I'm so frustrated! Wednesday is my official weigh-in. Last week, I was at 244.1. This week, I'm at 243. I have my daily plate set to lose 2 lbs per week, so I obviously didn't make that. The thing is, I didn't go over my calories at all this week! Some days, I was even well under my calories.

The worst part is, this is the first week since I started 5 weeks ago that I didn't go over my calories. Other weeks, I've had either binges alone for a day, or I've gone out with friends and gone over, or both. And during those weeks, I've always lose at least 1.5 lbs!

Also, yesterday when I weighed myself, I was at 242.7, but then today I went back up! Even though I did everything right, and I didn't have too much salt! What's going on?!

Your weight is going to fluctuate daily, so don't freak out about that. Weight loss is NOT linear.

In my log I have weeks where I went several weeks straight without losing a thing, even though I am extremely active and rigorous in my food tracking/eating... then suddenly I'd lose 5 pounds in a week.

You have to look at this loooong-term. The daily and weekly fluctuations are meaningless in the long run. Stay with your plan and your weight *will* trend down.

I know it is hard in the beginning when we are looking for validation on scale for our hard work -- this patience and fortitude through the NORMAL fluctuations and weight process is probably one of the hardest things (mentally) about losing weight.

Stick with it, your work WILL pay off!

Weight loss is not linear. Some weeks we lose more and some weeks we lose less. Often a week where my weight loss is disappointing is followed by a week with a fantastic loss. It all averages out!

I have found that the calculations on the daily plate and other sites do not work for me. They just estimate too high. I guess my body does not burn as many calories as the formulas think it should.

Since you have been losing, it sounds like you have a good plan. Just stick with it.

There are other things that can cause water retention. I have found that soy products do it for me. Not sure why. Then there is sore muscles, TOM, and probably lots of others. Keep hanging in there and you will keep losing fat, which is what counts.

I believe this is the answer to your problem. These things really do have a tendency to catch up with you. There was a thread just yesterday about how we sometimes get away with overeating...but the general consensus is that it WILL catch up with you eventually. You still lost, (Yippee you are LUCKY!) and you will continue to lose as long as you create a calorie deficit. If you want to lose at a faster rate I would recommend less binges. But if you can deal with slower weight loss and still have your "fun" then, go for it! If it works for you, then do it!

Yeah, I guess it is catching up with me. That didn't occur to me at all, since I saw what the binges did for a few days after, but then that weight seemed to go away once I got back on plan. I'm surprised that something I did two weeks ago could affect my weight now, but I suppose anything is possible!

It's been really hard this week not going out with friends at all (it just makes me so nervous!), and I don't think it's worth it. I do have to do my best to resist binges (always done alone, obviously!), for weight lose and for psychological sanity, but I need to learn that I can go out with friends and not go overboard. And I have been able to do this, it's just frustrating and anxiety provoking.

That's the thing, you can still go out with friends and have fun without overdoing it. Just think about when you were 10. Did you have to go party and to restaurants to have fun with your friends? I sure didn't. We talked and played jump rope, and hide and seek. I try to remember that when we have friends over/ socialize. I keep a deck of playing cards in my purse, and we have lots of board games. Instead of drinking and smoking I whoop butt in 4 point pitch! Mini golf, the batting cages...it's all fun. Of course, many of my friends still drink heavily, smoke and are over weight, but I just refuse to do that anymore. I have fun watching them get stupid...LOL My friends have also toned it down a bit...so in a way, my good habits are rubbing off.

One more thought. Perhaps you have set your calorie target too low by aiming for 2 pounds a week. If so, you could be slowing down your weight loss, oddly enough. Perhaps recalculate for 1.5 pounds a week and make your meal plans on that basis.

Jay

I know how hard it is to keep on keeping on, but you can't let every calorie, every minute, every bite you take, every pound you weigh get in the way of living your life in a healthy manner.

Maybe I believe in old wives tales but for me I tend to not lose an ounce of weight when I'm suffering from a lot of stress. Could the same be happening to you?

Tackle your binges - that's the key. You may lose pounds now, but if you don't address the issue of bingeing then you may set yourself up for future weight gain. Losing weight is easy... calories in calories out. But bingeing is a lifestyle, it's imprisoning your psyche, and if you don't learn to deal with it now it will deal with you one way or the other.

I just did my dailyplate calorie intake. I put down moderately active since I work out for about 1 - 1.5 hours 3-4X a week. My calorie intake is 1800 - 2000 and I've been losing weight, maybe 1 lb a week? Anyway, dailyplate says to lose 1 lbs I need 2090 calories. That's more than my high end of calories. If I'm in the 2000+ range, I start to maintain and maybe even gain some. I would drop the calories by 100 and see what happens. If your weightloss is decreasing or heaven forbid, stopping, then follow Jay's advice and up your calories. I don't think following any one program's calorie range is a good idea, because if you take the test on 3-4 trusted sites you'll get a different range of numbers from all of them. Unfortunately, calorie counting is the trickiest method of weightloss because it is so individual. If I were you, I would tweak the calories (+/- 100 and test for a week each time) and see which number results in the most weight loss. I wouldn't drastically drop or raise my numbers. I think a give of 100 calories is enough to produce a change.

Good luck! I can completely sympathize with the frustration! Before I figured out a number that worked for me, I was ready to pull my hair out. You'll get it, just keep chugging and tweaking.

Wannabe--It might be stress--I hope not, since once the semester starts, my stess is going to increase by about 200%! The binging is a problem, and I'm much better than I was (This past year, I binged about 5 days a week--since I started (re)trying to lose weight on July 22nd, I've only binged 3 times--drastic improvment)

JayEl and Sunni--I wonder about my calories--right now, daily plate says that I should eat 1,788 calories a day. I have it set at sedentary just to be safe. I rarely get up to 1,788. I find I'm not hungry, and because of my binging problem, I'm terrified to eat when I'm not hungry. For example last week's calories were:
Th: 1,272
F: 1748
S: 1477
S: 1709
M: 1580
T: 1614

So I don't know about upping my calories, but I do eat different amounts every day.

Sorry this is so long. I know that if I just keep eating healthy foods, not binging, excercising, I'll lose weight, and more importantly, I'll be healthy. I just really want to be out of the 240's by Sept 11th as I have friends coming to visit, and I'm worried that I won't make it. But I will, I know I can.

paris81, when I average out those calories, I get 1,567, which means the average is 200 calories under your target.

Try to eat so that your average is closer to what your target is supposed to be.

I looked up your stats on Freedieting.com, and I got a number even higher than 1,788.

Even though you are afraid of your "bingeing" problem, you really do need to eat enough. You could make your meals larger. Have 4 ounces of chicken or tuna instead of 3, for example. Have 2% cottage cheese instead of 1% or fat-free.

Jay

Thanks Jay. I have seen that freedieting calculator and was surprised by it. On sparkpeople, it says I should eat between 1610 and 1960. So I'll start eating more. Change my non-fat yogurt to a higher fat content, like you suggested. It'll taste better!

I guess I should stop worrying so much about the exact calories and losing exactly 2 lbs a week. If I eat normal sized meals instead of a bag of Doritos and a box of pasta, I'll get healthier regardless! The calorie counting is useful in terms of stopping me from doing it (it's true, I'm less likely to eat it if I have to honestly write it down!)