Losing motivation and it's only been a week !

Yes! Every time I diet in recent years, it takes me a good 2-3 weeks to start to lose. Very frustrating that first week when you're really inspired and working hard. I know that feeling of wanting to give up but stick with it!! Maybe try and just not weigh in for awhile. I did that this time around - didn't weigh in for two weeks and even now I weigh myself every week at the MOST. Sometimes I'll go 10 days or more without weighing in. You can do it - don't give up!

I would suggest putting your scale away for the first 3-4 weeks, that way when you first step on you should see progress which in turn should motivate you to continue.

I was the same way after 2 weeks of not seeing the scale move. I've stopped getting on it. It's a serious deterrent for me I swear. I actually caught myself slipping because the scale wasn't doing what I thought it should be. Don't give up. WE CAN DO THIS!!

I have GAINED weight since I joined MFP a little over one week ago. But I've gained so much awareness of how many calories I actually consume (even though they are healthy, it's still a big number) that I LOVE this site. I'm only going to weigh myself once a week now rather than every other day. It's choosing a healthier lifestyle that matters. The weight loss will come eventually. (Especially if we curtail some calories!) Hang in there - you are worth it!!!

Ladies, you are looking at it all wrong! I am happy if I weigh the same...it means I didn't gain! It takes a while for your body to catch on when you are doing it right. It is the quick losses that don't last.

I find right after my first week of starting all over again(for the millionth time) I get discouraged. This time seems to be the same and I just looked at that scale and decided just because it didn’t say 20 lbs lost like on Biggest Losers first week does not mean that I did not do my best for that week. I stay honest with myself and log when I slip up and praise myself when I get thru my day with the right mix of diet and exercise. Take it one day at a time and know that you will have good and bad days. I weigh myself almost daily and only log it Mondays (to see how my weekend was) and Thursday (to see how my week was) I also measure myself to see how my body is changing in cold hard inches(I only do this on the last day of the month.) So far I have lost on average of 3.5lbs per week.

This go round I am only on week 3 but I know I can do this and do it right!!!

I have always had issues with the stupid scale, but I did do Weight Watchers about 12 years ago and successfully lost nearly 40 pounds and kept it off...until I quite smoking...and then I gained back 20. I started MFP one week ago and I weighed in this morning 2.4 pounds less than I weighed last week; so I am obviously really happy. A couple of things I will tell you: a) DRINK WATER!! I cannot stress this enough as it absolutely helps so much!! b) If you are excercising, and you use this tool correctly, it will add back in the calories that you burned...EAT some, if not all of what you burn. The rationale behind this is that your body needs enough calories to fuel your metabolism and keep your internal organs functioning properly. People are resistent to doing this, but it does work. And c) stay focused and do not beat yourself up. If you are committed to your goal, you will reach it. Do not view the scale as anything but feedback as to what you did, or didn't do, the week prior. Use the information the scale gives you to make adjustments, ie: less carbs, more protien, healthy fats, more fruit and vegetables, ect. This program is wonderful and is does work! Good luck to you and I hope that this helps!

I can totally relate! I hate my scale...no love. It's just plain mean to me, and who wants to put up with that type of negative relationship, anyway? LOL. According to the scale, I've only lost 6 pounds since January 1st. Just joined MFP, but I'm very glad I did....because numbers just do not lie. So, I'm putting my scale away and focusing on calories in/calories out. Luckily, someone convinced me (although I was very reluctant) to take before pics. I'm so glad I did because I see definite progress when I compare my starting pics to current pics. I know I have a long way to go, and I don't need that dumb scale "weighing" me down. Don't give up yet because I'm sure your body is busy changing, even if the scale doesn't reflect. I read somewhere once that our organs get fat, too! And sometimes the fat on the inside shrinks before the fat you can really see. I don't know if there's truth to that, but it seems to make sense! Hang in there!

Ignore the scale. Concentrate on how your clothes fit.

I've become a little bit of a zealot... Sorry in advance for all the long-windedness

I'm 50 and have struggle my whole life (I have 3 rail-thin sisters who I never measured up to)
I'm all about doing this for the long-term. Doesn't matter how long it takes as long as I can maintain.

Here's how I started:

1) tracking for a couple of weeks before I worried about losing.
(although seeing what I was eating I couldn't help but rein back a bit)

2) seeing where I could make small changes on things that weren't that important to me.
(Don't even think of taking chocolate out of my diet!!!)
--Reducing quantities where I won't notice it so much
--Swapping out things instead of eliminating them.

3) Look at my diary and started adding foods that had positive healthy effects specifically for the health issue in my family.
I found most of the things I "should" add were really yummy too! salmon, avocado, oatmeal, mango, red grapes....
(Sort of think of food as medicine to deal with family history of various health issue oatmeal is good for heart health, mango and red grapes lower cholesterol, tumeric and cinnamon good for arthritis)

4) every couple of weeks I see where I can make another couple of small changes.
If you completely revamp your diet, it's way easy to revert to old ways in times of stress. (and who doesn't have stress?)
If you make a series of small changes, food still offers you some sense of comfort.
sort of a comfort continuum, and after a while the first small changes will seem comforting in themselves.
You don't have to be perfect you just have to do better.

5) also rather than being uberstrict with the target MFP set for me I did the math to find out the calories needed to maintain my goal weight and my current weight and...
I gave myself a range with
ROCK BOTTOM: 1200 cal,
TARGET: lose 1 lb/wk as my target***
HIGH END: maintain my goal weight

As long as I keep within in this range I'll lose. I tend to naturally zig zag my calories 3-4 at very close to my target and then a higher calorie day closer to the top of my range.

SAFETY VALVE: As long as I stayed under maintain my current weight calories I won't gain. So no need to throw in the towel, just pick-up where I left off.

Once I found ways to lessen the stress, I found it way easier to focus on the process and let the results follow. (It's what worked for me some people need the stress to get them motivated. Me I get scared and overwhelmed and don't see the big goal as achievable. I only worry about it 1 lb at a time.)

***also once my lose 1 lb/week target was down to 1200 calories I switch to lose 1/2 lb/ week (1200 cal rock bottom, 1/2 lb/week as my target, maintain goal weight as the high end of my range.)

Food is not the enemy.
Oddly enough on my journey here I've reduced guilt over food.
I have the occasional treat and I fully enjoy it with no guilt involved.
The thing is since I'm not eating crap all the time the occasional treat is just that a TREAT it's special and I enjoy it so much more than when I was unconsciously shovel junk food into my face.

I figure if I've got a good plan that I can actually maintain I can keep this off for a long time to come, without feeling deprived.

Good Luck