@CourtneyLomonaco Way to stay under your calories!!

@jmitts2 A loss is still a loss, and you're doing great!!

@o0kody0o That's super exciting, congrats!! What a huge NSV!

@Fitness327wk Awesome loss and nice day!!

@tinak33 Drink extra water, it helps with water retention, I know that sounds weird, but it does. Hang in there, doing a 5k is awesome and regardless of what the scale says, you should be proud!!

@lesockie Awesome loss, way to start June!!

@Gadgetgirl259 Nice day, yard work is a great workout, I'll be hitting some yard work this morning too!!

@vicky2767 Great day, nice exercise!!

@CindyJNC1963 Yeah, I sort of wanted to do it again, it really helps keep me thinking about my goals because there's money on the line, but if we're honest, I'm getting to the point now where I'm nearing my original goal and I am going to have to think about what's next and really I'm not sure how much actual fat is left to lose and I'm building more muscle again to lift heavier, so my actual weight will be hard to gauge so I decided against it.

@genajonas Glad you're back for June!! I understand how you feel about the difference between being aware of your relationship to food and labeling it a disorder, but the important part isn't that it is or isn't a disorder, it's that you are aware and can make changes and overcome the obstacle, which is really the way to look at it, you can do this. Your goals are super solid, and you're off to a great start!

@aadubb Remember to take in extra water during that time of the month, sounds weird, but extra water does help with water retention, and also another thing that sort of can help is watching your carbs a bit more closely as carbs also help you to retain water so if you're worried about it, there can be a little bit you can do to sort of mitigate it, or you can choose not to worry about it realizing that it is also normal and happens to us all and that next week the scale will be kinder....

@cydneebauman Hang in there, and I hope you're feeling better soon!!

Skkayy wrote: »

I know I am just getting started...but I expected more...been calorie counting since May 26th. Went from 176.6 to 172.2 but have been stuck here for the last five days. While I have only done minimal work outs...my days have been filled with starting the garden (rather large garden), tearing out the ceiling of my porch (this took two days of being up and down a ladder, pulling, banging, prying over my head, then hauling to the trailer) plus other labor intensive chores. I just didn't think I would hit a plateau already. Feeling frustrated already. I know I need to keep going ...just ugh.

@Skkayy It's most likely not a plateau already. One of the things you have to realize is that usually the first week or so when you first start a new eating plan, you tend to lose a lot at first, easily up to 10 lbs, which a lot of is excess water weight, so that's not uncommon and it's also unrealistic to think that it would continue at that rate all the time. i can promise you that during my now 2 year journey (2 days away from 2 yrs) to lose what is now almost 100 lbs and some weeks, and even months have been like that, seen minimal losses even though my body has still been changing. I am 100% encouraging you to take measurements and photos, and also slowly increase your activity, even if it's a 10 min walk a day, that will help you in the long run too.

It's waaaaay to early to get discouraged....you got this, hang in there, it's important to realize that some weeks will be big losses and so me weeks less, that's just normal.

Also one more point, I will leave you with is what is commonly referred to as the "whoosh" and what happens when you burn fat is that water fills the fat cells as a placeholder of sorts because your body is so certain you will replace that fat that it's not ready to shrink the cell just yet, so it uses water to fill it temporarily until you fill it back up with fat. The longer you go and still burning more fat, your body eventually gives up on waiting for the fat to come back and it will release the water and shrink the fat cell....so this is also why fat loss and weight loss don't happen simultaneously. Another thing that's important and can encourage your body to speed up this process is drinking more water!