New to MFP and feeling discouraged.

sflann50

Hello all! So I started my life change 3 weeks ago but joined MFP after week 2 of my journey. In that two weeks I've lost 7 pounds!! But now I've hit a bump. This third week I've gained 2 pounds back somehow but I haven't changed my eating or exercise. The only thing I can think of is switching to a low carb diet instead of what I'm doing now. And I've been riding bike around my hometown for 45 minutes everyday (with plenty of hills!!). I just cant figure out what I did wrong? My meals consist of 3 egg whites and 2 while scramble with a 5.5 Oz v8 low sodium, then wheat thins for snack at work, tuna fish with a tbsp of miracle whip, a side of peas or green beans and an apple and then for dinner I've been having salmon or grilled chicken or turkey burger with a salad and either peas or green beans again. I've just gotta do something different. There's gotta be something wrong.

Fursian

It has been 3 weeks and you've lost 7 pounds, awesome! If you've been weighing everything with a food scale and logging, those 2 extra pounds will most likely be water weight. Thanks to water weight, our weekly losses can easily be masked, making us think we've not lost anything. Some weeks we'll see a loss, some we'll look like we're staying the same, and others we'll look like we're gaining. This is normal.

AngelaeLebron1

I feel you! I lost 8 lbs my first week and then none my second week and I have gained a pound my third! I figure depending on what happens this week, that is still 7lbs in a month which is great! Also I didn't gain that weight I lost in the first week back, which I'm sure I would have right away if I went back to old habits. Think positive & keep going. Change will happen, it takes time and patience.

fireytiger

Hey, don't feel discouraged! That happens to me A LOT, and usually a couple days later it comes back off and goes down. Did you happen to eat a lot of sodium the day before your weigh in? Have you been always weighing yourself at the same time (like first thing in the morning), or did you eat something/drink a bunch of water/exercise before weighing? Is it close to your time of the month? You could be retaining a little more water because of that. Or maybe it's none of the above and your body is just holding onto water because it can. Seriously, it's normal, please don't give up! You can do it!

RoseTheWarrior

You just need patience. Stay on track and you'll be down again soon. Repeat after me... "weight loss is NOT linear". Your body is a living organism that responds to many things - temperature, sodium, water, food, stress, hormones. You cannot possibly expect weight loss to be all one way. I weigh daily, and I can tell you, it's all over the place. But if you look at my TREND, it's downward, and I've averaged 1.7 lbs loss per week for almost a year. You absolutely have to just take a breath, and relax.

IF you happen to be stuck at a certain weight for say 4-5 weeks, THEN it's time to try something different.

Breathe. Relax.

RodaRose

Take a lot of "before" pictures and get lots of measurements so that you can see your progress.
Sometimes the scale does not cooperate the way we expect it to. Stay patient and be consistent so that in the long run you will lose your weight and keep it off.

Orphia

Weight loss is not linear.

One of MFP's "Most Helpful Posts":

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1

I'll bet you're retaining water due to Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) due to intense exercise.

It sounds like you're not eating enough, if anything!

Also, Time of Month is a big influence on water weight.

While I'm here, you should read this: