Question re: progress getting back into shape

candicew70

I'm 45. I was fit and thin my whole life, but over the past few years I've been inconsistent with diet and exercise due to higher stress job, life, etc. And I've gained about 15lbs. So at the beginning of June I decided to get back into shape. I do Couch to 5K 3 times a week and lift weights. I've increased rounds (started with 1 round and now I do 2-3) and weight as I can (I aim to lift heavy--I follow the program in New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women). I also started MFP and eat 1800 calories a day most days, which I calculated to be a slight deficit. My goal is/was to lose weight but more importantly to lose fat.

I do see the results. I've lost an inch and 1/2 in my waist and 1/2 inch in my hips. My arms and upper body look good. I still have stomach fat (but I can see my abs), and my legs are def more toned. My clothes are a little looser as well.

My question is this: I've made progress, but I have lost 0 lbs. In fact I'm up 3 from where I started. I expected some weight gain from lifting initially, but I thought eventually I would see some kind of loss. I'm trying to not let the scale dictate my progress, but quite honestly I am hoping to weight less. On Aug 1 I cut out alcohol (thinking this might trigger loss, but nothing so far). Two things I could do differently are to be more diligent about meeting my protein goals on MFP (set to 30%), and I am usually closer to 20-25%. And reduce calories to 1,700 (1,800 might be maintenance rather than the slight deficit I think it is). Anyone else have a similar experience? Thanks for any comments!

mom23mangos

10 weeks is a little long for it to be glycogen stores, so it sounds like you are basically recomping, which may not be bad. You have noticed a reduction in inches, so you are losing body fat and replacing it with muscle. You can stick with what you are doing and just plan on it taking a while, or you can cut your calories a little bit to lose ~.5lbs per week.

DiIDE

You seem to be doing all the right things, so it must be the calories, try dropping to 1500 for a few weeks and see if that works for you.

SunRae87

This may sound crazy but you may need to increase your calories a little. You shouldn't go below 1800 for a woman. Muscle does weigh more than fat and it sounds like you have put on some muscle. Try to focus on the inches you have lost and not so much the scale. If you cut calories to low you will put your body into starvation mode screwing up your metabolism. Your body will then try to hold onto everything you eat as survival mode kicks in. Stay patient and focus on the positives. It takes us women way longer than men to lose weight!

MzManiak

Important to consider that you may have been slighty dehydrated when you took your starting weight, which will take off a bit of pounds until you replenish. You are doing some great programs and will continue to trim down if you stick with them.

I think your ideas are right on target.

If you are maintaining your weight, you may not be eating at a slight deficit. You are more likely eating at maintenance. This could be due to logging errors, measuring errors, packaging errors, etc.. I would drop 100 calories per week until you see the kind of progress you want to see (balancing, of course, with your hunger and activity level).