Frustrated. It's just NOT working.

LindseyC87 is right! I started on a well-balanced 1500 calorie/day diet on September 1st and I've lost 45 pounds doing 1 hour of cardio, 3-5 times week. Cardio is what gets the pounds off for me. I've just started the strength training in the last month. Good Luck!

It is a matter of calories in and calories out. You need to MEASURE EVERYTHING that passes your lips (not estimate) and have good estimates of your caloric burn (i.e. use a good heart rate monitor). Despite all the anecdotal comments on here that you are not loosing because you have too great a deficit, that has never ever been demonstrated to happen when dietary intake is actually controlled. Even in the Minnesota study where adaptive thermogenesis was first well described, people with caloric deficits continued to lose weight. I would recommend really tracking everything and cutting down your carbs from all sources. You don't have to be draconian, but cut back.

Good luck.

this. whenever I see people post about not losing I usually see things like "mostly" "ish" pretty good". Not to be a ***** but unless you are totally positive that you are dead on with your calorie count I would NOT up your food. Get more serious about being sure you know EXACTLY how many calories you are taking in,then if there is still no weight loss up your calories by 100 for a week.

Yes. I have been tracking everything I eat. I'm a nurse. I'm well-aware of what good nutrition means. And I'm very much controlling my intake and recording everything. I said 1200ish, because MFP recommends 1240, I'm obviously not hitting that to a tee, but I'm around 1200-1260 every day - for the last 4.5 weeks. I'm hesitant to up my cals at this point, but I agree that I can certainly cut carbs. I have stopped eating carbs - refined anyway, as in breads, rices, potatoes - at dinner and later. That change alone should have had some impact. I wish I was screwing up with what I am eating. But, the fact is, the changes in my diet and added exercise have not made the difference yet. I will be checking my BMI and measurements next week (the end of the contest)... til then.. it's only the scale telling me what I'm doing.

Great, if you know you are right on with your calorie counts then try upping your calories and maybe try zig zagging. I tend to lose easily by just making a few changes and I forget that not everyone does. Sometimes it just takes a while. I can lose in a few days what it takes my best friend weeks to lose. But stick with it, you are doing good things for your body and the results will come.

I agree with the majority of the majority of the suggestions here, it sounds like you may be shorter on calories simply because you're burning quite a bit more during the week than a sedentary person. But check with your personal trainer as well. Many of them start out with a range and see how it works, and if it doesn't they'll adjust it. I also agree that you could be building some muscle now that you've upped your exercise; muscle weighs as much as fat, so you could be trading off.

I feel your pain though; it's been 6 months for me and I've only lost 10lbs, but people tell me I've lost inches (okay, to be fair, I've measuread myself and I know I've lost inches off my waist, hips, thighs and bust) but it is frustrating to not see the scale move as fast as I thought it would.

But the main thing is to keep it up. This is a lifestyle change, not just a diet. You will see results, but some of us don't respond as quickly as others. The laws of physics will have to kick in, you're eating better and exercising, the weight will come off!

congratulations! Next time you are stuck, remember this and keep on keeping on!

Lots of good suggestions. If the scale hasn't moved in that long, your body has regulated to your 1240 calories. You need to shake up your metabolism. When I plateaued for a few weeks, I started zig-zagging (calorie cycling). Freedieting.com can set it up for you based on your stats. That worked for me. Lost 3lbs. in a week, after the scale not budging for 2-3 weeks. Some people say that even taking just a couple days off and not recording, and going over your values by a couple hundred calories can do the trick (same principle as zig-zagging). Worth a shot in my opinion. I also feel that 1200 is not enough for someone who works out as much as you. There's no "standard" one-size-fits-all number. You have to play around w/ what works for your body. Try setting it at 1lb/week instead of 2/lbs. You really have to eat back most exercise calories to rebuild muscle, and fuel your body properly. Hang in there, the pounds will start to come off.

up your cals /up your carbs...don't eat @ 8 in the evening ...have crystal light!!!!!!!!!!!!///h20...Don't forget that breakfast will boost your "M" 25 percent more than if not having breakfast!!!!!...snack on grapes and nuts about 5 every time you feel like hungry!!!!...hope this helps...It works for me,but we all are different!!!! good luck....don't forget the h20 very important won't lose if you don't drink at least 6 glasses a day!!!!!!!!