Disappointing zero loss in second week

The water retention is definately the cause. It is probably the most common posting on here. Next week you will be 'cooking on gas', chin up, keep smiling!

DING DING DING DING!!!!! I'm not a woman but from reading alot of posts, yes, you are probably retaining fluids. I am very sensitive to sodium, if I eat too many mgs, my weight fluctuates wildly. Also, drink LOTS of water, that will help.

I went through the same thing & then all of the sudden, whoosh, 4lbs. came off all at once. I was going down in measurements so do not forget to measure yourself. I thought this is weird my measurements go down but not my weight what the heck? I was disappointed too & then I stepped on the scale & noticed a big difference from zero loss to the 4lbs. So just be patient. Watch your sodium because that makes a person retain water & water weighs a lot. Keep up the good work & you WILL see results!!! I know that I would like to hit my goal weight by oh, um, tomorrow, but that's not going to happen for me. It just takes time & you can do it!!! We are in this battle together & we will conquer!!! :happy:

Took me 6 weeks before I started losing. I will go weeks at a time then a few pounds fall off. Stay the course.

You're doing great, don't get discouraged!

I lost 3 pounds my first week on MFP, 2 pounds on my second week, then zero my third week. The fourth week I lost 2.5 pounds and since then I have had weeks with zero pound losses. Averaging my losses over time, I have lost about a pound a week, some more, some less. Don't be discouraged, as this will happen throughout your weight loss. Just keep doing what you have been doing and the scale will move.

I enjoyed reading everyone's input here. A couple of weeks ago I posted here how depressed I was that I GAINED 5-6 pounds in a week. I shed all that weight in a week. I think it was mostly water weight and perhaps other fluids and swelling as I came down with a nasty cold. Over the week I had a cold, I ate almost perfectly, I didn't exercise until I felt like I could, and I drank zero alcohol. I don't drink soda - EVER, I haven't for years, but I do love my wine and beer. In fact, we belong to a wine club and get shipments every month.

I have made the (diabolical?) decision to lay off the wine (sniff, sniff) for a while, until I have made some serious progres towards my goal. Other users on this site do just fine having a glass a night. But, I am not that disciplined. When we open a bottle, my husband and I finish it off, usually drinking half the bottle each. Doing this can start a landslide: my defenses are down, I will eat whatever I please after that. Soooooo, no mo wine for me, at least for a while. I am really seeing results now and I couldn't be more pleased.

Hang in there.

A few things I noticed.

1st, yes, TOM will throw off your scale.

Now, your diary...
Dinner should be your smallest meal of the day not the largest.
Get rid of all sodas....even diet.
alcohol will slow your metabolism...I avoid it while I'm in a training routine so it doesn't kill my results.
Other then that it looks good but I think you'll see next weeks weigh in more friendly. Hang in there you're doing great.

Great advice here, thanks. I'm definitely aiming to eliminate fizzy drinks and to reduce my alcohol even further, it's just that prior to this change I was drinking every other day so for me to reduce it down to what I have now has been a big achievement for me so far. I will certainly consider your point about dinner not being the largest meal, but that's certainly a new (and perhaps alien!) idea to me. Many thanks for your advice and encouragement.

Dont worry about dinner being the biggest meal just keep the calories down and the weight will come off, there are as many theories as posters on this board but for us standard average folk just wanting to lose weight most of them are irrelavant. A can of pop a day aint going to make much difference neither not like you are drinking bucketfuls of the stuff.

Keep going as you are the weight will come off just not as linear as we always hope, look at it another way if you are on a 2lb a week aim you are still 1lb ahead of shedule. This is a long term thing dont get too worried about the week to week weigh ins.

WOW, really...you're telling her don't worry about dinner being the biggest meal of the day and a can of soda a day won't hurt.
Ok, let me educate you cuz you are so wrong.
1. 1 8 oz can of soda a day will add an additional 12 lbs of weight in a year.
2. Your body can only process so much food at a time and the overage gets stored as fat when you go to sleep. If you eat your biggest meal for breakfast you will burn it off over the coarse of the day. So, yes, an 800 calorie dinner will slow your weight loss even if you're eating at a deficit.