feeling defeated

Awwww! Dont get discouraged! Heck...mine hasnt budged either,I swear it is stuck!!! LOL.....one thing I noticed with myself, is sodium and processed food plays a HUGE part in how I feel and what the scale says. Up your veggies by a LOT. Water til you think you will drown. Just these 2 things make a huge difference! Good luck! you can do it!!!

Personal opinion here, not a doctor and not an expert, but what I had to do is go really strict the first 30 days or so; NO sweets, no fast food, no fried food, no sodas, and minimal sugars from any source other than fruit. I have been doing well in my opinion and able to add a few things in here and there, like a bit of light ice cream or some thin mints when i need sweets. I still don't do fast food and when i am on the road for work I try to be really good with my choices at restaurants (look at the menu beforehand, see if i can make a decent meal of what they offer even if i have to have them omit something or prepare it special for me.)
I also personally believe that changing my workout up frequently helps to keep the body guessing, which helps it burn more efficiently.
And of course water, water, water...at least 10 glasses if not more every day!

I would just go with what you know. You know for sure that you're old way of life leads to increases on the scale right? You know for sure that eating at a deficit and making smarter choices will lead to a more healthly you right? You know for sure (well, hopefully for sure) that you will be here six months from now. Which version of yourself do you want to be?

My thought - stick with the diet and exercise. Manage the things you can control and celebrate NSV (running a mile, completing an exercise DVD, joining a gym, eating six servings of veggies). You're body will follow, even if it's in the body's own time. Good luck!

Awwww! Dont get discouraged! Heck...mine hasnt budged either,I swear it is stuck!!! LOL.....one thing I noticed with myself, is sodium and processed food plays a HUGE part in how I feel and what the scale says. Up your veggies by a LOT. Water til you think you will drown. Just these 2 things make a huge difference! Good luck! you can do it!!!

Personal opinion here, not a doctor and not an expert, but what I had to do is go really strict the first 30 days or so; NO sweets, no fast food, no fried food, no sodas, and minimal sugars from any source other than fruit. I have been doing well in my opinion and able to add a few things in here and there, like a bit of light ice cream or some thin mints when i need sweets. I still don't do fast food and when i am on the road for work I try to be really good with my choices at restaurants (look at the menu beforehand, see if i can make a decent meal of what they offer even if i have to have them omit something or prepare it special for me.)
I also personally believe that changing my workout up frequently helps to keep the body guessing, which helps it burn more efficiently.
And of course water, water, water...at least 10 glasses if not more every day!

TOTALLY, 1,000% agree to this.
I'm a big guy, and was a much bigger guy. I also have a very analytical mind. So, during the past few (short months), I've been logging my food and activity calories. Also, became a bit obsessive about checking myself on the scale. You know what, it fluctuated daily!!! However, I check-in one reading (typically Monday morning when I first wake up.)

Here's my observation from this short period of time.
1. The less water I drink the more the scale does not budge; or moves very slowly. Water is the key to LIFE and essential for cells to metabolize stored energy.

2. Sleep is also a huge factor. I tend to sleep less than 5 hrs per night. When I do so, the weight loss progress drops significantly. When I get plenty of sleep (not just one night, but for every night); the weight seems to melt away.

3. Veggies and Fruit, or any food that's more "natural" than "processed" works better for my body.

4. Logging, logging, logging, logging.....the more I log, and honest about it. The more I realize and see what affects me. When I was a young kid, I watch GI Joe, they would say, "Now you know, and knowing is half the battle." (Okay, maybe I was a teenager, not that young. doh)

5. Speaking of knowledge, this site chalk full of advice, help, and support. The learning about weight loss, about getting healthy, what others are experiencing, etc. etc. is a huge benefit for me and helped so much. Glad you weren't shy to ask. Honestly, for me, it seems you've done the hardest thing so far. Which is making the decision to live healthier and take responsibility.

Like you, I've been soooooo stinking discouraged. . . I stick to my calories, I work out (cycle) at least 3 times a week, though I shoot for 5 (doesn't always work out that way) and when I do work out, I burn 500+ calories. . . I kept thinking to myself, what am I doing wrong?! My scale hadn't budged in OVER A MONTH -- until this morning. I lost a pound! Woo-hoo! :bigsmile: Plus, I took my measurements and I've lost an inch in my waist a 1/2 inch in my hips and 1 inch from my chest. I can't tell you how overjoyed that made me to FINALLY see results!

One thing I did a few weeks ago was I went into my settings and told it I wanted to lose a pound a week (which was the recommended settings) instead of the pound and a half a week I initially wanted to lose. It bumped up my calories from 1200 to 1390 (not much, but made a difference I think) and I also eat around 25% of my exercise calories back. For instance, last night I rode 17 miles with an average of 12-14 mph and MFP said I burned 899 calories. I ended up eating around 250 of those calories back.

At first, I didn't see the importance of eating my exercise calories back and thought it was counter-productive to trying to lose weight, but I see how important it is (for me). Some people say eat all of them back but I had to find a balance for *myself*. I always eat something after I work out (b/c I work out after work, before dinner) and beyond that, I listen to my body and if it's TRULY hungry, I'll eat something. If I'm burning that many calories a workout, I don't feel so bad about eating a little bit of them back. Basically, my body needs fuel before and after my workouts and I have learned to think of food that way.

Also, I learned recently to watch my sodium. I really didn't before but noticed I kept going WAY over. Now I rarely go over. I think all in all, it just takes our bodies time to adapt to what we're asking it to do for us. And with my little victory on the scale and with my measurements changing little by little, I learned that it'll pay off--just not as quickly as I'd like. I know I've seen this posted time and time again, but I didn't put all of the weight on in one month so I can't expect it to start melting off in a month.

Hope that helps and stick with it! You'll be glad you did.