how long for Lbs to start dropping?

sarahstrunk1
sarahstrunk1 Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
how long did it take to really start seeing the scale move? Im eating super clean right now and working out 6 days a week. I have a dress to fit into in 6 weeks and am so antsy to start losing for real! I thought cutting out bread, dairy, sugar and working out I'd be dropping weight like crazy. Does it just take a few weeks for your body to catch up?

Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    Are you tracking your calorie intake?
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Eating clean and exercise don't mean you'll lose weight - you need a calorie deficit for that
    This.
    OP, do you weigh your food?
    Also, how long have you been at it?
  • ki4eld
    ki4eld Posts: 1,213 Member
    cerise_noir wrote: »
    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Eating clean and exercise don't mean you'll lose weight - you need a calorie deficit for that
    This.
    OP, do you weigh your food?
    Also, how long have you been at it?

    And how hard are you working out, since hard workouts can cause water retention.
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
    Are you able to log all your food? How do you measure? I find that using a food scale is super important, and measure everything in grams What macros are you tracking? I like to track Carbs Fiber Protein Sugar, and let my Fat and Calories just fall into place.

    I think your version of eating clean is a good idea, it's my approach as well. My own results are a 2lb loss weekly, and I also track bodyfat%.

    If you are not accurately logging it will be hard to know what's working, IMO. But if you can track accurately, I think your losses should start immediately.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    OP with only 11 pounds to lose, it's going to come off slower.
  • Getty59
    Getty59 Posts: 72 Member
    I noticed within the first week. But I tracked my calories so I make sure that I end beach day with a deficit. When I workout that is a bonus for my body and deficit!
  • c50blvdbabe
    c50blvdbabe Posts: 213 Member
    I've shifted to focusing on my macros as opposed to calories. I noticed that I was eating a lot of junk food just because it fit into my calorie deficit.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    c50blvdbabe wrote: »
    I've shifted to focusing on my macros as opposed to calories. I noticed that I was eating a lot of junk food just because it fit into my calorie deficit.

    But you are still in a calorie deficit.
  • prettysoul1908
    prettysoul1908 Posts: 200 Member
    sarahstrunk1 wrote: »
    how long did it take to really start seeing the scale move? Im eating super clean right now and working out 6 days a week. I have a dress to fit into in 6 weeks and am so antsy to start losing for real! I thought cutting out bread, dairy, sugar and working out I'd be dropping weight like crazy. Does it just take a few weeks for your body to catch up?

    You sound like me before my girlfriends wedding a year ago(I was a bridesmaid). Except I had two weeks! I was able to make a little progress but I ended up having to buy spanx because I was so last minute.

    The scale isn't what you need to worry about right now... it's about getting into the dress. I firm up quicker than I drop weight so getting into a good workout groove improved my body composition and things were just...smoother.

    Focus on getting into the dress as a short term goal (may need some assistance from Spanx) but at the same time.. let this short term goal springboard you into a long term goal. Calorie deficit and patience are the two main ingredients to get you there.

    Good luck!
  • Lovee_Dove7
    Lovee_Dove7 Posts: 742 Member
    c50blvdbabe wrote: »
    I've shifted to focusing on my macros as opposed to calories. I noticed that I was eating a lot of junk food just because it fit into my calorie deficit.

    So true! What you measure, improves. I noticed the same thing! Somehow, when I meaure what I eat, my choices are so much healthier, and the weight actually comes off so efficiently. It's metabolism, how your body uses what you eat.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    About 3 weeks and that was with a calorie deficit and exercise. And it wasn't pounds of weight that came off, it was 1 lb.
  • daniwilford
    daniwilford Posts: 1,030 Member
    I agree with @prettysoul1908, to get into that dress, it is inches not pounds that matter the most. Lift heavy things, strengthen your core, and firm up your curves. In order to lose pounds, you have to eat at a deficit and as many others have said, if you are not accurately tracking your calories in and out, you have no way of knowing if you are at a deficit. You may have replaced the calories from the foods you have omitted with other "clean" food calories. You may be retaining water as @ki4eld suggested, this is common when you begin or increase the intensity of your work out.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    I started MFP and simply stuck to the calorie goal I was given. The scale started going down the first week. Change in clothing size took several months
    When you say 6 weeks to fit into a dress what do you mean? Do you mean it is a bit tight but you can wear it now or you can not get into it at all and expect to go down a clothing size or two in 6 weeks?
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    janjunie wrote: »
    OP with only 11 pounds to lose, it's going to come off slower.

    This. With only a little to lose, big things aren't going to happen in 6 weeks. It took me almost a year to recomp when I did.
  • charlenechaz
    charlenechaz Posts: 49 Member
    I found that when I started this journey, I began eating really clean and over the course of two or three weeks I lost about 1.5 lbs, which was really disappointing as I have quite a bit of weight to lose.
    I then relaxed and started counting calories (using MFP) and weighing my food. It's amazing how many calories over food can be when the amount is a guesstimate.

    Since I relaxed, and started counting but eating what I really like I have lost 13 lbs. Albeit, it has taken the best part of 3 months but when you average it out, its roughly a pound a week (which started about 3 weeks in).

    My point is, relax and just let it happen. The numbers will do the work for you, you just have to go with the flow.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    I was stuck at the same weight for literally over a year when "eating clean and exercising" but not tracking calories or macros. Some of us are just really good at intuitively eating at our calorie maintenance level despite cutting out things like sugar & bread & junk food etc.

    I didn't see any drop in weight (other than an initial 3 pounds that came off VERY SLOWLY) until I started eating in a calorie deficit... and then I made the mistake of eating far too little protein and too many carbs (yes they were healthy carbs like brown rice and sweet potato and fruit), and yes I lost weight but I actually lost muscle and gained fat!!

    Not until I ate in a calorie deficit, tracked all my food, AND ate macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat) in proper proportions did I start to lose actual body fat. I've finally got it right now and am losing at a rate of about a pound a week or so. I still eat mostly clean but am able to fit in some occasional treats now if I want.

    The rate at which you lose will depend how much of a calorie deficit you are in and how much you exercise. I would suggest NOT logging your exercise because that increases your calorie allowance & the calories burned is usually overestimated. I know you're in a hurry but I also suggest not going into too much of a calorie deficit or you will probably get too hungry and cheat/binge.

    Spanx are helpful if you need to fit into a specific dress, I know that has saved me on more than one occasion when bridesmaid dresses were involved.

    Good luck!
  • MommyMeggo
    MommyMeggo Posts: 1,222 Member
    Its not the elimination of foods that help you lose weight. Its the reduction of calories.
    You can eat clean all you want. If you're eating too much it wont really matter.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Unless you've got a LOT of weight to lose, "dropping weight like crazy" just doesn't happen. And it doesn't happen so quickly you can see it by the day - its definitely a week to week or week to month thing. And just eating clean isn't going to get you there.
  • wookiepants
    wookiepants Posts: 40 Member
    I have 50lbs or more to lose and I'm finally dropping after 3 weeks of working out and at a deflict.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited October 2016
    I'm working on some summer weight creep and since Monday I've lost a pound. That's just eating at the correct calorie deficit, with 2 miles a day of walking as well (and I'm eating the extra exercise calories too). I haven't changed what I've eaten-just eating less of it and doing correct portion sizes (dusted off my food scale and am back to measuring most things, in grams, again).
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
    Also if you have been a "clean" eater for the most part and active, don't expect to drop a lot of weight, at this point BF should be the main focus VS just X number on the scale...Good luck :)
  • LynnBBQ72
    LynnBBQ72 Posts: 151 Member
    I started in late July with a short term goal of dropping 47 lbs. The first week I lost three pounds. Second week - NOTHING. Third week - NOTHING. I considered giving up but stuck it out. I've been losing one to two pounds per week since then but I started at 222 lbs. It seems like you are much closer to a normal weight that I was, so you will not see the 2 lbs per week drops like some people get.

    I just noticed this thread was from 2015.... oh well.... maybe the bump can help someone else out?
  • elias1609
    elias1609 Posts: 71 Member
    When I first started I didn't start losing until about 3 weeks into it, but when it starts to drop , it drops!

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