2 WEEKS NO WEIGHT LOSS

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kimberley1975mfp
kimberley1975mfp Posts: 36 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I began this journey on April 28th 2017 at 222lbs. To date I've lost 50lbs. I'm at 172lbs. Problem is, I've been at this weight for 2 weeks. I have 22lbs to go and the scale isn't moving. It's sooooo frustrating because I was sailing right alone. Now nothing. I'm at 1200 calories a day and I log every single calorie I put in my mouth. I joined a gym last week (because I lost that 50lbs without every exercising and that was a bad idea now I look like a deflated balloon). Regardless, I started cardio and strength training. I started drinking water (which again I never did from the start) so now I feel like I'm giving that extra push with water and exercise and yet the scale won't budge. It's so frustrating. Suggestions??

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  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Water weight from new exercise.

    Weight loss isn't linear. Even if you do everything perfect (and no one does). There is other stuff in your body besides fat, and that stuff can fluctuate, especially water, some weeks exaggerating your weight loss and other weeks hiding it. If you didnt experience this in the first 5 months, you are lucky! It's perfectly normal for the scale to stall for a week or 2.

    Also now that you are closer to goal, you should be reducing your rate of loss to preserve muscle and make the eventual transition to maintenance smoother. With 22 lbs left, I'd say 1 lb per week. Hang in there
  • achagpar
    achagpar Posts: 493 Member
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    Patience.... keep doing what you're doing. Log every calorie, stay within your allotment, exercise, get your water, sleep, de-stress... the scale will move. It just takes a while sometimes...
  • xvolution
    xvolution Posts: 721 Member
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    Look more at inches lost than weight lost, since when you start exercising you might be losing fat but gaining the same amount of weight in muscle and water weight.
  • luckywizard
    luckywizard Posts: 71 Member
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    If you're starting to strength train, I'd recommend paying attention to other measurements besides the number on the scale such as body fat percentage, waist circumference, or even how much you can lift. I have been the same number on the scale at a range of 10 body fat percentage points based on how much lean mass i had gained. If you are lifting, only good things can happen for your body composition when you are fueling well. You'll probably want to increase your calories by about 500-600 on strength days with a focus on protein. Under eating while lifting can stymie your progress.
  • kimberley1975mfp
    kimberley1975mfp Posts: 36 Member
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    That may be the problem too I suppose. I eat 1200 calories but when I exercise I don't necessarily eat back those calories. I've been looking at that as a bonus for me but maybe it's actually hindering the process because when I burn 500 calories I still only eat 1200 instead of 1700 so I come in under goal obviously everyday so I couldn't understand why. Maybe I need to eat more?
  • kimberley1975mfp
    kimberley1975mfp Posts: 36 Member
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    And no I've never stalled in those 50lbs. It's been almost 21 weeks and 50lbs so I've kept a nice pace so I'm not use to this. Not sure I'm enjoying it either
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
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    You have been very fortunate to see a loss consistently every week up until now. Most people don't get that, they will see a nice loss than stall a few weeks then see a loss again.

    Also when you get to the last 10-20lbs it is normal for your loss to slow down.

    You are doing all the right things with logging and increasing your activity. You will lose the rest but it might take longer than you'd like.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Congrats on your 50 lbs loss! You need to fuelnuou workout,so its best to eat back half your exercise cals. If you don't, especially on only 1200, you will soon be posting about how tired and lifeless you feel. Keep up the good work!
  • mer55
    mer55 Posts: 28 Member
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    You are doing GREAT! Don't give up!! I once had a 6 (SIX) week plateau - seriously, logged every morsel of food, ate completely on plan (was doing Weight Watchers) and every week I would go in for weigh in and the scale did not budge, sometimes an ounce, but up and down. I was going out of my mind, and on that 6th week weighin I had a complete meltdown at the scale. My leader sat down with me and poured over my food journal. I was actually UNDER eating!! I was active and meeting my set points, but I refused to use my splurge points. She insisted that I use them the following week, in the form of extra protein and slightly more good carbs. Guess what, next weigh in I dropped 3 lbs! And from there, it was a nice slow steady loss. So hang in there. Sometimes your body just needs to "balance out".
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    What everyone else said: a new exercise program can result in water retention. It goes away. Also-- as you get closer to your goal, you may not see consistent loss every week, even in a deficit. You may see nothing on the scale for 2-3 weeks, then, suddenly, 2 lbs gone. The smaller I am, the more prone to fluctuations due to workouts, sodium levels, etc.
  • blambo61
    blambo61 Posts: 4,372 Member
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    Give it another week or even two to see if water is causing this. If not then re-evaluate. I didn't lose much last week and this week its been 5-lbs! I think half of it was from last week that came off this week. I was holding onto water from some hikes I did last week.

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