Please assure me that the laws of thermodynamics will prevail!
 

I have decided to simply turn myself over to science for study --- I am truly an anomaly.
Fitday (and I am honest in my entries) shows that I have been running a calorie deficit for over one month, and the deficit averages 1250 calories/day (the deficit is never less than 1200) from both diet and daily exercize.
Science tells us that 1 lb of fat is 3500 calories.
For example a deficit of 1250/day x 28 days = 10 lb. loss. (my math is correct)
My deficit has been for over 5 weeks.
So.... Where is it?????????????????????????? Where is my loss???
I can't possibly be retaining that much H2O!!!

As I said- I am a true anomaly- a freak of nature.

No, but the daily exercise could be building muscle tissue. And if you were on a low cal or low fat regime before trying LC, your body could have been seriously short of protein for some time. And now it is making repairs.

Makes you wonder why gravity works all the time when this"Law" doesn't-doesn't it? :) :)
Are you eating 800 calories and burning 2000 or are you eating 2000 and burning 3200?
Maybe your exercise doesn't expend as much energy as you think-maybe your intake is higher then you think.
If we all fit that formula we would not be talking about different metobolic rates.
Your body fat% can be kept from us nosies but it should be a very important # for you-track that.

My average caloric intake is between 1450-1650 and between exercize and going by what fitday says is my BMR (which I think is high) or figured with what mybodycomp.com has formulated, I have- at MINIMUM -a 1250 cal. deficit.
I really do not think I am "over-estimating" my output and I am SURE I am not "under-estimating" my intake.
I do not publicize my fitday account because I have had some VERY unwelcome comments related. However, the graphs and numbers I have from fitday are what I have listed.

Sadly, NewDieter, you are not an anomaly. For many of us, it is truly difficult to lose weight. You can have the assurance that you have many compatriots here who completely understand your frustration, because they're going through it too.

Keep reading throughout the forum, especially in the turtle and stall sections, for tips on what can be slowing your weight loss. It could very likely be a medication you're taking, you might be eating sugar alcohols, it could be a sensitivity to the acid in red meat and egg yolks, etc.

Don't give up -- you'll probably gain if you do. You will eventually take it off with perseverence. You need to identify what's going on though. Start a journal if you haven't, post your menus, and several experienced experts will be happy to take a look to help you identify the source of the problem. :)

Thanks bike2work. No sugar alcohols here- BAD GI results and no medications, just vitamin/mineral supplements.
I did start a journal this week- though sadly it is more like a complaint post.
I had not thought about the sensitivity to acids in red meat and eggs. I don't eat much red meat, but eggs are a daily staple- usually two or three. Geez- the arachidonic (I think) acids in the eggs may be an issue. AARGH! There goes easy breakfast on the way out the door.
I am seriously considering going to visit a nutririonist/dietician.

First of all, I think Fitdays activity estimates are probably way off for some of us. By my calculations, I should weigh 82 pounds by now. :p So I wouldn't give too much credence to their metabolism stuff. I simply go by the number of calories I eat. 1200ish for me is great, 1500ish and I'm going to have slow, slow weightloss, 1800 and I'm maintaining.

Another thing is, either I build muscle incredibly fast, or else exercise makes me retain water. However, like you said, you gotta believe that the law of thermodynamics is working and I'm not getting calories from air. So eating a number of calories that I know is fine, plus exercise sometimes equals a weight stall. But... it doesn't equal a size stall.

I REALLY recommend measuring every other week. Its gratifying to see the inches drop, even if the weight doesn't.

Personally, I don't believe that foods cause stalls other than just overeating or perhaps causing water retention. Otherwise, we could just feed the world's poor, undernorished people all the food we claim stalls us and they'd never starve to death, no matter how few calories they got! :p

Drugs definitely do. Medical conditions do too. Everything else is either just water weight or weight from over eating. IMHO of course. I have as much scientific data to back me up as the people who claim that foods stall them, i.e. none.

I think the real thing to be concerned about foods is whether or not they cause cravings or a glycemic reaction. Or... in my case, whether I can't put the yummy low carb ice cream BACK in the freezer after I've had a serving.

I think your experience illustrates the fallacy behind the whole "calories in/calories out" equation we've been told. It's just not that simple. Sure, you put a certain amount of gas in a car and each car will go a varying amount of distance, but people don't work that way.

The body is a whole complex interaction that goes way beyond mere calories. In my case, eating Atkins made my calories go UP and my weight went DOWN.

However, the composition of my diet radically changed. I went from eating 70% carb/10% protein/20% fat to 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carb.

In this case the science you are trying to apply to yourself is simply wrong. You must look elsewhere for the solution. For me it wasn't calories, since mine went up. It wasn't exercise, since my level didn't change before and after. But my diet COMPOSITION was, in my case, crucial.

YMMV your mileage may vary
 

People do work that way---mileage(metabolism) is affected by so many things that a set meter of calories used is not going to be accurate for all of us.

If you have a 1200 deficit every day your body is going to learn to conserve and hoard everything it can. :

I wish my car would learn to conserve if I only put a gallon of gas in it. ;)

Your deficit should be 500 cal. max. Otherwise you put on fat because your body goes in starvation mode. Eat more and eat clean.:cool:

Succes!

Hang in there! The weight does come off. You may be at too high of a deficit and may be in starvation mode.

One thing to consider, if you are really curious about your EXACT BMR, you can have a breath test done that measures your caloric need. I had one done by www.metabocheck.com and found out I actually have a fast metabolism (imagine that ;) ) Fitday is off for me by at least 200-300 calories a day (higher than what it really is). That's enough to make a noticeable difference in your weight loss.

Strangely enough, since I had the test done, I've been losing about 2 pounds a week, double my normal rate and I have changed NOTHING in my diet. I've just relaxed a bit since I found out I was doing it right and my body was working properly!

Good Luck to you.

That is so interesting, CindyG, but I remember reading somewhere that one of the results of stress is that the body refuses to lose weight...what if you're stressed out from hearing the food is all gone! Better play it safe...

So let's all relax for a minute....