how do people do it?

What are your expectations in those first 4 weeks?

Stop expecting changes to happen so quickly. 4 weeks is not long to lose a significant amount of weight. You didn't put on this weight that fast. Don't expect it to come off so fast.

Change your focus from "OMG need to get this fat off now" to "how do I change the way I live so I never have to be at this weight again?"

diet counts for a LOT! even if you are sooo busy you can't possibly fit in exercise, eating better alone will help you lose weight! good luck and don't give up. results are the best motivation so just wait for it.

if it were easy, everyone would be healthy and fit!

I was like you - I need that damn scale to move in the beginning to keep me motivated. I did a bad thing to get that - I did the 500 calorie HCG 21 day diet. It is obviously bad for you to eat so few calories, but 21 days of it, I decided, would not wreck my body. I lost 18 pounds in 3 weeks and it gave me the jump start I needed to be patient with the scale. After that I calculated my BMR and TDEE and eat based on those numbers.

I am not advocating such extreme weight loss methods...but I can relate to your frustration. Since changing to TDEE method I have consistently lost weight and am now withn a few pounds of my goal.

You can do this!!

When you say "I have plenty motiviation for the first 4weeks and when i dont see the losses i want - i go off the tracks and then i am back at square one" How much are you wanting to lose? The best and most sustainable weight loss it slow weight loss that is brought on by lifestyle changes in your eating and exercise habits. I am a personal trainer and I tell my clients to expect 1 LB a week when it comes to weight loss if they follow my plan for them.

I mainly tell them too track their calories and eat clean. Eliminate processed foods which are high in sodium as well as refined sugars and eat enough protein, good carbs, good fats and fiber.

You have to find something that motivates you. Why do you want to lose weight in the first place? You have to have a strong reason that compels you to exercise regularly and not overeat. What motivates me may not motivate you.

Just keep logging every day. Even if you aren't trying to stick to your plan. Even if you are sick. Just keep logging.

This practice will give you the knowledge to make the necessary changes. Don't focus so much on losing quickly the first month, just practice logging everything you eat and every workout you do.

You have to be ready to do it as well. I have had so many false starts in the past. When I first started I used to get frustrated seeing my friends on here eating chocolate and crisps and still loosing, where I was completely off them.

I learned that I am about excess, and I will never be able to just have one biscuit. I knew I was ready when after 4 weeks I was snack free. If you are the same try to give the 'bad' foods a break from your diet. If you stick it for a month you know you're ready to see it through.

Good luck

The keys for me on losing weight was finding a long term goal to look forward to (like my wedding, etc.) and also as far as exercise was to find something that was fun and that I wanted to keep doing and that was Zumba...talk about fun and kept me interested and burns tons and tons of calories for a one hour workout. I would try that! :-) Good luck!

I have honestly been on my lifestyle for a couple years now and the first year my weight and body fat did not budge. After that weight just started dropping really fast. I have went from 230 lbs to 155 since. I realized that after working out for so long your metabolic rate raises dramatically and lbs just drop. The longer i dieted the more "loose" my diet was.

The keys for me on losing weight was finding a long term goal to look forward to (like my wedding, etc.) and also as far as exercise was to find something that was fun and that I wanted to keep doing and that was Zumba...talk about fun and kept me interested and burns tons and tons of calories for a one hour workout. I would try that! :-) Good luck!

That sounds like a very reasonnable idea to me. You can also try more short term goals if it helps (ie 2 pounds off by the end of january...) But as said before, don't forget to enjoy life

- the thing with the wine and takeaway is that i want it and then after it i would have enjoyed something else much better!

Regarding the takeaway: this often happens when we wait until we are really hungry, and then something fattening and fast seems the most appealing. Try to have a healthy snack prepared and ready so you don't get into that mode where you want something fattening RIGHT NOW bc you are so hungry. If you aren't super hungry, you will have more strength to make better decisions.

also, don't worry too much about not having time to exercise, most weight change comes from our food choices. yes activity good for us, but it won't make or break your weight loss success.

For some people (me included) you have to give yourself mini goals... Sometimes if you look at it and say "I have to lose 70+ pounds" it becomes so overwhelming that you can't see how it's possible to attain. I made my goals in increments. This time I only had about 20 pounds to lose so I gave myself 5 pound goals and a non-food reward at the end of each success. I have two pounds to goal now and I'm getting myself all new lingerie when I hit it! A number of years ago I found myself 70 pounds overweight and lost it successfully by giving myself these smaller goals. Kept it off for 5 years before regaining 17 over a two year period. I went back to what worked the first time and it's working again. Portion control.. eat fewer calories than you're burning and you can't fail!

Everyone who starts to lose weight has motivation of some sort. You need more than that though, you need determination. You need to accept that it's going to be hard, it's going to be boring, and it's going to take a long time. It might take you a year, it might take even longer (It took me nearly a year to lose my last 55 lbs). When you reach your goal, it will still be hard. You'll still have to put in the work, but without any "results" at all, so you need to find a deeper determination to keep going.

One tip I have - it's not for everyone, but it works for me - is not to make massive changes overnight that you can't sustain long-term. After four weeks, when you're not seeing the results you want, you should be living a lifestyle that it's (relatively) easy to continue. If you are overly restrictive with your diet, then you're likely to want to throw in the towel as soon as your motivation falters. And it will, probably lots of times. Try to build healthier habits that you can continue, even if you're sick of dieting. Start by looking at your calorie intake. It sounds like you have quite an active job, so you should have a reasonable number of calories to play with. Eat what you like, and fit it into your calorie goal. Over time, if you feel you want to make changes to your diet, you can, but make them gradually, so that you're sure you can carry them on. Keep the wine and takeaway if you want to - just fit it into your diet. Or, you may well find that you no longer want them. Personally I still drink wine, but a little less and a little less often. I occasionally have takeaways, but don't find that I fancy it much any more. Once you start paying attention to your calories and macronutrients, you'll find that a lot of it falls into place.

Exercise is definitely recommended, but try to make sure you are doing things that you like, that you can easily make a habit. Exercising on top of a long shift on your feet is definitely do-able; there are lots of people here who manage it, but it can be a bit daunting at first. Don't set yourself up with a regime that will make you burn out within a few weeks. Find something that's fun, or something that you can make very clear goals in. That way, you'll stop looking at exercise as just a way to burn calories, but want to do it for its own sake.

I think the biggest thing for me has been logging. Seeing those numbers makes me make different choices, and pre-logging things I'm craving sometimes makes me change my mind. Not always, but enough to make a difference!