Frustrated

I'm really frustrated right now. I've been eating right and really trying to do good for myself these last two weeks. Today was my third day of the 30 Day Shred DVD. Since I started, I lost 5 lbs, reallly easy (probably from cutting soda and most sugars). However, the last four days or so I haven't dropped a thing... I gained a little, and I'm basically maintaining. I thought that when I started the DVD it would help me lose weight even faster, and I did SO good in the beinning. But my body doens't want to budge. I'm really frustrated and ready to quit because I feel like my body isn't going to give me what I want, so why try? I feel like my body is rebelling against me. Help...

your body is rebelling--trying to adjust to changes and hold on to the old ways. This is for the long haul, not a quick fix or it's never gonna work. Look at the average: you've lost five lbs in 2 weeks, which is 2.5 lbs per week! Weight loss will never be steady, sometimes you'll get stuck at one weight for a while, but good changes are still happening on the inside, like better heatlh, more energy (assuming you're not starving yourself) and more strength and stamina. Losing weight and getting fit is hard WORK, even if you enjoy the process. The world we live in has trained us to expect immediate gratification, and it's just not realistic in most things.

If weighing too frequently is depressing, use a pair of jeans you couldn't fit into before, and try them on every week or so to measure progress that way instead. Feels good to wear something you bulged out of before!

You need a break!
Eat at maintenance for 2-4 weeks then resume dieting.
This will break any plateau.

BTW have you changed your dietary numbers every 5lbs or 5% body fat lost?

Froggeh, I know exactly what you mean! I came looking for support on these boards for the same reason...been working out 3-4 times a week (versus NO workouts before) and trying my hardest to stick to the intake limits, and although I dropped 3 pounds in the first 2 weeks, I actually saw a gain this morning, three weeks in. It can be really frustrating. Sounds like you're doing great, though! I hear the 30-day shred is a tough workout! I think a big part is that when you do start working out, you start building muscle mass, which is heavier than fat, so the scale can often confuse us. We think we're doing SO well, but the numbers won't budge! The good news is that the more muscle we build, the better our metabolism will be at burning the fat. That's one of threasons that it's healthiest to lose weight slowly...it can indicate that you're gaining muscle at the same time as you're losing fat!

StrongGwen, thanks for your words of support! You are so right that our bodies are going to rebel against this new lifestyle...they are so resistant to good change...ugh. In the past I think I've given up way too easily when I got discouraged about not losing weight quickly. It fools me because the first few pounds seem to come off so fast, and then I hit a brick wall. This time I'm going to resist the pull for instant gratification and work through it. It took years to put the weight on, so it'll take a good long time to take it off!

Good luck with your shred, Froggeh! If it helps, just make small goals, like you're going to do 10 days of the shred, then see how you feel. Hopefully you'll feel better and you'll have lost a little bit, and you'll want to keep going through the next 10 days. :happy: