What am I doing wrong?
 

I began my diet right after the first of January. I walk 5 days per week, from 2.5 to 5 miles per day at a pace of about 4 miles per hour (with my 2 labradors who require man-handling at times!). I watch what I eat, low fat, low carb, lots of veggies, medium on the protein, lots of water and I cut out all alcohol except for 2 glasses once a week of red wine. I eat about 1400-1800 calories per day and I don't drink regular soda (diet soda about 3 days per week only).
So, I've lost 5 pounds, but nothing for the past 2 weeks. I'm starting to lose my patience! :mad: Any suggestions? :?:

Don't stop what you are doing!!! It has only been 3 weeks, it could be water gain or something like that. Actually, 5 lbs is pretty good for 3 weeks. It takes a loooooong time for the body to change its metabolism due to exersize.... months.

Five pounds is very good for 3 weeks. How do you calculate your calories? Do you have an accounta t fitday?

Aww that's crazy. I'm 42 and have lost almost 80 pounds. I know a woman in her 50's that dropped herself from 190-something to 130.

I'm not saying it's easier (or harder) for some than it is for others. But if you watch your calories and take in less than your body needs, the weight will come off :)

And to be honest, just watching what I was eating wasn't enough for me. Even though I was eating healthy, I was still taking in more calories than my body needed. Once I kept with fitday and learned the calories I needed to take in to lose, the weight started coming off.

You're doing just fine Allison and you sound like you have a good head on your shoulders. If you want some help picking away at your diet, you can post a link to your fitday and we'll have a look.

I agree, I think 5 pounds is awesome. And a major inspiration to keep going :)

I had a friend who was eating very minimal protien in her diet and got to a stand still in her weight loss, as soon as she added a little more protien to her diet the pounds started coming off again- don't know if this is the case for you or not but may be worth a try

Protein! Yes!

I too agree you must get enough protien, it is recommended at least 3 ounces of protien 3 times a day. Also how hard is your work out or walk? Are you breathing heavy? If you exercise too hard you don't burn fat just sugar so maybe that could have a bit to do with it? Exercise more often less vigorously and you will burn more fat.

Your doing fine and your losing what your body will allow.
The first month always breaks a person give yourself a good couple months and make sure your doing what you should be doing and it will come inline.
The weight didnt creep on in a month and it will take time as well to take it off.
If at all possible I would give up the wine all together.
Alcohol is just not a good part of weight loss, because it doesnt help it hurts.

welcome to my world...however i had the additional stress of thyroid issues and it taking 2 doctors and months of adjusting my meds before it all came off again.

i keep telling all my younger friends..you just wait..i know they dont believe me. plus some of them are heavy(ish) now, and i was like, lose it now, or else it will just keep getting harder and harder.

glad you are taking care of YOU!

Stick with it! I tend to lose 3-4 pounds, then stay the same for a bit, then drop 3-4 lbs...then nothing etc. I stayed the same for about 5 weeks and just lost 3-4 pounds in the past 8 days. I think your body is just adjusting itself.

Perhaps you could change up your routine a bit? Try more intense workout with shorter periods, or intervals of light jog/walking and then days when you just walk. Change up your calorie intake, less one day, more the other. See what that does.

Oddly enough, I often lose weight after a rest day. My BF hurt his back last week and couldn't work out for 3-4 days and was worried he would gain weight laying around all day...and he lost more weight than when he was training! lol I was like...you *******! heehee. Now, don't go spend a week in bed! LOL But maybe a day of rest, and a treat meal or something would help.

Whatever you do, don't give up. Stopping now won't help you achieve your goal and watching what you eat and exercising is good for you, no matter what!

It takes a bit of trial and error to get out of a plateau but you'll get through it. Make sure you also eat some good fat (nuts, olive oil and such), and as others said, protein. And if you can, add some weight training! It did wonders for me and even though the scale wasn't moving for a while, my shape has definitely changed.

You're living a healthy lifestyle. So stick with it and don't pay too much attention to those numbers on the scale. Even thin people who eat bad and don't exercise can be really out of shape and unhealthy. Weight is not the only factor.

Keep it up! and good luck on your journey! :carrot:

Allison? Your fitday link doesn't work for me. It's says there's no used by that name. I'd really love to have a look.

Allison? try adding the link in your signature. I still can't make it work.

The link is working for me....when I click on your second link your fitday comes up

I think that some really valuable info could turn up in this thread.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...ighlight=clean


And I'll try again. Actually, I went to my own fitday and got an error page just a few minutes ago.

Ok I've got it. Is your food for yesterday all in there yet?

Yep, all the food is in there.
Allison

Ok. Did you have a look at that thread about clean foods?
Try setting your lifestyle level lower and just adding vigorous activity like exercise.

I also notice, you're not eating very much. I'm not one of the people who believes in the whole "starvation" thing slowing weight loss, but you should eat what you know you can stick with and if you're frustrated and feeling like you've been working too hard, maybe it's the 800-1000 calories? Food choices look generally good to me. Food choices are I think something you have to work on over time, and what you're eating now looks good to me. Your protein seems generally low, partly as a result I think of not eating very much. Are there times of day you are especially hungry? Maybe try adding a protein shake or something that will beef up your protein without a lot of extra calories. It will help you feel more full, and help you to lose fat instead of muscle, which will in turn keep your metabolism high. I agree with the others on cutting out the alcohol too...it could be one of the reasons weight loss seems "slow" to you, I think alcohol can cause you to retain water, and drinking 200 calories in alcohol when you've only had 600 calories in other food that day just can't be good for your health :) Other than that I think you are off to a great start, and now the key is just to stick with it and continue to make small changes so that you know you can really stick with the program. This will be your new lifestyle, not a fast-working diet.

Try increasing to 1200 calories. If you aren't eating enough, your body will hang onto what it's got for dear life. Don't increase fats or refined carbs, and don't add more wine, alas. Have protein snacks, add more complex carbs. Just try it for a week or two and see how that goes.

Jay

carbohydrates defeat me. I've noticed that I can eat very little, but if what I'm eating is mostly carbohydrates I won't lose weight. I can eat quite a bit, but if what I'm eating is mostly protein and vegetables, then I lose rapidly.

There are reasons for that. Carbohydrates get stored as fat much more quickly than do protein foods. By reducing my carbs, I manage to keep my insulin levels more stable, and I manage to drop weight. I'm sure that calories still count, but I really believe for me at least that WHAT I eat is as important as how much. I didn't check out your fit day account, so I have no idea what you eat, but if it is higher in carbs, you might try reducing those while keeping your protein levels higher.

Allison, that's the beauty of calorie counting. It's so flexible. It doesn't matter if you can't eat certain things, you can build an eating style around that. It also doesn't matter if you have to eat certain things, you can build an eating style around that too.
And we'll help you :)