How am I doing?

ajc1309

I'm female, 25, 5'3", 135lbs down from 138lbs. I've been eating around 1200 cals, sometimes going over a little, sometimes under (you can check my food diary). I've only lost 3lbs since dieting 39 days ago. I bought an exercise bike last week and have used it (skipping 2 days since last saturday) for 30 mins a day, first I was burning around 170 cals but yesterday pushed to 200. In the week I used the bike, I lost 1lb. I have been trying to accurately weigh my food with a mechanical kitchen scales and have ordered a digital one which should be here soon.

I do have some cheat days, mostly thursdays when I eat at my in-laws and can't accurately gauge how many cals I'm eating at dinner. Those days I don't log. And yes, I know I should be doing weight training which I will try to start doing next week.

Am I doing ok so far? I feel like I should have lost a bit more. Maybe it'll start coming off the more I use the bike?

DeguelloTex

It sounds like you're eating a little more than you think you are, but you're losing about half a pound a week. That doesn't seem like an unreasonable rate.

ExRelaySprinter

That's very reasonable!
You're at a healthy weight anyway, so losing will be more slower.
It took me almost 3 months to lose 5lbs.
I wouldn't advise you to eat less than 1200 cals though and remember, you can eat back at least 1/2 your exercise calories.

sapplebana

Any loss is great so good job, just don't get complacent with yourself until you've reached your goal. Just make sure you treat that cheat day as a normal day or name it a "non logging day".

What I mean by that is don't go eating 1000 calories over your calorie limit on the non logging day. That would take around 5 or 6 days to get back to your current weight before the cheat day occurred, essentially nullifying the weight loss effect. Control what you deem is around your calorie limit and don't go past that.

Otherwise incredible effort! Most people in this world struggle with a single pound of weight loss and you're already 300% more efficient

ajc1309

I definitely don't go way over my calorie limit on my cheat day. I'll maybe stay around 1400-1500 maybe even a bit less than that.

Bshmerlie

3 pounds in 39 days is not bad when you only have a few pounds to lose. Just keep doing what you're doing.

ajc1309

Thank you. I think I'm being hard on myself, I know I'm doing well but my brain tells me it should be coming off faster.