Hi guys. I'm hoping I can find some nice words here to keep me going. I started my diet 3 weeks ago, and have been exercising for the last two weeks. My exercise started with 30 mins of cardio and I've now added weights and am up to closer to an hour, with four workouts a week, hoping to up it to five. On the days I'm not going to the gym, I am still moving because I have a 70 lb yellow lab that loves (requires) at least three walks a day.
My eating is pretty clean. Only drink water and I have a few glasses of skim milk a week, usually with supper. I log my cals. Measure everything. I use a diet analysis program from when I took a nutrition class last semester and I take a multivitamin. I'm quite overweight...I'm at 222 right now. The reason I'm kind of ... I don't know...a little bummed out is because the first week I was at 224 and dropped to 220. After adding the exercise I gained 2 pounds INSTANTLY and have been there since and I'm going into my fourth week... I've taken human anatomy/physiology so I'm aware that muscles require water to repair...and that muscle is more dense than fat. How come I can be so overweight, and was so non active and adding the exercise and eating clean isn't doing anything? Anyone else experience this? I know this is a lifestyle change and going to be a long progress but dang. I didn't know it'd be 2 lbs a month this early in the game.

Hi! Welcome! How many calories are you doing a day? It sounds like you're doing plenty of exercise, good job! However, most of your weight loss will come from what you're eating, and not so much from the exercise. Creating that calorie deficit is where you will see the loss on the scales. Eating clean healthy foods is awesome, but you can overeat on those too - at least I know I can!

Well, my guess is that first week was not a true loss. Your body can't 'really' lose 4 pounds in a week unless you give up eating. It was probably a water dump, and since then, you have been catching up on the actual weight loss.

Like Liz asked, how many calories are you allotting yourself? and are you weighing yourself the same time every day?

Another thing to help with the "what's going on" phase is to do body measurements and compare them week to week. You 'might' adding enough muscle initially to outweight the fat loss (initially).

Or, it could be something medical. Have you ever had your thyroid checked?

That stupid scale! They are !

You have to keep in mind that your ultimate goal is to lose fat. The only way to do that is to consistently have a calorie deficit.

The tough part is that most of our weight is stuff other than fat. It's bone, muscle, and mostly water.

So, we get on the scale and see fluctuations and we seem to always link them to fat. We're thrilled when we lose weight, because we assume the loss is fat. But it might be some fat, and some muscle, and a lot of water! And we gain fat sometimes, but it's actually water that fluctuates much much more than fat does.

So, I think we have to recognize that the scale is an imperfect tool for the job we want (measuring fat), and not give it that much power over us. Use it as one of the many tools to keep track of our weight loss progress.

I agree with taking measurements as well. Sometimes you can see inches lost, but maybe not the pounds.

It sounds like you are on the right path. Be careful that you don't expect a huge loss every week. Some people lose really fast, others take time. If you are not losing at all right now, than you might want to lower your calories and increase your cardio time a little. If you continue to not see a change you could always speak with your doctor and see if it's something physical going on.

Either way you sound like you are getting a good start so just hang in there and don't get too discouraged! It will come with time. It took me 6 months to drop 20 pounds, others can drop 20 in one month, so while it was very slow, I got where I wanted to be by just pushing through.

You lose weight in the kitchen, not the gym.

The gym is SUPER important, don't get me wrong, but weightloss always comes down to calories in vs. calories out.

How many calories are you consuming? Are you weighing/measuring your food? Truly keeping honest tracking of everything is vital to succeeding.

You have the commitment level obviously, so you are going to do awesome with this!

Thanks guys for all the help. I'm at 1,400 cals a day and I make sure to get a huge variety of veggies, fruit, whole grains and lean protein. Like I sort of mentioned, I studied nutrition so I think I'm on track in the kitchen.
I think this morning I was just discouraged and jealous of all the stories I was reading about the amazing losses people are experiencing. I just got caught up in it all. I need to remember that the scale isn't evil...and not out to get me. I'm looking to increase my cardiovascular health and I am. I'm in it for the long haul. And 2 lbs down is better than a 2 lb gain!!
Thanks again for the encouragement. I am looking forward to this website, it seems to be an amazing resource!!

I think it sounds like you have an outstanding plan going, and that fat loss is going to happen! Just keep at it. I just majorly stepped up my exercise in the last couple weeks and my weight loss has stalled. But I am expecting a WHOOSH in the near future, and I'll bet you can, too.

Can you post your menu for the day?
Also, is TOM near? I find that reeks havok on the scale.
I know its so hard to keep plugging along when the scale doesnt show the results of your hard work. The two things I try to do are come to 3FC and post! Really, for encouragement and maybe ideas. And take another look at my diet. Hav I been eating too many carbs? I find I gain water weight if I have heavy carb days.

Hang in there. And stay here. This website really gives the support for those times when it gets tough.

Lucyford, you said you had A&P and nutrition...are you a nursing student?

You are so right, a 2lb loss is way better than a 2lb gain! You are definitely on the right track. Hopefully a whoosh is right around the corner for you.

Hi Lucyford...there can be a lot going on with your body. In January, two weeks before TOM I had gained 2 pounds, but then it eventually went away. Remember that any loss is so much better than a gain. This is a slow and arduous road sometimes, but stick with it ~ it's worth it!

Just wanted to say 1) love your screen name...an LP by a fav artist is named that too and its such a nice play on words 2) dont get discouraged. Sometimes our bodied take a little while to get with the program...there can be many reasons, but you sound like you have a smart approach and are active/eating enough but not too much.

hang in there and keep up updated on how things move along. better slow than not at all, and you are improving your health even if you arent losing as much weight as you would like.

Everybody thank you so much!! I really enjoy hearing the personal experiences of others--it is so helpful!!
I'll post my menu, but I try to change it all the time so I'm never bored so it's kind of hard. I stick to 1,400 cals a day and on either Saturday or Sunday I let myself have a cheat meal...usually some sort of pasta. But I'm careful to keep the serving to a cup, and I use pasta made either of whole wheat or veggies.

Breakfast
An egg, plain, either fried or scrambled with no added fat. Only up to two eggs a week with a piece of whole grain bread (I bake my own so I know exactly what is in it) and some fruit on the side, usually some berries or a banana.
Or a cup of cereal with skim milk and fruit, sometimes with ff yogurt. Sometime I have oatmeal (not the instant stuff) I take centrum daily multivitamin and I take a fish oil capsule 3 times a week.

Snacks (Before and after lunch) are usually a few almonds or walnuts (6-8 pieces) and dried cranberries (maybe 4-5 cranberries) or an apple, or raw veggies and hummus. I make my own hummus so its not loaded with salt and other misc. preservatives.

Lunch is usually protein and veggies. I broil chicken or fish. Veggies are either steamed or raw.

Dinner is different every night but I try to keep it in the 500 calorie range and consists of a protein and veggies and a few nights a week I'll have a glass of skim milk. I hate milk, and I'm trying to up how many days a week I'm drinking it.

So today while walking my dog, I ran into a neighbor that I haven't seen in about a month and the first thing she said was, "OMG YOU HAVE LOST WEIGHT!!" I asked, "really?" and she said yes, it was very noticeable in my face. So. I'm starting to question how reliable my scale is and I FINALLY understand that you can't just go by what the scale says. I'm going to take some measurements tonight and maybe do that once a month to compare.

@XTY-You're an Atmosphere fan!! That's awesome. Lucy Ford is my screen name for everything...has been for years (BTW I work for Rhymesayers and they just announced that Atmosphere has a new album coming out soon.)

@GlamourGirl-I was interested in pursuing nursing but have changed directions to laboratory scientist. Nursing school here is on a lottery system and the average wait is 3 years...I'm just ready to be done with school....just like I'm ready to LOSE THIS WEIGHT

Thanks again everyone for the support and kind words. It's just what I needed. I feel so much better than I did yesterday morning.