A very sad intro :(

you should never be hungry. Always stick to your calorie goal. Eating less does not mean lose weight faster, it can stall weightloss as you have found.

That is a sad story, you must feel really frustrated. Could it be you are going through so much stress with wedding/moving/putting pressure on yourself that you're raising your Cortisol levels meaning you store fat? I only know what I have read but stuff like that can really make a difference and lack of sleep doesn't help?
I've had a similar week - feeling hungry, doing daily workout DVD's and really watching my calories/no alcohol and I got on scales this morning, after a week of not weighing in, to find I have not lost an ounce - I've been really down about it all day and like you think I might as well just not put the effort in!
- I'm hoping if I redouble my efforts this week then it will add up for weigh in next week and like 5lbs will go all at once!
- Good luck

I know having your gall bladder out changes the way your body processes fat, so you might want to look into that.

Are you seeing other body changes as a result of your good eating and exercise habits? Sometimes I think it's dangerous to live and die by the scale. Being stronger, building stamina and having clothes fit better may be other things you can look for to make you feel like all your effort isn't being wasted.

I wish you well.

Hang in there! I know when I started it was a slow process, but soon the results were showing up and fast; sometimes shocking me in the results. The times I have had problems is when stress settled in over a family loss, and now that i've gotten close to my goals, but I'm not giving up either as EllieWool stated herself.

Don't go hungry for the day as that may have reverse effects, and if after a couple of weeks there aren't any results, I would definitely talk to a doctor or nutritionist as there may be something else lurking.

Good luck, and never give up!

Do NOT eat less. MFP's recommendations are if anything already on the low side. If you can't do it for the rest of your life, it isnt workable.

If you are going to bed feeling hungry and you are not losing, try shifting macros around.

For all the crap about the "best" diet out there, the best one is the one you can live with. And that is not going to be the same for everyone. Some people thrive in ketosis (very low carb), some people get very sick in ketosis <--me

The extremes of many of the diets out there are all horrible for my energy and hunger. For me PERSONALLY I do best in a moderate but not low carb, a little high but NOT paleo high fat and moderately high protein. Me. Not you. Me. It takes TIME to find your personal sweet spot. And the sweet spot is not what makes you lose weight fastest, it is where you are satiated, have energy and sleep reasonably well. Without those 3 things a diet can never be more than temporary, and weight loss is temporary as well.

Take a look back since you have the 2 weeks of data at your average daily Carb/Fat/Protein%. And then consciously make a change. Increase protein or fat (both far more satiating than carbs) ....probably protein as most women eat on the low end. Not drastically - you are searching for a lifestyle you can do forever.

Make a shift. Be more aware of how your hunger is and less concerned about the scale. First try to find a way to eat that satiates you. Add some weight training.

Be patient. Sometimes it takes the body a few weeks to let go. You might be burning fat but retaining extra water. The metabolism might be sleepy until it gets a few workouts in.

And be cautious about that whole "going to bed hungry" AND "working out until you can't any more" Both of those can be messing with stress hormones and that REALLY messes with weight loss.

I too am a slow loser. I have never had the joy of losing 5-10 pounds that first week, my weight loss starts coming off after about 4-6 weeks, and then it is super slow. One thing I can say, is every persons body is different. I have had to play around with different things to see what works for my body. For example: Some people can lose weight on a calorie deficit alone, others need a higher protein, low carb option. I am one of those people that has to keep my simple carbs at a minimum, and workout regularly. Also, I have to play with different workout regimens to change things up. Every 3 weeks I change my workout to keep my body guessing. Stress is a big weight loss killer also. Maybe try some meditation exercises to help alleviate some of it. Whatever you do, Never give up! Everything takes time! Best wishes to you!

I highly recommend using a food scale. They're $10-20 and eliminate any doubt when it comes to your oatmeal, bagel, etc. Measuring cups just aren't very accurate and even packaged items can be off up to 20%.

Are non-animal, unsaturated fats an option for you? Fats help you feel full.

Finally- 2 weeks is not long enough to say that you're not losing weight. It can take 4-6 weeks for a deficit to start showing on the scale.

1. You need to develop the right mindset that will support you, thats one that will see you through from start to finish.
2. You need knowledge to understand how weight loss works. Knowledge helps you understand and stops needless worries plus it gives you the tools to do things properly. Read the stickies.
3. You need a decent plan that can guide you to do the correct things.

First what everyone else said, is that there could be any number of things that may mean you arent losing weight. No open diary so hard to say. If you arent logging thats a major weakness there as would not weighing your food.

Second going to bed hungry is just crazy and needless. Its a lifestyle change, so you need to make changes you cna live with. Hunger is just crazy. Hunger is also one of the things that can make you miserable as well as break your determination to diet, cayse you to quit or binge. People manage their diet so this can be avoided, its what works for you, but if you are moving from cakes and burhers then it takes some getting used to by switching to fruit and veg. You cna have anything in moderation, but id want soemthing to help me avoid hunger.

Third. Exercise, then please understand that to burn calories from exercise, then you have to do a lot. You should do mixed cardio and resistance (to retain muscle and give better tone plus health). Supplement that with walking.
Your 20 mins dancing session will be lucky to burn 200 calories. You need to burn 3500 in theory to lose 1lb. Everyone starts somewhere, but its consistency and doing something on a regular basis that will pay dividends.

Fourth you need to get some perspective and learn to be patient. Your body fluctuates up to 4lbs a day. Knowing that, then you are looking for trends in weight loss. If you just keep doing the right things which means being at consistent deficits, then you will lose weight just like everyone else. Its a long term project, so 44lbs id allocate 1 year for as a rule of thumb, but just do it day by day and week by week.

Fifth get some scales to weigh food, log properly.

Six cheer up, its straight forward, bit boring imo, but just eat at a deficit and the weight will come off.

You should probably get some friends so that they can guide encourage and keep an eye on your progress so you do it properly. Ask virgoddess and brocoli if they are taking anyone on. Good luck.

Tigger does have a good point, the 20 minutes is very hard I'm sure for you to get there. I can also assure you that you need to push yourself in order to get it, the 20 minutes you should do that and then perhaps do some resistance training.

Also, you stated that you were going to bed hungry, you should never eve rdo that, make sure to develope a night lunch or something similar. I am not losing, I am gainging, I am fine with that. i thought I was gaining before when I was going to the gym and had a great workout routine, it was actually muscle which was building up and I could lift a lot more. Then someone suggested I switch to another routine and that completely caused my quad to blow.

Anyway, sorry about getting off track, what I'm suggesting is that you're actually sending your body into a worse place, it's not a diet you need, a diet is something that you do once and then you fall off again by switching and eating whatever you can because you deprive yourself of all the things you want. I can assure you that tonight I will do Cardio, tomorrow morning, i will do Cardio, Wednesday I will do Cardio and a mix of stomach exercises. What you're doing right now is building up endurance and you're not going to lose weight this way.

I have done the Just dance or dancing method of training, but I had to add it in addition to my weight. I lost about 27 pounds and lost about 4 inchs off my waist line. I am not a perfect person to talk about this but what's happening to your body is it's entering starvation mode, what that is, it's exactly what it sounds like, your body is not getting enough of the food it wants/needs and so what it does is it stores the fat thinking it will need to eat away at this later, this can have VERY SERIOUS side effects. You should be as someone mentioned around 1600 cals a day, personally, I'd eat the 1800 and stick around there if you want to lose and depending how your goals are working.

I highly suggest that you add in a little night snack or something, it doens't have to be anything amazing, it can just be a piece of toast, or perhaps something sweet, it doesn't have to be great for you, but it gives your body what it needs in order to help you and also in order to assist you more than you know right now.

I hope this helps, and if you need motivation, you can add me! I'm always willing to help people who are willing to help me and willing to help others

SSP

If MFP set your goal at 1600 cals, you should eat 1600 cals. Eating less than that won't make you lose faster.

ElleEstEllie wrote: »

Oh just to clarify I'm not dancing to lose weight I'm dancing to get my metabolism going again and to get into shape. To lose weight I am mostly logging every single thing I put in my mouth (EVERYTHING, even if it's embarrassing) and I am eating less calories every day. I was told that to lose .5 lbs per week* (said day before, I typoed) I need to eat 1600 calories a day (This website told me.) So I always stay under 1600. Some days I am right at 1600 and some days I am more like 1100 - 1200. Weekly it says I average just around 1300 calories a day eaten.

I log my exercising but not my pedometer steps, just including cleaning, walking the dog, walking around, as just general daily life. I am marked as "sedantary" for activity level so it would give me a fair estimate of calories a day - I don't work a job where I am on my feet and I sit a lot more than I did when I worked. So i think sedentary activity level is the most truthful.

So yeah I'm not counting on dancing to lose weight by any stretch of the imagination.

The problem is, you're not weighing your food. You log something like a medium banana - but what *is* medium to you? It won't be the same as medium to me.

Even prepackaged foods are very often off on their serving portions. Like, a serving of chips is "28g, about 11 chips". What size chips? The big ones? The medium ones? Measuring is a great first step, but if you're not seeing the results you want, then you have to get more accurate.

There's no *real* way to know what you're eating unless you're weighing it all. So when you say you're eating 1300 calories you don't really know you are.

I don't mean this as a criticism, but simply sharing knowledge to make this whole process easier.

MFP suggests I eat around 1400 calls to lose half a pound a week. I was eating meals very similar to your example and working out 5 times a week. I was always hungry and wasn't really losing any weight. After a few months I got a fitbit and saw that I was burning about 3000 calories a day, which is way more that what MFP estimated. Now, I eat around 2500 calories a day and have lost about 23 pounds. For me, not eating enough was a huge hinderance in my weight loss.

amandadyer wrote: »

MFP suggests I eat around 1400 calls to lose half a pound a week. I was eating meals very similar to your example and working out 5 times a week. I was always hungry and wasn't really losing any weight. After a few months I got a fitbit and saw that I was burning about 3000 calories a day, which is way more that what MFP estimated. Now, I eat around 2500 calories a day and have lost about 23 pounds. For me, not eating enough was a huge hinderance in my weight loss.

This.

And patience.