I officially stated my forever weight loss journey on January 1st, 2011. I started at 285 lbs & am now STUCK at 273. I'm happy for the 12 lbs {mostly water weight I will assume} but I've cut way back on bad food, pretty much eliminating it; I've been drinking loads of water & getting more than enough sleep and exercise to at least see some sort of difference. For the past week and a half, going on two weeks I've been stuck at 273. While I'm happy it's not going up, I'm still wondering how I've stalled out already; I figured it would take at least a month or two lol. But I guess not?

Any ideas or tricks that maybe I could try to get things going again? Also I've been overly stressed, so I'm sure maybe that has something to do with it.

How much are you eating? How are you counting (measuring, weighing, eyeballing, all packaged?) Has there been a shift in your eating since the first weeks (like, you started all cooking, and then went to eating out more, but still counting, or you started out weighing and measuring, and then went to eyeballing)?

I would guess that what happened is that in the first week or two you lost a few pounds of fat and several pounds of water, from system shock. Now some of that water is coming back as your body reaches a new equillibrium, and at the same time you are losing fat. Just stick it out. If you go a whole week more with no loss, then you can start to worry about it.

I lost 7 pounds the first week. During the second week, there wasn't much change. But, this morning, I lost 2 pounds! Woo! So, I was kind of wondering the same thing as you. What was I doing that made it stall? I calorie count, drink at least 3 bottles of water a day, and exercise 5-6 days a week. But..this is only start of week 3 so I'm not too discouraged.

I've been measuring, weighing & doing mainly packaging anything that I can. I don't eat out a whole lot, maybe twice a week; I've been cooking at home mainly & trying to eat lots of fibery things as well.

It's been almost two weeks already without a change lol. I guess i'm just going to cut out anything anything anything period that has anywhere near a lot of sodium {in my eyes anyway} and up my water. I've lost weight before so I don't think it's that I can't, I think my body is just on vacation lol.

EDITED: I've been eating around 1500 calories a day. I think this week I'm going to try zigzagging and see if I can get things going again. I'm going to go up to 2000 one day, then 1500 and then up to 1800. I don't know which days yet, but I need to get that planned out.

I'm also drinking at LEAST 100 oz of water a day, so I'm going to up that too.

Okay, your weight is 274 pounds and you have eaten 1500 calories every single day for the last 2 weeks, and in those 2 full weeks you have not lost a single ounce? Have you been to the doctor lately? In my experience, there is no way possible this could happen at this point. Weird.

Edited to Add: Oh, I see you started on 1-1-11. In the first week you lost 12 pounds, and now in the 2nd 2 weeks you have lost none. That does make a little more sence. 12 pounds the first week is big, your body could be just getting ready for another woosh...

It sounds like you are doing all the right things. Cycling won't hurt, but I bet it also wouldn't hurt if you just gave it another week. You could be retaining water and losing fat right now, and then next week, lose the water and lose fat, and have it look like you lost 5 lbs in one week.

Yep lol. That's why I was kind of confused myself because even though I'm not "hitting the gym" yet, I'm still having enough going out that I should have lost SOMETHING even just a pound haha. Do you think maybe I'm not eating ENOUGH? I think I'm going to give it another week on the 1500 and really really really watch anything I put in my mouth and then go from there & up my water, absolutely nothing but water. If then I still can't lose anything I guess I will have to try something different and/or go to the doctor and try to get help that way.

I'm kind of confused about how many calories my deficit is. Do you have any idea how I could find that out?

I think i'm just going to stick with 1500 cals, up my water & watch really really really watch every single thing that I put into my mouth for the next week. If it still doesn't budge, then I'm going to have to try something else and/or go to the doctor and see what's up. I've lost 50 lbs before, so I really don't think it's anything like that; -shrug- haha.

So I could actually be losing fat, but not have it show up on the scale?

I lost 6 pounds within the first 9 or 10 days...and then I was stuck -- All of a sudden a few days ago I dropped a pound, and I may dropped another one this weekend

I just kept gulping down my water (yuck), all 64 oz. I kept up with my calorie counting, staying around 1400 cal per day.

I use a website called my fitness pal .com (all one word, but somehow I can not post it) for my food intake.

Just keep up, one day you will wake up and scale is heading back to right direction

I am incredibly determined to loose my weight this year. Old me , ALWAYS gave up when I hit that no weight loss zone. This time I just got even more determined than ever.

I went shopping on Friday for my kids and on impulse I decided to buy a pair of jeans, one size smaller than I have been wearing...I was really afraid to try them on, and I was sure they would be my inspirational jeans...BUT they fit, actually fit! -- It gave me some more will power to continue my journey.

Don't give up, what ever you do, but don't give up! This is OUR year!

[QUOTE=Lori Bell;3670717]Okay, your weight is 274 pounds and you have eaten 1500 calories every single day for the last 2 weeks, and in those 2 full weeks you have not lost a single ounce? Have you been to the doctor lately? In my experience, there is no way possible this could happen at this point. Weird.

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A very good point! 1 out of 4 people have slow thyroid. If doctor says your value is 4.3; normal. Don't settle!! Normal thyroid should really be under 3, and many people who have border line thyroid problem, actually should be taking sythroid.

It is an easy test to take. Mine has been really messed up for years, and thanks to some gp's, mine hovered around 4 for many, many years, and made me have all sort of problems. Once I started seeing a specialist, and he medicated me properly, life got better!

Absolutely--the scale measures weight, not fat, and weight can be water.

Honestly, either you are retaining water or eating more than you think. That's not an insult: lots of people mis-estimate how much they are eating. If you are confident that your measurements are correct (and I encourage you to weigh stuff as much as possible--it's much more accurate), then it pretty much has to be water. So just wait it out.

TOM (time of month) and salt are two things that can really make it look like you aren't losing when you are. And both are unpredictable. One salty meal or TOM it's one weird way and the next it's totally different. Or it's the same time after time until it isn't. Figuring out stalls can be nearly impossible sometimes.

You have to be in this for the long haul. Rejoice in the losses and consider the stalls as just more time to practice your new better habits. If you stick to your plan (and I started where you are now about a year ago and have averaged 1500 a day since then so your plan should work!) you WILL lose weight and as you go along you'll figure out what is working best for you and what you need to tweak.

Thanks for all the help & ideas you guys! You make it a lot easier to keep on chugging along.

I think I figured out at least some of the things going on. I think i'm getting TOO much fiber and TOO much protein, so I need to tone that down a bit. Also, the sodium intake. I'm going to tweak those, get that down and go from there.

Also, I AM in it to WIN it this year! lol. I am determined to keep on going along with this because I know once I get a plateau I have to get back on and keep going along and it will get better eventually. I cannot let this weight rule my life at only 22 years old.

I haven't really experienced this yet, but I've heard that some people just lose in different patterns, mostly based around their TOM. Some people can eat the same all month and lose big weeks 1 & 4, and nothing 2 & 3 or whatever. This may be a case where you simply need to pursue this for a while longer and figure out the long term patterns!

Good luck!

First time posting ..... I HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM. I actually gained 3 pounds. I weigh and measure everything and track every bite on DailyPlate.com. This is not my first rodeo. I have been on every plan and lost something. Always struggled with what should happen and doesn't . I was on Jenny Craig 14 years ago and had to have a note from my doctor to lower my calorie intake and buy less food. At my size 268, I should lose no problem on 1800 calories. I will gain in a week if I do. Then if I go too low I stall out after 2 weeks.

This is so frustrating. As if we are all not throwing ourselves into the emotional fire as it is .....we have to have this added struggle.

It's what makes me "Fall off the Wagon"
My skinny sister and mother eat what ever they want to at never watch a thing and I have to watch everything. HAHAHAH ..I was the athlete they were the ladies in waiting. ( But I got the great BOOBS!! LOL)

I am going to keep on this calorie counting journey of whole foods with no wheat and little dairy because I know in the long run it will be better, but for the love of Mike , I picked the wrong addiction.

Thanks all for letting me vent!!