I'm on WW. I find when it's "not working," it's because I'm not really doing it! For exercise I do couch to 5K and spin class.

I don't count calories or have an eatting habit plan I find it stresses me out. I eat smaller meals and more healthier stuff and in corp a lot of salad and chicken into my diet. It seems to work for me but probably wouldn't work for a lot of other people. I'll give myself a cheat day if I crave something that day (normally it's mostly around TOM time) I go to the gym when I can and workout between 3 to 5 days a week for an hour to an hour and a half at a time.

Hello all,

Im new to the forum and I've seen all the inspirational comments and the vast number of women who've met their goals on their tickers so i figure, hey these ladies have got to be doing something right.

Ive been working out for about a month now and also counting calories. Granted, the holidays did take a bit of a toll on me, but as of yet I've seen no changes. I DO have more energy and actually WANT to work out, I just dont see any changes on the scale. I just feel that after a steady month there should/ would be at least 5 pounds gone...Anyone in my same boat?

Im starting to hope that maybe the first month is just the hardest and then after that the pounds will just melt away in time for summer. Im keeping my fingers crossed

hey steph, I'm actually in the same boat as you right now....i've been sticking to my "plan" (pretty much same as yours) for about a month now and still haven't seen any "real" results...just keep bouncing around the low 160s and mid 160s...kinda frustrating...hopefully I'll see a drop by feb....but yea i just noticed that you're around my weight and like an inch shorter than me and have almost the same goal (thinking of changing mine to 135..not sure tho) and I got my fingers crossed for us too! we have got to look slammin' by summer...we can do it =)

Steph and Cat, what are the calories you're eating in the average day? Usually you'll see the fastest weight loss when you start a diet, then your body starts adapting to it and it slows down. It generally doesn't work the opposite way.

Cat: For some reason the 160's seem to be the plateau point, and yes i'll keep our fingers crossed for the both of us. If anything we can encourage each other when we finally get to the 159 point.

Alice: I generally eat 2000 or max 2200 calories a day...could it possibly be just water weight? I tend to guzzle down water in hope of flushing out my system, hopefully thats just whats been slowing me down. I shouldnt be discouraged though that the weight isnt coming off just yet? I sometimes see the tickers of ladies after a couple of weeks and get a bit disheartened. Maybe God is just trying to teach me some patience

Steph, 2000-2200 is pretty high for weight loss, I know that is maintenance calories for a lot of people. For every 3500 calories you eat below your daily caloric burn, you will lose a pound. If you want to lose 1 pound per week, you have to cut your daily calories by 500. Want to lose 2 pounds per week, cut them by 1000. Most BMR (Basal metabolic rates) calculators I used (I put 25 for your age since I don't know what it is, but in the 20s BMR isn't too affected by age) put your BMR at 1500-1600 calories per day. That means you, with very little activity, are burning about 1550 calories per day. So if you want to lose 1 pound per week and are eating 2000 calories, you have to burn 1000 calories via exercise. That's an hour of running 7 minute miles, almost two hours of high-impact aerobics, over an hour swimming the breaststroke.

So your choices are to either lower your calories or REALLY punch up your exercise. What I decided to do was lower my calories and do moderate exercise. As you lose weight, you have to keep lowering your calories. The way I figure it, if I started with moderate exercise, then when my calories started to get really low, I could start increasing my exercise levels instead of lowering calories as I lost weight. This was the most effective method I could think of to prevent plateauing.

I currently eat 1000 calories per day and exercise 2-3 times a week with 45 minutes of intense aerobic and 1 day a week of weight training for an hour or so. I expect this to give me about a 2lb/week weight loss. (I started at 1500/day at 190 and lost about 3lb/week. Slowly went down, I was eating 1200/day with that exercise and seeing 2-3lb/week loss until the beginning of december, when I remembered that I need to be dropping calories as I lose weight. I recalculated my BMR and figured that I should be at 1000. So I say "expect" but this formula has worked very well for me in the past)

Only you can tell what calorie level is working, but I would suggest exercising 3-4 times a week for 45 minutes to an hour and dropping your calories to 1500 and see where that gets you.

Right now - counting calories, cutting out refined sugar and watching my carbs. I allow myself slip ups though - just factor it all in to my daily intake. If I didn't allow the rule breaking I'd lose my mind, give up easily and binge. So I'm being easy on myself. Exercise is happening... I'm building up to that gradually. I want to master the diet first and then go hard with exercise.

Im the type of person that needs direction and someone to be accountable, otherwise I start eating fries (they're a vegetable right?lol) among other things! Right now Im on herbal magic, which is healthy food portion control, and so far so good! I've been on it a week and Im down 6.5lbs! I know some of it it water weight, but it is nice to see and it's something that I think I can stick with!!

What is working for me and im loosing 2lbs every week is eating better and doing cardio 5times a week. slowly but surely!

I actually don't have a plan. I don't even calorie count. I eat small 3 meals a day and two snacks and then hit the gym or a DVD and work out. I find when I was counting calories and I'd get frusterated. I just stop taking in all the unhealthy food that I used to eat. At first I did a cheat day twice a week, than down to one and now I have a cheat day every so often when I get a craving. I drink more water then anything else and try and keep the water in take high. I've lost 20 pounds so far doing what I do but I understand this way will probably not work for most people. I might start calorie counting one day...but I doubt it. lol

Congrats on taking the initiative to change! Well what works for me is counting calories and becoming more aware of what i put in my mouth. I too only drink water. You'd be surprised at how much calories u drink up!

As far as exercise, i joined the gym and take as many classes as i can. I REALLY enjoy zumba because its sooo fun and there are a lot of people there to keep you motivated.

When i started out on my journey i just made sure that i didnt buy the unhealthy junk. If its not in my house then i cant eat it lol. Its also a good idea to cook your own food. This could be fun especially if u are like me and enjoy trying new recipes!