Discouraged beginner

Lilbunny02

Today it's been one week since I started, and I haven't lost one pound. I know I shouldn't expect to lose ten pounds a week but I thought you lost them pretty fast in the beginning and my mom and sister both lost five pounds their first week. I'm not giving up but definitely discouraged, what am I doing wrong? I've watched my calories closely and walked a lot more than usual. Help!

RunningMom1038

You may be doing nothing wrong and just need to give it more time.

May I ask, are you weighing your food before logging it? Sometimes eyeballing or using measuring cups can be the culprit, as they are not accurate like weighing your portions.

sbrandt37

Don't give up! Some people lose pretty fast at the beginning, but it's a lifestyle change, not a race. Log your foods, aim for a modest calorie deficit daily, try to get some physical activity daily, and celebrate each thing you manage to do that moves you in the right direction. When you can do more, do more. If you make those things a habit, the weight will come off and stay off. And if you aren't using a scale to weigh your foods, I suggest you get one and use it. Most people are terrible at estimating how much they are eating. Don't panic. You are on the right track. You got this!

ShaleSelkies

Maybe you've seen it before but here's a useful flow chart often posted in threads such as this!

ahoy_m8

How are you weighing yourself? And how often?

malibu927

Most of that quick first weight loss people experience is water weight...and not everyone does see that. I gained a pound each of my first two weeks.

Weight loss isn't linear. There are a number of factors that can cause you to maintain your weight between weigh-ins, most notably if you began exercising this week. Keep at it and if you don't start losing in another couple of weeks, then it's time to double-check your logging.

Lilbunny02

I haven't been weighing my food, but I use measuring cups. I'll start weighing it. I'm weighing myself by a scale usually first thing in the morning before I eat or anything. Thank you all for the support and advice ♥️

1princesswarrior

Keep in mind it also depends on how much you have to lose and how active you were before. Whenever I start a new activity I tend to retain water.

And are you drinking enough? The 8 glass a day rule doesn't always work for everyone and with increasing activity you may need to increase water.

Rusty740

Don't worry about a thing, just keep doing what you are doing and give it more time. You should expect to have to change things up once in a while to keep losing pounds. There are several things you can check.
-Maybe you aren't accurate enough with counting everything, maybe you are missing the little things like cream and sugar in coffee, or ketchup on fries. It looks like you are doing well with this.
-Maybe your calorie goal is too high. You should aim for a not too drastic calorie deficit, you decide what that looks like, but if your aren't losing in three weeks, check this first. Sometimes we just have to adjust.
-Maybe you are over-estimating the calories used when you are exercising. Don't eat back those exercise calories. Sometimes exercise is just making you crave carbs so it's much harder to say no. You go for a 200 calorie run, then your body wants to eat 300 calories back. You can lose weight without cardio and it's easier too.
- Maybe you are losing weight. I weight myself every day (have lost 35 lbs over 1 year) and some weeks I don't lose anything.
- Drink more water, it is good for you and it helps keep you less hungry (just fills your tummy).
- Eat more protein vs carbs, protein is much much more filling than carbs and keeps you from feeling hungry longer. There is a study out there somewhere that says people who eat an egg in the morning eat 400 less calories per day. It's the protein in the egg, not eggs, that are doing it. It might not be 400 calories but protein in the morning will help.
- You are guaranteed to not lose weight if you stop tracking your calories
- As you lose weight your body will need less calories, if you plateau, revisit the things above.

You'll do fine if you just make some minor adjustments and trust the process. Seek advice, but don't buy into anything that tells you this won't take time. If you want something to compare with, check out my page you'll be able to see my diary and everything I eat. If you go back to spring 2016 you'll see I was eating popcorn with butter and other junk food (I still do occasionally) and still lost the weight, only because I kept with it.

You can do it

WickAndArtoo

Also each person is different and it also depends on how much you have to lose to begin with. Other things that can effect the scale are the types of food you are eating, water intake, your monthly cycle, I mean truly the list goes on. If you want to describe in more detail your current eating habits and body type etc it could help us help you.