So I made a huge diet change in January and I started exercising pretty intensely four or five days a week. In nine weeks, I've lost 15 lbs. and 5" off my waist. Of course, the first couple of weeks were the biggest loss, and since then, things have tapered off a bit. Lately I've been losing about 1 lb. a week on average, but I'm losing almost 1/2" off my waist each week (1" each of the first two weeks and 3" over the next seven weeks). I know my body is changing shape, but my concern is how little actual weight I'm losing. Is my body just changing shape and gaining muscle, or am I not working hard enough?

I'm eating 1400-1700 calories per day (average of 1550 over the course of my diet). I am eating 4-5 servings of fruit and veggies every day, lots of whole grains, low fat dairy products, and limiting empty calories (no candy or soda, small portions of other sweets if I have them). I FEEL great--only hungry at meal times, and tons of energy. I am currently doing EA Sports More Workouts on the Wii five days a week (30-45 minutes of intense cardio/resistance training), and jogging one day a week (20-30 minutes). I'm active throughout the day, including lots of walking at work (sales manager at a department store).

I would just like some advice on my progress--do these seem like good results? Does my calorie intake sound good? I just hear all the time about 2 lbs. per week, and there are weeks I do less than a pound, but I'm still losing those inches. Thanks everyone for any advice, and sorry for this being so long

Remember that the 2lbs for week is, first off, just an average, and further, it's the HIGH end of that average. Most sources recommend .5-2 lbs per week, so you're right on track. It sounds like your plan is working for you, and you're losing at a reasonable rate (and showing off that progress in your measurements). You're averaging 1 2/3 lb a week...that's a healthy, fairly quick rate of loss!

I guess I don't feel like I really average that much, because I toss out the first two weeks where I lost 6 lbs. total. Beyond that, I'm at almost exactly 1 lb. per week.

Thank you for your encouragement, though! Maybe I'm just hitting that point where I feel good, I'm doing well, and I want to be at my goal weight NOW and not in three months . . .

At 1lb a week you'll be at your goal by the end of July!

Sounds like you're doing everything right and losing 5 inches off your waist since January is impressive to say the least! Just keep it up and you'll be at goal before you know it!

I think you are doing great - congrats on all those inches gone!
Even though whole grains are not a bad choice, I personally try to restrict my consumption of them. I prefer only a single serving of whole grains a day, sometimes 2, but I don't go over that. Can you focus more on protein, at least for a few weeks, to see if you will have different results? Just a suggestion.

Thanks Tomato! I'd really rather not go low carb since I thrive on carbs and they make me feel full, but I'll definitely file away your suggestion for future reference in case things completely grind to a halt

How did you lose 5 inches off your waist with only losing 15 pounds?? I don't mean it in the mean way it sounds... I'm just trying to figure out how that would work (and I'd like to hear this from others as well as the original poster)

I haven't really lost any inches anywhere and I've lost 11 pounds... so I was just wondering whats average.

Anyway, congratulations to you!! Keep up whatever it is you are doing!

Martina, I'm not really sure how it's worked out that way either, which is kinda why I posted, hehe. It seems to me like I should've lost more poundage too, so I wondered if I was doing something wrong!

However, here are my theories on it: I have a really small waist to begin with due to my hourglass figure, and I had gained most of my weight as belly fat due to stress. Also, although I move a lot at my job, I didn't do any form of formal cardio or strength training. I was in crappy shape! Now, I'm in fabulous shape, better than I've ever been in my life. I jogged for 8 min without stopping yesterday, and a total of 18 min with walking breaks! I've also been doing a lot of strength training, so I feel like I'm sculpting my body, getting rid of fat and building muscle. I think if I had access to a good way to check my body fat, there'd be a bigger difference than in the pounds lost too. I've also changed the way I eat, and I'm eating much healthier whole foods with more fiber. I lost 2" the first two weeks of my new diet--so I think some of it may have been bloat.

I've lost more off my waist than anywhere else--I started at 41-35-44, and I'm down to 39-30-40. I'm also about to drop a bra band size, but my breasts themselves aren't getting any smaller so I'll probably have to go UP a cup size if I go down in the band!