3 weeks and not one pound lost! :(

What am I doing wrong??

I weigh 190 and I'm 5'4". My goal is 130lbs.

Three weeks ago I started dieting and exercising. I've been eating about 1350-1500 calories per day and really watching what I eat. I log all of my calories every day.

I started off running 4-5 times per weeks for 30-40 minutes and weight training as well. I used to run before I had kids. But after about 10 days or so my knee started getting really sore from running on the treadmill so I've switched to a recumbent bike instead for 40 minutes b/c it doesn't hurt my knee as much.

I do not drink soda or any fruit juice or anything like that. I have one cup of skim milk in the am and I drink water otherwise. I drink at least a gallon a day and sometimes 1.5 gallons (I've been doing that since before I started trying to lose weight).

I have not lost a single pound and I am about to go crazy!! This is so frustrating! Not even one single pound after three weeks of this!! It's not like my clothes are fitting differently either--I'm wearing the same clothes and they fit the same as they did three weeks ago.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips for me? What else should I be doing?

I promised myself I would not give up. But I just want to sit here and cry, I swear! What is the deal??!? I mean, I'd be thrilled to just lose one pound at this point.

Thanks for listening to me whine. :)

PLease don't give up, I know it is not easy. I have been at this only since July 20th, so I know how hard it is to change and stick to it.

This is a great site to count EVERY calorie that you eat and spend. Find out what your expendature is by going to the tools and typing in the needed info. Then go to the allowance part and enter in all that stuff again.

I have no idea if this will help, but when my hubby first started to seriously loose weight, he was shocked to find out he had been living on about 1000 calories LESS than he needed every day to just maintain! His body had gone into "starvation mode" and everything he ate and I mean EVERYTHING went straight to fat. Not only that but his body started using his muscle as energy as well. Not a pretty picture.  We "zigzagged" his caloric intake up to what he should be really eating - and yes he did initially gain about 10 pounds over , but we had to get him out of that starvation metabolism mode. Then it started to come off wonderfully, about 2 or 3 pounds a week!

I hope this helps, but even if it doesn't please don't give up!

Would you mind sharing what a typical day's meal plans would be? That would help alot in trying to help you.

How is your food quality?  Are you keeping your fiber high, and your sodium low?  Are you eating real foods, not processed ones?

This is probably stuff you already know, but I'm just kinda wondering aloud...

Also... have you had a visit from Aunt Flo in these 3 weeks?  That could really mess up your numbers.

Here is a typical day

Breakfast

yogurt (fat free, light) 85cals

cup skim milk 85cals

2 scrambled eggs with onion and mushroom 150cals

Snack

sliced apple with one tablespoon peanut butter 165 cals

Lunch

english muffin with mozz cheese and tomato sauce 300cals

sliced deli turkey 100 cals

Snack

fruit and nut granola bar (low fat) 105cals

Dinner

salad with romaine, tomatoes, green peppers, onion, carrots and low cal oil-free dressing 75cals

1 slice of home made pizza (BBQ chicken with onion, green pepper, tomatoes, sauce, cheese) 225 cals

Snack

nectarine 65cals

Total 1355

That was a day on the low end...other days have been up to around 1500 calories.

Let's see...AF was about 2.5 weeks ago.

Thanks for trying to help me!

Well, i am also 5'4, i started on 147 lbs, now i am at 127 lbs and still losing pounds, my aim is 117 or 120, depends if i look good already at 120,  my typical meal is as follow, btw i don't usually eat 6 times a day

1. Breakfast - Quacker Oats, 1 bowl. 

2. Lunch - Any Vegetables 1 cup + any meat with size of my heart/fist.

3. Dinner - Stock soup of chicken/pork or beef. + fish or meat depends on what i had for lunch .  Ex. if i have fish on lunch, i eat other type of meat for dinner.

Snacks: usually only once per day, any fruit i desire.  only 1 piece though.  Ex. Apple, Banana, Pear.

During or After my workout (MWF): i drink a can of Del monte juice with L-Carnatine to burn off fats while working out.  BTW, if you wanna know my workout i follow the Abs 2 Diet Workout.  2 months and i lost 20lbs with my strict food intake.

Try upping your calories by 1 or 2 hundred for a couple weeks... you may not be getting enough food. I would suggest the extra cals to be protein - it doesn't look like you are getting a lot (and personally upping my protein was key for me to lose the weight).

 hth!

Your daily intake looks fine to me, the only thing I can think of though is to watch your sodium. When I started keeping my sodium to 1500 a day, that's when I started losing. good luck!!

I am extremely sensitive to any sodium and will gain a couple of # overnight.  I mostly quit processed & frozen foods. I had to quit cheese.

I didn't know till I came here I wasn't getting enought protein.  I read you need 9g for every 20# you weigh.

I don't know what kind of PB you have, but 1 TBL for me is 100 calories.  And how could you have fruit and granola bar for only 105 calories?  Check the sodium in the granola bar. 

you did ask............  :0)

when you had your scrambled eggs, did you sautee the onion and mushroom in any oil and forget to add those calories in?

I could never eat your lunch.  English muffin, was that a white bread item? (I try to stick to whole wheat)  Mozz cheese has sooo much sodium.  Also deli lunch meats are full of sodium.

And your pizza was probably white flour.  If it was a canned pizza sauce it probably had more sodium also.

You'll be able to do it.  I've only been on this site over a month and have gotten sooo much help.  It's the first time I could lose.  good luck to you.

I'm here for ya too!  I've been stuck at 176lbs for 7 loooong weeks now.

I've tried:

* upping fibre to 30g or more a day

* keeping sodium under 2000mg a day

* drinking at least 12 glasses of water a day

last week I started alternating slow jogging with my walking -- kinda like HIIT -- slowly working up the intensity.  I'm keeping all crossables crossed for a loss this Friday.

 

hang in there....make sure you are taking measurements every 3-4 weeks.  I find that when the scale's not showing a change, my measurements are usually down a 1/2" or two.

Ohio45 has some great points!

check your diet to see any hidden calories

Plus, remember to cut back on refined sugars. Most likely your pizza and english muffin would have a lot of these.

Just dont give up! Continue exercising and counting those calories!

Twocutekids - Don't give up!!  You're here trying hard and that is a terrific step in itself. I've been doing this for about 1 month and I think the site is great and ingenius too.  The genius is that if you enter everything you EAT and everything you DO, there is no hiding from the numbers.  And It's a big awareness raiser.  I find myself thinking more about sodium and fat and trying to get an "A" at the end of the day.  Stick with it - it will eventually start to help. Heck, I've been doing this for 1 month and I've only lost 3 pounds - nothing to write home about!  But, no matter what I'm NOT giving up, 'cause I want to be healthy and also not feel disgusted when I see a photo of myself...

Having said that, I noticed you mention drinking a gallon of water  everyday.  To me, this sounds like a HUGE amount, especially for someone who is petite like me and - I'm guessing (like me) - isn't working out to extreme levels nor working in a harsh environment.  I'd cut back on water intake if I were you.  It makes me wonder - do you crave salty foods??  I wonder if you're retaining water?  For me, I feel comfortable drinking about 2 or 3  12 oz glasses each day - about 1/2 gallon max.

Whatever you do, don't give up. Everything sounds fine to me. But the problem might be that you are at a plateau even though you haven't lost any weight. Try increasing your calorie intake a couple of hundred calories for a week or so and then start slowly decreasing calories. Until you start losing weight. As for the water. I say don't stop that. It's the minimum amount pretty much and you might be retaining that. It might sound weird but if you start drinking more water it will help you retain less water. Cut out salty foods all together. Keep up the good work! You can do it!

Thanks for the replies! You've all given me a lot to think about.

I haven't been keeping track of my sodium intake. I will definitely start to be more careful about that and hopefully it will help!

I drink at least a gallon of water a day b/c I had multiple kidney stones when I was pregnant with my first child and I never EVER want to go through that again. It was recommended to me to drink water all day long.

I'm not giving up!! I had a little fit the other night when I wrote this but I'm feeling much better now! :)

Thank you everyone!!

I'm not sure why you're not seeing results, aside from possibly not eating "enough" for all the exercise?  I don't know though, don't listen to me, as I'm not an expert.  But I'm also in a plateau and I just wanted to say "good luck" and "hang in there" and it will soon break, I'm sure of it :) 

 

 

I just wanted to say that yesterday I was up two lbs and then it hit me.  I had eaten sunflower seeds (salt).  Anyway, today I'm down three from yesterday.  I also heard to drink lots of water and I have been, I guess if it was salt that worked. 

Keep up the great work!  It will happen I promise. 

I would suggest upping your protein.  This is what worked for me.  My diet consisted of:

Breakfast: 2oz cereal (unsweetened ie porridge)
1 egg or 2oz cottage cheese

Lunch: as much veg as you wanted
3oz protein (ie skinless chicken breasts or fish)

Dinner: as much veg as you wanted
3oz protein (ie skinless chicken breasts or fish)
1 oz brown rice or 1 potato the size of your fist

Snacks (2 per day): 1 piece of fruit, 1 pot of lowfat plain yoghurt, 2 high fibre cracker bread, 2 ryvita crackers

Treats: allowed a treat up to 200cal per day

Sauces: allowed up 100cal per day

I know that this doesnt suit everyone, but it really worked for me.  I lost 10lbs in 6 weeks.  I probably would have lost more if I had stuck more rigidly to it (I got a bit lax after week 4)

I would add more protein into your diet either with meat or shake. I am also doing the Abs diet routine and have lost 50lbs. doing it and protein is a important part of it. but from looking at your daily intake you are deffinatly lacking protein