hear everything you guys are saying.

Guys! I weighed myself yesterday, and I just weighed myself again today. 221! So maybe I was just retaining water? I'm a bit happier with that.

Yay! All it took was 1 more day of waiting. Whenever I feel like giving up, I tell myself that I should be keeping up these habits for health reasons-weight loss or no weight loss. That holds me over until I see the scale budge-and it does, eventually-then I think "Yesss I'm getting closer to having a cuter body!"
haha

Well, there you go -- you see, time is a big factor; and yes, we can hold 3-5 lbs or more in water weight. So many factors come into play. I agree about giving yourself a day off to rest your body; I do that too ...

I was looking for a "before" picture a while back because I'm getting close to losing 50 lbs and I wanted to post a "before and after" when I got there because I'm proud of myself. What I realized is that my pictures from 2008, 2009, and 2010 are pretty identical. And there was a pretty reasonable amount of dieting and giving up in that time period. I'm sure my weight went up and down by about 20 lbs 5 or 6 times.

But after the fall of 2010 I decided I wasn't going to give up until I hit my goal and started very slowly losing weight. And after the spring of 2011 I started losing weight a little bit more quickly. It is still only about half a pound a week -- I'm going to hit the 50 pound mark about 18-20 months after I started. But even though I'm now about where you are starting, I am so glad that I have persevered for this long. And I know that I can keep going.

It has taken a lot of readjustment and some frustration, but if I had done in 2008 what I'm doing now, I'd be at goal already. And the only choice that leads to me getting to goal is not giving up and continuing to try.

A "before" for inspiration.