Still confused
phwdjones
Posts: 37 Member
Hi,
I started dieting back in July this year. I thought I would be able to lose 30 lbs over 4 months or so with complete ease, but I soon realised it was going to be incredibly difficult.
I started at about 208, and by November I got down to 190, but then I gave up. Going low on calories (1900 as a 6'1 male) was killing me. I felt drained and miserable, but whenever I pushed my calories above 2100 I seemed to flatline or gain weight, so I just gave up, stopped dieting entirely and ate whatever I wanted. The amazing thing was that I barely gained weight. I probably gained back 3lbs over the course of 3 weeks or so..
Now I'm back dieting again as I want to get down to 175 lbs, but I'm finding similar frustrations - namely that I'm eating a low amount of calories for my gender and size (see my diary) but unless I eat about 1600 calories then I seem to gain weight on the scale back almost every day...
I weigh myself in the morning after going to the bathroom on a totally empty stomach, but shouldnt the weight be coming off way, WAY quicker than this??! It's been months of me eating at similar calories, and I just cant seem to get through this plateau - I hate having a small frame with a beer gut SO much - i just want ab definition. What can I do?! What's wrong with my diet?
I started dieting back in July this year. I thought I would be able to lose 30 lbs over 4 months or so with complete ease, but I soon realised it was going to be incredibly difficult.
I started at about 208, and by November I got down to 190, but then I gave up. Going low on calories (1900 as a 6'1 male) was killing me. I felt drained and miserable, but whenever I pushed my calories above 2100 I seemed to flatline or gain weight, so I just gave up, stopped dieting entirely and ate whatever I wanted. The amazing thing was that I barely gained weight. I probably gained back 3lbs over the course of 3 weeks or so..
Now I'm back dieting again as I want to get down to 175 lbs, but I'm finding similar frustrations - namely that I'm eating a low amount of calories for my gender and size (see my diary) but unless I eat about 1600 calories then I seem to gain weight on the scale back almost every day...
I weigh myself in the morning after going to the bathroom on a totally empty stomach, but shouldnt the weight be coming off way, WAY quicker than this??! It's been months of me eating at similar calories, and I just cant seem to get through this plateau - I hate having a small frame with a beer gut SO much - i just want ab definition. What can I do?! What's wrong with my diet?
4
Replies
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Yes, your goal was difficult and aggressive. How are you measuring your calorie intake?0
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pick a smaller deficit. approximately 15% to 20% of your TDEE. based on the numbers you're throwing around, a deficit of about 500 Cal for an expected loss of 1lb a week.
Stop expecting to see movement on your scale using your naked eye. Plug in your numbers into a trending weight web site or application.
Evaluate your gain or loss over a 6-8 week period. You have your old weight ins? plug them into an app and have a look at what the trend is doing over time.5 -
Evaluate your gain or loss over a 6-8 week period. You have your old weight ins? plug them into an app and have a look at what the trend is doing over time.
This is so important. Do not make decisions based on day to day weight fluctuations. At a minimum you should look at 3-4 weeks but 6-8 is even better.
Unless you are a complete slug you can lose on 2100 calories eaten (I'm not talking about net after exercise) per day. It might not be as fast as you'd like it to be but you will lose at that rate.7 -
If I recall you had scale fluctuations explained to you but you refused to accept this would happen.
Yes, you did. This is one of those threads. If you lose on 1900 you aren't going to then gain on 2100, it's not logical.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10600685/bizarre-weigh-ins-makes-no-sense-2lbs-gain-overnight/p114 -
Your diary is kind of all over the place. Blank entries and half finished ones (at least I hope so and not that you’re eating that little). I would tighten that up before worrying or concluding that you only gain or lose weight on x amount of calories.5
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Why would you want to weigh 175 lbs at 6'1"?
That's scrawny.
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My husband is 6'2" and weighed 190 at that height in high school. He was pretty fit/lean and looked good. 175 seems light to me but he's my only frame of reference.0
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To the OP. You've gotten good advice above. But strive for some consistency in logging daily. You diary seems all over the place.
Plus, if you find you are not getting enough to eat, then I'm thinking it's time to increase your activity and eat those calories.
I'm 6' and ~215. I'm set with MFP to lose 1 lb per week because any more than that doesn't give me a happy amount of calories. Even at that, I hit the gym or the trail just so I can eat more. I don't eat them all back (because I can afford to lose more than 1 lb per week) but I'm eating most back and these are my treat/wine calories.
Makes my life much easier.
Put your weight in a trending app (Libra, Happy Scale or trendweight.com) and focus on the trend, not what the scale says daily.2 -
One thing I learned during my 50 pound loss 5 years ago was DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF EVERY DAY. Water weight and normal daily fluctuations will drive you batsh** crazy. I found myself becoming absolutely obsessed with eating and seeing the scale go down. I've never had an eating disorder but I came to understand how that mindset gets started. Pick one weigh in day each week and stick to it. Mine was Sunday, and I forced myself not to step on the scale except once on Sunday morning each week. Now that I finally have kicked myself in the *kitten* to re-lose the 20 I gained back during nursing school, I am again making myself weigh in and record weight only once per week. I know you want to step on there and see a little loss every day, but the problem is that you won't, and it can demoralize you. The likelihood of seeing a small loss each week is much higher as long as you stick to your calories, and that really does help in the long run.11
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You’ve been given good advice so far concerning weight loss. I’d like to chime in on your comment convening “wanting abs.” Keep in mind that your figure shouldn’t change with a deficit, only your size. If you want “abs” or muscle definition, you’ll want to hit the weights as well.
On a side note, I have a small frame as well. The struggle is real because we show weight easily. Stay consistent my friend, no matter what.5 -
duskyjewel wrote: »One thing I learned during my 50 pound loss 5 years ago was DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF EVERY DAY. Water weight and normal daily fluctuations will drive you batsh** crazy. I found myself becoming absolutely obsessed with eating and seeing the scale go down. I've never had an eating disorder but I came to understand how that mindset gets started. Pick one weigh in day each week and stick to it. Mine was Sunday, and I forced myself not to step on the scale except once on Sunday morning each week. Now that I finally have kicked myself in the *kitten* to re-lose the 20 I gained back during nursing school, I am again making myself weigh in and record weight only once per week. I know you want to step on there and see a little loss every day, but the problem is that you won't, and it can demoralize you. The likelihood of seeing a small loss each week is much higher as long as you stick to your calories, and that really does help in the long run.
Many people have no problems weighing every day. A weight trending app will help see past the fluctuations. Yeah, due to the past post it does seem like the OP should not be weighing himself every day, but it is fine for others.15 -
My husband is 6'2" and weighed 190 at that height in high school. He was pretty fit/lean and looked good. 175 seems light to me but he's my only frame of reference.
I've got a small frame so at 190 I look quite fit and broad with clothes on, but without them I have a gut.
As to everyone else replying I think my point is this: my weight should be going down daily considering I have cut my water and sodium intake and my calories are stripped back to the bone.2 -
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My husband is 6'2" and weighed 190 at that height in high school. He was pretty fit/lean and looked good. 175 seems light to me but he's my only frame of reference.
I've got a small frame so at 190 I look quite fit and broad with clothes on, but without them I have a gut.
As to everyone else replying I think my point is this: my weight should be going down daily considering I have cut my water and sodium intake and my calories are stripped back to the bone.
No it shouldn’t. https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear8 -
As to everyone else replying I think my point is this: my weight should be going down daily considering I have cut my water and sodium intake and my calories are stripped back to the bone.
You're flat out wrong and the longer you refuse to accept that, the longer you will be frustrated. You're not going to lose weight every day. You will lose some days, gain some days, and maintain some days.
Furthermore, cutting water intake in order to lose weight is just plain stupid. It shows that you are focused only on weight loss rather than fat loss. It shows that you do not understand that dehydration leads to water retention which leads to weight gain or stagnation. It shows that instead of stubbornly clinging to your beliefs about how weight loss works you should pay attention and take the advice that several long term successful weight/fat losers have offered.29 -
You have choices here.
1. Continually do things stubbornly your way and get frustrated by the results because you do not understand weight loss in a safe manner
Or
2. Listen to advice given here and learn something.
It is neither easy, or safe to be losing 1/2 pound a day and is impossible to do so without daily fluctuations. Seeing it on YouTube does not make it fact.15 -
You're so deluded in believing BS that you're passing up on a lot of good advice...
My scale weight can fluctuate by up to 8lb I think is the most I've noticed, so no it's not only "Just" a lb here or there, it can be massive. And no it doesn't make sense, but human bodies rarely do because we aren't linear or all built the same.
I doubt you have, losing half a pound a day for over 2 weeks isn't possible... Not even with the best fat burners (Which are blackmarket and poison), unless of course they aren't eating and manipulating water weight... Point is, for the average Joe, that's never going to happen or be sustainable... Coming from someone who makes weight frequently for bodybuilding.
And again you call her stupid but you believe drinking LESS water will make you hold less water? I'll not even bother explaining this one because I'm sure it already was explained above...
Either accept the help given or don't ask.11 -
As to everyone else replying I think my point is this: my weight should be going down daily considering I have cut my water and sodium intake and my calories are stripped back to the bone.
You're flat out wrong and the longer you refuse to accept that, the longer you will be frustrated. You're not going to lose weight every day. You will lose some days, gain some days, and maintain some days.
Furthermore, cutting water intake in order to lose weight is just plain stupid. It shows that you are focused only on weight loss rather than fat loss. It shows that you do not understand that dehydration leads to water retention which leads to weight gain or stagnation. It shows that instead of stubbornly clinging to your beliefs about how weight loss works you should pay attention and take the advice that several long term successful weight/fat losers have offered.
What you fail to understand is that unlike in your weight loss log, your scale weight may increase, but only ever by a pound here or there, from what I saw. For me, I can often wake up and be 3-4 lbs heavier despite only eating 1700 calories the previous day. That makes no *kitten* sense, especially when I ate less sodium the previous day too.
I've seen 30 or more examples on youtube of guys my height / size losing half a pound a day EASY on this many calories. Their weights DID NOT fluctuate up to 3lbs every single day - they literally recorded their weigh ins and you can see its not the case.
I also still get plenty of water. I was drinking it excessively before, so stop assuming you know what I'm doing. I didn't do it to lose weight - I'm speechless at how stupid you are to suggest that's why I did it, lmfao. I cut it to stop feeling incredibly bloated every morning and having to take a piss 15 times a day. I also hoped it would help decrease the massive weight fluctuations, (as I'd be holding less water, duh).
Where did I say that fluctuations are a pound here and there? Several pounds is normal.
Lol at relying on guys on YouTube giving diet advice on losing a half pound per day.
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You seem incredibly certain you are right when your actual results show you are wrong!
- Tighten up your logging as without, at least, consistency your decisions are based on faulty data.
- Either grasp that daily fluctuations happen and that they don't indicate fat loss/gain and can be frustratingly erratic and seemingly illogical or weigh yourself less often.
- Change your focus from day to day to at the very least week to week, preferably longer.
- Only make calorie adjustments based on trends, not on single data points.
- Stop looking at dumb videos on YouTube.
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So you have once again posted asking for advice, once again get the same advice you don't want to hear. What are you expecting every time you post about natural scale fluctuations? The answer is never going to change no matter how many times you post the same thread and give the same snarky responses.15
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Lemme guess, the guys on YouTube are probably wrestlers doing incredibly stupid and unhealthy things to make weight, like starvation dieting and taking laxatives. Even if they didn't tell you they did, to lose half a pound a day for several days in a row, they likely did. It's eating disorder behavior and that leads nowhere good.3
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I have no idea who you’re following. YouTube fitness gurus are my guilty pleasure and 99% of them do not pay attention to scale numbers.0
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At the start of this thread it seems like you were looking for advice - but as I've read through what I've noticed is an argument waiting to happen. You seem convinced that you have this figured out. And I can second just about what everyone else has said...
I have lost 48 pounds since mid-June and I weigh every day. Now, you and I probably weigh for different reasons - I'm a data geek and like to see how I retain water after working out and get a feel for how my diet could affect water retention. There is no flipping way to gain 8 pounds in a day (I mean unless you were an absolute slug and consumed like 30,000 calories???) - but I have found that my scale can fluctuate by 2 or 3 pounds in a day but month over month my trend is down. The advice to use a separate app is good, that might help. You also have to tighten up your diary - everything that goes into your mouth goes into the diary. And please, I'm begging you... don't cut your water intake to drop your weight. It is SO short-sighted... if you aren't consuming enough liquids, your body will retain the water it needs which will only frustrate you further. And stop worrying about salt... it might drive some of that daily variation, but again... using an app to watch your weight trend overall will show you that your body is responding normally. You must be patient.
If you're concerned about the beer belly - stop drinking beer. The benefits of dropping the beer are vastly greater than just losing the belly. In your shoes, I'd also consider focusing on body fat percentage rather than weight since that seems to be touchy. If you don't focus on building the muscles under that beer belly, you aren't going to be happy at 175 either. So... drop the bf% and don't worry about the scale until you're happy with how you look. Then you know what you want to maintain at and what activity level is required to do it.2 -
Your diary is really incomplete. My tips would be:
1. Tighten up your logging. Weigh all your solid foods with a digital scale and use measuring cups for liquids. Try to to be as accurate as possible.
2. Find a reasonable goal based on your height and weight. I like using this website to calculate my TDEE, then subtract 250-500 for your daily calorie goal (to lose approx. .5-1lbs a week): http://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/
3. Remove high-calorie, low-density foods from your diet. Stuff like peanut butter, junk food, fast food.
4. Add more low-calorie, high-density foods like fresh fruit and vegetables, salads, lean proteins.2 -
Giving up didn't work. If you'd been consistent and patient, you'd be much closer to your goal now.
You've gathered evidence and that evidence shows that the advice given here was correct. Rather than digging your heels in about how you think weight loss should work, follow the advice given here and you'll reach your goal at some point in the future. Weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.5 -
I’ve been working at this for a year and one thing I’ve learned after losing 60lbs is the body doesn’t do anything in a linear fashion. Weight fluctuates every day. Despite some of the advice above, the most accurate way to track weight loss is to weigh yourself everyday at the same time with the same amount of clothes on and ignore the number but write it down. You only pay attention to the weekly average. If you try and force your body to lose too fast, it will fight back and make you miserable. Slow down, learn more and have a crockpot mentality not a microwave.9
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I’ve been working at this for a year and one thing I’ve learned after losing 60lbs is the body doesn’t do anything in a linear fashion. Weight fluctuates every day. Despite some of the advice above, the most accurate way to track weight loss is to weigh yourself everyday at the same time with the same amount of clothes on and ignore the number but write it down. You only pay attention to the weekly average. If you try and force your body to lose too fast, it will fight back and make you miserable. Slow down, learn more and have a crockpot mentality not a microwave.
I love this, it's perfect! Thank you!1
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