Need some advice...

So for 4 weeks now, I've gotten even more strict on my diet and thus far I've been doing great.  I was able to lose 2 lbs each week.

Except for this week that just has me going "WHAT?" in the morning.

Sunday I weighed in at 136.4; I was so excited.  Tuesday...138.7?  Again, WHAT?  Nothing had changed in my diet or exercise at all!  If anything, I went up by 5 lbs in my Body Pump class.  I was able by Thursday to shed some of that excess weight, bringing me back down to 137.2.  The only difference this week has been work, I've been working A LOT and have been really stressed and staying up much later than I usually do to complete my work.

I have stuck to my diet for 4 weeks.  I've had temptation after temptation and I have stayed strong in my diet.  Pizza (twice), icecream (three times), cookies, Italian, Bagels, Mexican, etc.  And even though I wanted those things more than ANYTHING, I stuck to my guns and said no.

Yesterday, I broke it for the first time as my grilled chicken I heat up at work smelled really strange and was pink on one strip and dark gray on another.

I lost my appetite for my chicken wrap and went and had a bowl of Tomato Basil Soup at a french place called "La Madeline's".  I stuck to my diet for the rest of the day.

I was expecting SOME weight gain, because I know that tomato soup is the lesser of evils at a French bakery and cafe, but it still has a lot of fat and calories.

Scale reads this morning:  138.6.  I'm feeling very discouraged and would like some opinions or suggestions on this.  I'm starting to feel like that I have to stay on this diet for the rest of my life in order to not gain weight and any variance what so ever will result in all my hard work for that week going down the drain.

My boyfriend was going to take me out to eat (Mexican food) as a celebration of my hard work at my job and on my diet...but I feel like I don't deserve it now.  :(

I'm trying to focus on the positive (for instance, since starting my journey to weight loss 2 years ago I've gone from a size 18 jean to a size 4 jean at Old Navy) but it's hard to do that right now.

Thanks for reading. 

Jackie--congrats on your weight loss so far!  You are doing amazing.  I starting @ 150 July 2008 and am finally at around 120-121.  When I got to 130 it was harder and harder to lose and it has been slow ever since.  Keep going as you are, maybe try zig zagging your calories, let yourself have a day where you can "go over the limit" a little.  Then get back on track the next day.  Sometimes I think your body needs a break...you are probably stressing yourself about the calories/lack of loss, which doesn' help the weight loss at all.  And maybe you need to up your calories a little since you are working out.  Remember that losing the weight slowly usually means that you'll have a better chance of keeping it off.  Good luck!

You are doing amazing and you deserve to celebrate.

Is it creeping up on that time of the month.  I never lose and often gain duing the week before, but it drops back off quickly.

If that's not it, then I'd guess it's the sodium leading to water weight.  That soup, I assure you, had a ton of salt in it.

 

I think it is just water retention due to your sodium (salt) intake.  Or, maybe your period is coming soon.  Don't worry about it.  It happens to everyone once in a while.

 

 

I understand your frustrations. Losing weight is not easy - if it was this site would never have been created. I read this in an article and I believe it to be true.... Generally you will lose as much weight as you can at one time in a 6 month time frame. After that you need to maintain for a few months to let your body catch back up before you start losing weight again.

I would not worry about the minor fluctuations in your weight. I personally range from 6-7 pounds of fluctuation per day - weird I know. The fluctuations can be from more water, more lean muscle, "fluff weight" (weight gained by eating to much one day, if you go back to your normal eating habbits it will go away in a few days), and other things. The important thing to remember is that what you are trying to do is a behavior modification and not a diet. You are trying to teach yourself healthy habbits which you can continue in life. Diets won't work because people never stay on them long enough. I know you have learned a few good things while you have gone from a size 18 to 4. Keep those in mind, continue to do them and good things will happen.

The downsize of losing weight is that you get to a point to where you are fighting genetics. If your boyfriend tells you - you look great - believe him. Trust in what the people close to you say. You may be at the bottom end of your weight meaning you might not be able to lose any more weight because of your body build. My wife is at your weight and I think she is in the best shape I have ever seen her.

If you really want to know where you stand do the waist to hip ratio ( your waist in inches divided by your hips in inches) and if you are under 1.5 or 1.75 you are perfect. Or, go get a body fat % test and see where you are in that. Weight is not everything - there is more to peruse than a goal weight. Good luck and please let me know if I can help in any other way.

Thank you everyone for your kind words and suggestions! :)

Hanshock, I've been thinking about trying a zig zag diet. If I understand it correctly, it's basically just adjusting your calories by about +/- 200 calories, right? And it's supposed to keep your body "guessing". I may give that a go.

Juliemae2, do it's not TTOM for me. But, I do know *exactly* what you're talking about as I will gain sometimes up to 4-5 lbs around that time. I also think that you and healthydiet101 are spot on about that soup, I think the sodium content was WAY up there (like most soups)!

beas23, thank you for all of that information. I completely agree with you that this isn't a diet it's a way of life. Maybe if I continue to have struggles trying to lose additional weight, I'll simply try to maintain for a few months, as you have suggested.

Everyone is telling me how great I look and how I've really come a long way. But, being overweight for as long as I was means that I have a certain self image of myself. I know I've lost a lot of weight as the number on the scale has gone down a lot (as well as my sizes) but when I look in the mirror, I see the same ol' 185 lb Jackie.

I had a few free personal trainer sessions a month ago. At the time, I weighed 144 lbs and my body fat % was 23.1, which he told me was just about in the "Good" range (the ranges went Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor). I recently bought the same body fat analyzer off of eBay, and I want to see if my body fat has decreased from that time, as I am now sitting at 136-137.