Dissapointed

gewel321

I have really tried to not freak out about the scale numbers. I have been on this journey (this time) since October 14. I estimated my start weight at 150. I was more than likely less than that. I am 227 as of this morning. That's a great start. I know this. I broke it down by month. October through November I lost approximately 20 lb. but from November to December I've only lost 3 lb. That is .5 lb a week. Yes that is great but I am set on a 2 lb a week weight loss plan. I exercise between 3-5 times a week. I weigh my food meticulously. I am at or below my calorie goals daily.

I know that weight is just one aspect but I am also measuring my whole body and haven't lost anything in 2 weeks. I'm just frustrated. I know cognitively I need to stay the course and it will happen. CICO. But I wanted to get my frustrations out.

merph518

It's definitely frustrating. I've had similar stalls for a week or two, and despite knowing it will pass if I continue my good habits, it definitely affects me mentally/emotionally.

Just do what you can to keep going. Even if you were to maintain now instead of lose further, that's better than gaining. That's what I try to tell myself at least!

ConfidentRaven

A lot of things can stall or hinder loss. Upping your activity from normal, even if it's just more reps or time from what you usually do. Hormones, I bounce or stall during both my time of month (tom) and ovulation. Other times if I have a big drop one week or even two I'll have less loss the next week sometimes two. I know it's disappointing, but weight loss isn't linear. Hang in there and stay on track and you'' start losing again.

conniewilkins56

I lost 8 pounds from 0ct to Nov and 5 since then...13 lbs is good but I could have lost more....a binge and a holiday slowed me down...I am hoping I can escape a food stampede over Christmas!...I really need to drink more water to help flush the salt out...I get disappointed in myself but I read everyone’s comments and I know I can do this!...be strong!

jjlewey

I am obsessed and hate the scale. I have created a simple spreadsheet and mapped my weight trend which helps me immensely. If you log your weight into MFP it will also show you a line graph of your weight trend. There are also lots of apps that will map out trends. I empathize with scale struggles, they are real and hard to overcome.

FitByFifty1970

Have you lost size? Muscle does weigh more than fat but takes up less room so you can keep the same weight but get smaller. When I trained I was more obsessed with the scale and complained to the gym owner a lot because I thought I was on too high a calorie intake (over 2200 at the time, carbs in morning and lunch, none at night, fat only at night, protein throughout the day) and thought I should lower my calorie intake to get the scale down. He finally broke down and said fine, cut the calories back but keep the workouts the same. He said in a month I'd be down on the scale but guaranteed I'd be larger.
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I lost 5 pounds. But. I gained at least a few inches on my body, mostly stomach and arms.

It got me to focus less on the scale and more on my physical size. Now that I'm so big I do use the scale because it's a weekly thing I can judge but there are much better bigger pictures to measure ourselves against to see true success.

FitByFifty1970

I will also add that my trainer at the time was a very small woman.....size 4....yet she was 150 pounds. Those muscles kept her tiny and weighed a lot!

kiddycat73

I’m having the same problem. Seems like every time I see a new low on the scale, it takes another 2 weeks to see another one. Last Sunday (11/24) was the last time I saw a loss. This morning was the closest I’ve come to that number (.2 over) in 10 days. It’s so frustrating.

gewel321

@FitByFifty1970 I have been measuring everywhere and haven’t seen any change in that either in the past few weeks. I know that eventually it will bounce back. There is no way for it not to with a calorie deficit and exercise. I want it now. Lmao. Like all of us!

FitByFifty1970

Ohhhh but when it falls off it'll be epic!!!!

maiomaio71

I've had this problem too. I've stopped weighing myself. I'm focussing on my exercise and how I feel. I'm keeping to my calorie deficit so I know I should be losing....I never took measurements so it's probably too late to start. I feel so much fitter. My clothes fit better and I'm in clothes that previously were too small so I know my shape is changing. At the moment, that has to be good enough. I'll jump on the scales in early January to see what they say. I'll put in new batteries before I do that. I may have to decrease my calories after that.... another reason to delay it! Stick with it. It's a formula that works--our bodies are just weird and wonderful things. If you can get your head to accept that eventually your weight will catch up (down)! to where it *should* be, you're halfway there. It's a mind game! Hang in there.

88olds

gewel321 wrote: »

I know cognitively I need to stay the course and it will happen. CICO.

This is it in a nutshell. It seems like our emotions are always playing catch up. If you are losing regularly, it’s working. Anything else is matter of tinkering and adjusting.

Don’t put a working program at risk because of a desire for speed. Make small changes if you want but don’t let “not good enough” thinking derail you. It is working, it’s a fact.

Last- don’t be too distressed if the calculators aren’t very accurate. They are based on averages and statistics. And no one is exactly average. If you use a fitness device and eat back exercise calories, read the fine print. Some of those things have significant margins for error.

hansep0012

@gewel321 Glad you started this post because I, too, have recently struggled with this phenomena of the scale. Urgh!

In the hope that this helps, I will share an insight I gained from the experience. Trust the CICO process. It will catch up with the scale. My mindset is to make CICO my constant and let other variables such as lack of sleep, stress, exercise or whatever be the variable(s) that may be influencing the scale.

gewel321

Thanks @hansep0012. I know as a therapist that sometimes your brain says one thing but knows another!
I will continue doing what I am doing and when my body wants to catch up then it will! I work in a hospital so I snuck down and met with the dietitian that reviewed my diary and gave me some pointers as well.

hansep0012

Ooooh! You have in-house expertise, go you, @gewel321 for reaching out and getting pointers, too. Nice post!

Jackie9003

I'm finding it very frustrating of late, I hit a great new low in August but since then have been bouncing up and down 3-4lbs. I saw the low figure again in November but now I've shot right up, in fact as of this morning it's by 8lbs! However I know today's figure is due to the chinese we had last night and the pizza I had on Wednesday - although it was within my plan pizza always results in a big gain the next day.
I've been quite lax of late with my logging but I have kept up with my exercise plan and worst case scenario is that I should be at maintenance. With Christmas coming up it's so easy to throw the towel in completely until new year but that would be disasterous for me.

So, like you, I'm trying to keep my faith in the system, CICO absolutely does work.
My fitbit tracks my output and I have a good sense of my input and my smaller clothes don't feel any different so the scale is just having a wobble and I need to keep telling myself it will all even itself out.