Scared that I'll get STUCK!

kvultaggio

Hi, I'm fairly new, been faithfully tracking my calories for 25 days now... 5'4' and started at 174 (now at 170). I set my calories to lose 2 lbs a week, which I did in the first week. Since then, it's only about 1 lb a week. I don't think it's fair that I am eating for 2 lbs but only losing 1!!

I'm wondering if I'm going wrong somewhere. A couple of times I didn't eat all my exercise calories back (I was full!) - does that sabotage me? Also, I noticed sometimes I exceed my goals for fat or carb/sugar intake... not by a ridiculous amount, but do those calories do a lot of damage to my progress?

One last question - should I be concerned if I'm over or under my calorie goal by a small amount? I almost never hit it exactly "on the nose."

I'm feeling a little bit demotivated because I'm being treated by a Chiropractor and he told me no vigorous exercise for a week. I'm SO tempted to break my promise to him....

SarahMay80

I would NOT break what the doc said. If you end up doing more harm, then you wont be able to work out for even longer. I'm new here too. Just started Monday. I don't think going over or under a little will do much harm. It's just a guideline. I know I personally have a hard time losing weight too. Don't worry, you're not alone, when I finally got down to about the weight I wanted, I got pregnant. Now he's 9 months old and I need to lose 23 pounds to get back there. I understand frustrated.

skinnyack

Oh- yeah if you actually add what your calorie deficit is it probably isn't 1000 cals/ wk- which is the magic amount for 2 lbs weight loss. For example me (and probably you): My calories that I burn just to survive is let's say 1800/day. To earn 2 lbs lost per week that means I would need to have a deficit of 1000, which would equal about 800 per day that I'd take in- that is generally referred to as too few calories and the general consensus is 1200 calories need to be eaten by adults per day. So technically if I stay at 1200/day it's probably max going to lose me 1.5 lbs per week. You can maybe fool around with this by trying to exercise more, therefore having to consume more, but then not eat back exercise cals earned... but in my opinion I've personally found I've done better and gotten stronger while just trying to lost 1 lb a week.

Now even that said... I've been stuck at my halfway mark for 2 months. It just happens. Hopefully not for too long for you. But I'm stronger, I'm thinner, I'm healthier... the scale just isn't moving. Sometimes the scale doesn't show whats happening. Measure yourself and take pics- that's the best way!

kvultaggio

Thanks - I guess I could start measuring when the scale gets stuck, that did cross my mind yeserday ;-)

I'm just going to hang in there and probably adjust my goal to 1 lb per week.

The good news is that by watching everything that goes in, I am becoming much better at making smart eating choices and realizing how big an effect empty calories have on my body.. I do let myself have a goody here and there, but gone are the days when I keep going back to that big bowl of chocolate at work!!