Apparently reaching a quick plateau & quite discouraged.

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KayteePanda
KayteePanda Posts: 6
in Motivation and Support
As far as this weight loss attempt goes, it isn't progressing as I pictured it. I paid for a gym membership & have been going regularly for the last month & a half, I've been doing smarter grocery shopping & carefully watching my caloric intake. I can't seem to break myself of the post-work cravings for junk food, but I've been doing well regardless of not always giving in. My weight & appearance have barely differed from when I started & I feel disappointed & ready to give up like I do every other time I've tried this. I need some help.

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  • heyschlu
    heyschlu Posts: 2
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    Hi Kaytee,
    Don't be discouraged! You're doing the right thing. Do you have a scale that measures body fat%, water content, bone mass, etc ? Perhaps your muscle mass is building and your fat is reducing...remember that muscle weighs double what fat does. Are your clothes feeling more comfortable? Do you feel stronger and have more endurance? Slower weight loss is best! Keep up the good work.:happy:
  • Welshie_girl
    Welshie_girl Posts: 107 Member
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    It didnt take a month to gain all that weight. It will take time to get back in shape. Don't give up. Make it your lifestyle not something YOU HAVE TO DO.
  • abrown96
    abrown96 Posts: 2
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    Don't give up. When you start to plateau it is your body adjusting to your new weight. I thought the same thing until I asked my doctor about it. And that is what she told me. Just keep doing what your doing. If you like pickles and you crave the sweet or sour of junk food try the dill and wsweet pickles as a replacement. Just be careful they do carry alot of sodium. :smile:
  • Gr3y_Knigh7
    Gr3y_Knigh7 Posts: 7
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    Do not give up, if you give up now you will hate yourself for it later trust Ive been in your shoes. You just need to change and if so how much of is the right foods.somethings up. Lets start with your calorie intake this may seem like a stupid question but are you in fact eating enough.
  • vicki81868
    vicki81868 Posts: 262 Member
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    Are you watching your percentages as well as your calorie intake? I think MFP sets the carbs too high. If you aren't losing, maybe you could play around with the percentages a bit and see if that helps.
  • rower75
    rower75 Posts: 90 Member
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    Absolutely don't give up. When I hit a plateau recently, a friend of mine suggested that I look for hidden sugars in the foods I was eating. Who knew my healthy greek yogurt had 21 grams of sugar in it! I eliminated that sugar and also took a look at sugars in my salad dressing - even though it was low fat, it had a lot of sugar in it. That was what I needed to start losing.
  • 714rah714
    714rah714 Posts: 759 Member
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    So if you give up, what then?
  • Dragonnade
    Dragonnade Posts: 218 Member
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    Keep going. Set targets that aren't weight related. Measure. Take photographs.

    I've personally not lost all that much weight in three months but I've lost a shed load of inches - but I can't see it until I compare photographs and than I sit there going "Teh?" for about an hour. I set a target of 2000m on the rower in under 10 minutes. Finally managed it last week and in getting there everything else has caught up because in order to make the exercise goal, the body is forced to adapt.

    The scales are mad crazy things that lie and you can shrink substantially without the pounds dropping off. Biggest thing is persistence and if it isn't working, change it up. :)
  • ChristineS_51
    ChristineS_51 Posts: 872 Member
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    Hi
    that is frustrating - do you have much to lose? Your diary is not open to public so no one will be able to have a look and make suggestions. If you open your diary, you can let others see what you are consuming - and it might make you more accountable? This is not a race against anyone else, it is about you, your health, and you learning to manage your intake and output.

    Do you weigh / measure your portions? Guessing is no good :-)
    Do you eat fast food / processed food a lot?
    Do you eat fresh vegies and some fruit?
    Are you eating enough? That is a real hard thing to get your head around - that you have to eat enough - it's not about eating less and less.
    Double check you have all your right data - height / weight / goal weight / etc - and check the calorie values on food - some people add food to the database and it is completely wrong, so be careful not to assume the nutritional data is correct.

    Just don't give up; this is possible and it is so worthwhile. It will not happen in a short while - it will take a while to get to where you want to be - if you are doing exercise and eating well and pretty much on target then you should have some result?
  • plantgrrl
    plantgrrl Posts: 436 Member
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    Get out your tape measure--I bet you've lost inches! Hang in there!
  • Pixie_star1234
    Pixie_star1234 Posts: 55 Member
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    Well, I am not sure if this helps, but I lost nothing for 3 months! It seems that my body decided that it will not stand for all this non-sense of healthy eating and eevn when I started to exercise nothing seemed to happen. I nearky cried when I stepped on the scales after my first two weeks (having avoided it since then!) and saw that nothing changed.

    Then, having said that, after about 3 months, bang, I lost 3 kilograms. I am not saying it will take that long, but your body needs time to adjust to the new lifestyle and the chnages you are going through. And this takes time!!! Do not give up whatever you do!!!
    Once your body adjusts you will start losing. I am steadily losing 1lb or two, if lucky, a week.
    Remember it takes discipline to achieve weight loss. How is your water intake? How is your carb intake looking? When and how many calories are you taking in a go? All this matters to a succesfull weight loss.
  • lolathompson
    lolathompson Posts: 70 Member
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    You can do this! And it won't happen fast. I didn't realize that I had not just fat under my skin but in around my organs, feet, face, knees, underarms. That stuff gets everywhere.

    So it seems that the fat around my organs went first, then where ever I gained it last started to go...now I'm waiting on the under the skin at to go.


    The internal fat gives us that "swollen" look, then we look kinda shrunk but not really. What help me was other people's before and after picture that showed a real timeline of how the weight came off. You got this down already Chickadee.

    You can do this it takes time. It took me around 9 months to lose 40lbs went on to a 4 months plateau and just started losing again in Feb. I'm upping my calories to just above my BMR.

    There are so many factors that make our progress differ...water retention, muscle growth, sugar, stress, etc. Slowing going is the best, less chance of relapse. You can do this!!
  • lala11975
    lala11975 Posts: 26
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    Please don't get discouraged! You are doing this to make a healthier You! This is your lifestyle now. Be honest do you feel better not working out and not watching what you eat, or do you feel better knowing you are putting an effort at a healthier lifestyle? Even if you haven't lost that much weight on the scale Yet, I bet you are healthier on the inside already. This is Your life, make the Most of it!!
  • Montanarush
    Montanarush Posts: 76
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    Make sure you take your measurements and write them down. When I started the Atkins diet a few years ago, (a diet I am on again) I was told by the people from Atkins to record measurements. I'm so glad that I did, because the first month and a half, I hardly lost any weight, but when I checked measurements, I had lost several inches. I don't understand how this works, but it really does. I went on to lose over 90 lbs. Also I don't know your diet, but for some the low carb approach is the best healthiest way. might be something you could check out. When I lost all that weight, I had blood work done every 6 mos., to keep tabs on my health that couldn't be seen.Even though you eat a lot of eggs, cheese, meat, my cholesterol, triglycerides, bloos sugar all went down to under perfect levels, and my good cholesterol went up. I had a lot of energy, also. You may just chuck this advice to the side, as a lot of people will not even consider the low carb approach, or it might work for you. The south Beach Diet is another version some find easier to stick to. Hope I helped! :smile:
  • EmmEfff
    EmmEfff Posts: 14
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    I don't have advice, but it helps me, and maybe will help you - to see that someone else is in the same position. I've been relentless about eating healthy, I walk the dogs daily, and I joined a CrossFit club and go 4x a week. And I've lost 2 lbs in six weeks!!! And my clothes still fit the same!! It's frustrating, maddening, and makes me want to dive into a bag of chips!

    BUT - I can lift twice as much weight over my head now as I could six weeks ago, and I can run up the stairs without being winded at the top, and my digestive system is working flawlessly, and I've gone off of my diabetes meds.

    Which all sounds great, but most days I still want that @$%@$# number on the scale to MOVE !!!

    Big hugs to you. Hang in there.
  • ImKindOfABigDeal40
    ImKindOfABigDeal40 Posts: 807 Member
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    Don't give up. A friend of mine has had something similar happen and she was getting very frustrated and ready to quit. I didn't give up on her and continued to encourage her. I'm proud to report that as of this week, she's lost a total of 8 lbs now. She's back on cloud 9 again and is as motivated as ever.

    Bottom line, it's easy to get discouraged. As someone else pointed out, you didn't gain this weight over night. You're certainly not going to lose it over night. Stick with it and do what you know you should be doing and you will start seeing results.
  • imaloser
    imaloser Posts: 5
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    Weight loss and good health go hand in hand. Your junk food cravings might be from keeping flour and sugar in your diet. How about making an effort to keep white flour and sugar out, and for example, adding frozen berries, yogurt and milk (I prefer almond milk) smoothies for a sweet change and I think you will find that the cravings will slowly go away. I do not feel those kinds of cravings much anymore, since I have eliminated white flour and (for the most part!) sugar. It is a process and success is measured in small changes. Celebrate your successes!
  • Chazymomma
    Chazymomma Posts: 12 Member
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    I was thinking the same exact thing. Sometimes it just sucks. I am stuck too.
    I don't have advice, but it helps me, and maybe will help you - to see that someone else is in the same position. I've been relentless about eating healthy, I walk the dogs daily, and I joined a CrossFit club and go 4x a week. And I've lost 2 lbs in six weeks!!! And my clothes still fit the same!! It's frustrating, maddening, and makes me want to dive into a bag of chips!

    BUT - I can lift twice as much weight over my head now as I could six weeks ago, and I can run up the stairs without being winded at the top, and my digestive system is working flawlessly, and I've gone off of my diabetes meds.

    Which all sounds great, but most days I still want that @$%@$# number on the scale to MOVE !!!

    Big hugs to you. Hang in there.
  • Captain_Tightpants
    Captain_Tightpants Posts: 2,215 Member
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    Keep doing what you're doing. Throw away the scales, and watch your sodium intake.

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