Discouraged Early on.....HELP!

I also gained 2 lbs after the first week. In my case it was just water weight, since i changed my diet and started to exercise. Just be patient and double check that you're tracking your intake accurately.

annam3627 wrote: »

I'm looking for ANY input! I've been doing this program for a little over a week now. I "had" a very positive attitude, felt very good about myself, went from NO exercising to exercising 20 minutes a day (average) and staying under my calorie goal each day... drink the water like I'm suppose to.
I step on the scales this morning and it said I've gained almost 2 pounds!!!! I don't get it! It's hard not to give up. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

It's water weight. When you start using your muscles in ways you haven't in a long time they become inflamed. It's completely normal and you'll lose it in a few days. Don't worry about it.

I've been at this for awhile, I work out almost everyday. I will see a 2-3 lb weight gain after a hard work out, it's water, the muscles "guard" and the body pads itself because it thinks it's being stressed. Drink lots of water, it will drop.

The really cool thing is that your next weigh in, if you maintain your calorie deficit and exercising, will be awesome! It will be the highest weight loss for a week that you'll see during your journey but it will be so motivating. I dropped 5 pounds my first week and it really kicked my a** into gear! Something else that really motivates me is charting my progress. When I can look at the chart and see the downward trend, no matter how slowly it's moving, it reminds me that there IS an end in sight.

You can track measurements and bodyfat and whatever you want in MFP as well. Weight is the easiest to measure but the least useful, IMO.

I had the same problem yesterday, but decided it must be water weight. I limited my sodium intake to 1500mg, and increased my potassium to around 3500mg. When I stepped on the scale, I had a 4.4 pound loss overnight!!! I'm doing this again today and tomorrow, because my research showed that I ate way to much sodium last week. Keeping the food diary really helped me to figure out that this was a problem for me.

It's probably water. Also watch your sodium intake-you may want to drop it down. Are you weighing every day? Some like to do that, but for me, because there is so much fluctuation each day, I only weigh once a week. Otherwise it can be discouraging! Sounds like you are on the right track though. Keep up the good work! It will show up on the scale!

If you are eating any processed foods try to cut them out and eat whole foods instead. For instance Eggbeaters have almost 500 mg. of sodium but real eggs not much at all. Sodium can contribute to water weight gain.

Please give out time. Patience is important.

I agree that you should be patient. You are developing new habits. Give it time. There are all kind of ways to measure progress other than a number on the scale.
Work on logging everything you eat and drink as accurately as possible. Only eat back half of the calories that you earn from exercise.
Plan your meals. I find it helpful to pre-log my whole day in advance so I can see how things fit and make better choices.

Adding my 2 cents, this is my third time around using mfp to lose the same 15 pounds (love my babies, hate this part!). I found for me that it's important that I weigh myself once a week, first thing in the morning - before I do *anything* else, I use the bathroom then strip down and weigh. I chose Friday because I'm much more diligent during the week and seeing the scale change gives me the motivation to stick with it through the weekend. My weight fluctuates a lot during the course of the day, but this method tends to show my true progress. Also my first time through I felt like I was always hungry so I upped my calories but then saw almost no change for almost 3 weeks (very discouraging!) so I lowered my calories back down to 1200 and focused on eating good nutrient dense food with the staying power to keep me full. My go-to include: Plains old fashioned oatmeal - made ahead and portioned for a quick fix, with 1/4 cup of almond milk, 1 serving of sf maple syrup and a dash of cinnamon. 2 eggs, cooked over easy, on a single people of multi-grain toast, 100 calorie Greek yogurt (if your taste buds are not accustomed to the taste of Greek yogurt start with the honey flavor - I found it the most 'mild'), roasted, seasoned broccoli, seasoned chicken breast over spinach with 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese and an oil based dressing. I make 4 or 5 chicken breasts up at a time - season with Mrs Dash or another salt-free seasoning, so they are be easy to grab. I also found spinach salad easier to eat when I chopped the spinach up so it's more the consistency of shredded lettuce. I let myself snack on as much veggies as I wanted. Buy and prep carrots, sweet bell peppers (yellow and orange), cucumbers, and celery. Cut up and put zip locks in the fridge so that when you feel the need to snack you can reach to them as easily as a bag of chips or handful of crackers. (keep cut cucumbers fresh by putting water in the zip lot and adding a squeeze of lemon juice). Allot yourself enough calories to have a filling dip/spread with your veggies at least once a day and have that when you need it most (for me it was that 230/300 window). It is also an easy thing to bring to work so that you don't end up at th vending machine when the hunger strikes. I am no expert, and I'm certainly not claiming to be, I just know what works for me! Keep at it, it's worth it.

I would suggest getting a food scale and weighing your food. There is an awesome thread in general weight loss and support called Calorie Counting 101. It's near the top. A great read! I thought I was tracking my calories accurately before, but boy was I wrong!

annam3627 wrote: »

ok, I'm going into week 4... I still have lost NO pounds. This is very discouraging. Especially when MFP says in 5 weeks you should weigh this... well "this" is like 10 lbs from now... my 5th week is a week away. I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I follow my calorie count, I still having calories left at the end of the day. I've continued to exercise, not vigorously, but some. I'm currently on a losing 1lb per week... should I up it to 2lbs? Cut my calories down? *sigh* I'm needing motivation .... AGAIN. Any input please!

I just finished a week of being discouraged because I didn't see the results I was hoping for on the scale or in the measures. Are you also taking measuremments? Remember, muscle weighs more than fat. I'm on day 32 and am finally getting the hang of what foods to eat and what to eat in moderation. I weigh everything that goes into my mouth. I record everything right down to my coffee and what goes in it. Eventually this becomes routine. You will lose the weight if you this and stay within your calorie count. As Jillian Michaels says all the time, your body has to put out more than in puts in. Sometimes I cheat and step on the scale mid week to see how I'm doing. This gives me time to change things up before my weekly weigh in. I hope this helps some because I can totally understand where you are coming from.

I weigh every week and sometimes the scale is nice and other times very cruel, but guess what I weigh all my foods diligently and log everything so I KNOW I am eating in a deficit so regardless what the scale said, I will not let that stress me out. I can feel my clothes a bit looser, I look for non scale victories now after 5 weeks on this journey. I also took measurements so I know I am losing inches. Take pictures lots of pictures so you can compare. The scale is not 100% reliable it runs on batteries and our bodies sometimes retain water, as women our bodies are constantly working(menstrual, bloating, water retaining), whatever the case maybe. If you are doing what you need to be and having a caloric deficit you will lose weight and your body, as well as the scale will eventually show it. I say give it a few more weeks and you might be surprised. Good luck and dont give up, you are closer to your goal today then you was yesterday!!!!!!