How many calories are you eating daily? If you are too extreme (under 1200) your body may go into starvation mode and not let go of the fat. Sometimes more is less!

Am I reading your post correctly, that you lost 3-4 pounds in 3 weeks? A pound a week sounds pretty terrific to me. Are you drinking plenty of water? Are you finding foods that are good for you and also help you feel full so you don't have that deprived feeling? I think whole grains are really important in that regard - try eating a serving of whole grains at every meal, like some oatmeal, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, or a half of a whole wheat English muffin and see if that doesn't help you feel less famished.

My weight varies as much as 8 pounds over night. I retain water if I drink alcohol, eat sugar or something salty. It goes away. I love my scale but it lies a lot. Don't let it be the thing that zaps your motivation. You have to eat some foods you love or you with feel deprived and not stick to your life change.

Read this from http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm

Exercise physiologists tell us that in order to store one pound of fat, you need to eat 3,500 calories more than your body is able to burn. In other words, to actually store the above dinner as 5 pounds of fat, it would have to contain a whopping 17,500 calories. This is not likely, in fact its not humanly possible. So when the scale goes up 3 or 4 pounds overnight, rest easy, its likely to be water, glycogen, and the weight of your dinner. Keep in mind that the 3,500 calorie rule works in reverse also. In order to lose one pound of fat you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. Generally, its only possible to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. When you follow a very low calorie diet that causes your weight to drop 10 pounds in 7 days, its physically impossible for all of that to be fat. What youre really losing is water, glycogen, and muscle.

Drinking plenty of water was my saving grace when I was trying to take off the pounds. And 3-4 pounds a month sounds pretty good to me. It may be taking your body a little while to adjust to the new routine too. Keep the faith!

I agree with all the above...3-4# loss in 3 weeks is great.

Drink 1/2 your body weight in water each day. You will retain water if you do not drink enough. So drink, drink, drink!

Be sure you are eating enough caloires....as mentioned in the earlier post your body will go into starvation mode if it is not getting enough calories. There are lots of sites to help you figure out what your calories needs are for your age, height, and present weight. A quick calcutation is 11 x your present weight then subtract 350 to lose 1# a week.

Remember, you are doing alot of exercising and muscle weighs more then fat. You may still be losing the fat, but building up more muscle.

First let me say hang in there your doing great 3-4 lbs in 3wks is very good The first few weeks are always the hardest this time around in my weight loss I lost 4 lbs in the first week and the next two weeks after I only lost 1 but after that I lost three lbs a week for three weeks straight so its normal Give it a week or two and youll see drops again and like the others watch your caloire count and dont let it get too low becuase that will do more harm than good

Thanks for all of the info!! Especially the calorie issue...I don't think I AM taking in enough calories during the day. I didn't realize that it could actually cause more harm than good. And I really appreciate the support. You all have definitely given me the strength to keep going!

The above comments are great. The only thing that I would add is to make sure that when you eat carbs that you eat a protein with it. This will satisfy your body needs for a longer time and you won't feel as hungry. Also, I am eating 6 small meals a day. It helps to make your body feel fuller and I make sure that I eat a carb and protein at every meal.

If you are a reader I would recommend that you read a book called "The Thin Commandments" by Dr Stephen Gullo. It was a mind opener for me and really gave me the boost that I needed to think about food in a different way.

Good luck and let us know if you need any help along the way.

Whatever style you choose for your diet, you will fail if it results in hunger. Compare it to holding your breath; eventually, you will explode and gasp for air. With a poor plan for your diet, the same thing will happen.

I don't know what you have done so far, but here's points that are important, no matter what your approach.

1. WATER - drink half your current body weight in ounces of water a day. If you weigh 100lbs, drink at least 50ounces of water a day. Water is free and helps enormously with weight loss. That amount is a minimum; when you exercise you must drink much more.

2. FOOD FREQUENCY - eat something every 2.5 to 3 hrs. By eating something frequently, you are keeping your metabolism up and working. There is absolutely no reason to be hungry if you are portioning your daily intake of food into 6 portions or more. Your choice of food is vital; eat WHOLE foods as your metabolism rises when your body has work to do to break down the food. Choose a whole orange as opposed to that same orange juiced; it truly is better for your body. Choose whole oatmeal as opposed to the quick cook for the same reason. When your body has to work at breaking down foods, your metabolism gets moving and helps to burn those calories.

3. PLAN - journaling is critical to your success in identifying your unique eating patterns as well as your weak spots in the day. Many people are fine during the day when their day is regulated, but have issues in the evening when they are idle and likely to be bored - they eat. If you plan your eating for the day, you can set aside a good chunk of your caloric intake for those evening boredom times. You can nibble on cut up apples or celery or carrot sticks, and those types of nibble foods will get that metabolism up as well.

4. EXERCISE - staying active, maintaining your muscle will go a long way to help you lose weight and size. Muscle may weigh more, but muscle takes up 1/3 the space as fat. By just exercise, you can lose a great deal of size but still weigh the same. By exercising, you can go from a size 15 down to a 9 and weigh the same or more, all because of fat loss and muscle gain. It's the muscle that does the calorie burning, so boost up your muscles with any exercising you like. Keep in mind that females begin to lose their bone density already by 30 yrs old; get into the habit of exercising when younger and continue for your health as you age.
Sure you can lose the weight without exercise, but you will also be losing muscle mass, making it almost impossible to keep the weight loss.

5. LIFESTYLE CHANGE - diets don't work; lifestyle changes do. Start small; one little change at a time. Cut down on your fats, sugars, and sodiums; they will kill you. Read labels to see exactly how bad those foods are that you are eating. Don't make any change that you can't do for the rest of your life. Be realistic; you can't fool yourself. It all comes down to consuming less than your body needs, but not too much less. Stress reduction is another MUST. Stress has shown to have a negative effect on all weight loss attempts.

6. EXPECTATIONS - every little bit helps and you cannot expect to have results as seen on The Biggest Loser contests. Most of what they are losing is water, and even then, their numbers are not that high. You should expect to lose maybe a couple lbs a week which is healthy. Just so you know how that number is reached, it is logical. Take your current weight and calculate the calories you need to intake to maintain the weight. Now take off 500 calories for that day. Multiply that 500 by 7 days a week, and it equates to 1lb loss. If your current weight needs 2000 calories a day to stay that weight, make your plan for 1500 calories a day. With daily exercise and an honest daily caloric intake of 1500calories a day, you should see at least a 1lb loss for that week.
People work hard at a diet plan and exercise, and then at the end of a few weeks, they are all upset because they have lost only 3 lbs! Sorry folks, that's a fine healthy weight loss, so keep doing what you're doing to lose more.

That slow loss may be depressing, but stop and think about it. Just how fast did you GAIN that weight? You did not gain it overnite, so don't expect to lose it that fast.
Your loss will be slower than the gain; make your plans that you can do for the rest of your life, and in time you will lose the excess and feel healthier.