Hi, about a week ago I asked for your help because I had five kick-a** days of exercising and eating right and hadn't lost a pound. You all talked me down from the ledge and told me to keep pushing forward, which I did for two more days. After one whole week I weighed myself and the number was still no different. I was so discouraged by this that I totally went off my diet that day, and have been off since (so that's like five days now).

I just feel like what's the point of eating so well and trying so hard to get some exercise if it doesn't do anything -- may as well eat what I want. Rationally, I know this is silly -- eventually there will have to be some pay off. Even though I'm in my 30s now and on antidepressants (both make it harder), I will still lose weight if I'm burning more calories than I'm eating, right? It's got to happen eventually, right? I need to get back on the bandwagon, but I'm just feeling discouraged.

If you give up and keep gaining weight or never lose any...how will that make you feel? For me, I would totally be disgusted with myself. How many calories are you eating a day? Is it enough to fuel your body? Is it too much? Sometimes changes take awhile to happen but giving up should never be an option. Hang in there

OH sweetie. Definitely DO NOT give up. have you seen my pic in minigoals. Where I show the huge difference between 176 and 175? I was at 176 for like 3 almost 4 weeks. Getting very discouraged. Then I took a picture. My body had changed so dramatically. The scale was not showing the whole picture.

You can do this. I would definitely check your calories and your activity and make sure you are eating enough.

How many calories are you eating- what are you eating? How much exercise are you doing?

Some antidepressants have weight gain as a side effect. You might check with your doctor about that.

It sounds like your letting yourself get mentally beat, as hard it is may be maybe put the scale away for a bit and concentrate on healthy habits for your body and mind. I know for me I didn't put on the weight in 5 days so I cannot expect it to melt off that quickly either, its a matter of finding a way to be positive that works for you.
There was also a good point about the antidepressants and their side effects, this may be a good angle to start with so that you don't beat yourself up too bad when you fall of the wagon. I'm new here and trying to not let myself get too hung up on the scale either, I wish us both some luck in getting over the mental blocks. Good Luck!

thanks for the suggestions. I am eating 1,500 calories a day, and I did 30 minutes on the exercise bike 5 times last week. That's going from zero exercise -- even more reaon why no weight loss was surprising.

1500 calories might be a bit low for your weight. I'm not sure where you determined that number. Do you have any opportunity to consult with a registered dietician? It seems quite possible that your doctor might be willing to prescribe some appointments with one and that would give you some professional advice as to what you might try.

I understand what you are saying about not feeling like it is worth it when you don't see weight results but it might not be fair to yourself to only try a group of things for a couple of weeks and then throw in the towel. It might just need some tweaking and you'll get rolling. I think there is a lot of trial and error in the typical experience of finding a healthy lifestyle.

Also, you didn't say what kind of food you were eating in that 1500 calories (or I don't remember from your other post) but quality of calories can matter for some people both for weight loss and satiation. Do you feel like you've got a pretty balanced plan going or are you using lots of ff/sf/subsitute/100cal packs sort of foods?

Finally, I would encourage you to look at the changes you are attempting to make and if the only thing that makes those changes tolerable is seeing results on the scale, you might want to consider if those are really the right changes for you. God willing and the creek don't rise, if they cause you to lose weight, someday you won't be able to lose anymore weight and you'll still need to sustain most of those changes to maintain. I try not to say that you need to know whatever your plan is going to work out to be in the first few weeks but you can know that your plan is likely not going to work very well if the changes are so painful that only weight loss makes them tolerable.

Peg

JenDiet,

Thanks so much for your encouragement. I DO see a big difference between 176 and 175 on you. Congratulations! That's so great you were able to stick with it despite not seeing results for three weeks. I give up so easily, and that's something I need to change just as much as my weight.

How accurately are you counting your calories? Exercise is important but at the end of the day, caloric input is more important in losing weight. Especially in the beginning, unless you are really accurate (by actually measuring things out), it's easy to underestimate (as overweight people we generally tend to underestimate how much we actually eat).

Also as others have mentioned, at your weight 1500 seems very aggressive. You can probably increase that and still lose weight.

I agree with all the other post saying that you are consuming to few calories. I eat 1800-1900 calories daily. I drink lots of water, eat enough fruits, tons of veggies, lean meats and I have a cheat day. On my cheat day I eat 2000-2200 calories!!! I know it seems like a lot but I am losing weight at a good pace. The best part I DON'T FEEL LIKE I AM ON A DIET!!!! I mean everything just feels the same and I am losing. Just take it one pound at a time, one step at a time it will come off. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

*PUSH* There you go!!! LOL!

i definitely feel your frustration. i am at a major plateau and was just about ready to cry and give up when i weighed this week and saw 180 again. have you researched the calories for your weight? 1500 does seem low. we're the same height and i started at 220 and 1400 calories (which was probably also too low), so maybe you should use a calorie calculator? sometimes bodies dont work like we want them to and the numbers dont go the way we feel like they should, i guess you just got to keep at it. if you quit now, you DEFINITELY wont lose anything!

Thanks for giving me "food for thought" about the calories. To be honest, I didn't consult with anyone, I just picked a number that I had heard was good for losing weight, and I obviously knew that 1,200 was way too few. What happens if you are eating too few calories and how does that impede weight loss? I guess I'll need to do some more research.

If you eat too few calories, your body goes into starvation mode... I hope u dont mind, but I used your stats to get your recommended calories.. If you exercise 5 times a week, you should be eating :

Maintenance:
2820 Calories/day

Fat Loss:
2256 Calories/day

Extreme Fat Loss:
2104 Calories/day


So yeah, your body is going into starvation mode... Increase your calories to about 1,800 for a week and the weight will start to drop. If not eat 2,000 calories. Sounds crazy, to eat more and lose more, but it works! ;-)

Oh sweets,

I don't think I can offer you any more advice than you have already been given on this thread, but everyone is right when they say DONT GIVE UP.

It's so easy to be discouraged, especially if you're dealing with your own negative thoughts (you mentioned you were on anti-d's). The truth is that these things take time and each week isn't going to be absolutely amazing on the scale, but YOU can still be amazing by trooping on (My scale went up 1.5kg today since Monday even though I've been sticking to my plan... so I do understand).

Set little goals for yourself and keep reminding yourself of why you want to lose the weight. I keep pictures of pretty things i'd like to wear some day at my desk. I also spend a lot of time daydreaming when I go for walks about what I might look like and how I might feel when I'm fit and healthy. I think all of these little things help you stay focused.

Most of all, do the best you can and be kind to yourself.