Not Losing Weight Quickly Enough... Help!!

Like fuzzipeg said, the weight didn't go on overnight so you won't lose it that fast either. You have 2 choices - go for the quick weight loss or long term weight loss. Going for it quickly will lead to fad diets & you will end up putting the weight back on because you ultimately are not changing habits. Once the "diet" is over the old eating habits kick back in & the weight (usually plus some more) will come back. Losing weight over the long term leads to lifestyle changes that become permanent, you learn to make better food & exercise choices that will help you maintain a healthy weight. Also, taking the long term approach will help you relieve that stress you seem to be feeling about having to lose the weight immediately. Research food to find things you like that will be better choices, create time in your week for exercise that you enjoy & track your progress. Watching the weight steadily come off is a great confidence boost & will keep you doing the right things. Also, keep in mind the scale is probably the least important # - go by how healthy you feel, how you do at checkups with your doctor (particularly your #'s like blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc.) & how you look. Nothing feels better than dropping clothes sizes, I had that happen while I was in a plateau with the scale & it was great motivation to keep going......

Don't micromanage yourself! You're in it for the long term. Pounds and fractions will fluctuate throughout the day based on intake and, er, output. You want to look at the general trend over a week, several weeks, month, etc. Spikes up and down are expected, but how does the overall trend look? If it's on track, keep doing what you're doing. If it's too low or high, adjust. Yes, too fast is no good either; your body goes into starvation mode and once it gets food, it stores it! Keep your metabolism and a good 1-2lb loss per week.

It can be hard not looking at that scale every day. You want to know how your'e doing. But if you only check in weekly, you'll see more of a trend progress than an inaccurate instant value.

Best of luck to you!

I've shared this before, and I know it risks being TL;DR but this is my advice:

1. Commit. You have to want to lose weight and be willing to change your current behavior to accomplish that. The world is full of quick weight loss gimmicks because many people do not want to commit. They want the success but aren't willing to put in the work.

2. Spend time calculating your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) and working out a reasonable deficit to achieve a steady weight loss. This needs to be a an amount that you can actually achieve day in and day out for a long time. There is no sense in setting it low only to find yourself suffering through it for a few days and then binging next week.

3. Buy a digital kitchen scale and a good variety of measuring cups and spoons. Weigh all solids and measure any liquids that have any calories and that go into your body. And record it all.

4. Find an exercise program that you can stick with consistently over time. If it's only walking right now, then okay. But make sure you do it every day then but do not think that it every needs to be more than 1 hour a day. I sometimes hit 2 hours (split between weights and cardio) but I'm well into this and am not risking burn out by doing so. As you increase your physical capacity then increase your exercise until you are strength training at least 3 times a week and doing some sort of cardio 2 or 3 times a week (again, walking is fine). Cardio is not strictly necessary to lose weight but it will improve your cardiovascular health and it will help you by allowing you to eat a bit more. Strength training also is not strictly necessary to lose weight but it will help you retain what muscle mass you have. You won't notice the difference immediately but as you get close to your goal weight you will be very happy you did it.

5. And speaking of goal weight, don't worry about this so much. It will change as the weight comes off anyway. If it motivates you though, then have one but definitely be open to moving it down, reasonably, as the weight comes off and your view of things change.

6. BE CONSISTENT. No plan is worth a damn thing if you don't stick with it.

7. Be Patient. Weight loss isn't linear and you will have weeks where you do everything right and nothing happens. You're not alone here. It's happened to all of us.

8. Be willing to reevaluate if you do hit a plateau for a couple of months. The problem could be any one of the above issues. If it's not then talk to your M.D.

9. Have fun. Find ways to get your exercise in that you really enjoy. If you hate getting out of bed in the morning then that morning run is going to suck. Don't do this to yourself.

10. Dont' be unreasonable with your diet. Allow yourself to eat some of the foods that you always have, just in true 1 serving size portions. Some people are better than others with this. If you do have a true "trigger food" then you need to avoid it, at least for a while, but if you constantly deny your cravings, by eating yogurt rather than ice cream for example, you're going to eventually binge. At least most people will. The idea here isn't to punish yourself but to teach yourself how to eat proper portions and balance your diet. Many of us find success while still eating pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, beer, french fries, donuts and pop tarts. We just don't eat them all the time and when we do we have a portion. Not a box or a carton.

11. Forgive yourself for bad days. You will have them. We all do. Just make sure that you get right back on track rather than beating yourself up for a week and then releasing your stress about it in a box of donuts.

It's understandable to feel frustrated about losing weight. When I got diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last year, I had a choice to make: Either feel miserable and down out my sorrows eating wrong, which will lead to things getting worse...or accept I have it and change my habits to be healthier in the long run. I chose the latter and haven't looked back since. It took me nearly a year to lose 50 pounds, and I did hit a plateau for about a month. Just take your time losing weight. There's no need to rush it.

The most important thing I learned was to read the labels. Watch carefully about what the info is per serving. Example: a can of Campbell's soup actually has TWO servings in one can, so if you eat the whole can in one shot, you're getting double the carbs, sodium, and everything else.

Now here's a shocker: An entire six-pack of Kool-Aid Bursts drinks has 5 less carbs than only one Hershey's Cookies n' Cream milkshake drink (54 carbs for the Kool-Aid Bursts, 59 carbs for the Hershey's drink). Believe me, once you understand what you can get in a serving, you'll be able to get better control of your eating habits and lose weight.