I did not do the kickstart, and only lost a couple of pounds and a few inches in Phase 1. I am really watching my caloric intake and logging everything. I Just finished 3 days of starting workouts 7, 8, and Cardio 2 this week so far, and Phase 2 has been pretty frustrating for me to get all the moves and coordination down, but I have somehow lost 4 more pounds, and I have good muscle definition in my arms and shoulders. Plus I feel I'm getting stronger!

Oh my gosh - I'm struggling with the same thing! I did the kickstart and am now in week 3. While I'm seeing improvements in strength and stamina as well as the way my clothes fit, I am so discouraged by the numbers on the scale. I have not lost one ounce since the end of week 1. I have been following the program to a T (except for one birthday party at the end of March)

I think I'm going to weigh in only at the end of each phase. Maybe we have to be "deprogrammed" from our obsession the scales. It just makes me want to quit sometimes.

I start Workout 9 on Monday. I did the kickstart and I am NOT following the meal plan. I actually eat my TDEE - 20% every day (which equals to about 1550 net calories). I have lost about 7-9 lbs throughout the entire program and maybe 7 inches. I'm trying not to get discouraged because I am SO MUCH stronger - I can do pushups (several in a row) and I couldn't do them at all before. I try to only weigh myself once a week and I measure every two weeks. I started out just wanting to tone and lose a little flab (I'm 5'9" and started at 145 (lost a few lbs before starting BR), now I'm around 135) - I feel like my flab is still there but my husband and mom both disagree. I took before pictures so I guess I will see for sure when I'm done with the program and take afters. Lets stay motivated and encourage each other because if you don't lose any pounds, you are at least getting stronger and showing yourself that YOU CAN DO THIS.

so since replying to this forum, i've felt like i was encouraging the discouragement... i love this program, i really do... and depending on how much weight you have to lose, you will lose slower or quicker compared to others. i think instead of comparing ourselves, we should focus on the changes we are seeing in ourselves. i do still have flab that drives me nuts, but it IS going away... it's just soooooo SLOW and that annoys me. i think the scale is the enemy for sure and if you can feel muscle (or you can do a pushup etc) that you didn't have before (or couldn't do before), you've made progress. we've got 12 weeks of this, so i'm not giving up! 12 weeks is a long time for change to happen.

I started this program a week ago Monday. I did the Kickstart with the exception of one evening skipping a workout and eating Japanese. I kept it under control though - sushi & miso soup. Then Saturday, I had a huge party for my son so I had a small piece of birthday cake and missed the cardio in the evening. Instead of taking Sunday as a day of rest, I did an a.m. cardio to make up for it. I stepped on the scale this morning and was up 2.3 pounds. Well, you can imagine what came to mind. After throwing a bit of a hissy fit, I put on my workout clothes and did Workout 1 as planned. I followed it up with an approved breakfast and I'm moving forward. I guess I just didn't expect to see the scale go UP. I'm wondering if it is possible that my body is in starvation mode. I've had no more than 1200 calories with the exception of 1 day (cake day). Or was it the 1 day that made me gain. Really? 2.3 pounds from a piece of cake? Ugh. It is frustrating. I was heavier and ate whatever I wanted and didn't see a 2.3 gain in a week. I'm not giving up. End of rant.

I started this program a week ago Monday. I did the Kickstart with the exception of one evening skipping a workout and eating Japanese. I kept it under control though - sushi & miso soup. Then Saturday, I had a huge party for my son so I had a small piece of birthday cake and missed the cardio in the evening. Instead of taking Sunday as a day of rest, I did an a.m. cardio to make up for it. I stepped on the scale this morning and was up 2.3 pounds. Well, you can imagine what came to mind. After throwing a bit of a hissy fit, I put on my workout clothes and did Workout 1 as planned. I followed it up with an approved breakfast and I'm moving forward. I guess I just didn't expect to see the scale go UP. I'm wondering if it is possible that my body is in starvation mode. I've had no more than 1200 calories with the exception of 1 day (cake day). Or was it the 1 day that made me gain. Really? 2.3 pounds from a piece of cake? Ugh. It is frustrating. I was heavier and ate whatever I wanted and didn't see a 2.3 gain in a week. I'm not giving up. End of rant.

You're exactly right. If you went up in weight and you know you followed the program closely (e.g., those changes you described are not a big deal) and you ate well, you would not have gained weight from that. The increase is probably caused by the intense increase in exercise from this program and your muscles are retaining water to repair themselves (sometimes you almost can feel it when you're sore and your muscles just sort of feel "heavy." As I posted yesterday, I have A LOT to lose and didn't lose a thing last week when I moved into week 3. I know that the numbers (calories in and calories out), I should have lost like 3 lbs, but I stayed the same. This is absolutely due to the increase in the workouts.

Just keep plugging away!

When i go through this, i think about that i have to eat 3500 more calories (per gained pound) about my TDEE (which is about 2500 for me) i KNOW i didn't eat that much, so it must be water weight. Your muscles retain water when worked, so it's possible (esp. if this is your first time actually weight training) that is what is happening.

how close are you to your goal? and don't be afraid to up your calories. the first month I only lost 2 lbs, not seeing very much gone from week to week, and this week i upped my calories to 1600 (my BMR) and ate back the exercise calories, and i was still down .4 lbs, so my body is still losing, but i'm enjoying my life again! haha

Hi all, I weigh myself this morning, and I gained 2 lbs since i started BR- here are my modifications, didn't do kickstart workout, and skipped week 1 and week 2, since it was too easy for me. I stayed under 1400 cals per day,- my clothes fit much better, however i gained 2 lb? I hope the theory about muscles retaining water is really true, because it's really frustrating ((

For me, a lot of the frustration comes from the expectation that this was a weight loss program. I know what I should weigh and I know that I have about 40 pounds to lose and it just isn't happening (did kickstart, following the meal plan, not skipping a single workout, and making sacrifices). I am happy that I'm getting stronger and feel as if my body is looking a little better, but I'd be lying to myself if I said, "sure, I weigh 40 pounds more than I should, but I'm in great shape" So, for me, it is about the numbers. - Hearing Jillian say "we're not talking about 1-2 pounds per week...." and "the harder you work, the faster you see amazing results..." UGH! It makes me want to scream.

Let's scream together- since i started BR i gained 4 lbs !! haha, that's with 6 day a week workouts and very healthy eating, wanna break the scale lol

i would like reiterate what someone said before. one pound is 3500 calories. if you are working out and following a meal plan (either BR or your own) and weighing or accurately accounting for your portion sizes, it is IMPOSSIBLE to have gained 6 lbs from food in the past week. THROW THE SCALE AWAY. just last week, i felt poochy and had gained 3 lbs overnight... it lasted for two days, but i doubled my water intake, quit weighing myself and i'm back to where i was before feeling poochy (didn't change my calories or workout regimen either!) i'm in workout 10 and i can tell you this program definitely works. i've only lost about 7-9 lbs, but my clothes fit better and i'm down at least one (maybe two) sizes in pants. hold out!!! it's only 90 days and phase 3 is the one that is supposed to extinguish any fat left on your body so we'll see what it does!

I'm not losing ANY weight, but I feel like I'm definitely losing inches. My clothes are getting baggy and I can see some muscle definition (although not much because I still have a bit of padding covering 'em up... not to mention loose skin, ugh!).

I wish the scale were moving more - but I'm eating higher calories so I'm actually doing what Jillian says we won't do (which is build muscle). I could try dropping my calories down low again, but I seemed to plateau last time I did that (and didn't have enough energy).

I dunno.... sticking to it. I took my measurements on day one and have lost the sheet. Hopefully I can find it this weekend and re-measure, now that I'm about half-way. If I see some real progress with inches lost, I'll definitely feel better about that stubborn scale.

It's great to see all your comments. I was actually getting pretty bummed out because I've been losing and gaining back the same 3-4lbs. However, I did lose almost an inch in both my hips and waist. I am seeing more definition and strength overall, but those stubborn scale numbers can be discouraging. I've really started tracking my food the past 3 weeks, and I'm just hopeful the pounds will start melting away by phase 3. I'm currently on week 6, working out 6 days per week (with at least 2 extra cardio DVD workouts each week). I'm eating 1200 calories. Trying to lose 15lbs. I'm glad to hear I'm not alone :-)

great to read this post about the workouts. I want to loose about 15-20 lbs as well. I am in Phase 2 (just started it on Monday) I did not do the Kickstart program and I do not follow her diet plan. I was consistent with the workouts and well....gained about 4lbs. Yes my endurance increased but after so much sweat I want to see a result worth going forward. I only measured myself today (I wish I would have done so earlier) because I did not notice any differences in the way the clothes fit.
I dont think there is anything wrong with her workouts, a workout is a workout and as long as you sweat a bit doing it, it really does not matter if you do so using Jillian/P90X/Insanity, I think it is more closely related with diet. I am pretty sure that if I was to follow the program to a "T" diet and exercise I am sure the results would have been much better. I eat about 1300-1400 calories a day. However I think it depends what does 1400 calories a day is made of, what is the ratio of carbs/fiber/protein/sugars. Her meals may be 1200 a day but if they are mostly made up of a higher protein to carbs ratio they are much better for your body as opposed to 1200 calories made from sugars /fats/carbs. This is what i think which may explain to some degree the reason for lack of results for many people including myself. While i see this as the biggest weakness in my quest for weight loss, I find it close to impossible to stick to her eating plan (or anybody elses) firstly I find it to be very costly, secondly lack of time for cooking and preparing the food on a daily basis; the cost being the biggest reason why i dont see myself following it daily.

now that i have finished 30 ds and starting all over again. i lost 8 pounds in total and 7 inches in total.....now i can say it is really effective... cant weight to see difference in next 30 days