Why am I not losing weight on the scales even though I'm overweight
fitnessqueen91
Posts: 166 Member
I'm 5"7.5 (172cm) and weigh 164 pounds (74.6kg). According to my BMI I'm 2 pounds overweight. These past 3 weeks I haven't been losing any weight on the scales. People tell me that I've lost loads of weight. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing cardio and weights and plus I have an active job running around with kids. I watch what I eat and make sure I don't go over 1800 cals. My diet is so much healthier and for these past 6 weeks I haven't binged at all. My hip and waist measurements have gone down. My waist is around 29 inches and my hips are around 40.5 inches. Why am I not losing weight on the scales. I'm still a bit overweight and 74.6kg is a lot. I measured my body fat percentage at boots pharmacy but my body fat doesn't seem to have gone down. I don't know how accurate the body fat machines are.
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Replies
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fitnessqueen91 wrote: »I'm 5"7.5 (172cm) and weigh 164 pounds (74.6kg). According to my BMI I'm 2 pounds overweight. These past 3 weeks I haven't been losing any weight on the scales. People tell me that I've lost loads of weight. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing cardio and weights and plus I have an active job running around with kids. I watch what I eat and make sure I don't go over 1800 cals. My diet is so much healthier and for these past 6 weeks I haven't binged at all. My hip and waist measurements have gone down. My waist is around 29 inches and my hips are around 40.5 inches. Why am I not losing weight on the scales. I'm still a bit overweight and 74.6kg is a lot. I measured my body fat percentage at boots pharmacy but my body fat doesn't seem to have gone down. I don't know how accurate the body fat machines are.
How do you log your food? Eyeballing, measuring cups and spoons, food scale?
When did you start exercising/strength training? You could be seeing water retention on the scales.
Most body fat measurements aren't accurate, from what I understand. There is a lot of room for error. Ths ones that are *really* good, are the ones that can cost over $100 per session(DEXA, I think).6 -
The body fat machines in boots are not accurate at all.
If you are only a couple of pounds overweight per BMI healthy range any weight loss is going to be extremely slow and will be easily masked by water retention and you do not have a lot to lose contrary to your belief.
If you have increased the intensity of your work outs you may just be retaining water as a result. Also review your logging accuracy - are you guessing portion sizes or weighing stuff? You may just be unintentionally re-comping if you're eating more than you think and closer to maintenance.4 -
if you are doing new/increased exercise your muscles may well be retaining water masking weight loss.
have you lost ANY weight or is the scale stable at 74.6 for three weeks.
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1) Assuming your exercise routine is new, you are retaining water as part of the normal muscle repair process. You are likely seeing less fat but more water on the scale.
2) Three weeks is not a plateau, especially if you have a menstrual cycle, and especially if you don't have very much to lose. Menstrual cycles contribute to water weight fluctuation, while having a small amount to lose means that you have a small deficit and weight loss happens very slowly.
3) If you are not using a food scale to weigh all solid food, then you are eating more than you think you are. When you don't have much to lose, these logging errors can add up to take you out of a deficit.
4) If your scale has been EXACTLY 74.6 kg every single time you weighed yourself for the past three weeks, then something is wrong with your scale. Try changing the battery.
5) Body fat machines are not very accurate.5 -
Is it possible that your scale is broken?0
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You don't seem overweight to me? How much more are you trying to lose?0
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fitnessqueen91 wrote: »I'm 5"7.5 (172cm) and weigh 164 pounds (74.6kg). According to my BMI I'm 2 pounds overweight. These past 3 weeks I haven't been losing any weight on the scales. People tell me that I've lost loads of weight. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing cardio and weights and plus I have an active job running around with kids. I watch what I eat and make sure I don't go over 1800 cals. My diet is so much healthier and for these past 6 weeks I haven't binged at all. My hip and waist measurements have gone down. My waist is around 29 inches and my hips are around 40.5 inches. Why am I not losing weight on the scales. I'm still a bit overweight and 74.6kg is a lot. I measured my body fat percentage at boots pharmacy but my body fat doesn't seem to have gone down. I don't know how accurate the body fat machines are.
People are lying to you. You have not lost a visible amount of weight in three weeks.
When I was morbidly obese I could lose almost a stone in that amount of time (not recommended, by the way) and it didn't show. Now that I'm within the normal weight range, I can lose maybe 3 lb in three weeks, and that certainly doesn't show.
People are probably trying to be kind and encourage your efforts, which is nice of them but right now it just seems to be setting you up for unrealistic expectations and disappointment.13 -
fitnessqueen91 wrote: »I'm 5"7.5 (172cm) and weigh 164 pounds (74.6kg). According to my BMI I'm 2 pounds overweight. These past 3 weeks I haven't been losing any weight on the scales. People tell me that I've lost loads of weight. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing cardio and weights and plus I have an active job running around with kids. I watch what I eat and make sure I don't go over 1800 cals. My diet is so much healthier and for these past 6 weeks I haven't binged at all. My hip and waist measurements have gone down. My waist is around 29 inches and my hips are around 40.5 inches. Why am I not losing weight on the scales. I'm still a bit overweight and 74.6kg is a lot. I measured my body fat percentage at boots pharmacy but my body fat doesn't seem to have gone down. I don't know how accurate the body fat machines are.
People are lying to you. You have not lost a visible amount of weight in three weeks.
When I was morbidly obese I could lose almost a stone in that amount of time (not recommended, by the way) and it didn't show. Now that I'm within the normal weight range, I can lose maybe 3 lb in three weeks, and that certainly doesn't show.
People are probably trying to be kind and encourage your efforts, which is nice of them but right now it just seems to be setting you up for unrealistic expectations and disappointment.
No not over the past few weeks. I've been losing weight since the beginning of the year. Just lately I've been more stable with my diet and haven't been binge eating and yoyoing.5 -
Given what you described the answer is that you're currently doing the right thing and you should keep going and doing it the same way regardless of whether the scale continues to downward reflect.
It could well be that you're engaged in recomposition, you won't know until you have 4 to 6 weeks including a full cycle on a weight trend tracking app or web site.
But two pounds off healthy BMI is far from a terrible place to be and controlling binges and yoyoing is much more important than progressing downwards visibly5 -
Further to that if your weigh ins (and not just your body composition) are at the pharmacy that by itself introduces a bigger source of error than for most people who weigh at home2
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So you've been losing steadily since the beginning of the year but haven't lost in the last few weeks and you just need to lose 2 more pounds? I just want to make sure I completely understand the situation.
Those last pounds are a *kitten* to lose and your diet has to be completely on point and tightened up toward the end.
You have to make sure you are measuring and weighing on a food scale, not using measuring cups and spoons. No cheating by sneaking in bites from the kids' plates (I think we're all guilty of that
) 2 -
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Commander_Keen wrote: »Is it possible that your scale is broken?
Nope as I have 2 scales and I changed the battery on one of them. Both scales give me pretty much the same reading bar a tiny difference. On one I'm 74.6 And the other 74.5 so not much of a difference. Both are digital. I weight in boots sometimes though later during the day so I weigh a bit more on them as I'm fully clothed and have eaten.1 -
You are very slightly above the "optimal" BMI range for your height. Your weight loss at this point is going to be very, very slow and require meticulous logging. Weigh ALL solid food. Make sure your exercise calories are not exaggerated. Even a few errors in logging will take you out of a deficit.
Adjust your expectations about the pace of weight loss. You should not be expecting to lose more than 0.25 kg/week, and you may lose more slowly than that. That loss will likely show up as a 1-2 kg decrease on the scale every 4-6 weeks, rather than a consistent loss each week.3 -
Weigh in the morning naked after you've peed.
I agree with @PAV8888, who always has good advice. The scale is just one of many tools. If your measurements have gone down, that points at recomp. Just keep doing what you're doing and get a food scale if you're not already weighing your food.6 -
When I started exercising, I lost two pounds and went from a size 14 to a 12. I got multiple compliments on my weight loss, too.
You are losing inches so something is definitely happening. Give it some time.
I am also 5'7" with a small frame. I look very overweight at 160 but fit at 140. I'm still a ways away from either one but I get what you are saying.0
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