I can't believe this. After all my hard work I step on the scale this morning and I have lost NOTHING. Not a pound.
And no, I don't have my period, in fact just finished on Thursday.

I worked so hard, ate 1500 calories daily (with probably a few 1800 calorie-days in there) for the past few weeks, and then this week added in four days of cardio.

I'm sooo disappointed and terrified, what if I just can't lose any weight? Ever?

~CGH~

I know not losing weight despite the hard work is very, very frustrating. I am a insulin resistance sufferer and it is very hard for a person with my condition to lose weight. It takes more exersice to achieve it.

How often do you weight yourself? Have you eaten anything salty like night? Water retention is possible if you have eaten salty food.

I say hang in there and keep your exersice and 1500 calories eating diet. It will pay off sooner or later.

Very disappointing, I know!

By saying "Probably a couple 1800 days in there" I am assuming that you are not tracking exact calories. That may be worth a try! I use sparkpeople.com --- a free site with an easy tracker for me, I know alot of people use fit day and other trackers. On sparks I can see my whole week, I can see where I should be, and where I actually was, I can see when my protien is low (for me I need enough protien to shed pounds) I can see where my sodium is high (water retention)

I would certainly suggest staying on what ever plan you started with, but tracking everything exactly--everything, your latte, your soda, sweetners, etc..........do that for at least a week, then look back and see what you come up with. Check out the scale again, and figure out what you should tweek----come here for advice, we would love to help you

I would recommend you see a dietitian or nutritionist who specializes in weight loss--possibly your doctor can refer you. It may be that you have a condition that makes weight loss hard.

Other ideas: Your calorie counts may be off. How are you tracking what you eat? Are you weighing and measuring foods, or just estimating? Do you have a list of what you ate, every day, that you can refer to--either on paper or on the computer? How many of those days were around 1800, and what does "around" mean, really?

Four days of cardio after a few weeks of, I assume, no cardio? You didn't say, isn't likely to make much difference, I think.

Hang in there! Let's figure out what's going on!

Jay

OOOppps forgot one thing.......In seeing that you have already lost some, maybe it is time to adjust your intake? Have you calculated your BMR.....BRM........errrrrr what ever that is, calculate what your body needs at its current weight and activity level to maintain, then calculate what you need to lose 1-2 pounds per week. Might be different than what you have been doing

I must agree here...tracking your food is really crucial. It has made a huge difference for me this time around.

Just keep with it, the weight will drop, it's just trying to annoy you into giving up... You can do it!!!

Hi Choirgirl!

Congrats on the loss so far!

A few thoughts to share:

1) Weight loss is not linear. Some weeks people lose, some weeks they don't. Our bodies are amazing things, but they are not machines. Biological organisms don't always follow the rules of math.

2) Serenity is right....could be water retention. How often do you weigh? My scale bops all over the place, depending on what I have eaten, how heavy I have lifted, have I gone running that morning, etc.

3) Could be the Bermuda Triangle of Weightloss. Many of us have crashed head first into a monster plateau in the 170s and 160s. It's enough to make a fat chick beat her beak against the wall! It happened to me twice. Allow me to share.

In 2004 I went from 204 lbs to the high 160s by running and counting calories. Then my weight loss stopped. I tried to run farther and eat less but it didn't work so I gave up and my weight went back up to 204.

In 2006, I went from 204 pounds to the high 160s by running and counting calories. Then my weight loss stopped. I was frustrated, I gave up and my weight went back up to 204.

From Sept 2007 to Feb 2008, I went from 204 pounds to the high 160s by running and counting calories. But this time (yes, I can be taught!!!) I knew I had to do something drastically different. I was so terrified to be caught in the doldrums of the upper 160s. I worried I had shot my metabolism with my previous efforts. I worried that I was destined to remain in the upper 160s forever. So I decided to start lifting weights. Of course I didn't know how to lift weights, so I hired a trainer and she taught me how to lift weights, but also how to eat to build muscle, so that even now my food is very different. Not calorie counting, but clean eating, lots of protein, veggies, fruit, healthy fats, complex carbs, etc. I sailed right through the 160s and am now in the low 150s eyeballing the 140s.

So, the take home message from this novella is:
1) It is normal to have weeks where you don't lose.
2) Many of us experience a wicked plateau in the 170s-160s. I have a personal theory that our bodies like set points***. Weight loss must be a stressful experience for our bodies. They watch their hard-stored back up energy source be burned away. I think that sometimes they need some time to recover a bit from the shock before they are willing to release more. Remember, in evolutionary terms, fat is a GOOD thing to ward of starvation and such. So your body might just need a breather.
3) You might consider shaking up your plan. Clearly, I am biased toward weightlifting.

***I believe my set point theory is also illustrated by the fact that when I regained the weight, it was right back to 204. I think my body "liked" 204, and "liked" the upper 160s, and now appears to "like" 152-156.

I know that no loss makes your brain say...give up...BUT DON'T...You can do it. Have you taken your measurements? Try tracking everything you eat. If you bite...you write! You may have added calories that you are not aware of! Hope this helps!

Wow, thanks guys.

Actually I do track my food daily - I was typing this from home and my tracker was at work (where I am now). Out of 10 days I had one 1800 calorie day, and one 2000 calorie day. The rest were either 1500 or 1700.

As for exercise, I used to exercise 4x weekly, but then stopped for eight weeks, so this week was my first week back.

I actually "might" have a condition that is impeding my weight loss -- one year and two months ago I quit antidepressants (they helped me gain 60 lb over 10 years) and I don't think my metabolism/body has been the same since.

So now, I am off the medication that contributed to my weight gain, and I can't lose weight!! Oh the irony....

I actually may have a chance to see a doctor who specializes in nutrition/weight soon.

But until then, maybe i should eat less? I'm feeling very satisfied on what I eat daily, maybe too satisfied? Maybe I should lower the calories a bit. My instinct tells me I'm still eating too much, even though I'm tracking everything.

~CGH~

P.S. I only weigh myself once a week, on Fridays.

I'm having the same problems as you, but I realize now that it wasn't HOW MUCH I was consuming, but WHAT. Sure I was at 1200 cals a day, but it was all bad food. I've upped my calories to 1500 a day (good foods; I'm going to get the Volumetrics books) and I work out at least 6 times a day 30-120 minutes a day. I'm adding in resistance bands when I get mine and I have vowed to get past my plateau. Of course now it's TOM so everything is at a standstill til I'm better. Probably Monday.

Good luck!

If you can, i definately would see a nutritionist...but until then, i think i would knock my calories down to more 1500-1600 calorie days...with the emphasis on 1500. See how that works for ya. And don't give up the excersize. The number on the scale may not go down, but the size of the pants should. Good luck and let us know what you did and how your doing.

I always said to myself "I'll only weigh once a week, that way I don't become obsessed with the scale," but I've actually found that weighing myself every day, as is my current habit, is VERY helpful for being non-obsessed. Without weighing every day, you don't really know whether your body actually was at a lower weight some time during the week and that possibly your "weekly" weight is simply a blip.

Just my 0.02.

I agree with you, WarMaiden. I do the same thing.

Hmmm.....maybe that might be a good idea as I am terrified of the scale. I didn't weigh last week because I thought I would be too devastated if the number was high or the same, but I had anxiety all week NOT knowing!

~CGH~