Okay well I have been down the diet road time and time (and time) again. Always the same results, I lose 5-10 pounds, after 1-2 weeks I crash and burn. Then I manage to gain it all back quickly. Sometimes more!
Really, fad diets I always had in the back of my mind, well when I reach my goal, THEN I can eat a slice of **** or a piece of *** and there's the problem. The diet is just temporary- I need to make changes that are permanent, create habits that'll last. So with that in mind that's where I made my first big habit change.
I was going to cut out fast food and easy/fast microwave/oven foods. So basically I was going to cook everything. Something I should've been doing anyways, but two kids later I took the easy way when I could. So, That was about 5 weeks ago. After I made that decision I dropped about 4 pounds in that first week. I was feeling pretty good! So I added a new habit at the week mark. 30 minute exercising DAILY. Then the next week I took away soda, and ALL other calorie beverages- Now I'm strictly water only!



So today marks 5 weeks of home cooking, 4 weeks of exercise and 3 weeks of JUST water for drinks, (that soda loss takes at least 300-600 calories from my daily intake) and aside from that initial 4 pounds in the first week. I have been sitting at the same number on the scale for 4 weeks. What gives!?

I KNOW my eating isn't where it should be yet, but with all these positive changes, how is it I'm maintaining like I was doing when I was eating crap and NOT exercising. I'd just like a little reward for my hard work.

I am not a skinny girl (my stuck number is 202) so I feel like I should at least be losing a pound a week with all these habit changes :/

Without doing something drastic, what would you recommend me doing next?

Hello from another 5'2" !

You're definitely right, that we need to make permanent changes, and that that means they need to be sustainable. I'm not so good at that - I'm ok once I get going on A Diet but not nearly so good once I ease up.

That said, my only suggestion would be that maybe you could look at portion sizes of what you're eating; or the calorie content. It's entirely possible to eat only healthy food but still far too much of it. I'm doing fine on 1300-1400 calories, tho it can be a bit zig-saggy sometimes, and that gets me down. For me, and for very many of us (though not all), it just is a question of calories in vs calories out, and if we keep on persevering, the weight eventually has to obey the laws of physics and drop.

Persevering - that would be my other suggestion. Not very exciting but may work in the long term.

mydarlingqueen - I feel your pain!! The only thing I can say is that sometimes when I start exercising I actually gain weight. Then, all of a sudden the pounds start coming off. I'm a daily weigher normally but I gave up weighing myself for Lent. On the one hand it makes it harder for me to stay motivated, but on the other hand I didn't have to worry about numbers not moving.

I began doing couch to 5k seven long weeks ago. The numbers on the scale weren't budging at all during the first five weeks. It was depressing. C25k is a huge change for me - how could the scale not be moving?? Even last weekend, my jeans felt better but they were still tight. Two days ago, I looked in the mirror and thought my arms looked thinner (they're still really big). So I tried on a fleece jacket that had been too tight in the arms only two weeks ago. IT FIT! Just like that. Then I decided to try on a pair of size 10 jeans. THEY FIT!

All I can tell you is hang in there and look for other clues. Maybe you should stop weighing yourself too? Afterall, if you're trying to create a new lifestyle and not a diet, you want to be motivated by your health this time not simply the number on the scale.

The good news is you're exercising and you're eating better! There are definitely positive things happening inside your body. Maybe not on the scale YET, but stay the course. The weight will fall.

ETA: If I were to make one recommendation, it would be to cut out sugary things. If you're eating dessert every day and don't think you could give it up completely, maybe keep the sugar to weekends. I find eating sweets is very much a habit and a physical addiction with me. The more I eat them, the more I want them, but it only takes me a couple of days to cut them out completely. During my transition to no sweets, when a craving hits me I will substitute a handful of potato chips or a buttered roll. Obviously, not a good long term plan but by substituting something unhealthy for a few days it's amazing how quickly I can go from sneaking a slice of brownie or a piece of candy to nothing.

Rosinante- haha short is fun, isn't it? That's exactly it- permanent SUSTAINABLE changes. I could totally say, no bread no sugar, and I KNOW I'll lose weight, but how long will I be able to keep it up? If I DO manage to keep it up will it be gone forever?! I'm a bread person, the idea of it being gone completely will haunt me and I will fail quickly. I really really need to start writing down and tracking my calories, BUT I know if I start it, I'll end up obsessed and that will start to burn me out quickly. I could probably introduce a measurements for porportions. That way it's not an obsession but that I make sure I don't eat more than the serving size for things. Also started thinking about getting a fitbit, and set daily exericise burning goals. Like I can't stop until I hit yada yada for the day. Thanks for your ideas!!

Treasa- Oh! I started the couch to 5k a few months ago and made it a week before I killed my shin. It was a bad enough mess up that I won't attempt running until I'm less weight- I think it was just too much on my legs. I just whipped out the measuring tape (finally found it today!) and got even more discouraged because those stats didn't really change either. I'm a daily weigher too and I need to stop, but it's so hard! and that's exactly right, I'm trying a lifestyle change and not a diet, so I need to learn to not obsess with my weight- I am making healthier choices which is better for me in the long run and, hopefully, my body will eventually get into the flow of it and start losing weight too. As for the bread, I think bread affects my body worse than sugar, so replacing sugar with bread might not work for me, but maybe I could replace it with a string cheese? instead of sweet for dessert I could whip out a string cheese! We'll see how that goes. hehe Thanks for the ideas!