Frustrated at the process

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I am pretty frustrated with the process so far but not ready to give up. I joined MFP 3 weeks ago, now going on week 4 and I have been religious about logging my food/water intake as well as what exercise I do. Some days I don't do good (mainly because delicious food presents itself and I am not thinking about my diet- more so about the yummy stuff I can eat).
Anyways, for the most part- 95% of the time, I eat awesome and have definitely noticed a tightening up of certain places. (Like abs) But I find the weight loss factor to be nothing short of frustrating

The first week went great- I lost 3 lbs.
The second week- I lost nothing.
The third week - I gained a pound.
Who knew this was going to be so hard!?

I know I don't want to give up. I am on here for a reason. And I'm not ready to throw in the towel. I just wonder has anyone else felt this way in their weight loss journey?

Replies

  • RMCoffey
    RMCoffey Posts: 27
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    Are you excersizing regularly?
    We all get frustrated with the process. But keep going or you'll be more frustrated with the way the scale is moving :wink:
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    Are you getting enough protein in your diet? And are you sure 95% of your days are good? That would mean in those three weeks, you went over only ONE day. (1 day of 21 being 4.761%)

    Be sure to log EVERYTHING and be truthful about it. You may also need to start measuring your stuff if you have trouble accurately estimating the size/portion.
  • Dawnicita0318
    Dawnicita0318 Posts: 12 Member
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    I am consistent on the exercise, it is just the diet part which I find a struggle.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    Yes. I have.

    Read this. Feel better.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/350212--why-scales-lie?hl=Why+scales+lie


    Go take some photos, measure yourself. And put away the scale for awhile. Do a monthly comparison. you'll see the difference even if the scale doesn't show it.
  • skcornett
    skcornett Posts: 169 Member
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    We all get frustrated when it doesn't go quickly. I was averaging 10 lbs per month for the first 6 months and now it has slowed to a crawl for me. Does it drive me crazy? YES!!! But I also know that this is the rest of my life. There's no magic number or weight or event....just gotta get it done.

    Be patient. There are any number of reasons you may not have lost more yet. What's your water intake? What about sodium? Is your calorie intake at a healthy level (i.e., are you eating at least 1200 cals)? Are you burning a bunch of cals every day?

    Hang in there. You may also want to consider taking your measurements - those numbers are better reflections (in my opinion) of your progress.
  • apcross13
    apcross13 Posts: 8 Member
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    The first place I start when I stall out is going back to weighing and measuring everything. I agree, it is so easy to make mistakes by eyeballing portions, and those little mistakes add up quickly.
  • CarriC03
    CarriC03 Posts: 8
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    Maybe you have hit a plato! With the exercise it needs to consist of weight training, cardio and healthy eating. You will lose nothing if yo u sabotage your diet. The entire purpose of getting fit is to change your body. If you are noticing changes but the scale isnt moving like you want then you are replacing your fat with muscle. It takes time to start shedding pounds. I encourage you to stay strong and fight through your plato. For me I weight train every day and do cardio everyday. I eat healthy and have noticed a HUGE difference in my overall appearance. The scale stops moving at times and im ok with that and so should you. As long as you are putting in the HARD WORK it takes then you will achieve it!!! Good luck!
  • skip367
    skip367 Posts: 2 Member
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    Don't just depend on the scales to tell you that you are making progress. Use a body fat calculator (i.e. see Fat2Fit website) and measure other proportions every couple of weeks. I measure waist, hips, thigh, calfs and record it. Last week, after eating well all week and exercising regularly, the scale said I didn't lose anything. But, the body fat calculations indicated that I shed .5% of body fat which translates to 1.7 pounds of fat. If, in addition to eating fewer calories, you also began to exercise more vigourously then it is particularly important that you don't depend on weight as your sole source of evaluation and reinforcement.
  • Dawnicita0318
    Dawnicita0318 Posts: 12 Member
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    Thank you all for your insights.
    I really appreciate everything that you all have to say-
    When it comes to trying to get fit and lose weight, I'm kind of unsure what to expect so I'm thankful to all of you who are doing it too.
    It's really encouraging not to have to try to figure it all out alone.