How long before you see results??

emill4697

Ok, how long should it take before I see some changes in my body? Like clothes fitting better ect. I've been working out consistently for almost 4 weeks. I've noticed some muscle tone and I'm able to lift heavier and do longer cardio, but my clothes aren't really fitting any better yet. Have I just not given it enough time yet?

I'm 5' 9"
I wear a HR monitor when I work out and usually eat back my exercise calories and I net about 1450. (work out 4-5 days a week. 20-30 mins of pretty heavy lifting and 50 mins of HIIT/steady state cardio)
right now my weight is 196
Also, I meal prep on Sundays, so everything is pretty accurately weighed and measured.

jemhh

It's going to depend on the person. I didn't need smaller clothes for something like 20 pounds. I think that was due to a combination of it taking more pounds between sizes when you're in larger sizes and the fact that as we wear clothing it stretches so a brand new size X is not necessarily the same as a year old size X.

Ninkyou

Weeks. Months. There's really no set timeline on how long it takes to drop a pants size etc.

It took me several months to drop from a 16 to a 14 and even longer to go from an XL to L shirt size.

jenncornelsen

How much weight have u lost? How many inches?

emill4697

At my heaviest (like 4 or 5 years ago) I weighed around 220. I then lost 40 pounds and was at 180 for close to 3 years. In the past year or so I've gained about 15 lbs and it's not going anywhere. I've been working out since January but not very consistently until now. I went from a size 16 jeans to a 12. And now I can still wear my size 12's but they're tight. Right now I would love to just be able to wear my clothes comfortably.

jenncornelsen

Focus on diet. Working out helps but u wont see it till u start also shedding weight. Whats ur calorie goal per day?

emill4697

I try to stay as close to 1450 as I can and I've been doing pretty good so far. I wear my HR monitor when I work out to keep better track of calories burned and I usually eat back most of my work out calories that I burn.

jenncornelsen

Work out calories are grossly overestimated. Its recommended u only eat back half.

mwtw1022

Stop eating your work out calories. Stick to how many calories it says you should eat.

Asher_Ethan

When I lost the first 16 pounds everyone was telling me how good I looked.

Also, you might want to only eat back half of your exercise calories.

emill4697

Ok, I'm going to go with what everyone is saying a only eat back half of my exercise calories. How accurate are HR monitors? The reason I bought it is to keep a more accurate track of calories I burn so that if I do eat back exercise calories I don't over do it. I have the Polar FT7 with the chest strap.

jenncornelsen

im not expert on them but from what i read they generally overestimate by about 20-30%. but it is different for everyone.

Dave55412

It took me about a week and a half before I noticed my pants fitting looser.

segacs

Honestly? It takes time. It will be different for everyone, but the changes you're making are slow and incremental and you may not notice them except in retrospect, when you look back at a photo of yourself six months ago or put on some clothes you haven't worn in a year. Just keep at it.

kjm3579

MFP will say you should eat back exercise calories and that is a generally accepted rule, but I was just in a class on Wed. evening with a woman who is a triathlete and trains triathletes and she stated it should be more like a 5:1 rule - but 500 calories but consume only 100 back -- she also gave me some insights to getting rid of my belly fat that I am hoping will work -- but her approach made sense in that you are exercising to burn off fat calories, why eat all of that back again?

TheNerdyMonkey

Everyone is different and many factors are at play. Just be patient, eat right and put in work when you exercise. Best of luck!

segacs

kjm3579 wrote: »

MFP will say you should eat back exercise calories and that is a generally accepted rule, but I was just in a class on Wed. evening with a woman who is a triathlete and trains triathletes and she stated it should be more like a 5:1 rule - but 500 calories but consume only 100 back -- she also gave me some insights to getting rid of my belly fat that I am hoping will work -- but her approach made sense in that you are exercising to burn off fat calories, why eat all of that back again?

That really depends on the method you use and how you calculate the numbers. It's likely she's using more of a TDEE method, where she's already built in some calories for her activity level into her desired deficit. If she's a triathlete, she probably needs a LOT more calories per day than someone who's a sedentary desk jockey, and she also knows the importance of properly fuelling her body for optimal training.

There are a lot of different ways to get to a similar answer. Just work the math.

jemhh

kjm3579 wrote: »

MFP will say you should eat back exercise calories and that is a generally accepted rule, but I was just in a class on Wed. evening with a woman who is a triathlete and trains triathletes and she stated it should be more like a 5:1 rule - but 500 calories but consume only 100 back -- she also gave me some insights to getting rid of my belly fat that I am hoping will work -- but her approach made sense in that you are exercising to burn off fat calories, why eat all of that back again?

Not everybody is exercising to burn off fat though. I exercise so I can eat more.

MFP's model is built on eating back exercise calories. The deficit needed to lose weight is built into the goal number that is calculated based on your age, weight, height, and activity level. Any exercise calories are then added back in, to be eaten. Many people feel that the exercise calories as calculated by MFP are too high and that is why they eat back only a portion (50% seems most common.) It really comes down to personal experience though (I can eat back all exercise calories and lose.) If you are currently logging *accurately* and eating exercise calories and not losing, eat fewer calories and see if that helps. But be sure that part up there between the asterisks is super important. And be sure that you give any changes you make time to work out. Don't change your method every week, in other words.

Dragn77

So far, Im 10 weeks in, have lost 17 lbs, 9.25" and still wearing the same clothes that still feel as though they fit the same way.

But...if Im going to be honest with myself, which I hate doing (lol) most of my clothes didnt fit me right to begin with, because I kept refusing to buy a bigger size. So logically, of course they arent getting loose...but it doesnt take me 5 minutes to get my jeans up and zipped up anymore. So..progress!

Seriously though, the last time I lost quite a bit of weight, it wasnt even me that noticed...my sister was coming up the stairs behind me and told me I need to invest in some new jeans because I looked like I was trying to get into a rap video... It was such a gradual change to me, that I really didnt even realize how ridiculously baggy theyd gotten.

It'll sneak up on you. Just stay the course and you'll get there...thats what I keep telling myself anyway lol I'm 5'10" btw, and started out at 196 lbs.

klkateri

I read somewhere that it takes like 4 weeks for you to see change, 8 for your spouse/family and 12 for friends and strangers.

However, For me it was like a couple months in and now again a year later with toning up but i think it really depends on your body. I still don't see any change unless I'm looking at pictures and then I'm like "HUH, maybe?!"

emill4697

Dragn77 wrote: »

So far, Im 10 weeks in, have lost 17 lbs, 9.25" and still wearing the same clothes that still feel as though they fit the same way.

But...if Im going to be honest with myself, which I hate doing (lol) most of my clothes didnt fit me right to begin with, because I kept refusing to buy a bigger size. So logically, of course they arent getting loose...but it doesnt take me 5 minutes to get my jeans up and zipped up anymore. So..progress!

Seriously though, the last time I lost quite a bit of weight, it wasnt even me that noticed...my sister was coming up the stairs behind me and told me I need to invest in some new jeans because I looked like I was trying to get into a rap video... It was such a gradual change to me, that I really didnt even realize how ridiculously baggy theyd gotten.

It'll sneak up on you. Just stay the course and you'll get there...thats what I keep telling myself anyway lol I'm 5'10" btw, and started out at 196 lbs.

WOW! I hope in 10 weeks I'll be like you! Congrats! And yes, if I'm honest with myself I should probably have gone up a size already but I refuse. I think my main problem is just not being patient. I just need to give it more time. Your post really motivated me though! Thanks!

emill4697

Thank you everyone for the responses! I think I just need to keep on keeping on!

Dragn77

Thats the spirit!!! Glad I could provide some motivation!