I've been eating right, staying well within my calorie range every day. I'll admit that I haven't been exercising as much as I should over the last two days because I overdid it over the weekend and have been giving my very painful muscles a chance to recover before I get back at it.

Anyway, I'm so frustrated because I've only lost 1/2 pound over the past 5 days. 1/2 a pound!?! Really?!?

I'm trying to stay positive and remind myself that a 1/2 pound lost is better than a 1/2 pound gained but all this work, effort and dedication for a lousy 1/2 lb.? Bleh!

My main advice is just to keep going. Maybe don't pressure yourself too much. Whenever I get impatient with my rate of weight loss, I tell myself that it took years to put on, and it's going to take quite a while to take off. It's logical, but irritating at times.

A lot of people (myself included, in the past) give up on weight loss not because it's not working, but because it's not working as fast as we'd like. I quit pushing myself to lose weight fast this time and focused on getting healthier (healthy food and exercise). It's worked SO much better, and I feel I can keep going.

But if you feel you really should be losing more, try recording the food you eat, how much you eat, and the calories every day for a while just to make sure you're on target. Also, doing a workout you like makes it more likely you'll keep going (had to learn this one the hard way, myself).

You can do it!

I know how you feel! I seem to only lose .number, but the larger picture at the end of the week says different, so that makes me feel a lot better. Just try to stay positive- don't stress! I know that's hard not to do (believe me, I ate a microwave meal yesterday and instead of just letting it slide I was obsessing all night! lol).

It's weird, but sometimes I find what works for me is to just say "whatever" and stop checking the scale for a few days, and do my usual thing. Maybe your sodium count was a little too high yesterday, maybe you ate right before bed, you know, there could be lots of reasons for it.

I'm not great at talking about calories or anything, so I'll let someone else cover that. Just wanted to give you a hug! You can do it!

LiannaKole Thanks. I know I need to keep going and I will because it's not all about the number on the scale it's about my health and my life too. It's just so frustrating!

I have been logging my every calorie on my plate at livestrong so I know that I'm definitely within my calorie range but maybe I need to shake things up a bit or something.

yhahmd Thanks so much. I know there are probably a million, temporary, reasons why I'm losing so slowly right now. I could be retaining water. I could be just in need of a shake up with regard to my food/calorie count. Who knows. It's all just so frustrating. But I shall keep going! One step, one 1/2 pound at a time. *sigh*

Too true! You'll get to where you want to be, it's just going to take a little bit of time.

Sunshine, hang in there. It happened to me too, but keep on keeping on, it'll pay of in the long run and u'll start seeing the figures dropping.

Every...single....ounce...adds...up. If you continue losing 1/2 a lb every 5 days, that's 3 lbs a month and 36 lbs per year.

Just to give you a little perspective, I was *exactly* one pound more than you back in April after I'd regained 15 (out of 30) while unemployed. I'd failed. I stank at life. I also had the option of doing what I *knew* was going to make me healthier or being off plan and regaining the other 15. It stopped being about losing a large amount and started being about not getting heavier. I could lose a pound. Cool. Maybe I could lose another one? Next thing I know, I'd lost "just a pound" several times.

We're within half an inch of being the same height. I can't begin to explain to you the difference between the way you're going to look and feel between now and 300. It's worth it. It's so worth it. You may not even see it or notice at the time--I didn't until I looked back at old pics or thought about how I really felt.

You *can* do this. You've lost 7 lbs. You've lost 1/2 a pound in 5 days. Give it 5 more days and see if you can lose another 1/2 pound. Your muscles are sore and painful...so they're holding water. Drink more water to help flush your system.

Most importantly, be nice to yourself. You wouldn't beat up a girlfriend who was doing her best and not seeing the results she wanted. Don't treat yourself like that either. You're making a genuine effort. Applaud yourself for that...and keep putting one foot in front of another.

I would also say...only weigh yourself once per week...the same time every week. I think weighing yourself multiple times...different times...etc. makes it harder on yourself.


Keep going! You can do it!

Sunshine
Like everyone has said, hang in there. It is so frustrating and we have all been there. It happened to me the other day. I was stuck stuck for a few days (yes I weigh everyday compulsively) and nothing. I was SO upset. But then today BAM a pound gone. Maybe I overdid it with the roasted chickpeas after they came out of the oven, or maybe I am retaining water because it is about TOM.Who knows. Maybe because you over did it, your body is holding on to water to heal? Who knows. Bodies are weird. Just do not fall back into the pattern of "oh well it is not happening fast enough so what is the point. It is about getting HEALTHY. And you are doing that.

Have you given any thought to changing how often you weigh? I know lots and lots of people here like to weigh daily to keep that accountability going, but that has never worked for me in the past. I'd be more worried about what that stupid scale was doing, that the BEHAVIORS that lead to weight loss were lost in the shuffle. I'd get all panicky that I wasn't doing it right, then I'd be tempted to practically starve myself, then I'd freak out and just give up altogether.

This time around I decided to get myself a rock-solid plan, then stick to it. I decided not to weigh myself for a whole month, then I would go back to weighing more often. I got on the scale after that month and saw a 10 lb loss! Yeah, I would have lost the same amount either way, but for ME, that half a pound up or down at a time would have served to irritate/panic/depress me compared to how I felt at seeing the 10 lbs!!

Once that month was done, I told myself, huh, I really liked that! I'm gonna wait another month before I weigh again. Another 10 lbs! Sweet!! So up to now, I've just kept weighing once a month. I'm due for my next weigh-in soon, and I can't wait to see if I'm up to 60lbs lost yet! But I can wait, it'll be exciting!

The 2 things I have promised myself while doing this monthly weighing thing are 1) If I start to veer off plan, I need to start weighing more regularly, and 2) as I get closer to goal, I will probably need to start weighing more often so that I can tweak my plan as necessary to continue the losses. Otherwise, I am perfectly happy to have that scale telling me about a substantial loss, every time I get on it!

Just an idea.

Don't quote me on this... but I think when you over do it on the exercise, your muscles retain a lot of water as they heal. Once they are repaired, you may notice a bit of a whoosh!

Start measuring yourself!

When I started a heavy duty exercise routine (a lot of weights) I stopped losing weight (in fact I went up a few pounds) but I measured myself in the beginning and I can SEE the results in the mirror already and will be measuring myself every 30 days.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: the number on the scale is an arbitrary number! Our main goal is not so much to lose weight as it is to lose FAT! And our scales weigh so much more than just the fat.

I'll give you an example: A friend of mine recently lost 14 pounds, a decent amount right? Well the impressive part is that although she only lost 14 lbs. she went down nearly 3 sizes! She was doing weights like crazy and built a considerable amount of muscle....which is HEAVY; a pound of muscles takes up much less space than a pound of fat.....but it's still a pound on the scales...

If you worked out so hard that your muscles are really hurting, you are likely also retaining water as they seek to recover. I'm not saying that that is definitely why the scale hasn't gone down more, but it does happen.

Thanks so much everyone for your advice and support!! In the past I'd always tried to do this on my own and I never realized what a great asset it would be to have an entire team of folks who have "been there, done that" and are willing to give you the benefit of their encouragement and advice.

Really, I was almost crying reading all of these replies. I know that I can do this - we all can- it just takes time and determination! (and some whining along the way.)

A lot of whining in my case LOL