Ok i just started this WOL. Trying to stay around 1200 calories of what i "thought" was good food. (I dont know alot about nutrition) I do pilates daily get a good burn and sore afterwards. BUT the 2 pounds i lost yesterday came back TODAY! What am i doing wrong?? I admit that last night we ate at whataburger (he wanted pizza but i said no) i want to get something healthly.. i still had like 600 calories left until i reach my limit. so he got a big fat cheeseburger and i ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. I asked for nutritional info but they had none.. so i thought well its "grilled" and its got veggies so it cant be too bad... OMG when i got home i looked it up on their website to find out it had like 427 calories in the sandwich alone.... I drank Diet Dr Pepper and had only a few fries... when i entered it on fit day i was still under 1200 calories.. I didnt get my pilates in so i did it as soon as i came home last night.. So what im wondering is: what am i doing wrong?? (i know now that the sandwich was a bad idea) How long will it be before i start seeing some results?? I REFUSE to give up, i will just keep trying new things until it happens. I keep thinking soon enough i will start seeing it in my clothes or something.. AND i am going with my mom today for an all day Christmas spree, so what should i eat? Thanks for all of your support reguardless if i post or not i read and learn as much as i can..


Deana

OK, first chill out! It's not possible to put on 2lbs of fat in a day! It was probably water retention from the salty burger you ate yesterday.

Secondly, only weigh yourself every week. Weighing in more than this will make the scales go up and down (as they do normally anyway).

Drink lots of water to flush out the water-retention.

Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Enjoy an occasional treat.

YOU ARE NOT DOING ANYTHING WRONG!

Best bet for eating out is either a salad or a grilled chicken sandwich (yes you made a good choice) or a Subway sub go easy on the dressing and bacon and cheese though - try turkey or chicken with lots of salad. You can drink diet soda and sugar free flavoured water, and I think SF Kool-Aid is very low in calories too.

It's good you're loggin stuff in fitday, just don't forget to log stuff! Try to eat every couple of hours so you don't get starving hungry and want to eat LOTS!

Good luck, you can do this - and kudos for you starting before Christmas!

2frustrated is exactly right (as usual ). You can't lose OR gain 2 lbs in one day. Well, I guess you COULD gain 2 lbs in a day if you ate an additional 7,000 calories above and beyond what your body needs to function, but it doesn't sound like that's what you did .

It sounds like you have tons of motivation and energy to do this, which is excellent. But you also need to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. Try to be patient -- weight loss is a long road.

You say you just started this WOL: when? How long have you been at it? And as far as how long it takes until you see results, it varies tremendously based on the individual. But the important thing to always remember is that you WILL see results as long as you keep working at it.

1200 calories is fairly restricted maybe you should up it a little

http://www.caloriesperhour.com/index_loss.html

http://www.caloriescount.com/

http://walking.about.com/cs/calories/l/blcalcalc.htm

I found I don't lose weight if I am so restricted. My body want to cling on to the fat for dear life.

Amanda

Don't weigh yourself everyday if it makes you crazy to see water gains. If you are tracking your calories you pretty much know how much fat you have burned, whether or not it was reflected at that particular weigh-in.

I was up 2# this morning, but I am 100% sure that it was water, because I stayed under 1,500 Cal yesterday. So, unless I have started "sleep eating", the difference was all that water and tea I drank last night.

I agree with Jill. And the rest. It's perfectly normal to be, say, 150 one day and 152 or 153 the next. It's just water, hon. Don't panic and keep at what you're doing and that weight will come off eventually

I agree with everyone on the scale thing. I've done it for fun and laughed at the results. One time I was up about 5 pounds in one day, then I weighed myself right after I ate and was up something like 10 I think. I thought it was funny. But I don't go with people that say "weigh yourself everyday" because it just makes you lose your motivation and sanity!! You're doing great so far though

Thanks everyone.. i have always thought that if i ate over 1000 calories i would gain weight so i would never eat more than 500-600 a day to lose.. THEN, when i up them i saw that and just panic! I have been doing some research on this WOL for a while now but just getting started this week. Im off on my shopping spree thanks for the advice.. i will check in when i get back....

Deana

The general rule of thumb is 1200 calories/day... anything lower than that and it can be hard to get in the right nutrition. Also, as I've recently learned, you'll be more likely to lose MUSCLE and not FAT, which is counterproductive in the long term. It may also affect your metabolism (though I think that's less clear).

I would advise spending some time learning about nutrition and trying to get in foods that will help your body -- the occasional cheeseburger is not going to kill you, but planning when to allow yourself those treats and eating healthy most of the time can be a good plan!

Just to echo what everyone else has said about scales...

While I was actively losing, I only weighed myself every 8 weeks. I know it's very hard for some people to do that -- especially when you're just starting out and very excited to see all the work you've been doing reflected in a lower number on the scale. But it really worked for me -- and I ALWAYS saw a loss so the scale never became my enemy.

Now that I'm in "almost-maintaining" mode, I weigh myself every morning (if I remember ) just to be sure I'm not gaining and to stay below 145 lbs. But like many of the other posters have said, I've had weeks when I "gained" 3 lbs "overnight." But I know it's NOT fat. It takes 3,500 unused, excess calories to gain a pound. And even if the scale says you've gained 1, 2, or even 3 lbs, you know that can't be FAT because you've been staying on plan.

It's very demoralizing to be a slave to the scale. I recommend weighing once a week -- or even once every two weeks, if you can make yourself wait that long. Daily fluctuations mean absolutely nothing, it's the long-term loss you should be interested in to keep your sanity.

Somehow, reading through this I had an image of the scale police bursting into your bathroom: "Step AWAY from the scale!"

So...since you're just starting and getting advice on not being a scale slave, just a word of caution--water gain is a frequent and unwelcome visitor once a month too--not just after a burger or a few fries. Just so's you're prepared and don't freak out...it happens to us all and it's the pits because if you weigh and track weekly (which seems to be most common), you may end up with a week every month that is very misleading.

Congratulations on starting out!

I totally endorse fitday.com. Just keep loggin everything. If that one number is always higher than the other, you'll lose weight. Just make sure you're always honest with what you enter there.
As for the scale ??? sorry folks but I do weigh myself everyday. You soon get used to water type fluctuations. Always use the same scale, the same time of day and the same mode of dress or undress. I don't usually get excited about a change in weight until it stays changed for a couple of days.

And water weights A LOT!!

Recommended 2 liters water/day (roughtly 64 oz) = 2 kg! (assuming pure water) = About 4 lbs! And that's just from drinking...