When will the scale reflect my hard work?

Hello everyone! 

I have been dieting and working out HARD for about two weeks. I cut my caloric intake to a nutritious 1200 calories, I run two miles everyday and I also strength train most days. I hope to loose 20-30 pounds. My start weight was 147 (I'm 5'1) and I weighed myself yesterday and I only lost two pounds! I find this very discouraging since I can see visible results in muscle tone all over. Am I building muscle at the same rate as fat loss? Will the scale ever drop? 

Please help!

Muscle weighs more than fat-you're probably building muscle. In addition, look at your salt intake. If you lower your sodium for 2 or so days you'll probably see a drop of 2 to 3 pounds.

I agree, if you are doing a lot of strength training, then you may not see the scale budge right away, but it definitely will after time. Two weeks isn't really a lot of time so the fact that you lost 2 lbs is something to be proud of I think!

Another thing that may be notable: Because of your smaller stature, it will take you a little longer to lose weight than someone bigger expending the same amount of effort because it takes longer to reach that 3500 calorie deficit (for a 1b loss) than someone who is say, 5' 9". This is because your body simply requires less calories for metabolic functions (lower BMR). It's the same reason men burn more calories than women and thus lose weight easier in general.  To combat that, just continue building muscles. Yes, it weighs more but will burn more calories up in your body than the same amount of fat. It takes up less room so your clothes will still be looser, and you'll tone up (like you mentioned). I think that is more important than the number on the scale.

Don't get discouraged!! You are definitely on the path to losing all that weight and reaching your goal!