Okay, what gives...

jeffjeff85

What's with the stall out? Today I weigh exactly what I did 2 weeks ago. I didn't concern myself about 3 lbs more or less day to day. But 14 days of not losing (and not gaining) doesn't seem right.
Eating about 1400 and hitting the gym pretty hard 4 days/week.
I wouldn't call myself obese, but I could (and should) be dropping 20 lbs.

patsyacs

I find that eating a little extra one day a week helps trigger the losses.

ceiswyn

If you’re a man, you shouldn’t be eating less than 1500.

That said, there are a couple of things that could be going on here.
- If your gym program is new, that could be causing you to retain water.
- You may be eating more than you think.

Most people’s problem is the second. Are you weighing everything you eat? Including vegetables, sauces and cooking oil? Choosing good database entries (rather than the ones with the lowest calories)? A lot of people run into trouble assuming that somebody else’s ‘homemade (1 portion)’ meal is exactly the same as their own; it won’t be! Are you eating back all your exercise calories? Exercise calorie burns are usually overestimates, so most people eat back a bit over half.

pinuplove

Hitting the gym hard = increased water weight with muscle repair. Also, be sure you're weighing and using accurate entries for you food. As a male, you really shouldn't be eating less than 1500 (minimum, plus exercise calories).

jondspen

Relax, it could be water retention from a myriad of sources. You should see something in the 4-8 week time frame. Weight loss isn't linear.

jeffjeff85

I weigh ALMOST everything. Weigh all meat (raw weight). Only thing not getting weighed is cottage cheese, which I eat a container a week, so really it IS weighed (the net weight is gone, and I'm the only one eating it).
Not shorting myself calorically, at least not severely. My weights lifted do increase, though slowly enough to maintain flexibility.
I'd note hair loss, but since I'm already bald that seems pointless

jeffjeff85

Oh, should maybe add that I'm 5-10 and weigh 214.
Read somewhere I "should" weigh 160, but only way that I could weigh 160 is if I died. I felt pretty good for years at 185 until med treatments had me eat whether hungry or not.

born_of_fire74

Progress pics and taking regular measurements help to ensure confidence in the process when the scale is not moving. If you're not particularly overweight, there can be long periods where your weight doesn't change but the shape of your body does.

Also take note of how your clothes are fitting. Sometimes when I'm frustrated with the scale, I go into my closet and try on old skinny jeans that I could barely fit into. I am usually delighted to find they fit better than they used to.

Finally, I ended up ditching my old scale because it said I weighed the same amount for months no matter what I was eating and how my clothes were fitting--new scale put me almost 10lbs heavier which was not surprising but still made me sad Make sure your scale is in good shape, reasonably accurate, new batteries if digital etc.

jeffjeff85

Hadn't considered the scale, but don't think that's it. The one here at the house and the one at the gym pretty much the same reading.
Don't have the old "skinny jeans". When I gained all that weight, I gave this jeans to a local mens shelter. Figured I could buy new clothes when the weight comes off, but there was fellas that needed em NOW. One guy was able to start a new job and have something decent to wear, so even though it's going to cost some money, still feelin' purdy good about that.

LivingtheLeanDream

Two weeks isn't enough time, have patience, if you're eating at calorie deficit you will lose.

jeffjeff85

Well, I don't mean I've been trying to lose for two weeks. I HAVE BEEN losing some weight - about 18 - then just some reason STALLED ?@!
I don't get it
Ppl om that show 600 lbs lose 50/mo, and ppl naked and afraid lose 10 lbs per week! Not that either of those is the way to go, but they DO lose.
I'm trying to LEARN how to lose weight, since prior to a couple years ago I've never needed to concern myself with it.

born_of_fire74

jeffjeff85 wrote: »

Hadn't considered the scale, but don't think that's it. The one here at the house and the one at the gym pretty much the same reading.
Don't have the old "skinny jeans". When I gained all that weight, I gave this jeans to a local mens shelter. Figured I could buy new clothes when the weight comes off, but there was fellas that needed em NOW. One guy was able to start a new job and have something decent to wear, so even though it's going to cost some money, still feelin' purdy good about that.

Eh, it doesn't have to be any particular sort of clothing, just something that you know how it fit a while ago so you can compare to how it fits now. How about your belt? I can see that mine is getting tighter and tighter even though my weight is changing very little.

Most of all, weight loss isn't linear. Fluctuations and plateaus are normal. Be patient and stick with it. Try not to get too frustrated. Trust in the process--it was working before so there's no reason to believe it won't work now. You haven't got a lot to lose. You won't lose like someone who started out at 600lbs and you'll only frustrate yourself by comparing yourself to people like that. Comparison is the thief of happiness.

Kudos to you for donating your old clothes.

jeffjeff85

'preciate ya. No intention of quitting. I hated gaining the weight, but when the doc says you have to do this, then that's that.
Ended up much heavier than I'm used to and I do not like it.

So I'm in it to do it. If I knew what to do next, I would do it.

Thanks for the help!

try2again

jeffjeff85 wrote: »

Well, I don't mean I've been trying to lose for two weeks. I HAVE BEEN losing some weight - about 18 - then just some reason STALLED ?@!
I don't get it
Ppl om that show 600 lbs lose 50/mo, and ppl naked and afraid lose 10 lbs per week! Not that either of those is the way to go, but they DO lose.
I'm trying to LEARN how to lose weight, since prior to a couple years ago I've never needed to concern myself with it.

Over what time period have you lost the 18 lbs?

You state that you "aren't shorting yourself calorically", but at 5'10" and 210 lbs, honestly you are. I ran your stats through a TDEE calculator at a sedentary activity level, and it yielded about 2300 calories. So you are attempting just under a 1000 calorie deficit, more if you are not sedentary. Generally, only people with 75+ lbs to lose should have a weekly weight loss goal of 2 lbs/week (1000 calorie deficit). With 20 lbs to lose, you should be at no more than 1 lb/week (which would be about 1800 calories), and many would prefer .5 lb/week. A very aggressive weight loss goal with so little to lose will cost you more of your lean muscle mass.

try2again

And as for the "stall":

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

jeffjeff85

When did I start? May? Can't remember exactly now. Started working out again when doctors said okay, started checking weight and calories after starting exercise.

I hit the gym weight room, and my little girl drags me out for a short ( and mostly leisure) bike ride any night it isn't raining.

My "diet" is about 1/3 protein if I'm doing it right. Fortunately I like chicken, eggs and yogurt.

jeffjeff85

Folks talk about seeing their menu. How to do that? Maybe swap some ideas ...

PAV8888

Stop insisting on the idea that what you weigh each day changes because of your fat content and that you can predictably lose weight on a time-table because your X amount of hard work deserves a Y amount of reward.

While your feelings are natural... it isn't how it works. And most scale weight changes are not because of changes to your underlying fat reserves.

The simple fact that you are watching the two shows you quoted also shows an unfortunately common fixation to quick results and the belief that just enough will power and hard work will get you the results you want.

As I am sure you know, it is entirely too common for people to embark on a weight loss and exercise program and lose weight and tell all their friends about the great success they are finding on whatever special program they are following.

Now look around you and ask yourself: how many of the people who meet with all this successes retain their weight loss 5 years later?

Exactly.

So. Let's review. You are at 214. A perfectly normal goal to aspire to would be BMI 25 @ 175lbs. Whether you choose to stop there or earlier, or even later is totally up to you, and it's not like you have to make the decision today at 214!

Regardless. Your current deficit is too large.

A 25% deficit from your actual total energy expenditure tapering to 20% as you hit one-derland would produce as fast a weight loss as most of us ought to be pursuing.

In concrete terms this would be a 750 Cal to 500 Cal deficit initially, tapering to 500 Cal to 250 Cal as you get closer
to normal weight.

Mathematically there is no way that eating 1500 Cal a day is not creating too large of a deficit for you. Here's hoping that your logging inaccuracies mean that you're actually eating more than you think.

The more active you are, the more likely it is that you can support a larger deficit AND a larger eating target.

Going to the gym is NOT the only activity that counts. Try to find activities and exercises that you're willing to engage in long term. And yes, you can include the gym. As long as you remember that you don't just do-or-die by the gym. It's the total activity+exercise vs food+drinks package that counts.

You don't get to use two different scales at two different locations wearing different attire to draw meaningful conclusions.

Same scale, same location (hard, unyielding flooring), fresh batteries, same conditions (naked, pee'ed and poo'ed, or the opposite... but consistent), same/similar time of day. Grab number from scale. Stick in trending weight application or web site. If male (or female after menopause) review trending weight application weight trajectory after 2 to 3 weeks. If female who is still getting time of the month weight fluctuations you should review your trending weight after 4 to 6 weeks so as to include a complete cycle.

Then make adjustments based on your results since the quality of your logging and how closely you actually match population estimates and your adherence and stress level too, all can, and do, affect your end results.

try2again

I'm thinking you might find some of these helpful:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads#latest

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads#latest

By "seeing their menu", do you mean what other people are eating? You would just click on a person's profile, and if their food log is open to the public, hit the "view diary" button. But honestly, it's not really about what anybody eats, and different people have different stats, activity levels, nutrition & health goals, so the usefulness of that info is limited. Just a modest calorie deficit & patience.

AnvilHead

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

try2again

jeffjeff85 wrote: »

When did I start? May? Can't remember exactly now. Started working out again when doctors said okay, started checking weight and calories after starting exercise.

If it's true you've lost 18 lbs since May, that's actually a perfect rate of loss. Don't know why you chose to aim for 1400 calories, but I guarantee you you were eating more than that before you started tracking.