3 weeks, not losing much, advice welcome

nanastaci2020

And... It is ok to occasionally choose to have a day (or a weekend even) where you don't analyze calories, and realize it will be ok! The thing to avoid in that scenario is the slippery slope where 1-2 days off turns into weeks, months.

This past weekend: I traveled out of town for a memorial service. Encouraged my friends to choose the restaurants (locals know best) and enjoyed fresh seafood and did not fret over calories. I am sure I ate over maintenance - perhaps 1000-1500 calories per day. In the long run, even if I exceeded maintenance by 3500 calories for the weekend: that translates to an additional week or two to reach goal weight. Since this is a journey more than a destination, not a big deal in my book. And I'm back 'on track' today.

AnnPT77

cnc112020 wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

tushitatravellogue wrote: »

You can also check if you are losing inches.. when you start exercising you gain muscle mass and that means you may not notice big weight loss numbers but you will surely shape up better. . If you are allowed to do strength training then pls consider doing it twice a week atleast...
Have you considered trying a desk peddler exerciser which you could use at your work..it's low impact on the knees..

I can connect to the flabby part dealing with same situation but I hv a restriction and can't do strength training ..

Sadly, no one is gaining much muscle in 3 weeks, when in a calorie deficit, and when not strength training. I wish it were that easy! 😉 A quarter to half a pound of muscle mass gain per week would be good results under perfect conditions, and those are not perfect conditions. Don't get me wrong: The exercise is good, and worth doing, but that exercise and the context, are not ideal for muscle tissue gain. If there's gain, it's small, and in 3 weeks unlikely to influence the scale.

OP, I think 4Legs post is right: You're likely losing fat, but have added some water retention because of the new exercise routine, so the water's hiding the fat loss on the scale, Further, if you're still premenopausal, cycle-related water fluctuations can add another source of water-retention variation, variations we don't mostly notice until we're trying to lose weight and watching the scale like a hawk. I've seen some women here say they only achieve a new low weight in one time period per month, and otherwise it's a roller coaster until they reach another new low the next month at the same relative point in their menstrual cycle. Bodies are weird!

I'd add that 2/3 of a pound a week is not a terrible weight loss rate. People get the wrong idea from diet-program marketers, dumb tabloid articles, and reality TV shows. Two pounds a week is a fast weight loss, and may be too extreme for people who are not significantly obese. A pound a week is solid progress. Half a pound a week will get you there, and do it in a pretty manageable way. (I've been losing slower than that, to shed some vanity pounds in year 4+ of weight maintenance. I'm down 10 pounds or a touch more in 10 months, and wouldn't care to go much faster, at 5'5" and around 128 pounds now.)

This would be a good article to read, for background:

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

My best advice would be to *at least* continue long enough on your current routine to compare weight at the same point in your menstrual cycle as when you started. Given the new exercise, and your very low calorie goal, I'd even suggest going for a second cycle, before bailing on your current routine. (Frankly, if it were me, I'd eat back the exercise, or at least a fair chunk of it. That's what I did, while losing around 50 pounds, in a bit less than a year, several years back. (I'm severely hypothyroid, if that matters.) Losing any meaningful amount of weight is a long-term project, even if loss is fast. Keeping the process easy and sustainable, not white-knuckled willpower-taxing difficult, will contribute to sticking with it long enough to experience success. As a bonus, it makes the weight loss process a better experiment to find and groove in long-term eating/exercise patterns that will help keep us at a healthy weight long term, after reaching goal weight.)

Best wishes!

Thank you! I would really like to start a program that is strength building, even if it's bodyweight based. Would you suggest any adjustments to my calories? That budget is for a 1.5lb loss a week.

For strength building, there's a thread here that recommends programs others have found good. Despite the title, it does include some bodyweight programs:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

As far as calorie level: 1.5 pounds is about the most you should be trying to lose at your current weight (which I gather to be around190 +/- ?). It's up to you if you want to try to be that aggressive. Certainly, as you get lighter, it would make sense to lose more slowly, like a pound a week for a while, then maybe half a pound a week for the last few pounds.

HOWEVER, you don't really know how fast you're losing, right now. So, the 1.5 pounds a week is just a theory. As long as you're 3 weeks in, I'd say stick with this level at least until you are the same relative point in your menstrual cycle as when you started, and given the new exercise routine, maybe even 2 menstrual cycles. Then you'll know your actual weight loss rate, and can adjust your calorie intake in a well-informed way from there.

As a genrality, I really agree with others that your best plan would be to find a calorie level below your current maintenance calories (so you'll lose fat) that doesn't feel like major deprivation.

I can't really process the question "Would you suggest any adjustments to my calories?" in light of your comment that you "will always cheat". Essentially, that means you set a calorie goal, but you don't really mean it. I don't know how to suggest a calorie goal for you, in that setting.

I'd say this: Presumably, someday you plan to reach a healthy weight, and stay there long term, ideally permanently. How does "I will always cheat" fit into that?

If you like to eat more on some days, and less on others, that's fine. Set a calorie goal, and aim to average that level over the course of a week, with some days under, others over. Or, calorie bank: Eat a little (not a lot) under goal most days, some standard amount, with a plan to "spend" those banked calories on a special meal or day. Or, use one of the intermittent fasting variants where you eat at maintenance on most days (like 5 days a week), and then eat a quite-small amount (some people use 500-750 calories) the other two days, so there's a net deficit over the full 7 days.

Some of those options share features with what you're calling "cheating", but don't make calorie management into some kind of epic battle between "being good" and "cheating". Especially if you have a history of disordered thinking about food/eating, I'd suggest figuring out how you'd like to organize your eating (make a plan), then run the plan (which can have higher/lower days and variations, if that helps you). Think of it as taking control, taking responsibility, managing your habits, or whatever, rather than some Big Drama about "deprivation" and "cheating".

Diatonic12

Any week you're not gaining is a WIN, unless you want to gain and be Swole. Cut. Jacked. Ripped. Yoked. Brolic. Bulked. Shredded. Swole is the Goal.

As many here report, aim for .5 lbs a week. It may not happen. There may be weeks when you don't see anything budge on the scale. More than likely the inches are just catching UP with the pounds. You'll get there.