Not sure what I'm doing wrong????

You are doing the right things. It is probaly b/c you are gaining mustle, which weighs more than fat. When I first started watching my weight, it started very slow. It will happen just dont give up..u will lose weight..i promise..as long as you are eating right and working out at least 3 days a week, every week. You are doing great!!!

Are you eating some / all of your exercise calories? I found that I had a slow start until I began eating those exercise cal's.

Have you taken your measurements? Perhaps you are losing inches, but not moving on the scale yet...

If you are doing everything right.. Just be patient ( I know sometimes it may be discouraging) But we are all on this journey for the long haul, and some weeks your successes may be greater then others!!

Don't lose sight of your goal and keep pushing!! Cheers to your future successes!!

Me too! I only lost 2 pounds in January:sad: and I was staying under calories and exercising. Well, this month I am going to try eating my exercise calories and see if that gets the scale moving!! Hang in there, we can't give up now!

Make sure what you're eating is actually healthy. Don't fall for the "low fat," "sugar free," "low calorie" food scams. Eat REAL food.
It drives me up the wall reading people recommending "light" this and "fat free" that.

Make sure you're eating enough. If you were hungry to the point of binging one day that sends up a red flag to me. I eat 1200-1400 calories most days and I'm very rarely hungry between meals. And if I am hungry, I eat.
I LOVE food. :laugh: And I don't have to give up good REAL food to be healthy. In fact, you need good high quality real food in order to be healthy. Eating processed foods out of boxes and bags isn't good for you.

Open your food diary to others for specific suggestions.

In 2 weeks, I have only lost 7 pounds, and 5 of those were the first week.

ARE YOU FREAKING SERIOUS?!

"In 2 weeks I have ONLY lost 7 pounds" What a ridiculous comment! Check your expectations. That is a phenomenal loss. This is my opinion of course, but at your weight (assuming you're around average height) you should expect to lose 2, MAYBE 3 pounds a week for the next 20 pounds or so, then expect it to level out around 2 pounds a week for a while, then to 1 pound, and so on. The closer you are to your goal, the slower the weight will (and should) come off. Anything more than 2-3 pounds a week is probably pretty unhealthy, even for those of us who are obese. An average of 2 pound/week loss is considered pretty aggressive and shouldn't even be expected by anyone who isn't obese.
I've been at this since September 8th and I've lost just over 51 pounds -- this is an incredible amount of weight to lose in under 5 months doing things the healthy way (yes, toot toot -- but only to make my point more realistic).

True story! Just started really watching what I eat about 2 weeks ago...also started exercising daily. I have only gone over on my calories once in that time, but always come close. In 2 weeks, I have only lost 7 pounds, and 5 of those were the first week. I was starting to get discouraged because the scale has been bouncing back and forth for the past week. Well, I got measured yesterday. To my great surprise I have lost 7 inches (from 6 areas measured) and 0.7% body fat. That made it all worthwhile. Keep it up! Also get a scale that measures body fat...that is the most important measurement...I know for a fact now that I am losing fat weight, but gaining muscle weight faster!

"In two weeks I have ONLY lost 7 lbs"??? That is great weight loss!! Be happy with that!! I would love to have half of that at this point! Great Job!

Thanks for all the encouragement. I have not been eating up my "exercise" calories. I have always been under the assumption that you needed to take in less then then was going out?? So i havent eaten my "extra cals'.

Yes, BUT My Fitness Pal sets you at an automatic calorie deficit based on how much weight you told it you wanted to lose each week. If you want to lose 2 pounds, you're already set at a 1000 calorie deficit, 1 pound, you're set at a 500 calorie deficit. So, eating your exercise calories just keeps you at that automatic deficit. If you don't eat your exercise calories, you're increasing the deficit, and depending on how much weight you have to lose, that could cause your body to freak out because it thinks it's starving. This means (and this is a crudely simple explanation I'm sure) your body is going to start eating your lean muscle and trying to store any and all fat. That's obviously not what anyone here wants. Please go read the pinned posts at the top of the "General Diet and Weight Loss Help" forum here!

There's no way that you're 'gaining muscle' after only four weeks, sorry to say. However, if you've recently started an exercise regime after a long period of inactivity, there's a good chance your muscles are 'shocked' and retaining water. Drink a lot of water. Once the muscles are more healed up and 'used' to the exercise, they'll let go of the water.

Water retention also may be an issue if you're not drinking enough water in general, or if you're eating too much sodium. Check your levels- I try to keep mine at about 1500, 2000 MAX.

Also, gross as it may sound, poop weighs a lot. Make sure you're eating enough fiber and drinking lots of water. It will 'cleanse' your system naturally, flatten your stomach a bit, and take off a bit of weight. Plus, you'll just feel better.

Eat your exercise calories- Like jlb123 said, MFP sets you up with an automatic deficit. If you don't eat your exercise calories, you're setting yourself up for starvation mode- and your body won't want to let go of the extra pounds. If you don't want to eat ALL of them, at least try to eat half to three quarters of them. There are oodles of posts here that talk about WHY you should eat your exercise calories, and they contain way better information than I could possibly rehash here- so do a search. Ready the sticky posts in the 'General' forum and you'll see what we're talking about.

Also, you've mentioned your husband has noticed a change in your form. I recommend getting a tape and checking your measurements. Numbers on the scale will fluctuate due to water retention, how much food is in your stomach, whether your hair is wet (don't believe me? Weigh yourself before and after you shower and you'll see), if you've gone to the bathroom, etc. If you check your measurements (once a week, bi-weekly or once a month) you'll see changes that may not be obvious on the scale.

Lastly- don't lose hope! Keep pushing through. Changes will come, it's just a matter of persistence and perseverance.

Since you are working out, it could be that you are adding muscle while losing fat, which may cause the scale to look like nothing is happening. In this case, I would recommend keeping track of measurements. There are a lot of online bodyfat calculators that you can use, some are pretty close to true, and you can get an idea of whether or not you are losing some bodyfat.

As I understand it it's almost impossible to add muscle mass while also losing fat.

The muscles may be 'shocked' and retaining water, though.

The reason I mention it at all is because I hear it a lot. "Oh, you're just building muscle," but it's not always as black and white as that....

I know that I recently read someone's blog where they explain really well why you can't build muscle mass and lose fat mass at the same time, but I can't find it.



EDIT: Oh, here it is!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/RVachon71/view/-you-weight-is-not-changing-but-you-re-probably-gaining-muscle-16522

Thanks for clarifying the part about gaining muscle/losing fat.

I do think it is possible for it to occur in the same period of time, such as from one week to the next. Maybe it IS just water in those muscles, but there is definitely a reason why we appear to be more toned when we are exercising, and I would think that this toning is not JUST water retention in the muscle tissue.

I would like to make another point, and it is one that I feel is very important. Doing body measurements and using some sort of a bodyfat calculator is going to be very important in documenting that one is not losing any lean body mass. Our bodies are really only capable of burning a few pounds of fat per week (I know there are some exceptions, but this is in general). So, for those who are losing a ton of weight at a fast clip, I would be worried that these people are losing fat AS WELL as lean body mass (muscle, water, other tissues that break down). Online calculators are not perfect, but they are a nice tool to use to graph weight loss over time. The calculators are fairly sensitive to changes, and over a period of time one would expect to see fat loss while maintaining lean body mass. If the lean body mass is declining, then this would not indicate a safe weight loss.

The first problem is all people who want to lose weight need to know that true weight lose that comes off, AND STAYS OFF, is a slow process made from lifestyle changesd! Five pounds in a month is actually quite amazing, let alone two weeks! Weight loss is not like shown in an informercial on tv. Stop believing that! One to two pounds a week is actually what your goal should be.

The next problem is all people need to know that to lose weight, you have to EAT! Starving may help you to drop some pounds at first, but it will not help you lose over the long haul and keep weight off! You must eat a healthy, balanced diet so the body never believes it is starving; if the body thinks it is starving, it will stop burning calories! Thus, you stop losing weight!

You need to stick with a healthy, balanced diet rich with lean protiens, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, and yes, a treat now and then (within reason). Maybe a square of chocolate every day, instead of an entire day of binging. In fact, if you are eating the calories you should, you should not be starving, EVER, and shouldn't need a binge day, just a treat now and then!

Hope this helps.

Just what I was gonna say!

For a majority of us it's bad lifestyle choices that got us where we are now, so to be healthy we can't just go on a diet for a little while and then go back to our old life style...we need to make significant PERMANENT changes in our habits

good luck all
JF