I'm getting REALLY frustrated!

if you are sure your intake is accurate then it's your burns that aren't

with intake as well you have to make sure you are choosing the correct entries.

Along with this don't just use the scale as a measurment for you body...use a tape measure and pics

I never eat back all my workout calories,

There's your problem. Eat at least a good portion of your exercise calories. It may sound funny, but you're not eating enough to run your metabolism with your size and activity. I made a similar mistake when I started out because I was WAY understating my activity. I added a Fitbit. Once I learned to trust the adjustment, I broke a 2 month plateau and have lost steadily. Oh, and I'm 54.

So, you lost four pounds in January and are complaining about not seeing any change whatsoever?

So, you lost four pounds in January and are complaining about not seeing any change whatsoever?

I agree with this... 4 pounds in January is good. Not a loss to complain about at all.

And I agree with making sure you're eating back exercise calories. And if you know you're going to work out in the evenings, then eat some of those throughout the day. I don't typically workout until the evenings either and I plan what I'm going to do on different days so I have a general idea of the calories I'm going to earn. I spread those out throughout the day. I don't always eat all of my exercise calories, but I eat a good portion of them. You don't want net calories for the day to be too low or you will slow or stall your weight loss.

if you are going through menopause or have already, that could be affecting your efforts to lose weight. after menopause it becomes much more difficult for women- that's why your doc suggested 1,000 calories. keep up your workouts and have patience. you probably will see results at 1,200-1,400, but it's going to be A LOT MORE DIFFICULT than it would have been for your 5-10 years ago. sorry to break it to you, but age, especially for women, works against us with weight loss. my mom is 60 and an avid runner, plus does a boot camp class 5 times a week, and she's a very active lady in general, always cleaning up my grandma's house and such, and she really struggles to lose weight, even with all that exercise, unless she severely restricts her calories.

also be mindful of the TYPE of calories that you are consuming. excess calories from veggies are a lot less damaging that excess calories from cakes and brownies (a calorie is NOT a calorie). my suggestion to you would be to avoid processed foods as much as possible, it is much more difficult to overeat when you are only getting calories from 100% natural sources. think vegetables, fruit and lean means, maybe a little bit of dairy and really limit breads and pastas. instead get carbs from vegetable sources i.e. sweet potatoes.

another thing that you may find helpful is to set a very specific goal. when we workout randomly, the results are random. a goal to "lose weight" is not really that specific either. instead focus on something more concrete, for example, reducing your 5k time, or increasing the amount of weight you can squat. hope this helps, don't get down on yourself.

I know for me it hasn't been especially linear. I started Dec 18 but Christmas got in my way a little. Calories over MFP's recommendations but below 2000. Didn't lose much (maybe 3-5 pounds) till mid January. But then in the next few weeks reached total loss of 10 pounds so far. I'm looking to lose 28 more. I always tell myself at first I'm putting on muscle, which will help burn fat. And it seems to work out that way. Now I'm losing 1/2 to 1 pound one day, then spending the next half or full week hovering there, then dropping again, then hovering, etc. I know it's attributable to differences in water retention, etc. a lot of the time I seem to plateau or suddenly lose weight. And I know I'm gradually dropping even though it appears I'm plateauing and dropping. You'll see it happen!

Sounds like you've been at the same weight for a few days?

Hi Smiletime 82,

I am sorry to hear that you are frustrated with your progress so far. Since you only started your regimen in January and we are only on the first week of Februrary I think it is too soon for you to judge that it will not work for you. You said yourself your clothes are fitting differently and you did lose some weight. As our body adjusts to our new "us" you may be retaining fluid or something else that create an impression that you are not achieving your goals. Believe me, you are. Just think of the changes you made on your diet and routine. These changes, if you stick with them, are changes for life, and while it may take longer than a month for you to see the reflection on the scale, they will eventually start to show up.

Also, a word of advice on the pre-packaged meals. They are tempting but at least with me, they leave me hungry and bloated (sodium). So if I could, I would avoid them.

Good luck and congratulations on your determination.

Best,

How much water are you getting? Aim for at least 8 glasses

How much sleep are you getting? Aim for at least 7 hours

While a safe weekly weight loss would be 1-2 pounds per week, there will be weeks you don't lose. There will even be weeks you gain ! And that doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. This is not the Biggest Loser, the weight doesn't magically drop off the minute we decide we need to lose. It really could take 6-8 WEEKS of healthy eating and regular exercise before a person sees a change in the scale. And that too is perfectly normal.

Oh you poor thing - don't have much advice, just wanted to say I know how you feel when it seems you're doing everything right but nothing is happening.

Maybe you could think about the benefits you're getting that are not to do with weight? Exercise staves off heart disease, for example, and weight-bearing exercise helps prevent osteoparosis, while eating veggies keeps you regular (ahem, sorry if that's TMI!) and helps reduce the risk of bowel cancers. These are all great things you're doing foryourself even if you can't see the results.