Frustration

what are you eating to gain? You should share your journal for us to see what's up!

I don't know how long you've been at this, but assuming you're relatively new, here's what I think is the typical pattern: When you first start exercising and watching your caloric intake, your body adjusts. This is especially true if you're increasing your water intake. (Your body will hang on to the water until it realizes that you are going to continue to hydrate it, so there will be water gain). The first couple of weeks you might see a gain, or no loss at all, followed by a week or two of larger losses, then if you're sticking to your plan, you should lose about 1-2/lbs. a week until you get close to your "ideal" weight, then it gets a little harder. The short of it is it is not unusual at all to see a gain the first week or two into this.

can't see your dairy so we can't help too much. open it up so we can see what you have been eating and now much exercise you have been doing. that's the only way we can help really.

Are you working out any? Your daily diet routine is only part of the equation. You really need to find some sort of workout program you can do. If nothing else, try walking after dinner for at least 30-60 minutes every day. As you get used to moving your body more, you can add intensified workouts 4-6 days a week to add lean muscle and reduce your body fat percentage.

It is hard to get started but once you do it for about 21 days, it becomes a habit will be easier to do as you move forward. I was 234 pounds at my heaviest, started working out at home and managed to lose 41 pounds of body fat and increase my lean muscle, which makes it easier to burn calories 24 hours a day, even when you are sleeping.

Good luck on your journey. Remember, we didn't get to where we are overnight so it will take time to get our youthful healthy bodies back. Don't give up. Decide you are going to do it, commit to doing it every day, and you will succeed in achieving your weight goals.

To your health and fitness,

Jim

I understand your frustration because i've been there. Some weeks I will lose, other I will plateau. Here is my advice...

First of all, limit the amount of times you step onto that scale.. Make it once a week, no more than that. This way you won't be discouraged by the numbers that appear and will work harder during that week for your next weigh in.

Second, how much are you working out? Diet is very important but to lose weight and keep it off it is absolutely necessary that you are getting enough exercise. Start off small and add more to your workout each time. Shoot for several times a week of cardio AS WELL as strength training. This doesn't necessarily mean you need to join a gym, walk around your neighborhood, youtube exercises that you can do at home. There are so many different things you can do to exercise without equipment, just using your own body weight for resistance.

Third, I have found using myfitnesspal to record food to be EXTREMELY beneficial. It is important to record your food as you eat / prepare it though. Make sure you are recording down EVERYTHING. If you make a sandwich make sure you are writing down everything in it and the amounts. Ex: 2 slices bread, 1 teaspoon butter, 2 oz chicken breast.... What about your drinks? If you make coffee in the morning make sure you are including whatever you add to it, sugar, creamer etc.

Recording food isn't going to help you if you aren't eating the right foods. Tip... When you go to the grocery store focus on selecting foods that are on the outside perimeter of the store.... Most of everything in the middle, on the shelves and in the freezers are BAD for you. You want to make sure you are eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. A good rule of thumb is to eat two more vegetables than you do fruit each day. Shoot for 5 veggies, 3 fruits. Ideally you should even be eating more veggies than that but I have found it is quite difficult to accomplish this.

Eat whole wheat and whole grain breads. You DO need carbs. Make sure its the right kind though. You want to read ingredient labels, make sure it DOESNT say "enriched" anywhere on it. This means that the nutrients have been striped from the product. Avoid high fructose corn syrup!

Instead of eating three times a day, eat smaller meals more often. Eat snacks throughout the day. Each night I pack a bag of food for the whole of my next day. I prepare baggies of celery, cucumber and carrot sticks as well as baggies of fruit. By eating more often your glucose levels do not drastically change and your metabolism stays more active.

Make sure you are drinking plenty of water. 70 ounces at least!

And finally, you asked for motivation ideas.... I suggest creating a blog, even if it is anonymous.. Knowing that there are people reading and following your weight loss is some great motivation. I know this for a fact because this is what I have done. I am a student at the University of Cincinnati and have a blog which basically the whole campus is following, feel free to take a look at it, I have lots of tips and tricks on there as well as my list of motivators. I started it in January of this year and so far have lost 16 pounds. The more you start to lose the more motivation you will get to keep going. My blog can be found at campusrecblog.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. There is a video of me in a bikini when I started this whole thing. I was motivated by my embarrassment of knowing that all of my fellow students had seen me half naked...

Its important that you want the weight loss for yourself. Think about how great you will feel once you have lost a few pant sizes / inches... I know that was one of the best feelings ever for me.

Another suggestion, find a friend that will do this with you. Check in with each other on a regular basis and keep each other in check by looking over each others food diaries. Work out together. Working out with a friend makes my workouts so much easier as the majority of the time we are just blabbing away.

Last but not least, stay positive. If you mess up one day or don't have as big of a loss as you are hoping for, don't get discouraged. Each day is a new day. You can do this! It gets easier and easier, I PROMISE!