i thought i understood this ...

last week i gained 3 pounds because i didn't eat healthy and i didn't exercise.  i knew that i would gain that week.  this week i worked my butt off trying to lose more weight.  last thursday i jogged/walked 2 miles and then i hit the elliptical.  on sat i hit the elliptical for 45 min and was dying after working out.  i changed up my weight training program.  so instead of doing dumb bells im now using the band exercises.  today im going to try to either jog/walk again or ride the bike.

this morning when i weighed in i didn't lose a thing.  i thought changing up your routine, workingout harder would help to avoid pleatueing?!  i thought i understood this aspect.

also i have keep a 500 cal deficit for the days where i worked out hard.  my daily required cal intake is 1550 and im about 5'4. 

im so disappointed that my hard working didn't pay off.

one thing that i can think of is that i replaced soda with water so its mainly water weight?

Is the soda zero calorie, as with delicious Coke Zero that many think is better than regular Coke? If you're drinking regular soda that has lots of calories.

How much sodium are you eating? It could be the sodium which adds to water weight.

Could be that you are building muscles and muscles weigh more than fat.

Are you sure you're staying down in calories? You may have to go even lower with calories.

Also, some Calorie Count members say this week's eating shows up as next week's weight loss, so it may not show until next week. You may be seeing last week's diet this week.

Good luck! Stay with it. The payoff's enormous.

thanks for responding.

ive been drinking coke zero since apr of this year. 

this past week i have been ranging between 2,200 and 3,400 mg.  i only hit 3,400mg once this week though.  yeah a lot of sodium.  i try to only have 2,400mg of sodium every day.  is that too much still?

as for calories i have went over my max but ive had a deficit of 500 cals.  is this where my problem lies?

for example on Saturday i mowed the lawn for 45 min then went on the elliptical for 45 min.  i burned 700 cals on the elliptical alone.  my burn meter to me that i will burn 2872 cals and i ate 2199 which left a deficit of 673 if i calculated that right.  is that where i went wrong? 

It's tough to tell. If I were you I'd cut the sodium down for 3 days and see if you don't weigh in 2 - 3 pounds less. That will show you how much was water weight due to high sodium intake.

If I go over my max of allowed calories I don't lose weight. I have to stay below what's allowed to lose.

Your daily calorie intake seems high to me, for weight loss. Why don't you try 3 or 4 days of lower calories and see if you don't start losing. I know of people who exercise a lot, are in great shape, but it doesn't help them lose weight. They still have to go low calorie to lose. Their bodies seem to adjust to all of that exercise and it doesn't help them lose.

I suspect the sodium's a bit high and the calories you allow yourself per day is high.

Do you have a list of all the good lower calorie foods that are out there now? Go to www.hungry-girl.com . Sign up for their daily, free email that tells of the latest good-tasting products. Click on "Chew the Right Thing" for archived suggestions. Also, find their shopping list---its extensive and you can remove foods you know you wouldn't like. There's some really good foods out there now that we can eat. Try the Pepperidge Farm wheat Flats in place of bread, for example. They are so good. I had some with a turkey hot dog the other day. There's a peanut butter that's not real peanut butter but is quite tasty. Delicious ice creams! Lots and lots of good stuff that will help you stay on track.

In addition, I have to enter my food daily on Calorie Counts "food log" or I go over. I 'forget' what I ate unless I record it.

It sounds like you're making good use of CC's tools.

Best,