I'm only keeping my bathroom scale until I get to goal weight. After that, I plan to take it out to the back 40 somewhere and use it for target practice.

The scale only registers your total body mass. What you're shooting for is fat loss and muscle gain. You might want to look into learning how to measure your body fat percentage, then determine what it is that you want to achieve.

I'm going for around 20% body fat, which is a healthy level for women who are tennis players. I might go lower, but only if I want to do something more rigorous...but I'm not kidding myself. I'm 48, and I really don't want to be taking up distance running and body sculpting as a sport. But playing tennis, that sounds doable.

Georgia

My blog: http://half-the-woman.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Kelly- that makes a lot of sense, about muscles retaining water...I have heard about this before, but I guess I just was SO certain that I had lost weight that it came as a pretty big shock. I upped my point intake this week to eat ALL of my APs and some of my flex, too, so we'll see how that goes.

Georgia- that's a good idea...do you know how one would go about getting a body fat percentage measurement done? I had one years ago when I joined a new gym, but I don't do gyms anymore...

Hi Everyone-

Just had to post that I FINALLY lost this week! 0.6, but I'll take it :) I'm now down 6 lbs total since starting 7 weeks ago. It's going slowly, but at least it's going. Thanks for all the support!

Prima: Congrats on the decrease! It does take your body time to adjust. Good job not giving up. It's hard to remember that this isn't really just a diet. This is something to make us healthier and something to stick to for the rest of our lives!
:flow1 :Good work Chicky! :flow1:

Thanks so much!! :) :)

Also, I think I mentioned before that my leader was going to look at my tracking book to see if I could improve- we talked today and she said I'm doing everything right, so it really is just my body being a pain...It sure makes me appreciate ANY decrease at all! I'm committed for life :)

It was nice I read an article on a website today that was talking about getting out of the "diet" mentality.. One thing it mentioned is that when our bodies do plateau it's simply a sign that we're doing something right for ourselves and our body is getting used to. We've forced our bodies to change. One thing it mentioned too is shaking things up a bit when we do plateau. Change up what you eat, choose different workout routines, workout days. Some people fluctuate how many points they eat each day. One day they'll eat extra flex points, the next day they'll stay low and keep doing that so the body can't used to a set food schedule. I do that a little bit, yesterday I used extra points, today I'll try to stay within them.

Fantastic, thanks for the advice! I think I'm going to do that this week in addition to eating more in general. :)

PrimaB, I just had a week like you've had too. I think it's very common. I'm not giving up and I'll be cheering you on! I think we grow so impatient and we want immediate results, as a whole. We forget that the weight we have on our bodies took months and years to get there. We are so good, so well behaved and then we want immediate results. We are an instant gratification society.
One thing I reminded myself of just this morning is that the WW program works. We need to give it time and give our bodies time. If we keep up the good work, without getting frustrated and blowing it, sooner or later our bodies will respond. So, try to resist the urge to get angry at you, WW and the world and start binging. I've been there and you only end up being really sad in the end and angry at yourself for sabotaging your own results.
Never give up, never surrender....
I'm going to subscribe to your thread and keep supporting you! I'm on another thread called "Supporting each other...." if you want to come on by for extra support.
Hang in.... I'm right there with you.
It totally angered me this week. I got on the scale and after a "perfect" week with activity, the right foods, not using more than my allotted flex points, drinking water, doing it right.... gained .4!
So, did I go out and eat a large fry and have a burger at BK? That was very tempting at the time. I wanted to "reward" my misery with food. Nope, not this time. I went home, thoughtfully took out my weeks 1 - 6 booklets and set them at my place at the table.
Now, each time I sit down to eat they are staring me in the face. White I eat, I read them and I am trying to maybe review and grasp at a detail I have overlooked.
So far, the mystery eludes me as to what I might have done wrong. But, the master plan is here for me to follow and I shall allow it to lead me.

There are many ways of measuring body fat percentage, but one way is found at this website, which is done by measuring girth at key points.

Once you know what your lean muscle mass is, you can add the percentage of fat you wish to attain and find the appropriate goal weight for you. I'm nearly 6' tall. My lean muscle mass is at 155 lbs. If I was shooting for 20% body fat, that would mean I need to weigh 186 lbs. at goal, about 11 lbs. more than the weight charts are telling me I need to weigh.

Georgia

My blog: http://half-the-woman.blogspot.com/

Hi Linda- thank you so much for your support! I'm sorry to hear you've had a frustrating week, too...It is comforting to know that we're not alone in experiencing these setbacks, though. You are absolutely right that we need to remember that WW works, and not to pacify misery with fries!! I do believe that it will eventually work, I'm just getting used to the idea that my body is taking longer than expected to get a clue about what's going on. I'm trying really hard to stay motivated by focusing on other changes- clothes fitting better, losing inches, and most importantly, feeling better because I'm exercising and eating healthy :)
I would bet that you are probably doing everything right, like I was...I'd be interested to hear if you figure anything out from reviewing your books- I did the same thing when I didn't lose for the 2nd week in the row. The week I lost the most (2.4 lbs) was when I ate the WORST since I've started! I went out for several dinners, had movie popcorn TWICE, and ate all my activity points and a few flex points, too. The following 2 weeks I was SO good- I ate almost all filling foods, and lost nothing. Last week I ate more and allowed myself to have some indulgences, and I lost .6. Go figure. My leader told me I'd lose more if I ate more, and apparently she's right. It's a very difficult idea to wrap my mind around!
Anyway, I really want to thank you for your kind words- I'm so glad I found 3FC! I truly appreciate your support :) I'll also be rooting for you!

Georgia- thank you so much for that info :) I'm going to take my measurements and do the calculation after I finish my workout!

:hug:PrimaB, thanks for the welcome and your own kind words.
So far, I'm about done with the week 1 book. I re-read over certain pages in it and tried to infuse it all into this tired old brain of mine. I'm not sure if I learned anything new or different, but I am trying to focus a bit more on the "filling foods" concept. I "wasted" three of my very valuable points yesterday on those tiny WW cakes that are like Hostess Twinkies. I adore Twinkies, it's the ultimate junk food that I do not allow myself, period. Then, WW comes out with what is almost identical to a Twinkie, but small and one point. So, what happens to me? I eat three in one day. I probably won't buy more of those evil :devil: things as I know my weakness.
So, I shall plan my eating for today and think more about filling foods. The week one book had an alternative breakfast for 4 points that I folded down the corner of the page to make this morning.
I'm going to try to go through the booklets and take a second look at their alternative lunch as well. There was one in there with black bean soup (which I happen to have on hand) and a salad, etc. The alternative breakfast was an egg white and egg omelette with mushrooms and low fat cheese, etc. I liked the idea of giving in to their menu plans for a change and seeing if that helps me feel more full.
We'll see how that goes.
I've been experimenting with the new WW cookbook, "Now and Later" and tonight's meal will be a beef stroganoff made with a beef burgundy stew that we had last Friday night. You make the one large recipe, take out 4 cups and put it aside (I froze it) and use the other portion to make something else. It really saves cooking time and even energy use to do that kind of cooking. So, I'll try the stroganoff tonight, the stew we had last week was quite good.
So, I must also ponder a few healthy desserts as well. I have an old WW Core pumpkin custard recipe that I might dig out. It was easy to make, tastes kind of like pumpkin pie and since I gave up chocolate for lent it might pacify me this evening.
Keep up the good work. I know you can do this, so can I!

I haven't read all the comments, but I just want to say - starting my 'diet' I was doing it all - eating healthy, drinking tons of water, exercising like crazy - and was losing NOTHING. I was so upset, but I kept up with it and boom - I'm finally seeing the scale moving down. I don't know, maybe our bodies just like to hold on to our fat sometimes and yell "I'M NOT GIVING UP". But if we keep going, they finally give up.

Linda- YUM, I love beef stroganoff!! I think that's a great idea to change up your food choices every now and then. Whenever I get bored or can't think of anything to eat, I always go to the week 1 book. There are a lot of great ideas in there.

I have the WW 20 minute Meals cookbook- it's SO great! I especially love the broccoli cheese avocado quesadillas and the mac and cheese. So delicious! (Cheese is my weakness, in case it wasn't glaringly obvious!) I haven't tried those ww twinkies, but I know exactly the ones you're talking about. Don't beat yourself up for having 3. I think everyone has those days, and it's MUCH better that you ate those than 3 of the regular twinkies! Progress, not perfection :) We actually had a discussion about this in my meeting a few weeks ago. One lady in my group LOVES oreos, but when she gets them she eats the entire box. Someone suggested that she divide them into servings, bag them individually, and put them at the bottom of the freezer. Maybe you could try that with the treats? Then just defrost one at a time. Then you really have to think about whether you want another one. The lady from my meeting said last week that this has really been working well for her!

On the dessert issue- When I have company, I usually go with angel cake (only 2 pts for 1/5 of the cake!!- but it varies from cake to cake), with strawberries and fat free cool whip. It's only about 3-4 points for the whole thing.

Hi Gretchy- Thanks for sharing your experience- great to hear that your weight is starting to come off. Congratulations on your success so far! You're doing great :)

To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of this stroganoff, but it was a meal and it was OK. For the points it was, it wasn't worth it. I'd give it a 6 on a 1 - 10 scale, so it won't be on my list to make again.
I still love the cookbook and the other recipes I have tried from this book. The original beef burgundy stew that was then made into the stroganoff was about an 8.
At any rate, I'm going to try to get some exercise today, Saturdays are more relaxed so I have time.
I need to make time for more exercise in my life.

I blew it yesterday. Don't know what's wrong with me. I had all the best intentions. I didn't exercise and I ate a dessert that was definitely not on program.
I've just got to put my heart and soul into this to make it work.
I vowed to do a better job yesterday and by the end of the day I did not do as planned.
But, I will write it all down. I believe my flex points to be all gone now and I still have two more days to journal this week.
What a jerk I was.