Weight loss question/frustration!

[JerzyJenn]

So three and a half weeks ago I stepped on the scale for the first time in probably 6 months. I was suppose to be loosing weight for my wedding and kept putting it off as I finished school, worked full-time, worked an internship and more (I am the queen of taking on too much!). So I knew getting on the scale that I hadn't lost any weight but was floored to find out I had gained 10 pounds and put myself at an all time high of 195lbs! That's almost 200 and I couldn't except that. I instantly went into healthy living mode. I need to loose a couple inches in order to fit in my wedding dress in October.

Now for me I can't do any of that "in moderation" stuff. I find I cheat on moderation so for me it's all or nothing. I instantly quit drinking diet soda and eating anything with added sugar. I began drinking tons and tons of water everyday. I went to a Paleo diet with the exception of my daily yogurt. I also began going to the gym 5 days a week. I'm doing the C25K program and following the NF Strength Training Guide (Barbell Battalion). Also I'm following the 100 Push-ups program on my iPhone. I own a BodyBugg so I can track my calories burned (90% accurate they say) and I am logging all of my meals. My daily calorie burn is somewhere between 2300-2600 and my intake is between 1200-1500 (which I feel like I eat so much to get that high cause when you eat Paleo its hard to eat a ton of calories).

Anyway after the first week I dropped 4.5 pounds. Since then I have followed the same exact schedule. If I'm not at the gym I'm playing Dance Central on the Xbox Kinect or going for a walk. My diet has been strict and I still can't seem to loose any weight. I don't understand what the problem is. Now this may sound a bit gross and I apologize but every time I go on a Paleo diet my bowel movements become non-existant almost. I only go about once or twice a week. I don't feel constipated but I'm not sure if this is preventing the weight loss. If that's not it what could it be at this point?

When I say I have been perfect I really do mean it. With the exception of the day I graduated a week ago (I ate at a Hibachi restaurant) I have been 100% perfect in my diet.

Does anyone have any tips, suggestions, or advice? Why have I been stagnant in my weight loss for 2.5 weeks?

[PhoenixRising]

If you are really want to just lose weight for your wedding, may I suggest going vegan? I was at 185ish about 2 months ago ad I am now down to 163. When I dropped the dairy I stopped feeling so bloated. When I cut meat I was more regular. I don't really have an argument against eggs, so keep them if you want! The key is not replacing your protien calories with carbohydrates. Beans and soy have plenty of carbohydrates anyway. I also cut gluten for a gluten allergy. That may be some of my weight, but I have lost INCHES on my legs, waist, hips, and shoulders.

About three months ago I decided to reduce my meat consumption dramatically. I also decided to cut out milk permanently. I will probably eat cheese and other processed dairy (like yogurt) but not nearly as much as I used to eat. For the summer I decided to go vegan so I could learn how to live without meat eggs and dairy. I was more curious to see what I would miss and how I would feel eating this diet. Along with the animal products, I reduced carbs (which I still struggle with), cut excess sugars, and dropped soda and convenience eating (reduced eating out and no buying snacks at the gas station, healthy or not!) I feel awesome! I don't need coffee in the morning, I am running again without pain (I haven't run in nearly 10 years), I have the energy to chase my kids all day (in fact, I wear them out now), and I have lost a lot of weight! Being vegan isn't permanent for me. But relying less on carbs and meat has worked for me and i will keep that! It would be a healthy way to lose a good amount of weight and inches for your wedding. Be sure to get enough protien and you are pretty much good as far as other daily requirements. The body stores b12, which is one of the main missing components of the vegan diet, so you won't have to worry about a shortage for the next few months.

And you can still be paleo and ovo vegetarian (eggs only) or vegan. I do a lot of paleo things. Intermittent fasting, higher fat intake, and reduced carbs (I eat more carbs than paleo says you should, though). I also like the exercise advice with the paleo diet. When I go back to meat, I will be eating grass fed and/or organic only. Eggs will be free range. my husband will probably be full paleo. We are still working on his diet!

Anyway, just a suggestion. It doesn't work for everyone.

[Elastigirl]

Maybe you are actually doing too much. If your body is stressed it will hold unto the fat. You said if your not t the game you are doing something active- which your activites don't sound extreme, but maybe its just the pressure your putting on yourself to have to do something.

The other things that can slow down a Paleo diet is too much nuts and fruit.Try cutting back or out those things.

And finally, what you don't want to hear: it takes time. It doesn't happen overnight. Keep working at it, maybe tweaking a few things that I mentioned, and it will happen. But maybe not as quickly as you'd like.

Oh, and try a magnesium supplement, that should help the constipation.

[Wolverine]

You may not be eating enough for your current activity level. Try upping your calories (while remaining on the diet!) or decreasing your activities and see what happens. Seems counterintuitive but this worked for me.

[Kewilson]

It's only been (less than!) a month. Losing 4.5 pounds in total, your average weight loss per week across the three weeks has been 1.5lbs/week, which is entirely normal.

There are a lot of go-to responses for weight-loss plateaus that you're going to get in the thread and I'll list a few below, but consider this one: you're losing weight but it's not showing up on the scales because of short-term variability in the data. Weight can vary considerably on a day-to-day basis and even over the course of a single day; it goes up and down and a single measurement for a week (or a day) probably doesn't give you a perfectly accurate sense of whatever progress you've made. That's why a lot of personal trainers (and Steve!) will often tell people new to weight loss not to step on the scale too frequently, at least at first. The short-run weigh-ins aren't really important as the overall trajectory. My weight loss hasn't been a perfectly straight line, but the overall trajectory is pretty consistent.

Sometimes weight-loss just seems to stall for a couple of weeks at a time without actually/truly doing so. Your 'true' average weight is going down, but by dumb luck you're getting a series of weigh-ins slightly higher than that amount due to normal weight variability. I think that's probably what's happening, personally.

Some other common possibilities, none of which I can definitively vouch for:

1) You're in 'starvation mode'. Basically your calorie deficit is too big and your body is retaining every pound of fat it can. Cut back on exercise a bit, or eat more calories (or both).

2) Your calorie counts are off; you're eating more calories than you think or burning fewer than you think (or both) and so not actually running a calorie deficit. Check your numbers.

3) You're eating enough, but of the wrong types of foods (e.g., too much sugar). It sounds like you're even more Paleo-rific than I am, but maybe check whether you're over-indulging in fruit, general carbs, or whatever else.

Again, my bet is that it's just a blip in the data and that if you give it a few more weeks, you'll probably start to see a clearer trend emerge.

[JerzyJenn]

Thank you for the suggestion of cutting back on fruit. I do find that my snacks throughout the day are mostly apples or grapes so I'll try replacing them with a vegetable!

As far as my calorie numbers I am measuring and counting EVERYTHING! I know there can be a fluctuation in the scale and that my BodyBugg is not 100% accurate but I only have deficit of 1000-1100 calories a day. From everything I've read that shouldn't be starvation. I will try decreasing my deficit for a week or two and see if my body just treats starvation differently.

I have thought about going vegan before but I love meat and my fiancé wouldn't be too happy about it. He is also a healthy eater but loves his meat and we can't really afford to be making two separate meals for dinner every night. (Not that vegan is expensive but its cheaper to feed two people one meal that it is to feed them each separately).

I don't want it to happen overnight but two and a half weeks without dropping a pound is a bit of a stall. I didn't panic after the first week without loss (week 2) but I technically gained after the 2nd and 3rd week and am only down 2 pounds from where I initially started 3.5 weeks ago. I am 30-40 pounds overweight (I'm 5'6" and 195lbs) and so it's not like I am already skinny complaining about only losing 2.5 pounds. For me I felt I shouldn't be gaining a pound a week when my actions were showing that I should be loosing 1-2 pounds a week.

[RaeVynn]

Be sure to take a day off completely each week. Are you sleeping? Sufficient rest is required, too.

I'd also say that you might be running too much of a deficit. There's no reason to wear yourself out to a frazzle before the wedding. Ignore the scale, and look at your measurements. You might find that you are getting thinner, and will rock that dress, at a higher weight.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

And .. unfortunately, plateaus are common as our bodies adjust and try to maintain current weight when we make any changes. Have you lost inches?

[julieez226]

It sounds like you've gotten some really good advice from people on here, so I just want to say DON'T GIVE UP!! It sounds like you're doing an amazing job, and though the scale isn't going where you want, just think: you are getting HEALTHIER!! About 8 years ago I joined Weight Watchers and had a starting weight of 135 lbs (on my 5'0" frame it wasn't pretty) and there were weeks in a row that I either gained or lost a measley 0.2 lbs and I got frustrated. But after about a 5-week-long plateau the scale finally went down to 118 and I've maintained it for the last 8 years. I'm on Nerdfitness now because I've maintained my weight, but I'm getting fatter as I've gotten older (I'm "skinny-fat"...it's really not pretty), so I want to tone up. And don't forget that Staci actually gained like 20 lbs because she increased her muscle mass so much, so while the scale says you're not losing weight you could be losing fat, and if that's the case it will show up on the scale eventually...and in your clothes!!

[JerzyJenn]

Thanks guys! Everyone has given a lot of good advice. Sleep has been an issue for me. With the weather recently it is so hot at night that I'm up constantly or when we have a thunderstorm my dog wakes me up cause he's scared. That was something I was thinking it could be.

As far as inches go, I do know that I can maintain a weight and loose inches I just didn't expect to see that happen yet. My gym does monthly nurse visits where they take all your measurements. My next appointment is in 2 weeks so I'll know then if this is the case but I can say that I can't fit in my shorts from the end of last summer yet (which were from when I was 10 pounds lighter) so I know I haven't really lost any in my stomach or hips (of course I don't need to loose it in my hips for the wedding dress, just my waist and chest).