Low mood due to no results

axsxmxa

So I've been doing everything right (weighing everything I eat and logging it correctly, sticking to a calorie deficit) and my weight hasn't budged - in fact, it's gone up a tiny bit (by 0.2 kg). The thing is, I'm aware that I've not been doing this long (only a few days, although I'm not new to calorie counting or MFP), and thus it's most likely just water weight fluctuations (especially since I've started strength training recently and it's possible I'm retaining water because of that). However, despite the fact that I know it's probably just normal fluctuations, and that I need to stick to this for a much longer period of time to see real changes, I can't help but feel very low. All the logic in the world doesn't really help the fact that I saw a higher weight on the scale this morning and now feel unhappy/bad about myself.

What I'm asking is, for those of you who also struggle with this, how do you cope? What do you do to not let fluctuations in weight affect your mood?

DiscipleOfChrist29

I honestly stay off the scale for at least a week. And if the scale doesn't tell me what I want to see, I will wait another week while adding in a fast of some kind. If two weeks go by with no change then I'll most likely give the emotional turmoil to God. I probably sound like a broken record in the community by now but I am an emotional guy that had an unhealthy relationship with food. Sadness usually brought me to binge eating. Now I'm turning to Jesus in all things and miraculously that helps me in the plateaus and failures. I went from over 150 kg to 91.5 kg.... and it wasn't because I'm a mentally strong and fitness junkie... It was all God. Persistence and patience was learned along the way. Hard lessons but important to have. A lot of people have secondary metrics such as belt loops, measuring tape (gym rats), and other things like increased strength. Weightlifting can have an effect that differs from person to person but honestly you already said everything in your post... It could be anything from water to bloating. That reminds me that I will weigh myself in the same thing always and after a 12 hour fast minimum. That gives me time to process and get rid of the meal I have been processing (Gross I know). Emotions are tricky though so find something outside of yourself as an anchor. For me it's Jesus. If you keep it up and don't give up, you will achieve the goal. I've only heard of medical reasons that people don't lose weight with routine, patience, and persistence. I doubt thats you so keep it up and find joy in the process. The journey can be just as fun as the destination.

snowflake954

A couple of days is nothing. Wait a month, at least, to get depressed. I'd advise you to stay away from the scale and weigh in once a week--same day same time. Don't get obsessed. If you can't do that you may need some support mentally. Many people have to fix that before they can think about losing. Good luck.

Fursian

axsxmxa wrote: »

What I'm asking is, for those of you who also struggle with this, how do you cope? What do you do to not let fluctuations in weight affect your mood?

Weight trending sites and apps. There is a good number of them out there. I use Trendweight.

Snapshot of my month as an example..
Since yesterday: -0.1 lbs
Since a week ago: -0.1 lbs
Since two weeks ago: -0.8 lbs
Since a month ago: -2.0 lbs

When I'm feeling bloated and retaining water (but know I'm doing everything right), looking at the trend really does help keep my head in reality.

Hang tight OP.

pontious11349

Progress Pics.

Forget the scale. Keep doing everything (most things) right. Check back in with another pic in a Month. It really is so satisfying.

kellyswimmer

I weigh myself every day. When i first started i was very slow at lossing weight. Now about a pound a week. If i am struck i have an extra low day for one day.

elisa123gal

I don't weigh myself when I'm that sensitive. I use tight clothes as a gauge as to if I'm losing weight. There are times I have weighed myself routinely. Then, when I find it gets me down and I start thinking "is this worth it?:" I stop weighing because it would be self destructive to stop my healthy lifestyle.

gallicinvasion

I am seconding (Or thirding) the vote to stay off the scale for a week. If you trust the process, you can be less emotionally-attached to the scale number on any given day, and it will better enable you to tweak the process if the scale isn’t showing a 4-6 week downward trend.

Use this week to get really good at the process. Make it your goal to log quickly and accurately. Stay consistent with whatever physical activity you have planned. Any habit that feels too hard? Try to rework it so that it’s easier on you, but will still move you towards your goal of hitting your calorie target. Think long-term (can I follow these habits next week? Next month? Around the holidays? Next year? In ten years? If not, tweak them to make them more reasonable while still moving you towards your health goals). Then you are primed to keep following the habits the following week. weigh yourself after a full week, record the number, and head into next week armed with your sustainable habits.

After 4-6 weeks, if those 4-6 weigh-ins did not show a downward trend, ONLY THEN should you adjust your process.

ponycyndi

I wish I could say I haven't been where you are. Understanding those aren't healthy (or helpful) thoughts is a good first step.

Focusing on a secondary goal is another good step. If you aren't happy with what's on the scale today, make it your goal to still drink your water. Stick to your calorie goals. Do your regular workout, or go for a walk on your rest day.
Know that staying with those goals LONG TERM is what will show up on the scale.

emmamcgarity

When I first started tracking I remember feeling like a bit of an emotional basket case. I am lucky that my sister started her journey at the same time and we texted each other daily for support. Sometimes crazy texts.

Me: I’m hungry
Sis: IKR
Me: they have donuts in the office
Sis: is that how you’d like to spend your calories today?
Me: maybe... ok fine you’re right no. I’ll begrudgingly eat my yogurt

Not all conversations went like this. Sometimes I had the donut. Sometimes we texted about feeling hopeless and being fat forever. We typically send each other pictures of our meals. Not just to stay accountable. Sometimes we get ideas from those pictures for including different foods or recipes that the other sister tried.

We also texted about different podcasts that we found. Podcasts were a game changer for me. When I felt overwhelmed (very often in the beginning) I would take a walk and listen to a podcast. Mostly WhysAdvice (Fatdag) or Half Size Me. Both for different reasons. But I also found other podcast along the way that helped my focus on the process and stay encouraged.

This journey is easy and hard at the same time. What we need to do is simple - eat at s caloric deficit. But actually doing that causes stress and many days I just don’t want to eat less. I had to stop looking for motivation and find focus. Motivation caught up later.

Find something to help you focus. Don’t focus on the scale. It will catch up eventually. FOCUS ON THE JOURNEY. Just keep focusing on what steps you need to take to reach your goal, and find the tools that support you in that process.

LyndaBSS

I weigh daily. I understand and accept that fluctuations and plateaus are a normal part of the process.

I also use a trending app. That's a very important tool for me.

So far this month, I'm down over 7 pounds. Should I be upset that the scale showed a gain of 0.6 pounds this morning? Of course not.

quiksylver296

axsxmxa wrote: »

So I've been doing everything right (weighing everything I eat and logging it correctly, sticking to a calorie deficit) and my weight hasn't budged - in fact, it's gone up a tiny bit (by 0.2 kg). The thing is, I'm aware that I've not been doing this long (only a few days, although I'm not new to calorie counting or MFP), and thus it's most likely just water weight fluctuations (especially since I've started strength training recently and it's possible I'm retaining water because of that). However, despite the fact that I know it's probably just normal fluctuations, and that I need to stick to this for a much longer period of time to see real changes, I can't help but feel very low. All the logic in the world doesn't really help the fact that I saw a higher weight on the scale this morning and now feel unhappy/bad about myself.

What I'm asking is, for those of you who also struggle with this, how do you cope? What do you do to not let fluctuations in weight affect your mood?

I shot up 5 pounds this week, due to ovulation and some extra sodium. It was tough not to go off the rails and eat all the things. I had to override my emotional brain with my analytical brain (not easy at all). I told myself, "I did not eat 17,500 calories over maintenance the last couple days. I have stayed within my calorie allotment. I know I'm ovulating due to my Clue app. I know I've had extra sodium due to tracking my food. Trust the process. Trust the process. Trust the process." And then I trusted the process. Again, it was not easy!

kiddycat73

I do not own a scale. I used to, but I drove myself absolutely crazy obsessing over the numbers every day, sometimes multiple times a day. If I didn’t see a loss, or God forbid I saw a gain, my anxiety level would skyrocket and I’d want to and did eat everything in sight. I just can’t deal with the stress I cause myself by weighing daily. Right now I’m recovering from spine surgery, so I see a Dr or Physical Therapist weekly, so I will weigh there. I only just started on Monday so I’m excited for my appointment next week to see my progress!

axsxmxa

Thanks guys for all your kind words and advice - I will stay off the scale for a bit and simply stick to my calorie counting/logging, and focus on other habits/smaller goals. Today actually went really well.

Also, @DiscipleOfChrist29 - I'm a muslim, so you're slightly barking up the wrong tree with all the Jesus stuff. I appreciate the sentiment, though.

girlwithcurls2

You're doing fine, it's just a slow process. I didn't own a scale when I started (I weighed myself at my parents' one day), so I literally was not able to track my weight. I think it was actually really freeing. I stuck to the goals I set, and just got on with it. No expectations, no "goal weight." Five months later and several sizes smaller, I was back at my parents' house. I had lost 22 pounds. I only bought a scale within the last year because I had gotten lazy and weight had crept back on. I needed to know how much in order to make it a reality.

Lower your expectations about a goal or a timeline. You'll get there if you trust the process. Early days are the hardest. The mind has committed, but the body hasn't had time to do the work yet.

fivelongmiles

It's rare I have a lot to lose - usually a small amount to get back into good athletic shape for my sports, possibly with addition of getting back into good habits to help my training. The scale shifts a little, but measurements are the biggest indicator for me. "Oh I only lost a pound in all that time..." could feel disheartening, until I do my measurements and realise it was a change of half an inch somewhere! And of course, a lot of my sport-specific clothes only fit well at my training or performance weights, so there's a little victory every time I put them on and they're less uncomfortable.

But when I'm making very precise and small changes, even that stuff isn't sustaning day-to-day, so I look elsewhere. I celebrate the fact I made flatbread and had my favourite "sandwiches" with it, instead of just having a bowl of cereal or a snack bar. I celebrate when I get my food choices exactly right (various medical issue make it a challenge) and feel energised doing my workout or training. I celebrate going to bed when I said I would. I even celebrate when I just had a glass of water instead of getting that second packet of crisps!

Weight is the slowest thing to change, but there are so many little things you can be working of as part of the overall change that you can celebrate day-to-day, and notice your progress through those.

As a side note, I weigh most days because I'm working with such small amounts - helps me to figure out what's a fluctuation and what's a downward trend.

RealWorldStrengthLLC

Don't worry about it. Water fluctuations can be huge.

In a regular day of work/workout my weight can easily change 5-8 lbs. From morning to night.

Track progress over time.

thanos5

142
142
142.8
142.4
143.2
141.4
139.8
145.8
145
143.6
141.8
142.8
141

for what it's worth, these are my weights for the past 2 weeks or so. same time of day, same clothing on (none). please note the 139.8 to 145.8. fluctuations are crazy but it all evens out.

riffraff2112

Losing can be incredibly frustrating. One thing about the scale that can be damning is that when people experience periods of time where they are eating well, exercising and still not seeing weight drop, they quit. I've been there myself, and I am glad I put the scale away for awhile. I continued doing what I knew was right and after a month it was obvious from the fit of my clothes that weight was coming off.

DiscipleOfChrist29

axsxmxa wrote: »

Thanks guys for all your kind words and advice - I will stay off the scale for a bit and simply stick to my calorie counting/logging, and focus on other habits/smaller goals. Today actually went really well.

Also, @DiscipleOfChrist29 - I'm a muslim, so you're slightly barking up the wrong tree with all the Jesus stuff. I appreciate the sentiment, though.

@axsxmxa All good! There is no tree that is wrong to me. We may disagree on what is truth but we both agree that there is a truth that exists outside of our own selves. That truth is what helps us when our emotions are unstable and life is unpredictable. I’ve been listening to a song called A Little Closer by Group 1 Crew. Amazing song that talks about just getting that much closer to who we want to be despite the failures. Much peace to you and your family.

montyeva1114

I’m not that far on my journey (week 6). Everything you said happened to me. I gained 2 ounces one week. I lost nothing another week. But I decided to stick with it. What’s the alternative? Go back to overeating? Anyhow, I’m officially down 4.1 lbs. that won’t win me any prizes, but it’s the first time in a very long time I’ve been able to lose any weight at all. I’m just sticking to 1500 calories a day and exercising. Don’t give up. I literally started this with little confidence it would make a difference. Then, I was encouraged by strangers. Who knew that was what I needed all along.

nighthawk584

I weigh daily because I am a numbers freak haha...but if it depresses you, don't do that! also agree with the progress photos. They have helped my journey tremendously!