How is this possible?

I am sooo discouraged! I have not been (admittedly) very strict about MFP, but my diet has improved, I am eating out less and drinking a LOT less soda. I have also been exercising a couple of times a week. I'm about half time keeping track on MFP, maybe a little less.

And yet, I have not lost anything, in fact this morning I was UP (again!). I am soo discouraged--I know i need to be more strict about MFP and such, but when I am very strict I start to have huge guilt feelings whenever I go over my calorie limit, even by a little bit. I haven't recorded every day, either, but I have definitely been trying to eat out less and drink less soda and juice. My fridge and cupboard are filled with healthy foods....

*sigh.......can anyone help? I know what I need to do, but I think I just need to hear that I won't keep GAINING weight if I stick with this and get better about tracking.

The weight loss will come, just focus on what you HAVE accomplished - less soda, couple times a week of exercise & eating out less.

You can do it. We all get discouraged - just keep going. :flowerforyou:

You really need to track everyday. At least for 90 days. Human beings are notorious for underestimating how many calories they eat and overestimating how much they exercise. This is true even with tracking, but is almost unavoidable without tracking. If you very consistently track, you will see results.

I have been there. Just remember you can do it and you have a great support team here.

I am sooo discouraged! I have not been (admittedly) very strict about MFP, but my diet has improved, I am eating out less and drinking a LOT less soda. I have also been exercising a couple of times a week. I'm about half time keeping track on MFP, maybe a little less.

And yet, I have not lost anything, in fact this morning I was UP (again!). I am soo discouraged--I know i need to be more strict about MFP and such, but when I am very strict I start to have huge guilt feelings whenever I go over my calorie limit, even by a little bit. I haven't recorded every day, either, but I have definitely been trying to eat out less and drink less soda and juice. My fridge and cupboard are filled with healthy foods....

*sigh.......can anyone help? I know what I need to do, but I think I just need to hear that I won't keep GAINING weight if I stick with this and get better about tracking.

Get better with tracking. Congrats on making healthier decisions, because it's the small changes that will really add up. But to see progress a little sooner, track what you eat, and track your workouts. People tend to underestimate calories eaten (healthy foods still have calories) and overestimate exercise calories, which in the end ends up being calories intake > calories expended = gain. Buckle down, track your calories, and you will see results.

One thing I can say is eating out is diet sabotage - even on the healthy menu. Most restaurant foods (fast food & dine-in restaurants alike) are loaded with sodium. Even if it's a healthy option on the menu, it's usually packed with sodium. Sodium retains water inour bodies, so a lot of that weight could flush through your system as water weight loss after just a week of eating clean.

One tip: Plan your meals.

For me, its far easier to know my calorie level when I plan my meals ahead. What I'm going to cook, when, when I gonna eat it. Stick to it, and sometimes enjoy yourself when you got some wiggle room on the plan!

I've found that losses come in bunches. I can go 3 weeks without losing anything, and then drop 4-5 in the course of 5 days. Keep at it, it will pay off. Best of luck!

I find it's really easy for me to out-eat my exercise - if I don't measure stuff, I'm torched.

Have your thyroid levels checked.

The thing is - you do kind of have to track every day for it to work. It's way, way easier to eat a calorie than it is to burn one. Bodies are sneaky little jerks - they really don't want to get rid of any of their hard-won stores, so they will do everything they can to trick your brain into eating more, and will also at the same time try to convince you that you're not actually eating more, especially if you've sent it a signal that you plan on eating less.

If it's stressful, it can help just to track - don't worry about the goals, just write everything down. Every day. And then you can see where you can make the small changes that have the biggest impacts - like maybe you think "I'm only having one soda a day!" but you realize you're drinking it out of a 32-oz mug. Or "oh, carrot cake, that's healthy!" and you track it and realize it's like the most calorie-dense food on the planet and it would be better just to eat a couple of Twinkies. I know those sound like dumb examples, but see "sneaky jerk," above - when I got back to tracking after a long period of "oh, I'm eating healthy, I'm just meant to be this weight" I realized that what I considered a serving of pasta was actually three, which you'd think I would notice since there are only 8 in a box. That kind of thing creeps up on you.

You're already facing in the right direction - keep going and you'll get there!