GRRRRR! Please please please someone tell me that they have had this same problem and that it WILL get better! I'm new to this board but not new to the dieting world.

I started eating healthier on January 3rd of this year. When I say eating healthier, I mean cutting down on my calories and switching from Mountain Dew to water and diet drinks (only about 12 oz of diet soda a day – the rest is water). My calorie intake ranges from 1600-1800 a day on most days with a few days over that in the past month.

I’m 5’7, began at 255.5 lbs, desk job, walk about 30 minutes a day at least 4 days a week. My first goal is to get to 200lbs. My long term goal is to get down to about 165.

Here is my dilemma –I started on 1/3/05 at 255.5 and weighed on 1/8/05 and had dropped those pesky 5.5 lbs. I was ecstatic! However, that has been short lived because from 1/8/05 till now there has been NO loss whatsoever!! I will say that my pants feel a little looser but that scale isn’t budging. Let me also say that I do NOT weigh daily or even weekly because I tend to become obsessed with the scale so I only weigh every now and then at a friend’s house.

I am becoming very frustrated and I don’t plan on going back to my regular eating habits (which by the way were awful- sometimes eating out 3 times a day 3 and 4 times per week) but it’s depressing to not see a loss for so long. I guess it’s just to me I should be dropping weight because my eating has improved so much this past month. I am currently afraid to weigh again because I know there won’t be a loss to see.

Do you think I’m taking in too many calories? Can someone give me the accurate formula to find the amount of calories I should be eating? I am afraid to drop my calories too low because I don’t want my body thinking it is starving. I’ve read so many different things this past month regarding cutting calories that I am so confused as to where I should be.

Are there others out there that when you first began you had a pretty good loss and then just stalled for so long? I know everyone is different but I need a small ray of hope here.

Any advice/suggestions are appreciated.

Hello there-- Well Congratulations on the first 5 lbs! We all start somewhere. Sometimes this isn't easy. Your Caloric Intake seems to be very average for your weight. I'd probably go down to about 1400-1600/day Maybe just to cut out a little more could help. Are you lifting weights? or Working out at all? Like you said you can feel your pants getting bigger but you arn't losing the lbs. If you are gaining muscle then you won't see any difference on the Scale! Trust me there. I know I havn't lost much but it took me 7 mths to lost 13.5lbs. But I do some weight workouts. I never really followed the Calorie intake plans I just couldn't get myself to follow a direct plan like that. I think if thats all I can have then I'd get urges and want more. Just try not to think to hard about everything.
Remember also when you are weighing yourself do it Once a week and ALWAYS skip that week you are on your monthly cycle. (Not a happy number sometimes ;-))
Also try doing inches not weight. When I started my workouts I didnt' understand why I wasnt' seeing a difference but my BF was. So i said forget that damn scale.. its ****! lol.. and I got my measuring tape out. and I lost No lbs at that time but I lost 3 inches in my chest, 6 inches in my waist, and 4 in my hips. So that meant I was doing something correct! So if the scale is your worst nightmare then try doing it by inches.
Also if you are looking for good workout tapes or something. I highly recommend "The Firm" They promise results in the first 10 workouts or your money back.
Since you are following the calorie plan perfect may be all you need is just a little boost within a workout! Who knows! But don't lose motivation you are doing great! Keep it up! :-)

i would drop you're calorie intake a little. you aren't eating too much right now but you will see results faster if you eat less. working at a desk all day means that you need less calories than say, i do, wokrking on my feet and running around all day. you are probably ingesting pretty close to the ammount of calories that you need to maintain your weight, those couple of days a month of going over are putting you closer to that maintenance mark as well.

try eating 1400-1600 a day. i find that eating a ton of veggies allows me to eat this much and still feel full and satified most of the time. (we all have those days, though, when a nice big salad just isnt going to cut it. )

also, if you don't want to cut calories, workout more. add some weight training in. jog a couple of steps every few minutes when you walk. take the stairs at work. get a pedometer and make sure you are getting in 10000 steps a day. you can find them for really cheap and its a good way to guage your activity level.

anyway, good luck. you can do it.

if you aren't new to dieting, your metabolism may be a little out of whack from yo-yo diets... you need to shock your metabolism... get it jump started. So I second the even more of a drop in your calories.

I'm doing low carb and from others who were in my diet class that were also doing low carb, the ones that dieted before didn't see as much change right off. (At least that's what the trainers said)

Congrats on the 5 lbs and stick with it- you'll see a loss! especially if your pants feel better!

If you want to get a standard estimate of the calorie needs for the average person with your stats, use the Harris-Benedict calculator at http://www.jimkaras.com/loss_math01.cfm. Of course, your needs may be different, but this is a place to start. Eating 1400-1500 calories may be OK for you, but that may be too few and that will cause your metabolism to SLOW DOWN. It's just as important to eat enough as it is to cut enough to allow weight loss.

Also, make sure you are eating breakfast and that you're eating at least a small snack every 3 to 4 hours. The less frequently you eat, the slower your metabolism. Another thing you can do to boost metabolism is to take a couple of 10-minute brisk walk breaks during your day. The 30 minute aerobic walks you are doing are GREAT, but by adding a little activity throughout the day you can keep your motors running, and that will burn more calories in the long run.

Sooner or later you will also want to add strength training to your routine, to build lean muscle. This not only "tones" your body but -- you guessed it -- boosts your metabolism. If you are easing into these new habits don't stress about it, but eventually you'll want to start to get the best results possible.

Good luck, and congratulations on making this effort. The results are worth it, even if you do hit these patches of frustration sometimes.

I started at 245 the first week of October. And I'm at 208 now. You can do this!! I say drop those calories. And you will see a loss. I dropped my calories and then dropped weight. I was told I wasn't eating enough so I upped my calories and stopped! Completely stalled without any loss. I went to my doctor for a medical opinion. (I was there anyway so why not bend his ear) He said I am just maintaining and that not everyone is the same so I dropped my calories again. And thus losing again. You can do this. If I can, anyone can. Just hang in there.