For the past 2 months, I have been "dieting." I started at 154 pounds. I tried atkins for 2 weeks and dropped to 151. On my third week of atkins I lost nothing and realized that those 2 pounds I had lost earlier were glycogen stores, so I decided to get off atkins and go to simple calorie counting and exercise. After getting off atkins, my weight went up to 155 (gained 1 pound!)

I've been calorie counting and exercising for the past month. I have been eating 1500 cals on avg each day. I've been exercising a good amount (10 miles/day for 2 weeks during break and 4 miles/day since New years and staying active in general). Now, I weighed in this morning at 153.5 (half a pound lost since I started a month ago!). I'm really disappointed in myself. Even while on atkins, I never ate more than 1500 cals. What am I doing wrong? How is it possible that even while actively trying to lose weight and going to the gym every single day I haven't lost anything.

No, I am not weighing my food. I skip lunch and count my breakfast (300 cals). For dinner, I roughly estimate it to be about 800 cals. I might eat another 300 cals at night, but not every night.

I must be consuming more cals than I thought or I would be losing weight. I will be a lot more careful counting from now on. But I'm certain that I'm not consuming more than 1750 in a day. It's just impossible. My BMR is 1750 and with exercising 400 cals a day, I should still be losing weight even if I was eating 1750.

Ohh I'm also drinking way more diet coke than I used to (3-5 cans a day). I've heard that diet coke can slow weight loss...maybe the best thing to do is get rid of that.

I agree with Kara. Buy a digital food scale and measure in grams for accuracy. Even veggies and fruit add up. Also, get a measuring spoon set. 1TBS of olive oil is not alot & when you just pour, those cals add up quickly!

If you are roughly estimating, you are probably over estimating or under estimating. Either one will cause your weight loss to stall. And personally, I lose more weight when I eat 3 meals. If I skip lunch my weight loss starts to slow down.

I agree with the other responses, definitely measure/weigh your food. I couldn't estimate to save my life, I am always off.

You're on the right track with calorie counting [as long as it's accurate] and exercising, though. Just keep with it and don't get discouraged.

Good luck.

This all makes sense. Thank you, ladies!

I was assuming this would be the answer. I've always had a hard time estimating cal intake. So I skip lunch to give me a lot more leeway on dinner cals. I've fluctuated between 155 and 130 a few times in the past few years. My successful diets are always a <1000 cal diet (basically just living off of vegetables and few fruits) with exercise. I've never tried to eat 1400 cals, so it's much harder for me to sustain this.

A friend told me to not use most of my calories at dinner. She didn't go into specific details & I haven't looked it up. I usually save the majority of mine for dinner as well.

Any one here know why she would mention that?

Thanks Kara! I always plan out my meals to the very last calorie, so I know I don't go over. Maybe she has & assumes others would as well. Just didn't make sense to me.

I'd be surprised if you aren't building a lot of muscle with all that exercise and muscle is heavier than fat. I'd get out the measuring tape and start using that as your guide to whether you are getting smaller or not.

Actually, I am smaller overall. But in order to build muscle, you have to have intake > output. So in that case, I'm still eating more than I should be, right?

Exactly! There are diets that restrict you to one large meal a day (fast-5), and it works for some people. I've always lost weight by skipping lunch. It works for me! But I also am consciously dieting when I do it, so I'm careful with dinner. Maybe this time I'm overeating because of all the exercise and not realizing it.

You know what I just realized...I've been eating a lot of calories from dense foods that are very easy to underestimate calories, like honey. I'm probably consuming way more calories than I think I am at dinner.

If you don't have the means to get a digital scale (or just can't get one at the moment), google portion sizes to learn how to eyeball. I haven't weighed my food since I started and I'm not about to start now (I'll get too obsessive). I do measure occasionally, but even now I find that my eyes are not too far off.

You can't weigh your food all the time (restaurants, going over someone's house, etc.) so I think learning what portion sizes look like will REALLY help you in the long run. You'd be amazed at what we're taught is a portion size vs what really is a portion size.

That's a great idea, thanks!

Oh, man, I wish I could.