Already thinking of giving up hope

You should definitely eat more than 1200 calories.

Weigh all of your food, you might be underestimating the amount you are eating, or over-estimating your burns.

As great as stopping eating "junk food" and "fast food" might be, it's not the key to success.

Here, read this thread and let it guide you.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

1200 is very low for the amount of exercise you are doing. If you are using MFP then 1200 is for people who are not exercising. Run your numbers in your MFP profile based on your exercise level and goal weight loss per week. MFP will add additional exercise calories after you enter your exercise which will be your Net Calories. Aim to eat the Net Calories amount or at least half of them. Afterwards, stick to the plan. It will pay off but it takes time so be patience.

Hi Sara,

Welcome! Patience is a virtue because you are making a lifestyle change. You have went from zero exercise to exercising every day, therefore you are probably retaining some water as your muscles repair themselves. Every time I up my weights in my weight lifting program, I tend to hold on to some water for about a week but then it disappears.

Also, I note by your diary that you are measuring your food rather than weighing it. Get a cheap digital food scale and weight everything. My guess is you are underestimating your calories eaten.

Where do you get your exercise burns from? They seem kind of high. For example, you have something called a zumba run (or is it zombie run?) that burned 200 calories in 30 minutes, then 270 calories in 32 minutes. You don't burn 70 calories in 2 minutes, and those 200 calories for 30 minutes seem high. Just so you are aware, MFP, gym machines, phone exercise apps, and the internet render inaccurate calorie burns. I use a heart rate monitor, which always gives readouts of at least 200 less than MFP and gym machines.

The point of a lifestyle change and losing weight is to be as accurate as possible.

Oh, and where did you get that 1200 calorie count from? Given your age, height, and weight, your calorie intake should be more than that.

Best of luck to you!

First is giving up going to solve the problem? No, so don't give up.

Now make sure you are accurately and honestly logging all of your intake. If you use oil to cook with add it, drinks add them, etc. Weigh your portions so you can get a more accurate calorie count.

Read the link that was given to you above.

Also, have patience it does work.

Good luck to you

Hang in there. It is SO frustrating to be doing everything 'right' and to see zero progress for your efforts.

First - no point in quitting! What will that do? Only make you continue to feel bad, and make you continue at your current weight or reach a higher weight. Which isn't to say there aren't tweaks needed to your program - there may be.

Second - realistic expectations! We've all been told that we can safely lose about 2 lbs per week, and that is a setting in MFP (did you choose that? I did!). Well, that lowers your calorie goals, sometimes to unsustainable levels and may create too big a calorie deficit (which puts you at greater risk of screwing up your metabolism and of losing muscle mass and bone tissue in addition to fat - you only want to lose fat!). Well, realistically, you should only be trying to lose 2 lbs per week if you are needing to lose 75+ lbs. A pound and a half may be a more appropriate goal for you right now. And as you continue to lose, that goal will get smaller and smaller - which is great, because you will be getting closer and closer to maintenance and to figuring out how to live with your weight and eat the right amounts to stay at that weight.

Others have already talked about the fact that weight loss isn't linear, that there are a number of things that affect the scale reading - so be sure you have other ways to monitor your progress: take measurements with a measuring tape. Figure our your body fat %. Keep notes about your physical fitness (were you short of breath at 30 minutes? is it now at 40 minutes two weeks later? did you add weight somewhere during strength training? did you increase your speed or incline on the treadmill? whatever!). Take pictures - it's hard to see progress when you look in the mirror daily (I still see three chins and my bulging rolls of fat and my enormous arms - but when I look at pictures of me from three months ago and compare them to today, there is unquestionably a ton of visible, clear progress that I just can't see normally).

Third - patience. It sucks, but weight loss that is sustainable and long-term takes TIME. It can take weeks to find out whether or not a tweak was successful, it can take months to feel like you're seeing real progress. And we're putting in all the effort now, but it isn't going to show immediately. If only it were as simple as seeing a loss every single week in direct proportion to the calorie deficit we've created! Alas - it's fits and starts. There will be times you hang on to weight and then the next week, you'll have dropped 4 or 5 lbs. There will be days when you get fed up and just want a freaking cookie but you don't have room in your calorie budget, or you really can't bear to eat another salad or you are just feeling over the whole thing. Totally normal! You just have to figure out how to navigate those bumps, just like you have to figure out how to deal with holidays, vacations, special meals, eating at someone else's home and all the other things real life throws at us. All totally navigable, all requiring dedication and patience. Start remembering that you have to have both big picture and small details - and if one detail isn't great today, you aren't wrecking the big picture.

Hang in there. It is SO frustrating to be doing everything 'right' and to see zero progress for your efforts.

First - no point in quitting! What will that do? Only make you continue to feel bad, and make you continue at your current weight or reach a higher weight. Which isn't to say there aren't tweaks needed to your program - there may be.

Second - realistic expectations! We've all been told that we can safely lose about 2 lbs per week, and that is a setting in MFP (did you choose that? I did!). Well, that lowers your calorie goals, sometimes to unsustainable levels and may create too big a calorie deficit (which puts you at greater risk of screwing up your metabolism and of losing muscle mass and bone tissue in addition to fat - you only want to lose fat!). Well, realistically, you should only be trying to lose 2 lbs per week if you are needing to lose 75+ lbs. A pound and a half may be a more appropriate goal for you right now. And as you continue to lose, that goal will get smaller and smaller - which is great, because you will be getting closer and closer to maintenance and to figuring out how to live with your weight and eat the right amounts to stay at that weight.

Others have already talked about the fact that weight loss isn't linear, that there are a number of things that affect the scale reading - so be sure you have other ways to monitor your progress: take measurements with a measuring tape. Figure our your body fat %. Keep notes about your physical fitness (were you short of breath at 30 minutes? is it now at 40 minutes two weeks later? did you add weight somewhere during strength training? did you increase your speed or incline on the treadmill? whatever!). Take pictures - it's hard to see progress when you look in the mirror daily (I still see three chins and my bulging rolls of fat and my enormous arms - but when I look at pictures of me from three months ago and compare them to today, there is unquestionably a ton of visible, clear progress that I just can't see normally).

Third - patience. It sucks, but weight loss that is sustainable and long-term takes TIME. It can take weeks to find out whether or not a tweak was successful, it can take months to feel like you're seeing real progress. And we're putting in all the effort now, but it isn't going to show immediately. If only it were as simple as seeing a loss every single week in direct proportion to the calorie deficit we've created! Alas - it's fits and starts. There will be times you hang on to weight and then the next week, you'll have dropped 4 or 5 lbs. There will be days when you get fed up and just want a freaking cookie but you don't have room in your calorie budget, or you really can't bear to eat another salad or you are just feeling over the whole thing. Totally normal! You just have to figure out how to navigate those bumps, just like you have to figure out how to deal with holidays, vacations, special meals, eating at someone else's home and all the other things real life throws at us. All totally navigable, all requiring dedication and patience. Start remembering that you have to have both big picture and small details - and if one detail isn't great today, you aren't wrecking the big picture.

This is such an exxcellent, motivating post

Keep pushing and never give up! You got this!

What was the food consumption of 1200 based on? Your old lifestyle or considering the more active you? This perhaps needs to be revisited, as you would likely do better by eating more.

So many things can temporarily mask progress when we're looking for a loss on the scale. Hormones, stress, sodium, sleep, or simply how it can take the body time to adjust to a new fitness routine. 3 weeks is not enough.

Try to think about why you're looking to make a change. Hold onto those reasons, reassess your food intake level, and keep moving forward. Give yourself another 3-6 weeks at least. You're building a better future, and its not going to happen overnight. (Or in just 3 weeks.)

^^ This is the perfect reply

1) You've just changed routine so your water weight will be all over the place (your body retains water to repair muscle) once you get used to the routine your progress will be less erratic.

2) get a tape measure, the scales only measure your overall weight - fat, muscle and water, if people have noticed a difference you may have lost more fat then the scales tell you. I would rather lose inches than pounds as noone but me can see the pounds, so start measuring and log that too.

3) also is your 1200 net or total, if you're only eating 1200 total regardless of how much exercise you do that's way to low, most on here advise to net your BMR

4) you've lost 3 pounds in 3 weeks that's actually good progress

Chin up you'll get in the swing of it x