So I had a really good week I ate on plan and I did my workouts consistently. I even got up to 60 minutes on the elliptical which was a big first for me. Anyways I go weigh in for this week and I haven't lost one pound! I don't know what happened. I admit I don't always get all my calories in but I don't know if that could be it. Should I try bumping my calorie intake up 300 calories for the next few days or should I just keep doing what I'm doing? I really could use some advice.

Weight loss is not linear. There could be a myriad of reasons why no loss occurred this week. Extra sodium, TOM, strange bodily reasons, etc.

I believe you should keep doing what you're doing, try your best to get in all your calories needed, and then reaccess NEXT week. Sometimes we have to give it a solid go for two or three weeks before our bodies realize what we want and then give it to us

I had a stellar OP week last week and only went down .2! So, I've continued, and I'll let you know how I did tomorrow

What has your average calorie intake been since you've been dieting? How low has it dipped on those days you don't eat enough? It could be a factor, if you've gone so low your body is in that dreaded 'starvation mode', although like Faerie said there are a ton of factors that can affect the scale, you may be perfectly fine and losing fat but building muscle, just retaining water, whatever. I've gone for weeks before losing teeny amounts or staying the same and then all of a sudden 4 pounds drop practically overnight, so don't take it too hard, sooner or later the scale will recognize your hard work!

Yeah I see what you mean. I guess I'm just fearful of hitting some type of plateau so early on. Its only been a month and I know that's not long but for me it's a lot longer than what I've done in the past. I'm gonna give it another week before I try switching things up and I'm gonna try my best to stay away from the scale. I mean honestly I have noticed a difference in my clothes and also in my workouts. Its just that darn scale!

Caroline, I try and keep my calories around 1200 to 1300 but sometimes if I miss a meal at work or a snack it drops to around 1000

Kwoodslim, 1000 calories a day (or even 1200 for that matter) is not enough for someone of your height and weight. You probably will plateau quickly. And when you do, you can't drop your calories to break through because they are already so minimal. That's why this plan isn't sustainable, and perhaps why you haven't lasted more than a month in the past!

I think bumping up your calories by 300 a day is a fine idea. Weight loss is a long term commitment - a marathon, not a sprint. Start your calories higher now so you can reduce them along the way to your goal! And keep your body fueled at the same time, so you can keep your workouts progressing!

I had a feeling that was a problem. I always thought 1200 was a good intake when dieting. Are you saying I should raise it to around 1400? What is good for my height?

1200 is actually the considered the bare minimum calories necessary to sustain the health of an adult woman of average height. Check out the FAQ sticky in the 'Calorie Counters' forum for advice on figuring out your daily calories.

Most of us who are calorie counting have had to do a little 'trial and error' to figure out where to start. Everyone's body is different, age makes a difference, activity level, health issues, etc. Here's a link to one daily calories calculator, but please know this is just an estimate and I strongly suggest you go read the FAQ's!

Good luck Kwood!

Thank you very much I'm headed over there right now. Trust me I'm trying to do this the healthy way!

I've found that if I'm cutting calories hardcore and I hit a plateau, I need to eat more for a few days to get my metabolism kick started before I can lose more weight. I guess it depends on your own individual situation, though.

I am also 5'5 though I weigh a bit more. I eat 1200 a day usually, sometimes a little more but I try and sticka round that and I am satisfied. I lost 10lbs in 4 weeks and them had my TOM and fell off thw wagon for a day and a half and so far, no weight loss this week. I will keep doing what I'm doing and if by next week I see no, or very little change I will try something new. I feel like if I eat more cals on a regular basis that I will stop losing. It can be frustrating.

what 3 beans said! I found when I was around 180 pounds or so that 1650 calories a day was giving me about 2 pounds a week of loss (some weeks more, some less, but over time that was the average, this was with doing about an hour and a half on my elliptical every week). You will have to find the amount that works for you, but definitely give yourself some wiggle-room downward, everybody's calorie needs are different, but regardless this is true: the bigger you are the more calories it takes to maintain. So when you are say 50 pounds lighter than you are now, you will need to eat less calories in order to maintain. So logically at some point on your weight loss journey you will need to lower your calories to continue losing. 1200 is generally considered the bare minimum you want to get to, long term it would be very difficult to get all your required nutrients on that, and you would probably be hungry and tired all the time. I have lost about 30 pounds and have dropped my calories to about 1400 from my original 1650 and am still losing fairly steadily, and I am actually hoping to increase my activity rather than lower my calories much further than that once I've dropped more pounds, I don't feel very satisfied when I eat less than that. Good luck figuring out your own numbers, trial and error is the way most people figure out what they're doing.

I use to have a granola bar along with my string cheese for my morning snack, it's 90cals but I have cut back to only one morning snack. Maybe I will aim for something closer to 1400 for awhile and see where that gets me. I could add in that granola bar and a yogurt in the evenings before the gym and that would boost the number up a little. Hmmm...

Well I went and looked at the faq's page and it puts me at around 1600 cals a day now I honestly feel like that's a little high for me. I am going to try and bump it up to 1400 though. The thing is when I'm eating 1200 I'm always satisfied that's why I didn't really think it was problem but I do understand that I should be eating more. I think I'm going to focus on more protein.

Kwoodslim! I'm so glad to hear about your healthy new plan.