Feeling defeated
 

So I recommitted to weightloss a couple weeks ago with concentrating on lowering calorie intake. The first week I dropped 6lbs -- granted, my high was PMS/TOM plus a weekend of travelling and "irregularity"... so a good 3+lbs of that was definately water)

But then last friday it levelled off and the scale hasn't bundged an ounce. Seriously.... 150.2 every morning since Saturday. Very defeating to the moral and motivation.

I have been diligent with my food intake staying below 1200 cals. Trying to keep the salt, fat and sugar contents down. Lots of veggies and fruits. And only one lunch out where I pre-checked the nutritional value on the website to pick what I would order then added an additional 100 calories for "fudge factor"

Exercise has been my "typical" workouts. (45-60 min cardio 4x per week plus weights 3x per week). I did not want to ramp up workouts while intitially cutting cals because I know ramping up exercise makes me want to eat more. I didn't need that when trying to adjust to lower cal eating.

I realize this is all just temporary and i just keep pushing thru, eventually that scale will tip again. But honestly, this is the defeating part of dieting for me. In the last year or so that I've been trying to "restart", this is the point that I will sit at for a couple weeks then give up.

I can't do that this time. I need to find a way to keep my motivation up dispite this slowdown.

I don't think that's all that strange for a featherweight. I've dumped significant weight for my size the first week before and then stalled while my body adjusted. Sure, a lot of it is water weight, but it's still a lot of weight for a small person. I usually make up for it by the end of the third week, dropping another four pounds instead of two, for example.

Personally, I have never eaten 1,200 calories a day in my life, let alone under that. I always eat much more than that. So part of me thinks you are eating too little. But I also burn about 3,500 calories through exercise a week, so it is hard for me to say what you really need to be eating.

There's also the possibility that your body is retaining water due to your recommitting to exercise. (I'm assuming you weren't exercising the whole time.) There are a lot of possibilities. But, ultimately, as I say, I don't think this pattern is uncommon for a featherweight.

I have been exercising all along. I do 45 - 60 mins of cardio 3 to 4 times a week. (alternate with running, biking, eliptical. Generally getting my heart rate up in the 145 - 170 range for the extent of the exercise) plus I weight train 3 times a week.

I purposely did not ramp up exercise because an increase in what i do would certainly lead me to want to eat more and make the adjustment that much harder. Not to mention - as you said - water retenetion.

Water retention is also another reason for alot of my food choices (low sodium).

I know I need to wait this out - yet that waiting part is still hard to do.

I'm afraid to weigh myself daily for the same reason, lack of visual progress leads to a feeling of defeat.

Hang in there, it will move down and you'll continue to feel better. You're taking on a hard task, but you will succeed.

From the research that I have done most articles stand by never eating under 1200 calories or else you risk going into starvation mode. Try going up. It's all about math, you need to drop 3500 calories to drop one pound. Just don't eat less than 1200 a day! You still need that food to function AND work out! Good luck!