70+... 2 weeks into this and lost ZERO weight!

dianefarwells

Recent labs indicated I'm literally borderline diabetic.
I've been following the Mediterranean diet for the past 2 weeks. Walking every day. Drinking 64+ oz of water.

And...NOTHING. NADA. ZIP. ZERO weight loss.

WHAT am I doing wrong?

It's so hard to stay motivated when I see no results.

sebiddle13

Don’t get discouraged. Cut your calorie intact slightly if necessary. But it takes the body time to adjust to “newness”. I don’t know your age but as we get “wiser” things go slower as well. I was in your shoes 4 years ago. It took 6 weeks for my body to figure out I needed it to cooperate. But then things accelerated and I began to hit my goals.

lisakatz2

What is your weight and calorie intake? Are you tracking your food? The MFP food diary is a very useful tool. You can figure out how many calories you are consuming and adjust accordingly.

Please don't be discouraged! You can do this!

frhaberl

As mentioned above, it can take some time for the scale to reflect the changes you're making, especially if you're not yet in a routine. A couple things to watch out for:
- Not saying this one is you, but this one gets me pretty much every time I start a new habit. Expecting consistent results when you're not consistent with your changes. I FEEL like I've been eating a lot less EVERY day, but when I look at my food diary I see that there were a couple days in there where I over ate enough to cancel out the days when I was eating less. No shame on the lack of consistency, it takes time to make those new habits stick, but it can up the discouragement level if you don't anticipate the impact that will have on results and give yourself a ramp up on the results like you're giving yourself a ramp up on the actions.
- Using only one measure of success. The scale is a great measure of progress.......when looked at over a long term (months, not weeks). I weigh every day but only so I can stay in the habit and because I like data like "I tend to go up 2.5 lbs after air travel, then drop back down over the next 3 days." I have learned that there a LOTS of other wins that I am getting out of these lifestyle changes. Besides A1C levels dropping back down to normal range, I found that my diet and exercise changes resulted in more energy, higher fitness level, more mental clarity, and lots of other benefits. I also created some rewards for myself by joining a walking challenge that gives you medals as you complete milestones and buying a few clothing items in a smaller size so I could celebrate when they fit well.

I know from experience that the first few months of changes can be rough. This time around I decided that I would make changes that supported a healthier life and would stick to them no matter what the scale said. I definitely stood on the scale many mornings and had to fight the urge to either go back to my previous lifestyle, or go to a more extreme level on diet and exercise than I would want to maintain for the rest of my life. I'm really glad I stuck with the commitment to stay the course.

One course correction I DO advocate for is recognizing that something you are doing is not sustainable and finding a more sustainable approach. If there is something about your diet or exercise changes that you know you will drop as soon as you are "allowed to", then maybe you need to consider something different that achieves the same goal. If you hate your daily walks, then finding something that makes them enjoyable (change of scenery or listening to music or a podcast) or find a form of exercise that you actually look forward to (swimming, biking, yoga, dancing, etc). If you really hate the Mediterranean diet you're currently on, look for other cuisines or make up your own that fits your calorie goal and keeps you satisfied. I'm not saying that all dietary choices are equal from a long term nutrition perspective, but you can lose weight on a VERY wide variety of diets and the weight loss itself can have more of an impact on your blood sugar levels than the diet you use to achieve it. I've been tweaking my diet for a little over a year and it looks very different both from what it was a year ago and from what I thought it would need to be for me to lose and maintain a weight loss, but it works and I can see myself eating this way for the rest of my life.

Hang in there. Two weeks may not be long enough to know for sure whether you need to make any adjustments, so I would advise giving it another two weeks. During that time, you may benefit from looking for other measures of success that you can lean into when the scale isn't moving as quickly as you think it should.

Melwillbehealthy

MFP has a food diary that counts calories for you if you use it. I use it to lose weight.