Discouraged =(

NenaM812

I cannot thank all of you enough! Each and every one of you all make so much sense!

I think my major issue (aside from being impatient! ) is I might be taking in too much sodium. Because I work a busy 8-5 I don't have much time to eat things that are fresh, so I eat a lot of Smart Ones, Lean Cuisines, and canned or frozen veggies, and usually don't eat too much fruit unless it's dried. The canned/frozen veggies are mostly because Fiance hates veggies and never eats them, so if I buy fresh, a lot of it goes bad! I buy groceries two weeks at a time, so I need stuff to last. For dinner, I make things from recipes from weight watchers sites and make sure to have one serving. I'm not drinking nearly as much water throughout the day as I should though. I definitely think I'm going to have to revamp my grocery list for my next shopping trip!

Thank you all so much! I can't wait to get home and get back on that wretched treadmill!

MinnieInMaine

Frozen veggies should be ok - unless you're talking about the ones that are in sauce, then there might be a problem.

Usually if you're eating fairly healthy, if sodium's not the issue, it might be sugar or carbs. Be careful of any diet products, they're a bit tricky. Sure, it's low fat but then it's high in sugar or sodium and vice versa.

Good luck!

Mtsidad

It's about getting HEALTHY, not about losing weight. I know, that sounds like "but I came here to lose weight!"

It's a process. From what I read from nutritionists, if you've been on a very unhealthy diet for a while, your body can adjust to that abuse, slow down your metabolism, and wait for the binge so it can pack on the fat.

What you're trying to do now is to build a better life by modifying and improving your food intake to be healthier over all. As many will tell you, smaller meals and more of them will keep the food and energy flowing and your metabolism will shift from starvation to "normal." (I'm of course just speculating that this is what's happening, but it sounds like it to me. I'm not a doctor, so don't take this all as gospel.)

It is *great* when your body responds to more exercise and more water and less food and less sodium by dropping weight. THAT WILL COME. If you get your metabolism up and running and you eat less than you need daily, YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT.

It is not magic, and doesn't require a quest. It's rather boring and ordinary. Increase your metabolism, increase your water intake, lower your caloric intake, adjust what you eat from high-fat and high-salt to high-fiber and balanced carbs, proteins, and fats, and you WILL lose weight.

Now, if you continue on your hard work another few weeks and still no pounds lost - see a doctor or nutritionist, because there may be something else underlying the problem. I do know of one person who due to thyroid conditions could not lose weight even though she ate maybe 500-700 calories a day and did not appear to be starving at all. She has not gotten that condition treated and is not changing. So don't let something like that go.

You're doing this to get healthy and feel better. The weight loss, WHICH WILL HAPPEN, is a plus, but don't get discouraged by plateaus and zig-zags. They just happen because your body, while a metabolic machine, doesn't always do what you want every single day.

Good luck, and keep on keeping on.

EDITED: And as some others have pointed out - I'd stay away from "diet" foods. Really, you should (oh, I sound like my mother here) be eating as much as possible that as close to fresh as possible. I don't preach on the evils of preservatives and canning because it makes it so food is cheap and easy to get. But eating fresh means you have less of those preservatives and salt, and you might begin to see some progress.

Lula16

I cannot thank all of you enough! Each and every one of you all make so much sense!

I think my major issue (aside from being impatient! ) is I might be taking in too much sodium. Because I work a busy 8-5 I don't have much time to eat things that are fresh, so I eat a lot of Smart Ones, Lean Cuisines, and canned or frozen veggies, and usually don't eat too much fruit unless it's dried. The canned/frozen veggies are mostly because Fiance hates veggies and never eats them, so if I buy fresh, a lot of it goes bad! I buy groceries two weeks at a time, so I need stuff to last. For dinner, I make things from recipes from weight watchers sites and make sure to have one serving. I'm not drinking nearly as much water throughout the day as I should though. I definitely think I'm going to have to revamp my grocery list for my next shopping trip!

Thank you all so much! I can't wait to get home and get back on that wretched treadmill!

at work, buy you some protein bars. those are healthy snacks, they fill you up! i eat one everyday at exaclty 3pm and that holds me until i get home and make dinner. i buy the Cliff Energy mini bars. for breakfast, i eat whole wheat toast and 1/2 tspn reduced fat peanut butter.

Angela_MA

I'm a big fan of measuring progress through inches vs. pounds. Take your hip & waist measurements, if you're so inclined, bust, thighs and bicep too. Get a friend to do it for you for the most accurate measurements.

I am in complete agreement with this statement!!! I have lost a ton of inches but not a lot of pounds since using this site. Measure yourself and try not to weigh yourself so often. As many of the other posts have stated a persons weight flucuates trough out the week, thus leading to discouragement! I found that I need to put my scale up and away from sight. I am going to start weighing myself every other week and doing measurements once a month. I do not want to be a slave to a number. My goal is to be fit and healthy; change my lifestyle...the scale should change as well, but I just do not want that to be the soul motivation for me!

NenaM812

I might try those. I need something to munch on at work that will keep in my desk. I usually have lower sugar or weight control oatmeal in the morning with coffee (it's best for everyone that I have my coffee lol), for lunch a LC or Smart Ones, and for dinner something with chicken, lean beef, or lean ground turkey. It's tough to not eat junk at work, all everyone wants to do around here is eat!

I've also been thinking about taking my measurements, but I'm not exactly sure where I'm supposed to measure.

r0bin84

I started dieting in December (I should say made a life change), One week I'll lose 5lbs, another week I'll lose nothing and feel down. I feel better in general about myself, and although the scale may not change every week, I can feel my jeans starting to slip down. I agree with inches over pounds, and feeling healthier all around.