Getting started - how long before the scale moved? 2 weeks - and nothing!!

Okay - so I need your help... I started counting my calories about 3 weeks ago and although I feel like I have lost weight (clothes getting looser, and I just "feel" like I have) the scale has not moved an inch!  Has this happened to anyone else?

I know that I am eating a TON healthier and am consuming far less calories than I used to (I used to eat whatever I wanted to - then suddenly my body figured out I wasn't 18 anymore... and it took my mind 10+ years to figure that out). I am not giving up or anything but I really would like to see a new number.....

Is this totally crazy??

 

 

I feel that same way..... I started working out 3 weeks ago and the scale has not moved 1 inch. I feel like I might have gained a pound or two. 

I eat right and work out 3 to 4 times a week.  I feel like giving up but I just tell myself, "you can do it".

Yeah, I just posted the same thing (see, "Come on, Really").  If you find the answer, let me know.  I'm not too worried about it since the whole goal is to look/feel better, not just make the scale move, right? 

If you are FEELING it and not seeing it on the scale, it's happening. It took me 7 weeks to see anything on the scale. I STILL get upset when the scale is up a lb overnight and I need to abandon the scale but just can't :)

Hi june_08_bride, and welcome to this wonderful site :)

How many calories are you currently eating? How much weight do you have to lose? What is your BMI? Have you started working out together with counting your calories as well? How fast do you usually put on pounds? Is your period due to start any day now?

All these factors should be considered when looking into the issue of you not losing any weight for two weeks.

The closer you are to your ideal weight; your body will be more reluctant to quickly release the pounds.

If you are close to your period - maybe you are retaining water more, and therefore not losing any pounds.

Sodium intake could be the culprit as well (are you keeping below 2500 mg?)

These are just a couple of options (as I said - there is not enough information in your post to really determine which one would be the closest to the truth).

However - don't give up - as I have found - this is the only true way to lose the pounds and keep them off (I have lost 24.2 Lbs so far - and I started on August 27 - so 7 weeks).

Good luck!

I have been counting cals and working out since June 4, 07 and haven't seen the scale move much at all. On a good day I am down about 6 pounds. Some days it says I have gained weight and others just a few pounds. I know your frusteration. I have lost inches and I wish that I would have been keeping track of that. I have lost about 4 pant sized and one size in shirts. I don't remember the last night I had fast food. I don't really even crave it. I feel a 100x better then I ever have.

Don't give up and try not to focus on what the scale says. If you feeling better and clothes are fitting loser then your on the right track and just focus on that.

Thanks for the support. I know its not about the scale - and its about a healthier, more fit lifestyle - but I guess I still see the "magic number" as the goal... Either way I have a lot to go (ideally would like to lose 60lbs). I'm not giving up - I just couldn't figure this out!!!! I know that I could be doing more (eating even better than I do - exercise more) but I wanted to see what would happen at first if I just counted calories (if that makes sense - like what kind of an impact that would have). I didn't gain the weight overnight - I sure won't lose it all overnight... but one measly POUND after 3 weeks of intense food scrutiny would sure be nice!!!

 LOL.... just keep swimming... just keep swimming....

 Thanks again guys.....

muscle weighs more than fat. always remember that.  but ya, it gets irritating.

I know this guy at the gym that when he first started going regulary and eating right and really trying to lose weight he didn't see the scale move for 8 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!! But he never gave up! Eventually he lost over 60 pounds and he's still at the gym several times a week maintaining a healthy weight for over a year now. Don't get discouraged are bodies aren't all alike and they don't all respond to exercise and diet the same way it's about being healthy!!

I feel ya! I started counting cals and going to the gym 5-6 days a week for over  a month now and NOTHING. I don't even feel like my clothes fit any better! It's pretty annoying and discouraging, but thankfully I enjoy the gym so I think I can stick with it for a while more before I'll really want to give up!

It was very slow for me in the beginning.  I think that's part of the reason why people quit diets because they're expecting to see dramatic results right away (not saying this is anyone in particular, just commenting).  What I do is I measure myself.  A measuring tape will never lie.  I also didn't have a scale at my home until a few months ago.  Of course the variance of a few pounds day to day is water weight.  3500 calories above your burn rate is a pound, so unless you've eaten 21000 calories on top of what you normally eat, you're not going to gain 6 pounds in a day.  Just so you know, I kept at it and kept at it (I started seriously around the beginning of May 2007) and I started to see the weight fall off.  I have now lost 30 pounds, and I feel good about that.  I don't think it was too fast, and I was able to keep up the lifestyle change with no problem of feeling hungry or anything.  I, of course, eat more calories than calorie-count tells me to because I don't think that a 6' tall woman should be eating 1200 calories a day...but I think that counting calories (along with exercise as needed, although I did not exercise and only now am I beginning to) is the only SURE way to lose weight.  It's simple mathematics!

First: Congratulations on looking and feeling better.  Perhaps you are losing body fat and building muscle?  I have found that watching my body fat (using a simple scale like the weight watchers one even though I'm not on weight watchers) helps me out a lot.  That way when my weight isn't changing, but I can see my body fat weight going down, I know I am on the right track still and it keeps me motivated.  Here is a good article that I use http://www.healthchecksystems.com/bodyfat.htm  it outlines what are healthy body fat percentages and how losing weight works into that.  Good luck and don't give up!

try taking some measurements of yourself.  around your true waist, around your hips, thighs, etc.  if you are gaining muscle, then you'll see a decrease in your measurements, which are what people see anyway.  also, muscle burns more calories than fat, so ultimately it will help you lose more :o)  good luck!