Slowed progress

wagnerchristina99

I’ve been doing MFP for a little over a month and I lost 10 pounds fairly quickly but then nothing this past week. I wonder if maybe I just lost water weight and now it’ll be a while before I lose any real weight?

Terytha

It was mostly probably water weight. The rest will come off steady, just slow.

AnnPT77

wagnerchristina99 wrote: »

I’ve been doing MFP for a little over a month and I lost 10 pounds fairly quickly but then nothing this past week. I wonder if maybe I just lost water weight and now it’ll be a while before I lose any real weight?

You probably lost some fat and some water, and now have some water fluctuation masking additional fat loss. Alternative interpretations are possible, but this seems the most likely. It's not universal, but most people lose weight a little faster at first from a water weight drop (due to glycogen depletion, mostly), plus lower average digestive system contents in transit from eating less, plus the first bit of gradual fat loss.

You look fairly young (compared to me - I'm 63). If you're premenopausal, you might just have reached the point in your cycle where hormone-related water weight is enough to mask fat loss that's not being magnified by the early water/digestive-contents drop. Or, if you've increased exercise, or have a cold or minor infection/injury, those (among other things) can increase water retention a small bit temporarily, too.

It's absolutely standard to lose weight unevenly, and have a few days or couple of weeks where nothing changes, then there's a "whoosh" of loss suddenly. So, the likeliest explanation of what you're seeing is just the normal, nonlinear weight loss process. Hang in there for another 2-4 weeks, and I'll bet you'll start seeing the scale move again soon. (Most experienced folks around here don't think it's a true stall or plateau, worthy of action, until it's lasted at least 3-4 weeks. I know that's kinda frustrating, but weight loss is a long game!)

Best wishes!

StatChicBayes

I share your frustrations! I had a similar experience, where weight came off pretty easily the first month, with a drop every day. I am now in my fourth month tracking with MFP, and I have noticed from the progress graphs this past month that I will have a big drop, followed by a modest increase for a couple of days (sometimes going up 1-2 lbs in a day) and then another big drop a few days later. Clearly nonlinear at this point. Food diary/exercise would suggest steady declines, but I expect that fluctuations are due to water retention as @AnnPT77 suggests.