What am I doing wrong?

arwen8211

Hi friends, any advice/support for a noob would be deeply appreciated. Is there a delay period before one starts to lose weight, or an adjustment time for your body to start burning fat?

I joined MFP two weeks ago and have been dutifully logging my calories. I'm female, started at 353lbs, and set my goal to lose 100lbs at 2lbs a week, with a goal of staying under 2,300 calories a day. I've come in consistently under calorie goal by 200-1000 calories a day with the exception of going slightly over on three days (not by more than 100 calories). I exercise 3-5 times a week, alternating cardio and weight lifting (I do a lot of walking and yoga and swimming).

I've bounced up and down on a 2 pound loss for the last two weeks. It's so frustrating! This morning the scale showed that I weighed two pounds more than my start weight, at 355! I just finished having my period, so could water retention be an issue? Does the weight really bounce around that much?

I guess I'm just frustrated because I got the impression from so many posts that reducing caloric intake automatically equals steady weight loss. Plus with the exercise on top of that, I don't understand why I'm not losing yet. Do I just need to give it more time?

malibu927

There's no such thing as steady weight loss. You'll have weeks where you're down a lot, down some, steady, or up. Most likely you're retaining water from a combination of introducing exercise and your period. If you don't see losses in another two weeks, then look into your logging to see what you can tighten up.

debubbie

malibu927 wrote: »

There's no such thing as steady weight loss. You'll have weeks where you're down a lot, down some, steady, or up. Most likely you're retaining water from a combination of introducing exercise and your period. If you don't see losses in another two weeks, then look into your logging to see what you can tighten up.

This, and are you weighing your food on a digital scale to make sure your serving sizes are accurate? If not, you may be eating more calories than you think. I initially had this problem when I first started and quickly realized that my estimates of portions was way off!

Good luck!

cupcakesplz

Since I up my exercise these past 7 days my weight went my 800g (1.7lb)

It's normal but I don't like it!

ShashayLee

This, and are you weighing your food on a digital scale to make sure your serving sizes are accurate? If not, you may be eating more calories than you think. I initially had this problem when I first started and quickly realized that my estimates of portions was way off!

Good luck![/quote]

I totally agree with the logging, once i realized i needed to be accurate with portions, i had way over estimated portions for almost everything

arwen8211

Thanks for the replies. I've been really careful about weighing food, counting out the exact serving of crackers and listing the nutritional info from the box, and asking for the nutritional info for everything and logging it when I go out to eat. I guess I was hoping for more obvious success; it's so discouraging to be working really hard on finally taking care of myself, only to see the scale go up, instead of down. I guess I'll just have to give it more time?

Pinnacle_IAO

My downward trend with weight loss is wrought with various spikes and dips.
It looks like the outline of a jagged piece of broken glass, but as the weeks past, the weight went down.

We can't become daily slaves to the scale. Take body measurements as well, and judge progress on how your weight and body fat moves lower over time.

faithsimmons526

If you were given 2300 calories to lose and you're eating less than that, it WILL happen.

From my own experience I've gleaned that sometimes the body just doesn't want to lose, and will put up a fuss for a little bit, hoping things will go back to normal. Some 'expert opinions' suggests that every fat cell we deprive goes into survival mode for a little while, filling with water in hopes that it won't die. Eventually the cell will give up, shed the water and stop being a jerk (my words lol). I HAVE experienced this myself (29 lb loss), and so has my daughter who has lost 40 lb since March.

Hang in there beautiful ... success is on your horizon.

zombiemusicgirl

Starting can be quite frustrating. There can be a real expectation of 1 lb a week. But it's never exactly 1 lb, every week. Lose all expectations, and keep going. You will find your way and you will learn and grow. Just keep it up.
You will be so happy later that you started now.

LilannB

You look at the overall trend. I set MFP to lose 2 pounds a week. However I have a pattern where I'll go 2-3 weeks with no loss then have a week where I lose 3-4 pounds followed by weeks where I lose 1-1.5 pounds. However the trend is consistently down.It's frustrating to lose slowly however I've developed the attitude that it took many years for me to gain my weight so I can't expect to lose it all over night. As long as I'm headed in the right direction I'm satisfied.

QuilterInVA

What you eat is also important to weight loss. Science has disproved the calories in calories out theory. If you are eating a lot of processed foods, weight loss will be slower and you won't be as healthy. To lose fat and preserve muscle, you need plenty of protein - 4-6 ounces with every meal and 1-2 with snacks.

Unknown

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yarwell

arwen8211 wrote: »

Hi friends, any advice/support for a noob would be deeply appreciated. Is there a delay period before one starts to lose weight, or an adjustment time for your body to start burning fat?

How many calories are you eating each day, and what is the % protein / fat / carbs ?

2300 sounds wrong, the equations are less accurate at high body weight. An open diary will allow people to assess your food logging. How tall ?

ShandaLeaS

Are you using a digital scale to weigh your food and measuring cups for liquids? If not thats where you start. A box of crackers can say 10 crackers=28grams that=100 calories. But if you weigh them out on a digital scale 28grams may=7 crackers one time and =12 crackers the next (for example). If you aren't weighing everything on a digital food scale you're probably underestimating the calories you consume

SaffronSunrise

A couple of weeks ago I took a week off from the gym. I continued to eat in a deficit. The following Monday I weighed myself at the gym and I had lost about 5 pounds. I went back to my weigh lifting split and gained a couple of pounds by Tuesday gym time. Weds. I had gained another pound. Not what I wanted to see, but I knew it was just water from lifting and sore muscles because I had been weighing everything and knew I had been in a deficit. If you just finished your period, you're probably still retaining water too.

I agree with everyone who says that you have to weigh your food on a digital food scale. I've invested many dollars in different weight loss "programs" and a digital scale has been , by far, the best and the cheapest.

Mrpalmer1

Weight lifting builds muscle which adds lbs to your weight. Definitely keep that in mind when you weigh yourself. The most important thing though is to not get discouraged. Losing 100 lbs is going to take a lot of determination and sometimes you might hit a wall or two. You just gotta bust through those walls with everything you've got and keep moving towards your goal. Also make sure to weigh what you eat so your getting an accurate size when you log it

TavistockToad

QuilterInVA wrote: »

What you eat is also important to weight loss. Science has disproved the calories in calories out theory. If you are eating a lot of processed foods, weight loss will be slower and you won't be as healthy. To lose fat and preserve muscle, you need plenty of protein - 4-6 ounces with every meal and 1-2 with snacks.

No

LaurenNotLaura

I like to weigh myself everyday, just out of curiosity and no matter what, that one horrible week a month i "gain" at least 2-3lbs. As soon as it's over, I'll be 4lbs lighter. Its water retention and bloating DONT GET DISCOURAGED!! Lol

malibu927

Mrpalmer1 wrote: »

Weight lifting builds muscle which adds lbs to your weight. Definitely keep that in mind when you weigh yourself. The most important thing though is to not get discouraged. Losing 100 lbs is going to take a lot of determination and sometimes you might hit a wall or two. You just gotta bust through those walls with everything you've got and keep moving towards your goal. Also make sure to weigh what you eat so your getting an accurate size when you log it

Unless you're eating in a calorie surplus on in your first weeks (like 1-2) of lifting, you won't gain muscle.

Liftng4Lis

QuilterInVA wrote: »

What you eat is also important to weight loss. Science has disproved the calories in calories out theory. If you are eating a lot of processed foods, weight loss will be slower and you won't be as healthy. To lose fat and preserve muscle, you need plenty of protein - 4-6 ounces with every meal and 1-2 with snacks.

ahhh NOPE.


OP, patience is key. Keep doing what you're doing and you will lose.

babyboo422

I jumped on a diet. I'm doing the Paloe diet and I've lost 10lbs in under 3weeks. It's been hard because I love eating all the food I use too. I add my food into MFP but I don't pay attention to the calories. Try cutting down on things like CARBS, and SUGARS. It's really hard but it's worth it. Helps your body run on the good stuff like more meats and veggies and fruits. I eat like 6x's a day and my body uses what I gave it now. I'm going to add in working out in a short bit, but I want to make sure my knee can handle it.
Keep up the work and if you would like, please add me! I love MFP friends and always need and am a good wooter!

Cave_Goose

MFP often over calculates calories burned from exercise. My advice, don't log your exercise until the end of the day. Eat within the calorie count given without any recorded exercise.

Also, weigh you food on a digital scale; don't estimate your portions. A serving is a lot less than we Americans think it is.

Mr_Knight

I strongly suggest you open your diary. Logging sounds simple in theory, but it is not always so easy to get right in practice. Opening your diary will get you help in debugging your issue....

arwen8211

Resurrecting an old thread...

To answer a few questions, I'm 5'4" and 33 years old. This is my 33rd day logging, and I've lost 2 pounds, but it has fluctuated between 349 and 355 seemingly from day to day, even after having waited out monthly water retention.

I don't generally eat back all my exercise calories, but when I say I come in under goal, I mean just from food, not including any exercise.

My percentages goals for carbs/fat.protein are carbs: 44%, fat: 34%, and protein: 22%, and I've been staying pretty darn close to those.

I did notice that I was pretty low in the protein for awhile, so I started adding a couple scoops to protein powder to breakfast now and then, and that's helping bring me up to my protein goal for the day.

I'm still weighing my food, but I'm confused on how I could be underestimating my calorie intake, when I'm being so careful and still coming in several hundred below my daily goal (not including exercise). Let's say I underestimate and eat 5oz of chicken instead of 4, that's what? A 60 calorie difference? I should still be losing when I'm coming in 800 calories below goal that day, even with a small discrepancy like that, right?

Anyway, I just wanted to update everyone. I'm still discouraged, but sticking with it, hoping that my body will have a lightbulb moment and start losing. I feel better in the sense that I'm more aware of what I put into my body, but as far as weight and the fit of my clothes, nothing much has changed.

AliceDark

Like everyone else has said, weight fluctuations are natural and nobody has an actual weight -- you have a range. Did you weigh yourself regularly before you started trying to lose? A 6-pound range sounds reasonable for your size, but you should be seeing some kind of downward trend by now.

At your size and calorie target, a 2-pound loss over 4 weeks is relatively small, so it seems like something's not right. Would you be comfortable opening your diary so people can take a look?

Bxqtie116

When you begin to lose weight, as you lose fat, you gain muscle. And since muscle weighs more than fat, it may not seem like you lost any weight although you are getting healthier. Try to increase your protein along with more fruits and veggies and see if that helps.

AliceDark

karima116 wrote: »

When you begin to lose weight, as you lose fat, you gain muscle. And since muscle weighs more than fat, it may not seem like you lost any weight although you are getting healthier. Try to increase your protein along with more fruits and veggies and see if that helps.

Nope. That's not even a little bit accurate.

Bshmerlie

You have been doing this for 33 days now and you have only lost 2 pounds. At 350 pounds you should be losing 8-10 pounds per months. This is not just normal fluctuations. You are eating just below maintenance to only have lost a half pound per week at your weight. If you think about it you have to cut another 750 calories per day from what you are actually eating right now. People may not like to admit it but it is strictly about the math. There is no reason you shouldn't be dropping weight easily at your current weight. If you are weighing all your food double check the entries you've been choosing on the MFP data base. There are a lot of huge descrepancies. I've seen eight ounces of chicken be as low as 180 calories to as much as 700 calories. If you choose the wrong one you will be giving yourself more calories to eat than you should. Double and triple check everything. The bottom line is your body knows better than you how many calories you're actually eating. And right now it's telling you that you are eating too much.

arwen8211

AliceDark wrote: »

Like everyone else has said, weight fluctuations are natural and nobody has an actual weight -- you have a range. Did you weigh yourself regularly before you started trying to lose? A 6-pound range sounds reasonable for your size, but you should be seeing some kind of downward trend by now.

At your size and calorie target, a 2-pound loss over 4 weeks is relatively small, so it seems like something's not right. Would you be comfortable opening your diary so people can take a look?

No, I didn't weigh myself regularly before, so I don't know what my range is. As far as opening my diary, how do I go about doing that? (sorry, still a noob as far as navigating the site). Is it possible to open it only to individuals, rather than the general public?

I do take meds for depression, but my doc and my own research said that it's weight-neutral. That's the only other thing I can think of, other than that my scale is wildly off or...? I do eat out a lot (and try to make healthy choices when I do), and input the nutritional information from the restaurant websites, and I know there can be discrepancies there, but I also rarely finish my whole meal, either.

Idk what to do. I guess just keep trying to eat less and see if more severe restriction works.

Josh_lol

If you've just started exercising, pay attention to your measurements as well. I know 2 weeks isn't a lot of time but you'll be surprised sometimes when your weight doesn't change but you've lost half an inch off your waist.

Patttience

Periods do indeed cause water retention so you can always expect a gain over that time and often just before it.

Salty food will cause water retention. eg asian food, junk food, and so on.

Try to keep a lid on your white carbs. and processed food in general.

If you have been exercise hard adn have sore muscles you will also have muscle inflammation which will retain water.

Yes the weight really does bounce around a huge amount. When you eat few carbs, you will lose a lot of water, when you start eating them again, you will starting retaining more. This is because carbs are stored in the muscles first as a liquid which needs the water. If you try to eat a good amount of protein and plenty of fruit and vegies in lieu of so many carbs, you will not only hold less water for the excess glycogen but you will be training to eat more healthy. Yes vegies and fruit are also carbs but they are also full of vitamins and minerals and other micronutrients. and are filling and slow to release energy.

If your calories are close to but under your daily goal you will surely lose actual fat at a steady rate. If you are pre-diabetic or diabetic it may be a bit slower and then the carbs become even more important.