weigh in this morning and disapointed ...
 

well.. just a little disapointed because I am still happy I have lost 20 pounds this month so far and I swear I can feel the difference.

I started on Dec 1 and almost as soon as I started limiting what I ate and started exercising the weight started falling off me. I think I lost 6 or 8 pounds the first week, water weight I am sure but weight none the less.

But it was a GREAT motivator and motivate me it did! I haven't missed a day at the YMCA since Dec 1.

For 3 weeks in a row I have lost 5 lbs or more and now....

I just did my weekly weigh in, well Friday is usually the day but I could not wait as I was excited to see how much I lost THIS week.

I stepped on the scale and... nada, nothing, zip according to my scale I didn't lose anything.

I haven't changed anything. I am calorie counting and have stuck close to my target which is 1600 calories a day and 45 minutes of cardio everyday.

The only thing different is that because I was so hyped up this week a few times I did cardio over an hour and a couple times went back to the Y at night and ran on the elliptical twice in one day.

I was SO hoping I would get on there and lose another 5 pounds.

Should I cut my calories a little for a while? Should I increase my cardio? I haven't started weight lifting yet but was going to start in a few weeks when my back feels a little better.

Or should I just keep trudging along like I am now? My gut instinct (pun intended! lol!) tells me to keep trudging along.

I have read a ton of info on this site and from what I read 1 or 2 lbs is the norm for weight lost.

I mean I KNEW I wouldn't keep losing 6-8 pounds a week and it was just because I am starting out but I don't think I am plateauing out yet because I just started.

And I know I just started so I shouldn't get stressed out about anything yet and I'm not... I was just a little disapointed that I hadn't lost any weight this week thats all.
:?:

Some weeks I didn't lose any weight either. I'll tell you a little secret though. Sunday was my official weigh-in day. If I didn't lose any weight on Sunday, I would weigh on Monday, sometimes I would see weight loss on Monday and I would record that weight as my official weight for the week.

It was a little MENTAL trick to keep me feeling good about weight loss.

If I really didn't lose any weight in a week, I wrote down that 0 on my chart and kept going. I really did try to focus on things I could control, since I could not control the scale.

Weight loss is a pretty long process that's usually filled with blips and stalls. Take this experience as a learning experience, how do you deal with a disappointing week and stay motivated? What will you do if it happens again? One week is definitely not a plateau - you sound like you're doing great.

When your body goes through a rapid weightloss, it kinda freaks out a bit, and then stalls for a bit, it will start again.

Yeah, normal stuff :).

You may want to try to up your calories a bit. It seems a tad low for your weight and daily cardio activity.

You probably need more calories than that. I used an online BMR calculator, and while it varies based on age (I don't know yours), it looks like you would burn at least 2100 calories a day just laying in bed! Add on normal daily activity, and all that exercise.. and you may just need more fuel to keep it up.

Many people see inconsistent or stalled weight loss if they don't eat enough, and if you keep it up for too long, you can do some long-term harm to your metabolism, making it harder to lose weight.

I agree with the other ladies. You should try upping your intake. I eat around 1,600 calories with minimal exercise. I also weigh less than you, too. Try about 1,800 or more. Scary, I know, but with the exercise, it may help you lose more weight! At times, eating more CAN help you lose more.

I think your calories are a bit low too.
For your height and weight, 1600 seem a bit low to me and if I remember correctly you are a male, right?.
Maybe one of the more experienced calorie counters could give you better advice tho.

I know that you just want to see those pounds melt away as fast as possible, but unless you're on The Biggest Loser, it just doesn't seem to happen that way.

I have weeks when I stay perfectly on plan, and lose nothing, and other weeks when I'm not so good, and I lose a couple of pounds. It does slow down after the start.

Just keep eating right, and exercising, and eventually you will get where you need to be.

What everyone else said.

Blips are normal. But I also agree that you might not be eating enough calories, especially if you've ramped up your exercise. I'm eating 1500 and I weigh 165. When I was 200 lbs, I was eating 1800 calories a day and losing steadily.

In fact I've been in a bit of a stall and I'm kind of thinking of bumping up my calories until the end of January (which will give me some leeway for Christmas and New Years as well) and mixing up my exercise some. Just to see what happens.

.

eat more you all say??? :D

I can do that very easy! So I will go up to 1800 calories and yes I did ramp up my cardio. Went 2 times a day twice this week and been staying on the machine a little longer.

Maybe thats it, I shall try it thanks all.