Am I wasting my time?

Not to burst Sydney's bubble but you don't have to eat 5-6 times a day. That's a total myth. And you can eat as early or as late as you want too! Try to up your protein intake and lower your carb intake. And make sure 25% of your calories are fat calories. Very necessary in any diet to keep you functionally correctly

What works for one person doesn't always work for another. For me eating smaller meals more often has helped boost my metabolism. Also, if I eat late the scales don't budge so I try to not to at least three hours before bedtime.

Losing weight is like watching paint dry. Keep eating right, and getting in exercise. Take some measurements and forget the scale.

How do you feel? Your weight does not tell the whole story. You should be looking how your body is changing, I bet your muscles feel tighter. You also said that you were felling happy until you weighed your self, this means that mentally your feeling good.
Remember that your journey to a healthier life is a marathon, not a sprint

This!

Take your measurements and pay attention to how you feel & how your clothes fit. About a month into my work on MFP, I was discouraged because I was exactly the same weight as the week before. One of my friends suggested I take my measurements, and I'd had lost 1.5" on my waist and 1" on my hips during that week.

It sounds like you're keeping good tabs on your food, just make sure you're eating enough to fuel your body for all that exercise you're doing. Keep trying to find what works for you, and things will start to happen. Good luck!

It's just one week. I know it's discouraging, but keep doing what you're doing and see what happens next week.

I was 222lbs when I first started exercising and counting calories. I lost 8lbs the first week (mostly water weight, obviously) and the next week I didn't lose ANYTHING! I freaked out too. I was so upset and felt like I was doing something wrong. Since then, I have consistently lost weight weekly. The beginning is hard, but it will become much easier once you start seeing weight-loss trends and get to know your body a bit better.

Hi all

Just started my journey - was 252lbs on 20th May and lost 6lbs in 11 days (246lbs on 31st May). Am closely logging all food, pretty much stopped snacking entirely and am doing 45 mins of circuits every weekday and running 3.5 miles at least once a weekend. Was feeling really happy till I weighed again today (a week later) and am still at 246lbs. Why the hell haven't I lost? Is it even worth carrying on trying?

So you're mad that you lost 6 lbs since May 20th and are already wanting to give up? O_o Yes, with that attitude you might as well throw in the towel. Sorry to sound harsh, but what did you really expect? To continue to lose weight at that rate?

You dropped a bunch of water weight very quickly, now there is where the real work comes in. Keep at it, giving up isn't going to get you to where you want to be. Weight loss is never completely linear, and you can't compare to how fast or slow someone else loses. You might want to look at how much (or how little) you are eating. I haven't looked at your diary. The TDEE -20% method is very popular for a reason, it works. Or get some kind of device that tracks your calories burned all day so you know how much to eat and maintain a deficit. There are people in the forums that use all kinds of stuff like the Jawbone, FitBit, I use the BodyMedia LINK armband, and I think there are others.

Bottom line - if you are going to want to give up after not seeing the scale move for just 1 week, you are in for a long and disappointing journey.

I'm with you Sydney, the eating every two hours works for me. My calorie count is actually lower when I eat more often then when I used to eat twice a day. I hate when people say "hate to burst your bubble but it doesn't work". How do you know? Did you try this? Everyone truly does lose weight differently. I know people who have stopped drinking soda and they lost 10 pounds in a month with only that change. I think I've only had 10 cans the past year and a half and no change.

Don't get discouraged OP! Just keep going. The first month is always the hardest for me because you expect everything to happen right away but it is small changes over time. Before you know it, it's been three months and you not only look a lot better, you feel better. I haven't lost that much because it's been 3 weeks, but I feel worlds better.

Eating healthy and being active is absolutely worth it. It's not always about weight loss. You are taking care of your body and living a healthy lifestyle, and that is the most important thing. Don't give up!

it is worth it - honestly! Double check the accuracy of your logging; weigh your food and consider something like a heart rate monitor to accurately record your calorie burn. The MFP estimates for burns are very often far too high. Stick with it :flowerforyou:

One, stop being so negative! You lose 6 pounds in under 3 weeks, that's definitely on target for the healthy 2 pound per week goal! AND you're making several wonderful changes for your health by getting active and eating better! Way to go!

Two, as others said, it could be water weight. You didn't say how new you are to working out or working out that much... If this is fairly new to you then you're probably sore. When you're sore, your muscles are retaining water and glycogen as part of the natural healing process. 1 cup of water weighs half a pound (a gallon weighs about 8 pounds) so you can imagine how little water it takes for the scale to stop or even go up a bit when you're retaiing water.

High sodium intake and monthly cycle can also influence water weight.

So as others said, just be patient and keep doing what you're doing.

When I started losing weight, it was coming off great but then totally stalled out for a couple of weeks becuase I started going to the gym. Next week I lost FOUR pounds! Not saying this is what will happen to you exactly but as others have pointed out, weight loss isn't linear. I can't tell you how many times I or my friends got all frustrated from a plateau and then all of a sudden we get a big drop in weight. You have to learn to roll with it.

No need to be in such a rush. You got this!