Slow Start?

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bodojones
bodojones Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am just finishing my first week, I have kept my calories where they say they should be, 1260, the first couple of days I gained 2 pounds and they have stayed. The daily read out says I should lose about 2 pounds a week but I am just stuck heavier than I was before. Is this normal? Should I give it more time?

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  • wmweeza
    wmweeza Posts: 319 Member
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    That's not unusual. I'd give it a few more weeks and if you aren't losing then reassess.
    One thing is makes sure you log everything: When I first started I thought I had, but I didn't log the oil I used for cooking or dipping sauces. Now I track EVERYTHING
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    wmweeza wrote: »
    That's not unusual. I'd give it a few more weeks and if you aren't losing then reassess.
    One thing is makes sure you log everything: When I first started I thought I had, but I didn't log the oil I used for cooking or dipping sauces. Now I track EVERYTHING

    I think it is in fact a bit unusual. Especially if you are aiming for a 2lbs a week. Then your daily deficit is 1000calories which is quite substantial. What is usual is for you to lose more than 2lbs the first week because of all the water and stomach contents drop due to the abrupt change.

    Have you started strength training as well as deficit? If you have you might be retaining water from it.

    How do you measure your food? Do you use a digital food scale for all solids and measuring cups and spoons for all liquids?

    Are you a female and around your period? Than that might be the reason too.
  • wmweeza
    wmweeza Posts: 319 Member
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    gaining 2 pounds in 2 days when just starting out is probably water weight or their body adjusting, that's why I say that. Or heck, weighing with shoes on versus shoes off
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    How often do you weigh yourself? Once a week?

    If you graph anybody's weight, it looks like a roller coaster. Everybody holds onto water some times, lets go in a big "woosh" other times, it isn't the # on any given day (unless you compete) it's the trend over time.

    Give it more time. Keep at it, and pay attention to what foods fill you up the most for the calories. Notice how your calories are like a budget and there's generic and designer stuff (food) and as time goes by, you'll find a way of eating that works for you personally.
  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,222 Member
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    wmweeza wrote: »
    gaining 2 pounds in 2 days when just starting out is probably water weight or their body adjusting, that's why I say that. Or heck, weighing with shoes on versus shoes off

    But the two pounds stuck for the rest of the first week despide the 1000cal deficit.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
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    yukfoo wrote: »
    Somethings up with the calorie count. Are you exercising in any meaningful way? If it was me (and it has been) I might try dropping 100 calories for a few days and see if things change. If not drop another 100 calories. That will discount any miscalculations. Weigh in only once a week. Same day as soon as you get up. Daily weight can fluctuate widely and can be really discouraging. Eventually you'll find your threshold. Then you can fine tune. Don't give up. You will find your answers. Good luck!

    You should not be eating less than 1200 calories a day so this advice is best ignored. Your best bet is tightening up on your logging as this is the most common cause in these circumstances. If you feel comfortable doing so, making your diary public will allow others to help you here. I look back on my early months of logging knowing I made so many errors which meant I was eating more than I thought. Learning to log accurately does take time to master.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    Where are you in your monthly cycle? That affects many women. Did you recently eat out or have high sodium or high carb food? These things cause water retention for many. It’s barely been a week, too early to say what is and isn’t working.
  • Pipsqueak1965
    Pipsqueak1965 Posts: 397 Member
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    One week is nothing. Keep going for at least a month. If it hasn't started going down then you can start re-thinking.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    One week is not much to draw conclusions from, but to avoid struggling, and to ensure success, understand this:

    MFP's calorie suggestion is based on your height, weight, sex, but also the daily activity level and weekly weightloss rate you picked. If you think you're more sendentary than you really are and/or are too impatient, you get a too low calorie target. Weightloss is slow, and when you're hungry and can eat, you eat, so it's important that you don't try to force it by trying to eat too little.

    MFP's calorie suggestion and weigtloss prediction are both based on you actually having eaten the types and amounts of food you have logged, as well as you having picked an attainable weightloss rate. It's just a dumb formula based on the fact that one pound of fat equals 3500 calories - if you eat 3500 calories less than you burn, in a week you will have a pound less of fat on your body. But then there are water weight fluctuations that are larger than that, so you need many weeks to see a trend.

    So you need patience and accuracy - and knowledge is a great help to practice those two things.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    yukfoo wrote: »
    Somethings up with the calorie count. Are you exercising in any meaningful way? If it was me (and it has been) I might try dropping 100 calories for a few days and see if things change. If not drop another 100 calories. That will discount any miscalculations. Weigh in only once a week. Same day as soon as you get up. Daily weight can fluctuate widely and can be really discouraging. Eventually you'll find your threshold. Then you can fine tune. Don't give up. You will find your answers. Good luck!

    This is incredibly bad advice. The last thing you want to be is impatient and reactionary. Weight loss takes time and results cannot be judged with a week's worth of data.

    You would have to be the world's worst food logger to gain 2lbs while trying to eat a 1260 calorie diet in 2 days. It takes about 7000 excess calories to gain 2lbs of fat. If you are set to lose 2lbs per week your maintenance calories are 2260 which would mean you ate around 11,500 calories in 2 days to gain additional fat. Does this sound like something that you might have done without realizing it? Not to mention this foo person wants you to eat less than a safe minimum and it could be you are already being too aggressive.

    While it is true that many people see a water weight drop in the first week to 10 days you are not the first person that has not and you are not the first person to see a water weight increase in the first week. It sucks but in a way it is good to learn this lesson quickly.

    To steal @anvilhead's link: http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
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    It hasn't been long enough to tell. Give it at least another couple of weeks.

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