How long to see any results?

babybluentexas

Maybe it's what you are eating. I don't lose if I eat less calories from fast food places or eat prepackaged meals. As soon as I started eating cleaner, and cooking most of my meals with fresh ingredients, I could count on the scale moving down...

atiyausman84

Damien_Scott wrote: »

If you don't have a digital food scale losing weight is nigh impossible.

Digital food scale means?

editorgrrl

atiyausman84 wrote: »

Digital food scale means?

A kitchen scale with which you weigh your food. You can buy one for approximate US$15.

Every food label says something like "one serving (100g) = x calories." If you weigh the item and it's actually 125g, you need to log 1.25 servings.

sheldonklein

Your BMR d/n meaningfully slow between ages 27 and 35. As I read your posts, you know the rules and vagaries of weight loss, but you are allowing those vagaries to defeat you. You know the scale will tick up a pound or two, but you're allowing yourself to be crushed when it does. Stick to the fundamentals, be patient and keep your faith in science.

Mezzie1024

We have a similar number to lose, I'm a couple years older than you, and I'm halfway to my goal, so maybe I can help you out with what's worked for me.

1. I keep my deficit small so I can stick with it. Most weeks my goal is 0.5 loss, but sometimes I manually adjust to 0.25. Some weeks I take a break and eat at maintenance, usually because of a social event.

2. Because I keep my deficit small, weighing my food is essential. I weigh all my food, estimate a bit high when I eat out, and eat back all my exercise calories.

3. I have to be patient. I've been on MFP for years, usually from May-September as I lose the two to five pounds I gained over holiday eating. That's kept me in check for the most part. This year I'm losing more because last summer I injured myself and didn't run through my usual cycle of loss. This year I started in April, but I took a couple months off accurate tracking as I traveled, so that's why I'm only halfway. Had I been consistent, I would have hit my goal already. That's okay with me, but it might not be with people more in a rush. Consistent 0.5/week loss will have you hitting your goal in five or six months, but you won't see 0.5 drop every week. I often stay the same weight for a couple weeks and then drop a pound, then stay the same weight for a few weeks and drop half a pound then a few days later another pound. When you get used to it not being regular, you don't get disappointed when the scale doesn't move for a while.

4. I am aware of natural fluctuations in weight. I weigh daily, so I know my patterns pretty well. I ate salty snacks at an event yesterday, so of course my weight didn't drop today. The week going into my period, I generally have a slow steady climb of weight that will drop off (and if I stay at my deficit, along with some extra weight) a few days after it's over. I know if I've taken even a short break from exercise, especially lifting, my first day back I'll retain a good chunk of water and see either an increase or stall on the scale. None of those have anything to do with fat loss, so I record them, learn how my body reacts to things, and move on.

5. I have a realistic and flexible goal. At my current rate of loss and with no traveling or major social events coming up, I should hit my goal sometime in mid-September. I tell myself I'll probably hit it by October because I'd much rather be pleasantly surprised than disappointed.

6. I have confidence in the process. Because I have always been successful losing my small winter gains, I know this works. This year I have bigger challenges for medical reasons, but the basic math hasn't changed. My absolute confidence in the CICO calculations and my ability to accurately track mean I don't give up even though I do take occasional, intentional breaks from being at a deficit. My scale always does what my deficit (or lack thereof) says it should do, even though sometimes it does so a bit later than one would expect.

I hope something in the above is helpful to you.

ericGold15

Mezzie1024 wrote: »

I hope something in the above is helpful to you.

I enjoyed this post immensely. Thanks!

Tamlyngo

Graymanstole wrote: »

Weigh. Your. Food.

Seriously, you'll get more results knowing exactly how much you are putting into your body than you will knowing how much gravity is affecting you on a scale at any particular moment. Most of us underestimate how much we eat, and are taking in way more calories that we think we are.

This

skadoosh33

Yep, you need to know exactly how many calories you consume. It might be hard at first to weigh everything and look it up but you will see results faster if you are more accurate. 4-6 weeks of proper diet and exercise will show results.

carr3107

I HAVE been weighing ALL of my food and logging it. I'm not sure why everyone keeps assuming I'm not. I had one day where I was down a pound and a half and then the scale came right back up. It has moved around from day to day, but except the one blip, I'm not losing. I wear a fitbit so my activity counts are accurate. My daily goal is 1580 for a .5 pound loss. I came in at 2300 under that last week and this week should be better than that. Zip.

Under these facts - accurate and measured calorie and activity accounts, what is wrong?

editorgrrl

carr3107 wrote: »

Under these facts - accurate and measured calorie and activity accounts, what is wrong?

kimw11

I only have about 15 pounds to lose also and it has been very slow. Two things that have helped me are having a Withings scale that is linked to MFP and reading the NSV (NonScaleVictory) threads in the Success Stories category. I weigh myself every morning and although my weight loss has been slow I have a very steady downward trend with fluctuations of a few pounds on either side. By watching the curve you start to focus less on each individual weight. The NSV thread really helped shift my focus to other positives like a normal blood pressure, looking better and having higher fitness level. I have lost 9 pounds over 5-6 months but am much fitter and healthier. Plus, if I wasn't trying, my weight would probably be going in the wrong direction and 6 more months would still be gone. Good luck on your journey!

kimw11

Also there is always the Whoosh Effect to consider:
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html/

Machka9

When I signed on here, I entered my information into MFP, set myself as sedentary, selected 0.5 kg/week as my target weight loss goal, and MFP gave me about 1250 calories as a max.

For the first few weeks, it was tough staying under that. I did, of course, but I was hungry all the time until I settled on food choices that kept me fuller longer.

Exercise also helps a lot. I add my exercise each day, and eat maybe about half of my exercise calories back. So it was a rare day I only ate 1250 cal.

From the time I started, it was a long and frustrating 10 days before I saw any results at all. I figured I'd give it up when I hit the 2 week point. But then, on the morning of day 11, I had my first little loss. And I've been losing fairly steadily since.

When I reached my first goal, I upped my calories to 1350 max (plus my exercise calories). My loss is a bit slower now, but that's OK.

That is what worked for me.

So ... yes, you might need to lower your max calories a little bit. That might be the first thing to try. Next ... be patient. If you're only hanging in there for 3 weeks, that's not really enough time for much to happen. Stick to it for a full 2 months and see what happens.

lorrpb

>>Back to my original question - if I do everything perfectly should I be expecting weeks and weeks until I see any loss? I've managed 3 weeks at a time (more than once) of that precision (weighing, etc) and seen nothing.<<

If you are perfect for 3 weeks and do not see results, then the answer is 4-6 weeks. It's different for everyone. Hang in there.