Just started and I've already plateaued?

Argh!! So this is my second time losing weight. In 2009 I was once 130 pounds and now i'm 166. Needless to say, it's time to lose the weight. So I started counting calories (1200 a day) and exercising 5-6 days a week. I'm also a barista and I usually work 6 to 8 hour shifts.

I initially lost 4 pounds and that's it! The scale has not budged in two weeks despite everything I've done. I don't really fill out the diary on here, I usually keep track in my head but I'm going to try enter it.

What can I do?

Make sure your account is set at 1 lb per week and eat 50% of your exercise calories. Additionally, you need to give it time. It's not a plateau unless you have bee there for a month to 6 weeks. Also, lower your expectations because after you get past the initial water weight phase, 1 lb per week is good.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal,
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal, and
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal.

I don't really fill out the diary on here, I usually keep track in my head but I'm going to try enter it.

That's likely your culprit right there.

What can I do?

Track your calories as accurately as possible. Weigh and measure anything that can be weighed and measured, and log every bit of food and calorie-containing drink that you consume. Do this for a month.

THEN, if you're still in a "plateau," open your diary and ask for help again.

Not keeping track on here is probably your biggest culprit. It's easy to miscalculate when you are doing it in your head. Also, as someone else mentioned, you are working too hard! Your body is trying to hang onto the weight because you basically have put it in shock and it thinks it's starving! So to fix this, you need to start using your diary on here, and you need to eat the recommended calories, including your exercise calories. Oh, and the best advice ever... Drink LOTS of water the day before you weigh! The more water you drink, the less your body holds onto, and the happier your scales will be in the morning! ;-)

Change your goals to .5 or 1lb/week loss.

Make sure you pick the right activity level. don't pick sedentary just because you think you'll lose faster.

Eat your exercise calories back. If you look at the Goals page, you will find MFP's formula. It is designed for its users to eat back their exercise calories. Know that creating too large a deficit is counter productive and can be harmful as well,

If you are using an HRM, make sure to do -30% before logging the calorie burn to account for inaccuracies.

Get a food scale if you don't have one.

LOG LOG LOG. There is no way to know for sure how much you are eating, what your patterns are, etc if you don't log consistently. That also makes asking for help a bit pointless because no one will be able to help you more specifically.



Some additional info -

The scale is unreliable. It can fluctuate up to 10-12lbs due to food intake, water retention, etc. Aim for a body fat % goal instead and use measurements to track your progress more accurately.

Make sure you are including strength training into your exercise regime and not just cardio. Look into reconfiguring your macros. Check out the Eat Train Progress and read all the stickies. There is great info there, including how to configure and change your macros

.... I usually keep track in my head but I'm going to try enter it.

What can I do?

How about tracking them calories for a starter. This is far less complicated than we like to think. You are not eating whatever target you set to lose. Tracking in your head is likely way off or you are nibbling a bunch of calories that you miss. You had the typical water loss during the first week, and now you are eating around maintenance.

2 weeks isn't really a plateau. Keep going. You should see more results. That's if you aren't over eating or slacking on your exercise.

I would agree with everyone that tracking your diet could be the problem. You have to really ask yourself, "how faithful have I been to my diet?" In the beginning we kind of have this sense of denial of following our plan because we just want to see result so badly that we blind ourselves from the truth. Having extra almonds or another slice of bread may not be such a big deal but when those " no big deals" happen a few times a week or worse, every day, then it really adds up. Plus, things you assume aren't that unhealthy or bad may actually surprise you. You may log something that isn't terrible but realize it actually adds a lot of sodium to your day. I would say get in the habit of tracking the first few months so you can learn about your food choices and how they contribute to your plan at the end of the day...it's not always about calories.

Your body also is going through a lot of changes and won't always respond the same every week. You could be retaining water for whatever reason and might not realize it. Sometimes I notice when my body is fatigue from working out I feel so bloated. I guess it's my body's way of telling me it needs rest. Remember, you are adding stress to your body with your new diet, work out regime on top of working and the other type of daily stress we deal with. Your body is trying to figure out how to deal with that stress now.

What ever the solution is to helping your progress, remember it is all a process. It can be super frustrating to not see results as fast as you want, but as long as you stick to your plan your body will change. It won't happen as fast as you want over night, but it will happen. Don't give up!

Keep pushing even when it seems like you will never get there. You will never actually know if you can reach your goal if you throw in the towel before you've given yourself a chance so don't get discouraged. It will happen!