Increase exercise or just be patient?

mmblarg

So I've been at the same weigh for a week (I know, super long time, haha) and just curious what general opinion is - should I increase activity or just be patient?

Background! (and yes, it's quite bad) Long story somewhat short: I'm 29, 5'6", and hit 230 pounds at the height of my unhealthy behaviors. I had gotten into the routine of eating fast food everyday, frequently having 2 servings in one sitting, drank 3-8 cans of soda a day, never drank water, never exercised, and spent most of my days at work in a chair or at home on the couch. Pretty sure I was consuming around 3000 - 4000 calories a day...

Anywho! Fast forward to changing crap - I started to learn how to play tennis three months ago - 2 hours or so for 2 to 3 times a week. This had no change to my weight, cause, no duh, I was still eating like crap. Then at the beginning of August I changed my diet. Cut fast food and soda completely out, been drinking butt tons of water, and watching my calories (eating good things, not just starving myself). I started running on a treadmill too - so far 25 minutes-ish, two days a week in addition to tennis. Yay lost 12 pounds in two weeks!

I know this was because I shocked my system and this is not a normal trend - part water weight, part muscle loss, part intended pudge purge. I'm looking for anywhere between a half pound to 2 pounds a week. But this last week I've just been fluctuating between 218 and 218.4 pounds...

I'm still very out of shape (obviously) so my first exercise goal is to jog a mile without taking a walk break (so far I jog for less than a minute at a time before getting so winded I have to break - roughly at completing a mile in 13 minutes) I get a full body sweat going with these "runs" and I push myself to go longer each time, even if it's just 5 minutes longer of wobbly-leg walking.

Am I not pushing hard enough with my exercise, or is this plateau normal before the healthy weight loss rate?

I know I'll need more comprehensive workouts down the road, but I didn't want to take on too much too soon (especially since I have no knowledge of safe and effective exercises beyond jogging....)

Soooooo any opinions?

amtyrell

1 week is not a plateau. It might simply be how your body works. Relax stick with your plan at least 1 month to see if working.

fitoverfortymom

When I first started running seriously a few months ago (June-ish?), I definitely hit a stall. It seemed like years, but was probably more like 3 weeks. Then I had a major whoosh and things stabilized. I have had to tweak my calories, because as I run longer distances, I feel hungrier the next day.

ETA: Focus on enjoying the exercise (soon you will crave it), and try to be patient. The weight loss will come!

lalepepper

I've noticed when I first start out with committed tracking, I tend to lose a lot more than expected up front, and then stabilize for a couple weeks before regular losses start again. I think this has to do with the fact that my activity intensity tends to pick up (some water retention) and then the natural hormonal cycles. I tend to stay stable for a week or two each month before losing what I 'should have' about a week after my period ends. As long as you're carefully tracking your caloric intake, your loss should eventually fall in to expected rates.

berger26

Im 36 heading toward 37 and have been battling my weight since I was young. I was a high school athlete and a former Marine, so take it for what its worth. My advise is to take your own advise. "same weigh for a week (I know, super long time, haha)" Most of the time we know the answer before we ask the question, but we are looking for someone to back us in our known poor belief. 2 things Ive learned over the years. Loosing weight is primarily based on what we eat. The calories we burn can be wiped out very quickly with poor eating habits. This is the most important thing to focus on. Finally, If you push yourself too hard you might injure yourself IE(pull something or strain something). If so you will set yourself back and this will more than likely kill any momentum. Keep up the hard work! Good luck, I hope this helped a little.

seska422

Weight loss isn't linear. You need to look at the trend over months rather than day-to-day or even week-to-week. If you lose one pound per week, it will be an average of one pound per week rather than one pound each and every week.

I don't make changes to what I'm doing as a reaction to what the scale says in the short term since I know that I'm in a calorie deficit. Each day's weight is just a data point to see my overall trend. I concentrate on the process and let the weight loss come when it comes.

Here's a 3 month trend where I was at or under my calorie goal every day:

JeromeBarry1

You are female. Your weight goes up and down in alternating weeks throughout the month due to the cycle of your mense. I don't know if you're happy to learn that but there's nothing you can do about it.

mmblarg

Ah, sweet thank you! I didn't just want to assume I'm doing great when I might not have been. And totally too much info for no real reason other than menstrual cycle was mentioned a couple of times - I actually have PCOS and haven't had a cycle for a year and a half Just another hurdle to overcome, oh wells.

I'll stay on track and keep working on keeping calories in a deficit!

lalepepper

Even if you're not having actual menses, you still have some sort of hormonal cycle which will influence fluid retention and possibly energy levels.