Hey Im new and looking for advice

Hi everyone!  I'm finally getting down to the nitty gritty of counting calories and working on improving my nutrition.  As it turns out, 10 years of wishing, hoping and praying to lose weight really doesnt help!  

I'm only on my third day, so, extremely new at this.  I found that I lost 1 lb the first day and gained it back the second day despite a 1000 cal deficit, is this normal?

I know in my head that slow progress is best but in my heart it can be tough to stay motivated without measurable results. 

Any and all advie will be greatly appreciated!  I'm so excited to be a new part of this terrific community!

Hi Rachelmarie, welcome!

My best advice is don't weigh yourself every day. I would weigh no more than once a week. ( as for me, I sometimes go 2 or 3 weeks - I like to rely more on how baggy my clothes are getting).

Hi Rachelmarie and Welcome to the group!

I agree with "flirtin_mom"....don't weigh yourself everyday.  Your body is going to flucuate enough just on a weekly weigh in.  I do mine at the same time, same day and same dress once a week.  Some, like flirtin_mom do it less than that, but the over all thing is how do you feel and are the close getting bigger.

I was actually shocked yesterday when I put a pair of my jean capri's on to find them huge in the waist (which they would shrink more in the thighs and abs...LOL)

Good luck and holler if you need anything or just want to talk!!!

Thank you, I think you guys are probably right!  I'll stop letting my wii fit pressure me into weighing every day  lol

Oh my god, weighing yourself is like an addiction. When I started losing weight I waited four months, then I started doing it once a month, then once every few weeks then once a week, twice a week ... now it's 3-4 x / week and I cannot help myself! It's compulsive. I wish I wouldn't though; it is SO discouraging to see the little drops and bumps that would just seem like steady weight loss if I had more self-control and only weighed myself once a week or so. Like yesterday I had 'gained' 2 lb since the day before and almost had a heart attack seeing it on the scale. So I'll probably weigh again today to make sure it's gone. And so it will go until I drive myself insane!

Perhaps the answer is somewhere inbetween.  One of our new members told me something yesterday that I am putting into my mental répertoire.

She reminded me that the scale is only a tool, an instrument to be used for gathering information.  It has no heart to feel and no mind to judge.

I use it.  It doesn't rule me.

So setting a time to weigh is at my discretion.  daily, weekly, twice a month or whatever. 

What I have to do is rule my reaction to what I see, reason with my heart when I see the information I gather and not let it turn my emotions against me.

OK.  This lesson is for me.  I am talking to myself, but it's nice to be able to put it to print.  Somehow saying it aloud (in print) makes it more real.

Rachelmarie,

Welcome to our little group.  Don't let the little fluctuations in weight bother you.  You keep doing what you know is right and you will lose.

I weigh myself 3 times at the gym every time I go (walk in, weigh, go pee, weigh, work out, weigh, haha) - but I only keep official weights on Sundays. Although if during the week I get a lower number I log it, but my weight log on here has "official" weights Sundays only.

Don't forget there will be a weight difference depending on.. um... what you have eaten and what has 'left the building'.

Welcome, we are glad you have joined us... and about the ten years of wishing and hoping... I think i spent about ten years thinking I was this tiny little thing all around just cause i'm short... oops guess not! :D

Thankyou for the kind words and warm welcome, I am relieved to be reassured that these fluctuations are normal! 

Now another question, how do you guys get those "Weight Tickers" on your proiles?

try tickerfactory.com

Mine is from there, I got it at the threefat chicks, but you have to post there so many times and join etc.  try directly to tickerfactory. 

http://www.tickerfactory.com/weight-loss/w5RK JsO/

I haven't tried to put mine on here.  I wonder if I could and which format to use so it will show up correctly.

OK.  I'm going to try

 What do you know...I dood it.  And now it's gone.  Rats.  nevermind.

Rachelmarie,

     My advice to you is that you continue to weigh everyday for the rest of your life, but for now chart your weight on a graph.  Keep charting until you come to BELIEVE  that the number on that scale is just that ,  a number.  It will fly around when you  stick to your food plan and it will let a day slide by when you don't....but it will always reflect calories in/calories out... based on your own bodie's metabolism.   If you are true to your eating plan, you will see that your weight will not always relfect what you have eaten in one day.  Sodium is an issue, eating out, that time of the month, and just general irregularites of our bodies.  Even being constipated can keep you at a standstill.   But I suggest you weigh everyday so that you can break the emotional hold the scale has over you.  It's about being real and honest with ourselves. We play mind games with the scale, and as compulsive overeaters, we too often allow the scale to dictate our mood.  Remember that your weight is not who you are, it is not your self esteem.  It is merely a number on a scale that keeps  you accountable.  Nothing more.  It is what it is.  You do the work you need to do and one day the reward appears.   I had mentioned before on another post how sad I felt it was when watching the Biggest Loser on tv,   how when they weigh themselves and compare themselves with each other, and someone loses only 2-4 lbs and the look of devastation on their face....it is just criminal.  We need to give ourselves credit in this journey for so much more than the number on the scale.  Did you stick to your food plan, did you do some exercise, did you journal, did you reach outside yourself today and think of something or someone other than your diet obsession?  Give yourself credit for every little triumph.  We are so quick to poo poo our accomplishments....we beat ouselves up thinking what we do is never enough or never fast enough.     So face that scale everyday and de-demonize him.  He only has as much control as you give him.  I have made friends with the scale and now I refer to him as "my accountability friend who I visit every morning".  I have rendered him powerless and impotent over my moods and I have declared that I indeed can be the boss of me.   Love to You

Thanks again everyone, Im so glad to be here, I look forward to communicating more in forums as I get the hang of it!

Original Post by ibeckforme:

Rachelmarie,

     My advice to you is that you continue to weigh everyday for the rest of your life

 I'll disagree with this for someone who is just starting out.  If you have a lot of weight to lose, it can be very discouraging to feel like you're doing well only to see no loss or even a gain.

The cliche is that you didn't put it on overnight, so the weight isn't going to come off quickly.  The main thing to remember is that you need to change your lifestyle if you want this to be a sustainable loss.

I didn't weigh for 2 months after I started.  Now, I weigh every two weeks to make sure my BMR is within spitting distance of what CC says it is.  Since I log *everything* I eat and every activity I do (and I set my activity level to sedentary), I have been able to calculate to within half a pound of what I should be losing versus what I actually have.

Personally, I don't think it matters that much unless the person cannot overcome the disappointments of the scale variations.

Oh, and did I say there is a nifty graph right here on this site?  Called the weight log.

Hi Rachelmarie,

Welcome - You can get that ticker right here - Go to Communities on the blue bar at the top - Profiles - ticker.

I think it updates for you each time you enter a new weight on the weight log.

I hope that's right - I just kind of started here too and am learning my way around.

I didn't know that.  The one I have on my other forum won't come over here for some reason.