Im feeling so defeated these days I just had to vent for a moment. Im very aware of the fact that losing weight is hard and takes dedication. I started ny journey on June 3rd of this year weighing in at 428. I started by walking 30 minutes daily and not drinking soda or eating sweets. First week i lost 2 lbs, so second week i said i would
kick it up a knotch and eat healthier and add the treadmill to my workout. End of second week, no lose or gain. So third week, to kick this thing into high gear, i replaced two meals, usually bk and lunch with either a fruit smoothie, or a green smoothie and drink a gallon of water a day. I go to weigh myself at the end of the week and i gained 3 lbs!!!! I was devastated, i wanted to throw the scale across the room along with all the fruits and vegetables id ate. I was so hurt. Now i don't know what to do or where to start. How can you eat right and still gain weight. I need some encouraging words.

focus on calories in and calories out. You can't go far wrong with that approach. With that focus, you can trust that the maths will eventually add up, regardless of water weight or loss.

BTW you don't need to drink a gallon of water a day.
Just 1500 calories or thereabouts, with some exercise.

Unless you ate 10,500 calories in this past week above your maintenance level, you didn't gain 3 lbs. Weight loss is not fat loss -- and the scale doesn't just measure fat, it measures everything, including water weight. Did you weigh in the morning after using the bathroom? Even if you did, there can be huge water weight swings day to day. Sometimes it just takes time for weight loss to show up on the scale. If you're eating fewer calories and exercising, just keep doing what you're doing! It will show up.

I noticed in past posts you mentioned you'd tried calorie counting. Do you know roughly how many are in the smoothies you've been making? Eating right and eating healthier are really great, but to lose weight you'll need to eat a caloric deficit. Your basal metabolic rate right now is around 2700 - meaning that's how much you burn just by being alive every day. (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/) Your overall calorie expenditure is higher than that - over 3000, at least. So you don't need something severe like a 1200 calorie diet - that would be far too little!

I think the exercise you've been doing is amazing, by the way. Keep it up!

Hi, congratulation for taking control of your weight.

In my opinion smoothies can be packed with calories depending on the ingredients and the might not help with hunger.

Eating healthier is also excellent but some healthy food can be very high in calories. If you were to replace some cookies with one cup of almonds, althought the almonds provide you with excellent nutrient it still has 846 calories.

When choosing alternatives verify on the internet what are the amount of calories in the food and make sure the portion size is the same. Buying an electronic scale will help you with that.

At the beginning it is difficult to adapt and to know what is good for you or if it is too much but you will get better at it very soon.

Take measurement also of your waist and hips, etc you might be surprise. Also salt will make you retain water which can put easily 5 pounds of water in your body and the scale will fluctuate a lot because of it, drink more water and try to stay away from restaurant food and processed food if you can. Also if you were inactive for a long time and start doing exercises your muscle will retain water to be able to do the repairs so.....yes a little more water in your body but that to will improve and the benefits out weight the rest. Best of luck.

Hi, congratulation for taking control of your weight.

In my opinion smoothies can be packed with calories depending on the ingredients and the might not help with hunger.

Eating healthier is also excellent but some healthy food can be very high in calories. If you were to replace some cookies with one cup of almonds, althought the almonds provide you with excellent nutrient it still has 846 calories.

When choosing alternatives verify on the internet what are the amount of calories in the food and make sure the portion size is the same. Buying an electronic scale will help you with that.

At the beginning it is difficult to adapt and to know what is good for you or if it is too much but you will get better at it very soon.

Take measurement also of your waist and hips, etc you might be surprise. Also salt will make you retain water which can put easily 5 pounds of water in your body and the scale will fluctuate a lot because of it, drink more water and try to stay away from restaurant food and processed food if you can. Also if you were inactive for a long time and start doing exercises your muscle will retain water to be able to do the repairs so.....yes a little more water in your body but that to will improve and the benefits out weight the rest. Best of luck.

Hi, congratulation for taking control of your weight.

In my opinion smoothies can be packed with calories depending on the ingredients and the might not help with hunger.

Eating healthier is also excellent but some healthy food can be very high in calories. If you were to replace some cookies with one cup of almonds, althought the almonds provide you with excellent nutrient it still has 846 calories.

When choosing alternatives verify on the internet what are the amount of calories in the food and make sure the portion size is the same. Buying an electronic scale will help you with that.

At the beginning it is difficult to adapt and to know what is good for you or if it is too much but you will get better at it very soon.

Take measurement also of your waist and hips, etc you might be surprise. Also salt will make you retain water which can put easily 5 pounds of water in your body and the scale will fluctuate a lot because of it, drink more water and try to stay away from restaurant food and processed food if you can. Also if you were inactive for a long time and start doing exercises your muscle will retain water to be able to do the repairs so.....yes a little more water in your body but that to will improve and the benefits out weight the rest. Best of luck.

Hello and welcome. I know the beginning can be frightening and difficult but this is a process. Try toxin takin a positive attitude, when we tell ourselves that "weightloss is supposed to be hard" it becomes answer fulfilling prophecy. The mountain climber doesn't think about how hard it will be to get to the top, he's just looking for the next available grip and stays confident that if he finds this one it will lead to the next grip and so on.

The scale is only one flawed little tool, there are so many others you can track your progress - how clothes fit, taking measurements, how much further you can walk withou getting tired, how many push ups you can do today versus last week, etc. pay very close attention to how you feel before you step on the scale. There have been times that I feel awesome and beautiful and then as soon as I get on the scale my mood plummets. Did my weight change in that moment? No, just my perception of how I felt about myself. I strongly advise weighing yourself less.

So, you started working out and drinking more water. This means that you have damaged your muscle fibers (which is what exercise does, and is supposed to do) and they have to repair themselves. This causes the body to retain some water while it's doing so. You've been drinking a gallon you said, which for me is too much. I know everyone has different ideas on the water thing but I doubt most people need THAT much. For me, I take in about 3 bottles of water a day unless I'm really exerting myself. But, that is just me and you have to do you. Anyway...

So, you already know you're retaining water. It's gonna be that way for a little bit. Not a big deal, at all. Keep drinking water.

You said you wanted to throw the scale across the room "along with all the fruit and veg you ate." To me that says you look at eating fruit and veg as a bad thing, a chore. Something you have to do. THAT is something that can easily lead to weight loss defeat. Eating fruit and veg is in no way optional. If you want to be healthy, they have to be a HUGE part of your diet. For.ev.er. Not just until you lose the weight. Forever. So one of the first things you should do for yourself is to change that mindset. Start working on seeing fruit and veg as the wonderful things they are. Fake it til you make it applies here.

The fact that you've barely even started into your weightloss journey and you're already mad because you haven't seen the results you wanted also hints that maybe you've not accepted that this is a forever change, a new lifestyle. It's not temporary. You have to do this for the rest of your life or everything you lose will pile back on. Ask anyone who's lost weight, it comes back SO easily if you lapse back in to old habits. Don't worry about the scale. Put it away. Don't look at it for a month at least. Don't do it! You need to focus on counting calories, exercising, and changing your thought patterns, not the number on the scale. Once you achieve the new thought/lifestyle patterns, then you can start using the scale as a tool to monitor progress. That's all it is too, a tool. It's not the be all end all.

And just a note about smoothies...it is SO easy for them to end up being 500-600 calories. Or more! Really check out the calorie content of those. So you could be taking in 1200 calories just in smoothies, plus dinner, if that is even 500 calories (which is a SMALL dinner) you're already up to 1700 calories a day. That's more than you might need for weightloss. I agree with the person above who said 1500 is probably a good place to start. (You should always consult your doctors on that, and anything about weightloss and health.)

You didn't get fat overnight. None of us did. And there isn't one of us that gets slim overnight either. If you check out our maintainers, most of them took over a year to get to goal. Some 2 or even 3 years. It's slow. It's a long term thing. And here is a big one...weightloss is not a straight line down. Even when you're being good the scale can and will show a gain. It's up and down, up and down, fits and starts. THAT is NORMAL. You cannot become unhinged by the ups. There will be many. Let them go like water off a duck's back. More exercise than usual? Scale probably goes up. More/less water than usual? Scale probably goes up. TOM on it's way? Scale definitely goes up. Haven't pooped enough? Up. Ate dinner later than usual? Up. A little extra salt? Up. Ate a sensible meal at a restaurant? Often up! It doesn't mean you've gained fat. Usually it's fluid, and fluid is...well...fluid. It comes and goes and you cannot let that bother you.

ETA: Also, just remember time passes no matter what. So don't be discouraged by how long it takes. The time is going to pass anyway. Let it pass while you're making changes and losing ounces rather than letting it pass while you stay stagnant and unhappy with your weight. Many small steps over a year will yield results! So don't give up. (Read the second saying in my signature)

Thanks everyone for responding. Sonickel77, i did calorie count once. Then i just started guesstimating(guessing) how many calories were in certain foods instead of actually using a food scale. I was also unde the impression that since im so overweight i needed more water, someone even told me im suppose to divide my weight by 2 and that's the amount in ounces in water i should be consuming each day which should be about 215 oz of water. It sounded a bit much and i knew i couldn't drink that much. I am definitely.going to invest in a scale so i can be more accurate when counting calories.

I LOVE this.

Honestly I do, I kinda of tell myself some similar. That, while it does suck that the scale won't move down, at least if I keep doing what I'm doing, I should never see it continually going UP. Sure, I may not lose 5lbs a week and be at goal in 30days, but at least I won't go up to 200lbs if I do something now! Even if I get stuck at 180-190, It's better than getting bigger and more unhealthy. I also feel better when I work out and eat right.

I got on the scale this morning and saw a 1.6 lb gain. It hurts, it does, it really does. And it was days like this that made me give up multiple times in the past. I've lost 20lbs, gotten stuck before, gained a few pounds and decided to "throw the scale" so to speak and decided if I was going to be miserable I may as well do it with the things I craved. Then I would gain that 20lbs + more. I'm tired of that, so today, I saw the gain and remembered what so many people in here say, and in this thread have said. It's water weight, I've been working out, I can feel the difference in my health, lbs aren't the only measurement I can use, Keep at it, it will eventually fall off, it's mathematically impossible for me to continue to create a 500 cal deficit a day and NOT lose the weight eventually. My doctor approved of what I'm doing and it WILL work, it's going to suck sometimes when we lose that 20lbs and while we see a difference, others will still see you as "Fat." It's going to suck the first while forcing yourself to work out (though, that gets easier after the first few weeks). It's going to suck saying "no" to the food you love, or going out and settling for a bowl of fruit while everyone else has pancakes. It does, but... it will be worth it. And once in a Blue moon, get the pancakes, just do it on special occasions!

Sincerelyme -- something that has helped me a lot keep my calories in check is having the LoseIt app. If you have a smart phone you can download it but you can also access it online. There you can enter all the foods you ate and keep track of how much your actual intake is.

Another thing that works for me, and this is more philosophical than anything, really, is get my mind into the mindframe that this is life, not a goal to achieve. When you think about achieving the goal of being a certain weight you can become frustrated because the scale will not always reflect your efforts. You might think of your goal weight and think you're so far from it, and it will take so long, and you'll never get there. At least that's how I used to approach dieting/healthy living before and failed miserably after a few attempts. This time around I'm thinking "this is it, this is life and I know no life where carbs and soda are the norm, I know no life in which I can eat whatever I want, I know no life outside 'the wagon' therefore there's no falling off of it." Having a more permanent outlook on weight loss has helped me stick with it and get the strength of mind to say no to brownies, to say no to more than I can eat, and to say no to foods when I'm not hungry. Sure I slip occasionally, but I get right back up.

I wish you all the luck in the world. You're in the right place -- this forum is a Weight Watchers meeting on steroids. LOL. You'll find great people to support you, vent to, help, encourage and be encouraged by. Congratulations on your first step! You got this!

Desiderata, thanks for responding. To know that the scale doesn't just measure fat loss, counting calories has been a struggle for me but im willing to try again. I don't know how many calories are in the smoothies i make and that may be the problem. I also normally weigh myself in the afternoon, i don't know why though it seems more convenient. I've heard the bigger you are the more calories you need, which confuses me. How can someone weigh less then me consume 1500 calories, but a person my size according to the books needs to consume close to 3000. Again, thanks for responding.

Desiderata, thanks for responding. To know that the scale doesn't just measure fat loss, counting calories has been a struggle for me but im willing to try again. I don't know how many calories are in the smoothies i make and that may be the problem. I also normally weigh myself in the afternoon, i don't know why though it seems more convenient. I've heard the bigger you are the more calories you need, which confuses me. How can someone weigh less then me consume 1500 calories, but a person my size according to the books needs to consume close to 3000. Again, thanks for responding.

Sincerelyme, try weighing yourself tomorrow morning when you wake up - after using the bathroom, before eating or drinking. When you weigh in the afternoon, you're also weighing the weight of your water, your smoothie, etc.

Remember that calories are just a convenient way for us to quantify the energy our body gets from food. A bigger person has a higher energy requirement than a small one - there's more of everything - tissue, blood, fat, muscle... and your body is constantly nourishing, repairing, replenishing, keeping things running.

I think the other posters that recommended 1500 calories must have missed your current weight. That would be a huge caloric deficit and you might have more difficulty adhering to that big of a deficit for the long period you'll need to run a deficit to lose the 200 lbs you set as your goal. And it's not necessary - you could easily lose pounds a week eating 2500 calories right now! And as you lose weight, your caloric requirements will drop - so you can slowly drop you calories over time. But no need to go very drastic so fast. You can get results with a more moderate restriction. Just do some googling and read up on BMR, TDEE, calorie counting - there's a wealth of info out there. It's going to be a marathon, not a sprint - so arm yourself with knowledge so that you can tailor your food choices in a way that'll be sustainable for you and your life in the long run.

Weigh in the morning, no clothes, after you go to the bathroom. Look more at the trend rather than worrying about daily fluctuations.

As others said, count calories. Also don't guess on portion sizes.

The larger you are the more calories you burn because it takes more effort to move around a larger body than a smaller one. I've lost about 25 pounds in the last year and now I burn about 110 calories less a day because it is now easier to move my body around.