Feeling so Depressed and Discouraged :(

Not with LC, though...

I've just finished 2 weeks straight of the McDougall Maximum Weight Loss Plan. For those who don't know it, it's the anti-thesis of low carbing - it's an ultra low fat vegan diet that is based on whole grains and veggies, limited fruit (2 servings a day), and absolutely no added fats at all. I was eating a ton of whole grain and lots of veggies and the fruit, no added fat at all (for the first time in my life, I think!) and drinking coffee black. I was following it pretty much to the letter (except for the coffee), craving chocolate, but otherwise feeling actually pretty good and not hungry. Fitday revealed I was eating less than 1200 calories a day! I thought, there's no way I can't lose weight like this.

Stepped on the scale this morning. My weight was exactly the same as it was 2 weeks ago. I did lose inches, which is nice, but I've been increasing my exercise and being consistent with it, so it makes sense that the inches lost would come from that.

I am so disappointed! Who the heck eats less than 1200 calories a day and doesn't lose some weight??? I am not PMSing or TOM, so it can't be that. It's so frustrating to really stay on a plan for what for me is a good period of time and not lose anything.

I really thought I was doing everything "right". I was eating totally whole foods, except for adding condiments (I will admit that - McD allows stuff like ketsup, BBQ sauce, etc., and though I try to stick with lower sugar ones, I did use these a lot to add flavor to my grains), lots of veggies, not fat... What happened???

Needless to say, tomorrow I am starting back on low carbing, vegetarian-style (which hasn't worked so well so far, though). I'm going to try and stick with whole foods - eggs, not too much dairy (about 3 oz a day), tofu, veggies, good fats - get down to less than 30 gr a day (I can't do induction level because of being a vegetarian - at least it hasn't worked out for me), and try not to worry about calories. I will have a bit of sweetener, but not too much and I won't cut the fat like I tried doing last time (using low fat dairy products). I'll try it for 2 weeks and see how that affects me.

I should add here that I know I'm focusing on the wrong thing (weight) and that I'm putting pressure on myself. I'm going to be visiting family in 2 months and I really would like to lose as much of the 25 pounds I gained in the past few years they haven't seen me as possible (and let me make clear, I know it's unrealistic to expect to lose all of it in 2 months - that's not what I'm going for - I'll be happy with 5 or 10 pounds, as long as I look and feel better than I do now). I'm going to try and reread some of my old LC books to try and understand again why this works.

Tam