I can't do this and get nothing in return!

well u say its lifestyle change then you should be adding in the benefits from exercise and eating right despite no loss on pounds or inches...if your angry at yourself its probably because you feel you could or should have done more..try to push yourself this week and watch everything even sodium and log 100% accurate...its just a very long process we all get frustrated but there is no timeline....eat the foods you like in moderation and be happy dont make this process miserable....from your diary I see that you dont track your sodium ..im willing to bet its through the roof hence the extra neck inches..

I looked at your diary and it looks like you are under or way under your cals every day try eating a bit more

DO NOT give up. Always remember YOU ARE WORTH IT. If at first you fail just keep trying and you will succeed.

Are you drinking LOTS of water. If not, you're probably just retaining water weight. When I started drinking 8 8-oz glasses a day, the weight started to quickly come off.

I think it takes some people longer to see results. You have to look at this as a long-term change. Your body will change though, and you'll start to feel the health benefits, too. There's just no set guarantee as to when, though. I was hoping to have lost way more weight by now than I have. But I'm plugging away, a week at a time, and I know I'll get there. It's just going to take some time. Don't give up yet. Add me too. x

ONE step at a time. Good for you for consistent exercise and healthy eating. Every day you practice that, is one step closer to your healthy lifestyle becoming a habit.
As far as your weigh in.... Are you eating enough, drinking enough water? Make your you eat your exercise calories. Don't starve your body or it will hang on to everything and will store the fat instead of burn it.
Most importantly, you CAN do this!!!!! It WILL happen!!!!
Feel free to add me...

I agree 100% with everyone who said to eat more. There was one day where your net was only like 300 and you wrote in the notes how you had such a good workout on the elliptical.
You need FUEL for those workouts! You should be NETTING over 1200 every DAY, and you almost never do. Your body thinks it is in the middle of a famine and is refusing to let go of it's "emergency fat". You need to convince it that there is plenty of good food available to you and that it is SAFE to let it go because you are not going to starve.

You goal is a goal to REACH, not a goal to stay UNDER. there is already a deficit built in, you're not supposed to create one yourself. EAT all the calories they tell you to every day and you will start to lose again.

You CAN do this. You've already taken the first steps toward success. Please don't give up! Look at the success stories here, they really give a person a lot of hope. I just recently took a pause here due to some life stresses but I'm now ready to begin again because I know for a fact that the support here from all the great people truly helps.

Maybe you should try some new forms of exercise? I notice 90% of your exercise is eliptical trainer. If you do the same form of exercise all the time your body gets really good at it and requires less calories to do the same exercise.

Alternate eliptical with bicycling, running, swimming or some other form of exercise that engages other muscle groups.

I agree with everyone else...I looked at your diary and you do not eat enough calories for how active you are. Also not to be critical but to help you...I noticed you eat lot of sugar and carbs. I know everyone is different but for me if I eat too much sugar or carbs I won't lose weight no matter what else I do. I'll just sit there stagnant. I don't know why that is for me but it is. So I try not to eat any of the low fat treats like skinny cow cause they still have a ton of sugar in them. That's how they make them still tasty with no fat by adding sugar or salt. So try cutting back on them and try to make most of your carbs fruits and vegetables...also try upping your protein a little more. I also noticed you eat alot of sodium (one day was over 5000)...that can cause you to retain water. I try to keep it down to under 1500 mg a day (cause I have health problems) and that helps. I also weigh myself everyday because I know that your weight flucuates everyday. BUT and this is a BIG BUT...DO NOT get upset if it goes up one or two days...that is how it works. You HAVE to look at the trend of is it going up or down overall (a whole week's weigh in's)...does that make sense? How do you know you didn't weigh in on a day after you ate alot of sodium and were retaining water if you only weigh in once every two weeks???

Also you are striving for a healthier lifestyle not a diet...diets are short term and only work short term...you want to be healthy for the rest of your life, for your children, for yourself...so try to think along those lines. If I can help you in any other way, please don't hestitate to ask. We are all in this together!!! Also feel free to friend me if you like...

Oh...one other thing!!

Instead of long...slow calorie burning exercises on the treadmill...I would love for you to try something a little different.

Instead of slowly killing your muscle tone on the elliptical...DEVASTATE your body for 10 minutes total with some interval sprints. You'll feel absolutely stupid at first...but the results are going to blow your mind. If you don't want to do interval sprints...do jumping jacks in the privacy of your home...at the FASTEST PACE YOU CAN MAINTAIN...for thirty seconds to a minute...then rest for thirty seconds...then do it again...ten minutes total. Then GO DO SOMETHING ELSE!! You can do this any time throughout the day...the more times the better...but be sure to get sufficient rest in between.

Now, I'm going to explain why (in simple terms). Right now, you believe that the only calories your body is really burning is happening why you're actually exercising...and in your case, that would be correct. Your metabolism is CRUSHED at the moment from a lack of caloric intake, and doing long, drawn out cardio. Your body believes you're on a LONG march across some wasteland where there's no food! Fat people can walk just as well as skinny people, and as a matter of fact...at the end of that march those fat people will be the only ones that made it. What YOU need, is for your body to think you're being chased by a tiger across a lush island covered in nutrient rich foods. Can you picture a fat person in THAT scenario?? She would be called 'dinner'!! The fast, lean...skinny person would be the one to survive there.

Trust me...the real benifit in exercise is NOT the exercise itself...it's the metabolic boost in hormones that tells your body 'THIS FAT IS GOING TO GET ME DEAD!!'. Long slow cardio doesn't do this hun. Do it if it makes you feel better (people clutch it as a security blanket so they can eat more), but don't skip strength and/or interval training!!

Take a look here...the proof is in her pictures!

http://members.rachelcosgrove.com/public/The_Final_Nail_in_the_Cardio_Coffin.cfm

Anyhow...I hope that helps a little. Shaking up your body and putting it in fear for its life has incredible effects on your metabolism and your ability to burn fat.

I truly hope this helps you...

Cris

I have been pushing myself. Hard.

I don't track sodium because it goes over with breakfast alone. If I tracked sodium I couldn't eat anything. It's like tracking sugar.
I just ended up finding out tracking those two leaves me VERY hungry.

I am a picky eater. Don't like a lot of veggies. Can't eat lots of fruit because of calories. It's a no win situation.

I eat lots of sodium some days too, but drinking lots of water flushes some of it out. I'm with you on the veggies...very few that I like so I eat the few that I do... and fruit is not that high in calories. You have lots calories to spare on your food journal at the end of the day so you can certainly afford to add in an apple or two!

You are not losing because you are not eating enough! Trust us on this.

You've got some really good input on this thread. Read it, and consider what we're telling you. Switch up your workout, switch up your diet, EAT MORE, and you'll get there.