The scale just didn't seem to move this last week but I stepped on the scale Sunday and I'd lost 2 pounds for the week. All that hard work for TWO lousy pounds.  I thought "this can't be right".  Rather than succumb to my emotions as usual I decided to get all analytical about it. Since I'd been so committed to logging everything I eat at  http://www.myfitnesspal.com, I actually went as far as calculating it all out in a spreadsheet. Yep, you betcha, oh yes I did, I actually did. Unbelievable and not just a little bit CrAzY I know. Well it sure the heck is easy to put on the pounds but it certainly isn't easy taking them off.  It takes a calorie deficit of 3500 calories to lose a pound a week.  It's recommended that you decrease your calories by 500 calories a day to lose the one pound a week.  I'm going a little lower than that but going under 1200 calories a day is supposed to be unhealthy and I'm trying to get healthy not unhealthier!  If you exercise you can deduct calories expended during physical activity in there. After my calculations (in a very impressive spread sheet if I do say so myself) apparently I should have lost 1.7 pounds. YEAH, I got a bonus 0.3 pounds!  Hand me a doughnut (just kidding)!  I was also really surprised at how many days I went all crazy on carbs even though they were good ones.  It didn't seem like I had that many days I ate too much when I was plugging it all in daily but when I looked a whole week it was glaringly obvious.   My goal for the week is to get in more exercise and get control over my carbs.  I'll still work on trying to get in all my water for the day too. Haven't managed to make it yet :-(. But now I'm ok with losing just a couple pounds. It's recommended that you don't lose more than that anyway.  It was kind of a letdown after losing more the first week but that was mostly water weight anyway.  It's so hard not to be impatient but at 1200 calories and if I get just a little more exercise its possible to meet my goal of 50 pounds by the end of the challenge.  I WILL meet my self-imposed goal.