Not losing

12weekchallenge

Hi I have been following and tracking my calories for three weeks. And exercising well and weighed myself and found I am heavier.

AnnPT77

Are you female and premenopausal? If so, compare the same point in two different menstrual cycles.

Is the exercise new? Exercise can cause increased retention of water weight for up to a few weeks (it's used in muscle repair), and it's possible for that to mask fat loss on the scale.

This link may be informative:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

Beyond that, inaccurate food logging (something we all struggle with at first) or overestimating exercise calories are both common problems. So are unlogged "cheat days" or "cheat meals".

If you haven't read the "Most Helpful Posts" section in the "Getting Started" and "General Health, Fitness and Diet" subforums, I highly recommend getting started on doing so. Those are posts written by regular MFP users, that were found so helpful by other MFP users that the posts were nominated to stick around long term (so they're often called "stickies"). Here are direct links to those lists of posts:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads

They will help with logging accuracy, among other things.

Beyond that, there's this, which I haven't seen pop up lately in threads, but it can be pretty helpful:



Best wishes!

Terytha

Have you been weighing all your food with a scale? Including oils, drinks, etc.?

How much are you trying to lose per week/how many calories per day are you eating and what's your current height and weight?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

12weekchallenge

Thanks fir the advice I am pre menopausal and will look into the resources you have given me

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Are you female and premenopausal? If so, compare the same point in two different menstrual cycles.

Is the exercise new? Exercise can cause increased retention of water weight for up to a few weeks (it's used in muscle repair), and it's possible for that to mask fat loss on the scale.

This link may be informative:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

Beyond that, inaccurate food logging (something we all struggle with at first) or overestimating exercise calories are both common problems. So are unlogged "cheat days" or "cheat meals".

If you haven't read the "Most Helpful Posts" section in the "Getting Started" and "General Health, Fitness and Diet" subforums, I highly recommend getting started on doing so. Those are posts written by regular MFP users, that were found so helpful by other MFP users that the posts were nominated to stick around long term (so they're often called "stickies"). Here are direct links to those lists of posts:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300331/most-helpful-posts-getting-started-must-reads
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-health-fitness-and-diet-must-reads

They will help with logging accuracy, among other things.

Beyond that, there's this, which I haven't seen pop up lately in threads, but it can be pretty helpful:



Best wishes!

12weekchallenge

I have been trying to lose 200g a week I would like to do this slow my calories are at 2140. I track my food very consistently. I am 48 stress has been a big factor in my life in the last year which has led to not much sleep .

BarbaraHelen2013

12weekchallenge wrote: »

I have been trying to lose 200g a week I would like to do this slow my calories are at 2140. I track my food very consistently. I am 48 stress has been a big factor in my life in the last year which has led to not much sleep .

If you’ve got your goal set at just 200g (less than a quarter pound) a week that’s a small but sensible deficit depending on how much you have to lose. It might take many more than 3 weeks to see a drop on your scales at that rate, taking natural fluctuations (sodium, water, food transit etc)

Such a small deficit does mean that to be totally on track with your loss your logging has to be super accurate. Do you weigh, to the gram every single thing and log absolutely every bite, lick and sip?

12weekchallenge

Yes I do, would a 500g deficit be better

12weekchallenge

I have about 10kg to lose

BarbaraHelen2013

With 10kg to lose you’d be fine with a 500g loss per week I would say. That would give you a little more margin for error with your logging.

Patience is the key, really, 3 weeks is too short a time to gauge results. Try changing your goal to 500g per week (a 250 calorie deficit per day) and track your progress over the next 6 weeks or so before re-assessing if necessary.

12weekchallenge

Ok will do thanks

lynn_glenmont

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

12weekchallenge wrote: »

I have been trying to lose 200g a week I would like to do this slow my calories are at 2140. I track my food very consistently. I am 48 stress has been a big factor in my life in the last year which has led to not much sleep .

If you’ve got your goal set at just 200g (less than a quarter pound) a week that’s a small but sensible deficit depending on how much you have to lose. It might take many more than 3 weeks to see a drop on your scales at that rate, taking natural fluctuations (sodium, water, food transit etc)

Such a small deficit does mean that to be totally on track with your loss your logging has to be super accurate. Do you weigh, to the gram every single thing and log absolutely every bite, lick and sip?

200 g is about 7 ounces, or almost half a pound. Maybe you're confusing calories and grams?

lynn_glenmont

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

With 10kg to lose you’d be fine with a 500g loss per week I would say. That would give you a little more margin for error with your logging.

Patience is the key, really, 3 weeks is too short a time to gauge results. Try changing your goal to 500g per week (a 250 calorie deficit per day) and track your progress over the next 6 weeks or so before re-assessing if necessary.

500 g is a bit over a pound, and would require a bit more than a 500 kcal deficit a day.

BarbaraHelen2013

Meh, you’re right of course! Maths was never my strong point and I get confused because whilst I mostly use grams to cook - apart from the recipes in my head which I learned as a small child which are still in ounces - body weight is in stones and pounds to me.

I clearly got lost in translation! 🙄

Advice to stay patient and reassess according to results stands though.

Danp

12weekchallenge wrote: »

I have been trying to lose 200g a week I would like to do this slow my calories are at 2140. I track my food very consistently. I am 48 stress has been a big factor in my life in the last year which has led to not much sleep .

The problem with consistency is that it's no good if you're consistently inaccurate!

Aiming for such small (but sensible) calorie deficit it becomes very important to be accurate with your calorie in take which means weighing everything (to the gram) which you indicate you are doing. It also means you're going to be more at the mercy of normal weight fluctuations from water, waste and other factors which means you'll need to have a little bit more patience to ride out the ups and downs before the overall downward trend is revealed.

It can also be really handy to make your diary public, at least for a short while. This will allow many of the very experienced people here to take a look and perhaps suggest ways to improve your logging and spot little mistakes you might be making which can trip you up.

lynn_glenmont

BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »

Meh, you’re right of course! Maths was never my strong point and I get confused because whilst I mostly use grams to cook - apart from the recipes in my head which I learned as a small child which are still in ounces - body weight is in stones and pounds to me.

I clearly got lost in translation! 🙄

Advice to stay patient and reassess according to results stands though.

Sure. I just didn't want to leave OP with expectations that a deficit of 250 kcal wouldn't meet.

amy19355

12weekchallenge wrote: »

I have been trying to lose 200g a week I would like to do this slow my calories are at 2140. I track my food very consistently. I am 48 stress has been a big factor in my life in the last year which has led to not much sleep .

My experience is that the less I aim to lose per week, the easier it is to overeat - because the calorie deficit isn't very big to start with.
SO I think it is even more critical to be absolutely diligent about weighing every single thing that goes into your mouth to eat. A heavy hand with the salad dressing can be all it takes.

good luck to you.