I lost 9lbs the very first week I changed my eating lifestyle. I wasn't counting calories or dieting, just eating healthy foods in moderate amounts. The next week I gained a pound and now I'm just stuck here. What's going on? The second week I had just finished having my period and yesterday I just finished a 10 day course of prednisone. Do you think any of that has anything to do with this weirdness? Like I've said in previous posts, I'm not in this to lose weight rapidly....I'm doing this to get healthy. Right now I feel fantastic, very energetic....my skin looks great...I just feel good overall. I can't excercise until this ankle effusion is completely resolved, but I thought I'd still see some difference on the scale.

I'm trying to stay positive and focus on how good I'm feeling, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disapointed about the whole weight thing. Last night my husband brought home pizza and wings and I could feel that little voice saying..."go ahead have some, your not losing weight anyway!"
I fixed myself a nice big turkey burger instead, but I'm still feeling a little down. Any thoughts?

edited to add: My husband (who left me) only left for a day and came back. He has agreed to go to counseling. I'm having mixed emotions about the whole thing right now, but trying to focus on my health.

The period and the prednisone both promote water retention, which could explain the pound you gained.

I'm not trying to be cynical or discouraging, but I'm going to say this anyway: don't expect the rest of the weight to come off as quickly as the first few pounds. Once you get the weight loss ball rolling, you tend to lose a lot of weight very rapidly, but unfortunately, you will begin to lose at a more slow, steady pace after the first month or so. If you lose a continuous 1-2 pounds a week, then you are doing wonderfully!

As you progress in your journey, you will most likely try different methods to find out what does and does not work in regards to making your weight budge. At times, I felt like I was conducting a strange elementary school science experiment with my body. I hit plenty of stalls... but listen... if you are eating clean, counting your calories, and exercising frequently, there is no way that your body won't eventually start to physically match the way you are treating it

agreee with n-shane. Most people loose weight immediately the first week and then settle out. THe period and pred may have caused some water retention. So now what you need to do is find a plan that works for you. Eating healthy foods is awesome..now you need to control how much you eat...because even healthy foods have calories. So wheather its WW, calorie counting etc. You need to esspentially control what you eat. For example i'm doing calorie counting. I eat aroung 1600 cal a day (that's what my body needs daily in order to burn normal metabolic activity at my weight). I also recommend starting to exercise. Even if its small amounts like short 10-15 min walks at first. Exercise will help. Just know that weight loss is best if it is slow 1-2 lb per wk...and that way it will usually stay off. You need to find a plan that works for you for your lifetime...remember weight will return if you just start eating bad again and aren't taking into account what you eat. Good luck!

btw...focus on your health. If the couseling works for DH and you...great!!!! if you find that, dh and you aren't working out...than its sad...but life will go on. Stay focused and eat healthy..things will work out one way or another...hang in there

I agree with everyone's comments - it'll slow down a lot after that first big loss. 9 lbs in one week is a HUGE loss and is a great start, but try not to feel discouraged if you continue to lose 1-2 pounds per week. What I first started my lifestyle change back in April 2007, I was losing 3-4 pounds a week the first few weeks. Then I hit a brick wall with a plateau for awhile, then started up again. It's been steady and very gradual since about July, and sometimes I do get frustrated if I only lose 0.5 pounds one week, or even maintain from the week before. BUT I look back now, 7 months later, 40 pounds lighter, and remind myself that all of those times I felt frustrated are trumped by the feeling I get when I say to myself "you've lost 40 pounds." The period and pred could very well be about the weight gain - a sibling of mine was on pred for years for an illness, and it made him blow up like a balloon for months and months. Be proud that you made yourself a turkey burger instead of eating the pizza and wings - those little non-scale victories can be just as rewarding as seeing the scale drop. Keep at your healthy eating and add a little exercise when you can again, and I certainly think that you will see the scale moving again. Good luck and congrats on getting started to being healthy!

Thanks for the support. I don't know...I'm thinking of joining WW. I want to be a little more structured, but I don't want to feel like I'm on a "diet". I just want the way I eat to be the way I eat for the rest of my life. We have a significant history of diabetes in my family and my lab tests last week showed I had a fasting blood sugar of 100. According to what I've read, that is considered pre-diabetic. Talk about a wake up call! I think I'm going to give myself a few days to think over the WW thing. I'm feeling a little confused right now.

MissingMyErica - wow, that is a wake-up call.

Do consider WW, if you think it might be useful for you. If you are looking for something slightly more structured than "eat better", but less structured than some more strict plans, have you considered calorie counting? It supports your goal of eating better (because when you eat high-quality foods, you get more food for your calorie) and allows you flexibility in what you eat. It's also free. Negatives - there is no "group", no weigh-in accountability to anyone but yourself, and there is a learning curve associated with not only how to count the calories themselves, but how to arrange your menus so you are satisfied all day.

Weight watchers is similar in a lot of ways to calorie counting on the Flex plan. There is also a "Core" plan that allows you to eat as much as you need to fill you up of certain healthier foods, and gives you a small points allowance weekly to spend on non-Core foods.

Bottom line - there are LOTS of options for losing weight. It is wonderful that you are looking at this as a lifestyle...it will be utterly essential for long-term success.

On the weight, please don't let yourself think your weigh-ins are "weird". TOM, prescription medications, and gaining/losing water weight can all have an effect on the scale. You really want to see a downward TREND over a month or two. You may go down 4 up 2, down another 5, up 4, etc...but you're still on a downward trend. Our bodies are not machines, and weights are flexible and jump around quite a bit.