How do stay motivated with a zero loss for the week?
This has been a huge lifestyle change for me. I'm diligently counting calories, eating more veggies (even though I hate them), quit drinking pop, drastically reduced my processed sugars/carbs and working out hard 4-5 days/week.
I lost 8lbs in the first two weeks, and even though I knew it would slow down considerably after that, I was still all and it made me feel like I really could do it this time.
Now, today was my official weigh-in day, and I lost nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. I'm feeling seriously deflated. Even a 1/2 lb would have been something.
I'm going to re-evaluate my calories in/out and make sure I'm not doing/eating too much or not enough. As far as that deflated, defeated feeling goes, though... how do you push through that to make it through the next week? All I want is some ice cream, darnit!
When I have weeks like this, I remind myself that this is a journey and that I didn't gain all this weight in one day.
This could just your body getting used to your new healthier habits. One week is not a plateau. Sometimes I have this before my period and then afterwards WHOOSH! If you are doing everything right, your body will reflect it so don't be disheartened after only one week!
Losing 8 lbs. in 2 weeks is VERY unusual (in a good way, of course). I have been losing 10 lbs. a month and I have had plenty of experiences like you. This battle is very psychological. I think it is very likely that most people fail at their diets because they get so upset by their scale not meeting their own expectations. However, I would venture to guess that just about everyone who has succeeded in weight loss has had more than one week where they weren't satisfied with what they saw on the scale. They just moved on. There is so much going on with your body that is much more than what the scale has to report. Trust in the process and trust in yourself that if you continue, things will start to show more and more. Even on the Biggest Loser show, where they work out hours upon hours a day, there are weeks where they lose very little...especially after a big loss. You just had two very big losses so your body is not going to continue dropping without a bit of a battle. Hang in there and stay positive and you will persevere!
I tell myself going back is not an option. Seriously. You have lost 8# and that is awesome. Do you want those 8# back? I didn't think so.
I totally understand your frustration, I really do. I often feel that way myself. I often have to tell myself that there is no going back. As you continue to lose wt you can also remind yourself of the victories that have come along with the wt loss. Maybe you even have some now that you can use to encourage yourself.
That's totally normal. Annoying, but normal. It may even have nothing to do with your eating and exercise this week. I often find that my best weeks are the weeks I stay the same and last night I had pizza for dinner and lost a pound over night! And then, of course, there are other times I am on plan and my body does exactly what I think it should. It's definitely the trend we're after.
As to how I deal with it, I'm better this time around. In the past I got so aggravated I quit. This time I'm trying to take it all in stride. I also handle by doing active things such as changing things up. I'll increase my calories, decrease my calories, change the foods I'm eating, go low carb for a week, low fat for a week, do more exercise, do different exercise, do less exercise, drink more water, etc., etc. There are so many things to "do" it make it a little more tolerable. I find I am a "doer" and this passive losing weight stuff is for the birds as far as I'm concerned. When something frustrates me I have DO something about it.
I'm not saying any of that works or that it's even necessary. I think if I were patient everything would eventually work itself out. But I am not patient! And that's how I've learned to deal with it.
I lose weight very slow so seeing the scale stay the same or go up a pound is what I see as normal. Its discouraging sometimes but I tell myself that it will probably take me about a year or more to lose 50 lbs but thats fine to me. I was never one to lose it fast and honestly Im still tweaking my calories and cutting out certain things like coffee and alcohol but doing that has made me feel better. Just keep going and maybe realize the fact that it might take longer then expected but for some reason I just keep going. This is coming from a person who has lost a total of 3 lbs in 2.5 months but I don't let it get me down.
I try to gauge my success more by on the positive changes I'm making, rather than what the scale is telling me. Sometimes, I can do everything right, but scale won't move. In the past, this would lead to, "This is too hard and the scale didn't do what I wanted, so I quit."
Now, I think about what will happen in a week's or month's time if I give up.
Just keep going! Make the positive changes, and the weight loss will follow. Easier said than done I know, but it will lead to much better results in the end.
For so many people weight loss isn't a straight line, even the most diligent people have weeks when they stay the same or even put on a couple of pounds. Keep at it and you will see a downward trend.
Hi I am glad you posted this today. I wanted to toss my scale too. After a mean look at it, I studied my body. My stomach is smaller, my butt is coming back (woo hoo) and my back fat is going away. I try to keep this in mind and forget the scales. The problem with me is that I am a number girls. I so wished I measured my body instead of relying on the scale.
Lots of great advice in this thread. Thank you all!
8lb in 2 weeks is amazing. Enjoy it and congratulate yourself to have maintained this amazing result!
In addition to weighing in I also measure. Sometimes, even if I have not lost weight I have lost inches, so I still feel that I have achieved somethign that week!
Everyone has given great advice so far, I'll add my two cents.
First of all, it's a victory to just hang onto the wagon for a week. Seriously, I congratulate myself at every weigh in for sticking with it.
But I know the feeling. I've consistently lost at LEAST 1.5lbs every week since I've started. A couple weeks ago I was slightly off plan, nothing terrible, but I had drifted a bit. I had a loss of .3lbs for the week which was basically nothing since it could just be water weight fluctuations. The week before that, I'd had a huge loss of 2.6lbs. I was disappointed, bummed, and also kind of frightened that I had let myself drift that far. So I took all that energy and focused on buckling down again on plan. I had a 1.5lb loss for this week
Your body will stall, just how it works. I'm guessing this is near the beginning of your weight loss journey? Have you ever watched Biggest Loser when they talk about curse of the 2nd week? They always have amazing losses the first week (like your 8lbs), but then their bodies think "whoa, what's happening, I'm starving...conserve conserve conserve!" and weightloss slows in. Hence, a bad weigh ins.
It happens to all of us, try not to get too hung up on it and just keep sticking with your plan!
This was such a terrific thread to read today. I dropped 11.2 for the first two weeks of the biggest loser challenge. Week 3 I had a gain. Todays weigh in (week 4) I am still up form week 2 but down a tad from last week. UGH
I weighed today and thought I passed up birthday cake last night for this???!!!! I was so tempted to have cake and cookies for breakfast. I had to remind myself my pants are lose and my loss was in two weeks but it is still a good loss for the month. This is the point I usually give up! Not this time.
Hey, thanks SO much for all the encouragement, everyone. I know I just need to keep on hanging in there and sticking to the plan. This is the first time I've been really determined to get this weight off, it's so hard staying in that mindset all the time, you know? I'm discovering that a whole lifestyle change is really hard LOL
How do stay motivated with a zero loss for the week?
and it made me feel like I really could do it this time. 
I'm feeling seriously deflated. Even a 1/2 lb would have been something. 
8 lbs already is great progress! Congratulations.
