I started again at the beginning of March. Was frustrated at the slow progress at first. Then looked at my tracker: I was eating 2000-2200 calories per day. Duh. No wonder I wasn't losing. Then I had a few days at home of revamping when I ate, which just naturally and painlessly reduced how much I ate by about 500 calories a day. Lo and behold, the weight started coming off!

It's about 1/2 - 1 pound a week, which is amazing! Especially when I think about 2-4 sticks of butter coming off me.

This actually feels sustainable too. Before I was changing a lot of what I ate, now I'm eating the same foods just not all at once and in giant quantities.

I guess my point is to be brutally honest with yourself, and if you aren't seeing changes in a few weeks, look at what you've been doing and change it!! And track, weigh, measure, because if you don't know what you are doing (I guess, i think, sort of, most days, won't work) you can't improve it.

Congratulations, seagirl! You have a great attitude.

I loved your butter analogy!

Awesome job seagirl!! Haha, I love the imagery of 2-4 sticks of butter melting off of you. Mmm...butterrrr...

I really like your phrase at the bottom, "It's about commitment, not motivation." It's so true!

Congratulations, seagirl!! You are doing awesome!!

Once we get a grasp on our calories, isn't weightloss almost easy?! Never thought I'd ever say that! But it literally is calories in/calories out.

Love the butter analogy!! I just did the math for my weightloss and with 4 sticks to a pound, I have gotten rid of about 500 sticks! Sickening!!

It's totally awesome that you figured out what wasn't working for you and took the steps to correct it! Keep it up

It really is!

And I don't even have to stress about exercise, since for me, that is never a factor. My body is used to a lot of exercise so it never helps my weight loss. That's great because I can simply focus on food and know that it will be enough.

Just figured out that a pound of butter has 3,256 calories so in decreasing your calories by 500/day, that really does add up to eliminating about a pound of butter a week!!

Elvis, to take this a little further, you said you'd lost 500 sticks of butter. Well, that comes to 407,000 calories!!

Kind of mind boggling, isn't it.

OMG betsy!! That's even more sickening!! To think I haven't had a pat of butter in 8 months is boggling too, I love butter!! But not those calories!!

I still use a little butter, but I used to buy the 4 1-pound packs at Costco on a monthly basis (at least) -- who knows how much I was slathering on. When I started being accountable for my calories (that would be actually tracking them instead of guesstimating!), I discovered how many calories butter has. Yowza!

And I eat multiple sticks of butter each week and still lose!

Good for you for finding a way to get those calories down. Reducing my eating window was an extra and highly useful too for me, as well. I can't intermittently fast whole-hog like Fast Five or JUDDD, especially when nursing, but even just reducing my eating window to eight hours instead of twelve helps me manage my calories much better and more comfortably.

WTG Seagirl!

Our family consumption of butter has gone way down in our house. Still use it, but we've cut it at least in half.
Seagirl, I believe the exact same thing about eating your regular food, but controlling portions, not eating it all at once. I added in a major increase in proteins, tons more steamed veggies and I cut out the fried foods. I've been baking veggies as well as steaming them. I discovered Quinoa which is really delicious and helped me greatly reduce pasta, rice and potatoes.

Keep up the good work.

Good for you!

Congratulations Seagirl! (seconding the love for the butter analogy, too)

What a healthy, sane way to approach a stall! So many of us who are struggling with food/weight are so quick to beat ourselves up, get frustrated and quit and we can't. Lifestyle changes are not about instant gratification ... actually, if you think about it, most of us got INTO the mess we're in BECAUSE we were too much about instant gratification (i.e., I'm having a bad day, ergo I'm entitled to eating all of this ______ and then some ...)

Hmmm, I just kind of gave myself something to ponder ...

You are doing great Hun xxx

You nailed it!! I have been thinking about the same.

In the past I was not 100% OP, a glass or two of wine, extra slice of bread, a scoop of ice cream, dinners out because it was bday, holiday, special occation...those one item things that I thought would not "hurt" or "just this one time".

Now I have been 100% OP, no cheats, not even a bite and guess what...my body is a mathematical wonder child! It is dropping weight like it should be, Calories in - Calories out = Weight loss

I am sure there will be hormonal fluctuations, sore muscle water retention, but I am starting to believe that I have finally found the "magic pill"; eat less, move more and good things happen