I give up!

dont give up keep going making small changes each day -watch portion sizes as well as salt and fat intake -we all have good and bad weeks but dont give up

NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!! first thing to remember: muscle weighs more than fat! (I did not go read your full profile)...so If your doing a workout routine that would be building muscle you have to take that into account.

Have you done any body measurements? That is the true test of how well you are doing!
My personal goal is to be down to 130lbs but with my frame and lean muscle I am not sure that it will be possible to hit that NUMBER, but to achieve a smaller size and look pretty damn good is possible.

I think as a society we are all hung up on numbers. Number of calories we consume daily: which is a must...especially good fats vs bad fats, making sure you are doing the food pyramid. Number of dollars in our bank account...number of items we own...yadda, yadda....I could go on and on with the number thing but I won't...that is a tangent.

DONT LISTEN to anyone that says get rid of carbs...in MODERATION is fine....our bodies need to have several different types of nutrients & vitamins for optimal performance. By omitting too many things we wind up depriving our bodies which then in turn start to store what our body can't turn into fuel into excess fat deposits and the vicious cycle starts all over again.

The only thing a person should ever give up is empty carbs and processed surgars.

Remember lots of color on your plate each and every single time.

I hope this helps!
Keep up i the right direction!!!!

Agreed!

Its just 1 pound,nothing good is easy

Slow and steady wins the race! In 12 months you will be looking at 60 to 72 lbs lost at your current rate. Just keep at it!

Gaining a pound of FAT in one day and a pound of WEIGHT are two different things. There is no way that you gained a pound of FAT in 24 hours. You would have had to eat an extra 3500 calories. 3500 calories = 1 pound of fat. You may not have followed your good-eating guidelines to the T, but I doubt you got off track that much My grandmother used to say, "A pint's pound the world around". That means 2 cups of extra liquid in your system weighs about a pound. As others have said, a lot of factors can cause you to retain fluid.

You have done a FANTASTIC job to lose 6 pounds in a month! My doctor says one pound a week is a good rate. Even though you think it's "only" 6 pounds, you have exceeded that rate! I know it's frustrating to work hard and not see the "reward" on the scale. Be proud of your progress so far, eat healthfully to benefit your body, and move when you can. You can do it!

It's important to distinguish between commitment and expectation. If you are expecting to lose weekly or daily. that puts pressure on to always be thinking I have to .................. If you choose to commit to a healthy life style that includes tracking and watching what you eat, it puts the focus on empowering you to make better choices. And a slip here and there is not the end, because you've chosen a way of life. If I think I am on a "diet", I tend to eat more and that sets me off into negative self-thinking (why don't I have more will power, how come I can't lose as fast as others, I just blew it again--I guess I'll eat the rest of the day and restart my diet tomorrow, etc. etc) A diet implies an endpoint. A life style implies a journey. And when it comes down to it, life is a journey where I get to choose everyday how I want to eat, exercise or live my life. no matter what happens once you're down to the weight you desire, we still have to eat daily and make choices of how I life my life. I believe tracking gives me the feedback I need to make better choices/commitments for the future. Just some food for thought....................

Just cut your CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE. It's that simple.

Dieting, in the conventional sense, is 20 years out of date scientifically. It doesn't work.

OF COURSE your approach is not working. It's wrong.

Just get a copy of the book "life without bread" and you will easily lose weight, with no hassles at all.

Another good popular book, same theme, is "The primal blueprint".

You should definitely also read "Why we get fat" by Gary Taubes.

Buy these books for $25 and you will never be the same again. Enjoy!

You can complain and do nothing, or simply read the books. Enjoy !!!!!

If someone doesn't have the determination, willpower or the drive to eat right and exercise daily in order to get what they want then they surely don't have those qualities to "slowly" introduce carbs into their diet when needed!! I am tired of hearing all this, "no carb" stuff. The body needs carbs, therefore I feel the "lower your carbs" approach is bound to be a bust for someone who does not know how to exercise or eat right on a regular basis. It comes down to, either you want it or you don't.

Like someone said stress can impede your weightloss. I began my diet recently & from the first day realized it was really stressing me out! So I downloaded a weight loss hypnosis program I bought for $3.99. The difference was Incredible! I consider it a relaxation program. I usually fall asleep before it ends & I can really see a change in my desire to eat & my emotions in general (I too have a job that sucks & it has made me so calm) I first discovered relaxation when I used it to prepare for surgery & it provided me with a recovery my doc couldn't believe. The mind is very powerful & I have seen the power of mind/body connection. Don't give up! You have the power to do anything you desire. I joined MFP after I began my weight loss so my ticker doesn't show it but I've lost 14 lbs pretty quickly.

You sound depressed. It's almost impossible to lose weight if you are depressed and tend to put on weight when you feel bad. It is mostly a matter of calories in and calories out (diet and exercise), but other factors come into play when we are depressed. (I know this both from my own experience and because of the work I do.)

Exercise will help you feel better, but it's hard to get motivated, then if you plan to exercise and don't (regardless of the reason), you'll feel frustrated, and of course, more depressed.

If you don't just keep track of your calories consumed but also keep at or below the number of calories recommended on this site, you'll start losing a bit.

Every day you meet your calorie quota, you should try to feel good about the accomplishment. That will help raise your mood, which in turn will help you stick to your calorie count.

I'm not dieter and I don't exercise. But watching the caloric value of the foods I eat has become a sort of personal contest. I often look at what I am thinking of eating and if the cound is not what I want, I choose something else. At the end of the day, I feel particularly good about meeting the goal. Seems trivial and petty maybe, but it seems to be working.

I don't manage to do this every single day. Most days I do, and the more I can meet the calorie goal, the bigger my clothes seem to get. (How's that!? Better than pounds dropping....) I dropped two sizes in two months. And then I got busy and distracted, and my daughter (who doesn't seem to "get" what's a carb and what's a protein) will bring me something and I don't want to hurt her feelings so I eat it. And those days I don't make my calorie goal, and my body doesn't change.

Then again, I've read that if you violate your calorie goal once in a while, you can kind of trick your metabolism into losing more weight faster. (That doesn't make sense, but hey, maybe it works!)

If you are gaining weight, then you are eating too many calories. Change your eating pattern so you are eating enough to feel full and comforted and then do other things in between so you aren't snacking. Tell the sample ladies at Sam's (or whatever) that you "would but it's not on my diet." Those kinds of things reinforce your new habits.

But you really would do well to get with a counselor and figure out what you can do to improve your mood. Who knows, you might even stop thinking of your students as "those bratty kids," and your job might not "suck" any more.

BTW, I can't seem to get a job, will your school take someone with a master's degree but no teaching certificate?

We didn't get fat overnight, and we won't get fit overnight. Don't be so hard on yourself, it sounds to me like you are doing fine.

Don't put yourself down! 6lbs in one month is fantastic! You can do this! You're under stress and yes, it makes it harder but you want this and you'll do it.
Ignore the fad 'crap' and don't totally eliminate ANYTHING. This is a lifestyle NOT a diet. If you think it's a diet you'll feel deprived.
As far as exercise goes, can you put the little one in a stroller and go for a short walk? As little as 15 minutes might make you feel better plus the little one gets fresh air too.
Don't give up. You are strong and YOU are worth the effort to get healthy!
<hugs>

Decreasing your carb intake would just make you even more irritated (been there)

Also I really suggest getting New Rules of Lifting for Women...they have a ton of great info in there saying slashing calories is the worst idea anyone could do....and also the "eat less, exercise more" thing has your body working against you!

I also have struggled with the time to workout, you have to make time...it's not just going to happen. I am probably the least of a morning person you can get and I started working out when I got up and it's so much better because it gets you ready for the day, you are doing it before you're getting stressed by all the stresses of your day and trust me you really do feel more energetic. Even if you just take a quick 15-20 min walk or jog or whatever...something is better than nothing and that'll get you started and then you'll WANT to do it:)

Also, when I got back on here, i didn't lost a single pound until about week 3-4, you have to allow your body time to get used to the changes you're making and 6 lbs in a month is about what I lost. you just have to stick with it and if you're not going to work out, at least keep eating healthy:) it's better than nothing like I said before.

Do most people weigh themselves every day? I try to weigh myself weekly but often forget. I realize that I don't really have any weight to lose and signed up to see what food I was eating. My exercise regimen keeps me thin. What about other measures of fitness? Are you feeling stronger? Are your clothes looser? Perhaps you lost a pound of fat and gained a pound of muscle. You weigh the same but you are healthier. The scale is the simplest way to track our progress but try a tape measure. Measure your neck, chest, waist, hips, thighs and arms. If you are making progress you will be smaller. Don't give up after one month. You didn't gain the excess weight in one month.

I weigh myself everyday, take measurements about once a week or two and take pics when I've lost a significant amount. I don't let anything keep me from motivating me...loose clothes, BF% and so on...I think if you do weigh yourself everyday you have to be ready to see fluctuation and not let that stop you from keeping it up, if some let them discourage them, they shouldn't weigh themselves everyday. Bodies are weird and different for everyone so what 6 pounds might seem little on someone's body it might seem huge to others. the main thing is you've lost! just keep going

Do most people weigh themselves every day? I try to weigh myself weekly but often forget. I realize that I don't really have any weight to lose and signed up to see what food I was eating. My exercise regimen keeps me thin. What about other measures of fitness? Are you feeling stronger? Are your clothes looser? Perhaps you lost a pound of fat and gained a pound of muscle. You weigh the same but you are healthier. The scale is the simplest way to track our progress but try a tape measure. Measure your neck, chest, waist, hips, thighs and arms. If you are making progress you will be smaller. Don't give up after one month. You didn't gain the excess weight in one month.

I think if we weigh and/or measure ourselves frequently, we are going to be put off by the fluctuations that don't always go the way we wish. But weight can vary because of a number of things--eat too much salt and follow it with too much water and you can put on a pound or so of water and not realize it.

If you measure yourself or weigh yourself frequently, you are going to be focused on the result, and when the result doesn't come as much as you hope, you'll be sadder.

But if you focus on the process--get out and walk (or, if you do it like I do, when you happen to walk for half an hour, go put it on your exercise list as cardio!), and log your foods. If you aren't eating prepackaged (and thus pre-weighed) food, then measure what you are eating until you get a sense of how much food is a serving--or how much your serving counts compared to what you are logging in.

I often find that the servings listed in the "food" database are what I am eating, but sometimes I eat A LOT more than they call servings, so I make sure I can count things accurately.

Because losing size is important to me, I have given up stuff I really like. I LOVE chocolate ice cream but I cannot tell you the last time I had some. I love pasta, and I'm not eating that either--a serving that I call a serving just has too many calories.

But I also enjoy salad-y stuff, and tuna and other fish. We have our own chickens (who make amazing eggs), so I probably eat more eggs than others might. But a large egg is 70 calories, so if I want to eat four of them, I get good and full, I feel satisfied and happy, and I have consumed less than 300 calories. (I count the fat I cook them in too, if that's how I fix them.)

I have discovered that Sonic has "junior deluxe burgers with mustard" which are wonderful--and less than 300 calories. (I think--I always have to look them up to be sure.) On the rare occaision I am starved and away from home, I will decide where I am going and what I am going to order, before I go. When I go and read a menu, I am much, much more likely to use the rationalization "one can't hurt" or "I won't eat the whole thing." I can tell you, yes I will and one does hurt when it is the beginning of a few more. I was so disappointed to discover (after eating the entire serving) that Sonic's sweet potato tater tots were WAY WAY higher in carbs and fat than I had hoped--I have not gotten them again.

What I think might be happening to me, because of this way of thinking, this way of making calorie counting a contest with myself, I am changing my relationship with food. I have become a more "mindful" eater. I taste every bite--I had heard that before but until I got where I was actually noticing and enjoying the flavors and textures of the lettuce and tomato and mustard on that meat patty and the slight sweetness of the bun.... The funny thing is, and I never would have predicted this--I enjoy my food much more now, and I am eating less.

I still have an issue with being able to say "no." My wonderful child brought home pizza last night--mine was all veg. Yum! But I was full after two pieces (and I used to eat the whole pie and was looking for more!) and I should have stopped. I did stop at half the pizza. Had the rest of it for breakfast this morning. I don't regret eating twice as much last night as I wanted, and I was really aware of it, so that's progress for me.

Mostly I guess what I am saying is, what we focus on is what will make this process either pleasant or tedious. If I watch my weight obsessively--weighing even every two weeks!--if I measure myself obsessively, I am focused on the results, which might not be what I want. But if I notice, for example, that suddenly I am able to wear size 14 jeans after smooshing myself into 18's for a couple of years, well.... that's much more interesting to me than numbers. And if each day I notice that I stayed within my calorie limit, I feel good about myself. If I also drank enough during the day, another "yea!" And if I accidentally walk for a while, well yippee for me! Seriously!

Hope this helps....