How often do you drink? No judging or anything, but from a weight loss perspective I've got a good reason for asking.

You definitely need to do this at least for a few weeks. People almost always way underestimate how much they are eating. A good example - 3 oz of meat is the size of a deck of cards...it just seems impossibly small!

After you do that for a few weeks, you'll get a better idea of how much each type of food takes up on a plate and you can maybe relax your vigilance a little bit.

@reNew, I used to drink a LOT more, but I've REALLY cut back for dieting. I used to have at least 1 drink per day, now I'm only really drinking when I'm out with friends -- last week, one day I drank. So far, not at all this week... I am definitely going to try using a food scale and see if that helps my weight loss.

It's been one week and I'm stuck at 159.2.

I drank a LOT on Saturday, though (well, enough to make me sick the next day), so I think I got really dehydrated, and I think a lot of my issue is water weight. I ate 1204 calories yesterday and no loss today. Feeling very unmotivated.

Ghostly, again this takes weeks of being on plan consistently in order to see progress. And if you are drinking enough to make you sick (which isn't on plan I am assuming) then you absolutely can't expect any results (I don't know what you drank, but since alcoholic beverages can be high calorie, you can easily blow your deficit in a few hours).

Again, at your stats, you will see results if you stay on plan with proper measuring, but even doing everything right, it may take several weeks, even months for the scale to start really moving. Did you read the other responses?

It basically comes down to this :

You need to measure your food
If you can, even weigh your food (things like cheese can be hard to measure so weighing is important)
Do it consistently.
When you have "bad" days, which everyone does, do not expect to see a loss for probably a good 3-4 days to be safe. Sodium can hinder the scale from moving.
Honestly, if looking at the scale each day and not seeing it moves causes you to feel unmotivated, I would probably switch to either weighing yourself weekly or even bi-weekly. ALOT of people on this site have to do it or they find themselves getting obsessed and ruled by the scale.

Well, here's the thing with alcohol (it's a cut/paste that I hang onto for motivation because I love my vodka, kind of long but try to get through it):

So basically, you could totally eat right, and in fact under eat, and have a couple of mixed drinks after work and totally negate EVERYTHING you've done for the past day -- or two -- in just a few hours.

For the past two months I've limited my drinking to once every two weeks and I've discovered that drinking heavily is virtually a week set back -- after you've been drinking you can hold water for a day or two until your body rebalances itself, plus it seems to take time for things to get back on the fat burning track to boot. For myself, I just don't have the time to waste for tying one on, it's not worth it and not all that much fun.

Ahh. I have read everyone's posts and I AM trying to find my food scale (I had one from a while ago, we just moved, I swear, I brought it, now I'm going to have to buy another one, grr) so that should help me coming soon.

The post about alcohol completely makes sense.

I used to be an alcoholic for all intents and purposes, with how much I drank. I am a liquor person and this past saturday night/sunday when I drank/got sick (got sick probably but cutting back drinking so much), I drank straight to stop adding in extra calories, but that little excerpt brings everything into focus. It all makes a lot of sense. I think drinking is where I really gained a lot of weight to begin with, and not drinking once a week or so is going to be difficult, my friends like to go out, my boyfriend is an avid drinker (and a whopping 145 lbs despite it all), so that sucks.

It's Wednesday, and I can honestly say I can tell that the alcohol threw everything off. Thanks for the input everyone, it's really making a lot more sense, and I am going to have to really stick this out, I appreciate the information. I am just starting all of this and I'm not exactly well-informed about being healthy, so this is all great information, I truly do appreciate it & I'm going to scour for more info here too.

I know the alcohol put the weight on me, pure and simple. I've been a hard drinker for ummm, the past nearly 20 years. The only reason I'm NOT fatter is because I do (oddly enough) have a "healthy diet" and until about three years ago was always very active. The reason I've GOT that information is because I've known I need to lay off the alcohol but it's been a difficult compromise. I've tried to find a loophole in every direction, trust me. There just isn't one.

The inescapable truth is that alcohol consumption and fat loss are incompatible. The other fact is that alcohol puts weight on in the most DIFFICULT of places for women to lose (waistline) it messes with our endocrine system (again, making it harder to lose weight), and it trashes your liver (another organ critical to fat burning). ****, heavy drinking GIVES you fatty liver! Nevermind the fact that when you drink your inhibitions go down and all discipline to NOT eat XYZ that isn't in your calorie budget goes right out the window.

You don't have to give up going out with your friends, you just drink something non alcoholic. Anyone gives you grief you tell them it's impossible for a woman (or at least you) to lose weight and drink and you want to tighten up. If they still give you grief, find new friends. Ditto the boyfriend.

I'm not joking. I'm sorry if it sounds brutal but unlike food, booze is completely worthless, we drink because of the way it makes us feel. We don't need it, it's utterly empty calories. People like us just have to decide that losing weight feels better than being high *shrug*

Please don't be insulted if I've overstepped myself and made untoward assumptions, I was talking about myself and my observations. I don't usually drink when I'm out or with friends (it has a tendency to put me to sleep). The fact is, I'm more likely to drink at home (cheaper) by myself or with my husband when I'm stressed/aggravated/irritated or in pain (I have chronic pain issues).

Something I find very frustrating in our society is a double standard: If you say you binge eat as a response to stress that's one thing, but say you DRINK when you're stressed and automatically you get bounced you into the alcoholic category and that's not always the case. On the plus side, people who use alcohol as a coping tool do have an edge over people who use food to cope - we can cut it out of our life entirely, the problem is not turning to something else (like food) equally harmful as a crutch.

You make some very good points, ReNew Me. I, too, had to come to the hard conclusion that I just can't drink if I want to lose weight consistently.

Great input, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person struggling with the alcohol thing. ReNew, I don't think you're untoward at all, I think you're on the exact right track. I'm definitely going to do my very best to avoid alcohol at all costs, and anyone who gives me grief will get to read the passage you posted above. I already sent it to my 3 IRL girlfriends who I am trying to lose weight with and who I usually drink with and they were all a little put out by it and I got the idea they were going to keep drinking anyway. I'm just gonna be the martyr, I guess! My bf doesn't care as long as he gets to have his drink, he's cool. It's just the temptation of being around it at every social event and my bf def likes to unwind with a drink at the end of the night, but I've been doing well so far, so I'm proud and I'm really glad I posted this thread and you gave me that information. It really showed me what was up!

Thanks for letting me share, Ghostly, I mean that. Sometimes the best way to get another perspective on things is to lay everything out on paper, but I need a good reason to get inspired (unfortunately, I'm apparently not inspiration enough for myself, LOL).

As for your girlfriends ... don't think martyr when you're ordering club soda, think how good it will feel when you've hit your goal weight and you're wearing a brand new slinky outfit and you're looking and feeling beautiful and they're going "OMG You look awesome, how'd you do it?!"

Ahh, just reading that last part, it put a smile on my face! Great motivation! Thank you.

Oh, the booze does it for me, without a doubt! I started working in a bar a few months ago, and given that I'm in a not-drinking-at-all phase right now, I really noticed how a couple of beers after work a few nights a week would set me back! I'm never giving up, but I've started thinking... Actually, I don't really WANT that beer right now. I'll have some when I'm on a special night out later, like my birthday.

As an experiment, could you get together with the friends you're dieting with and go for a weekend away, somewhere healthy like a fancy hotel with a spa (or anything that appeals, but doesn't involve drinking!). The relaxation will lower your cortisol, which is invaluable. I can NOT lose weight when I'm stressed, no matter what I do. Some r&r and a few lie-ins and an excuse to stay out the pub might be just the experiment you need to convince your body that yes, it's totally ok to burn fat

Oh yeah, and 5 days ain't long, lol! I never used to stick to diets even THAT long before I found what worked for me mentally! Just think, it's a lifestyle. To get the weight off and keep it off forever, you need to find changes you'll make and keep up with WITHOUT the need for willpower! Check out stuff like roller derby, rock climbing, martial arts, swing dancing, anything that you could learn to love! It doesn't need to be boring, I promise, just time and perseverance in your experimentation. I swear there is not one person out there who can't find some moving-around activity that they can really get into... Mine's ice skating

Good luck and keep going! I remember how daunting the beginning can be

RE: Booze

I'm an alcoholic. An actual one. The amount of booze and things I did when drunk really shock me now, when I think back. I stopped drinking in 2009 when I got pregnant with my 1st child and I haven't gone back since.

I will say, with alcohol out of my life, ALL decisions have been better, especially when it comes to food.

Quite a few people on this board have said this. Please (anyone) help me understand how you could have trouble filling your caloric quota when you had no trouble overeating for many years. No matter what eating plan I was on, I can't imagine EVER having trouble getting enough calories in. Nuts and cheese go a long way.

Freelance