It is unlikely that you will lose weight consistently (i.e., weight loss is not linear)
jemhh
Posts: 14,261 Member
Here we are, in mid-February. A ton of MFPers started this year out on a new path, trying to become healthier and trying to lose weight. Great job! But now it's 6 or 7 weeks later and you are getting frustrated, maybe discouraged, because your weight loss has slowed down. It stinks, right? Who wants to restrict their calories, maybe sweat a bit more, and not see big progress on the scale? Nobody, right?
Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but you are being unreasonable. And I mean that in the nicest way so think of me as telling you this as we sit down to tea in a cozy little room with doilies and pretty teacups and maybe a white fluffy cat lounging on the rug. Unless you respond better to tough love, in which case you can imagine me walking up to you, smacking you upside the head and saying it. Whatever floats your boat.
But yeah, you are being unreasonable.
Why is that? It's because weight loss is not linear. That's the answer you'll see posted to the "I'm not losing any weight!" threads. But why? Why can't we see that number go down on the scale every time we weigh ourselves? Well, because there are a multitude of factors that can affect your weight at any given time. To name a few:
And the list goes on from there.
The bottom line is that it is highly unlikely that you are going to see your weight decrease at a consistent pace throughout your weight loss journey. Over the course of 2014, I lost 52 pounds. That averaged a pound a week. But did I actually lose a pound a week? Absolutely not. Looking at my weigh-ins, you can see weeks where I lost several pounds, a fraction of a pound, no pounds, and even where I gained weight. The overall trend, though, was downward.
So, getting back to you. You're stuck at a certain weight. Or you think you're stuck at that weight. Where do you go from here? Here are a few ideas:
Most importantly, though...BE PATIENT. I know, it's hard to do. But most times in life the hard thing to do is worth it in the end and being patience builds character so you'll be stronger in the end.
Good luck, you all. I'm rooting for you
Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but you are being unreasonable. And I mean that in the nicest way so think of me as telling you this as we sit down to tea in a cozy little room with doilies and pretty teacups and maybe a white fluffy cat lounging on the rug. Unless you respond better to tough love, in which case you can imagine me walking up to you, smacking you upside the head and saying it. Whatever floats your boat.
But yeah, you are being unreasonable.
Why is that? It's because weight loss is not linear. That's the answer you'll see posted to the "I'm not losing any weight!" threads. But why? Why can't we see that number go down on the scale every time we weigh ourselves? Well, because there are a multitude of factors that can affect your weight at any given time. To name a few:
- a difference in the conditions in which you are weighing yourself (time of day, clothed vs. naked, well-hydrated vs. hydrated, etc.)
- what you've eaten recently (eating more carbs and/or sodium than usual will generally cause you to hold additional water weight)
- hormonal fluctuations (women, especially, are prone to seeing water weight fluctuations due to their monthly menstrual cycles)
- inaccuracies in measuring food, logging food, and calculating your daily caloric needs
- inaccuracies in calculating your activity level (both exercise and non-exercise activity)
And the list goes on from there.
The bottom line is that it is highly unlikely that you are going to see your weight decrease at a consistent pace throughout your weight loss journey. Over the course of 2014, I lost 52 pounds. That averaged a pound a week. But did I actually lose a pound a week? Absolutely not. Looking at my weigh-ins, you can see weeks where I lost several pounds, a fraction of a pound, no pounds, and even where I gained weight. The overall trend, though, was downward.
So, getting back to you. You're stuck at a certain weight. Or you think you're stuck at that weight. Where do you go from here? Here are a few ideas:
- Review your food and exercise diaries for inaccuracies.
- Review your expectations for reasonableness. Most of us didn't gain our excess weight rapidly and shouldn't expect losing all of it to happen rapidly either.
- Pick a goal or two other than weight loss. Maybe you want to be able to walk a mile without stopping or you want to be able to comfortably lift bags of mulch this spring. Whatever the goal, find a way to work toward it and then do just that.
- Focus on fat loss rather than weight loss. Consider doing some sort of strength training and eating an appropriate level of protein in order to maintain as much muscle as possible while losing weight. This will give you another aspect of fitness to focus on and is may help you get closer to the physique goals that you may have.
- Measure your progress by other means--use a tape measure to measure your waist, hip, thigh, etc. and then track the changes.
Most importantly, though...BE PATIENT. I know, it's hard to do. But most times in life the hard thing to do is worth it in the end and being patience builds character so you'll be stronger in the end.
Good luck, you all. I'm rooting for you
270
Replies
-
This content has been removed.
-
Great reminder.9
-
*flower for you* 3
-
Great post!2
-
Definitely pick goals beyond weight loss. It feels so good to smash your run time.18
-
I've been going at this for months, but this post spoke to me very clearly! Great advice and perspective!12
-
I would really like to put that into a beautiful frame, and hang it in my bedroom (or kitchen...Maybe kitchen makes more sense!). Thank you for writing this and sharing it. Very motivational!8
-
obscuremusicreference wrote: »Definitely pick goals beyond weight loss. It feels so good to smash your run time.
Agreed, I do have a goal of losing weight but also to run a faster mile, wear smaller size clothing and etc.6 -
Jemhh, THANK YOU so much for the encouragement and reminders!! Have lost 23 pounds since the end of October 2014, and after a bad day (meaning LOTS of calories consumed yesterday for emotional reasons--ugh!!) saw the scale go up slightly. But back on track today, with eating for nutrition, vs. emotions!! It is about so much more than just "losing weight"!! Yes, that is the primary goal for me, but it's about living a healthier life, which involves many factors. And since the habits and variables that got me to this point didn't develop overnight, neither will the weight loss/new habits happen overnight!! Your encouragement was just what I needed to hear today!!
9 -
Excellent!2
-
Awesome post!! Thank you 0
-
Yes, save the newbies some agony. In hindsight, worry about a single scale reading seems silly, but then again I have the advantage of the long view. The health benefits of good choices does add up over time.6
-
+1 on the "focus on FAT loss, not just weight loss." My first 20 lbs (took 5 months) gave me a decrease of two pants sizes. The last 4 lbs lost (took 4 months to do so) gave me ANOTHER two pants sizes lost. Yep, I changed my focus to fat loss/maintaining muscle mass, and maximized my results beyond what the scale tells me! 21 -
SweetPeaShell99 wrote: »Jemhh, THANK YOU so much for the encouragement and reminders!! Have lost 23 pounds since the end of October 2014, and after a bad day (meaning LOTS of calories consumed yesterday for emotional reasons--ugh!!) saw the scale go up slightly. But back on track today, with eating for nutrition, vs. emotions!! It is about so much more than just "losing weight"!! Yes, that is the primary goal for me, but it's about living a healthier life, which involves many factors. And since the habits and variables that got me to this point didn't develop overnight, neither will the weight loss/new habits happen overnight!! Your encouragement was just what I needed to hear today!!
Oh, I've been there! I had a carb and sodium fest back in mid January and gained nearly 4 pounds in one day. That took two weeks to go away.
Glad you found the post helpful!
5 -
This is great! I'm at 6 weeks and my weight loss hasn't stalled yet, but I feel like it can't possibly keep going perfectly downward, it has to stall at some point. This is a good read for a preemptive mind strike so I don't get discouraged4
-
Great post! What is the best way to measure fat loss, do you just mean taking measurements?4
-
I've been doing this for a long time and i say this is absolutely the truth. I lost a ton of weight in January just to gain a few lbs back at the beginning of this month. Then my weight has just been sitting at the heavier weight for a few weeks now. I just finally saw a few lbs come off
Honestly time is our best friend on this very long journey. 5 -
Great post! What is the best way to measure fat loss, do you just mean taking measurements?
I like taking measurements with a tape measure and I like using a home scale. I know that both are inaccurate but, again, what counts here is the overall trend. This is a good post about measuring body fat. I took all of the formulas from it and made a spreadsheet where I enter each of the measurements to find out my body fat according to every formula. Each formula is slightly different so the numbers can vary widely from one to another but I still like seeing them all (and sometimes playing around with how they would change based on things like my waist getting smaller.)
5 -
Great post! What is the best way to measure fat loss, do you just mean taking measurements?
In theory it would be body composition, i.e. percentage of body fat. But in practice, that's very hard to measure accurately.
So yeah, measurements are a good gauge. So is how your clothes fit. Or how long you can run or how much weight you can lift or how winded you are at the top of the stairs. Or a million other things that show you that you're on the right track.
The scale will catch up. Trust the process.1 -
Good. strait-talk. Realistic advise.2
-
.0
-
:flowerforyou:0
-
+1,000. Great post1
-
Thank you! I'm the newbie who started on Jan 1st and have been the same weight for almost 5 days and am about to lose my mind. And then, I read THIS. So thank you!
p.s. down 20.04 pounds down 7 -
Thank you! I'm the newbie who started on Jan 1st and have been the same weight for almost 5 days and am about to lose my mind. And then, I read THIS. So thank you!
p.s. down 20.04 pounds down
20 pounds in 6 weeks? WOW!
And please, please don't get discouraged when that slows down. 'Cause it will slow down. A lot of people experience a rapid water weight drop in those first couple of weeks before slowing to a more moderate pace of 0.5-1lbs per week. That's okay. That's what's supposed to happen. It doesn't mean you've stalled or are failing. It means that what you're doing is working.7 -
You have no idea how much I needed to read this today! Thank you so much! I was seriously thinking about just giving up and buying bigger pants. I will trudge on......7
-
PlaydohPants wrote: »I *officially* started in mid November and saw my first gain. Boo! +0.6 lb this week. Oh well, moving on. I was stalled for a while in December so it's not like I've been losing the whole time. But why give up now? 13 lbs down!
BTW this was a nice postThank you! I'm the newbie who started on Jan 1st and have been the same weight for almost 5 days and am about to lose my mind. And then, I read THIS. So thank you!
p.s. down 20.04 pounds downilovemypeekapug wrote: »You have no idea how much I needed to read this today! Thank you so much! I was seriously thinking about just giving up and buying bigger pants. I will trudge on......
I didn't get to quote everybody but you are doing great. Once upon a time, I would gear myself up to lose weight and then do absolutely nothing about it. A few months later, I'd look back and think of the potential progress that I'd let go to waste. Now, when I'm having a rough patch, I look back to the beginning of 2014 and see how far I've come. It really does help to look at that big picture when thinking about your progress.
4
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.3K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 423 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions