Slower Loss than Expected

SouthWestLondon
SouthWestLondon Posts: 134 Member
in Getting Started
Hi folks - I've just completed week two of a moderately low calorie diet with an effort to lose weight, but loss over the past week has been slower than I expected.

I started at 220lbs 4th Jan, down to 213.4lbs 11th Jan (I know most of that loss will have been water weight). My goal is to lose 2lbs a week in the early stages and I know that will slow down as I get closer to goal (160lbs).

I have religiously measured and recorded everything I've eaten over the past two weeks. This was always a problem for me, but because of the pandemic and working from home, everything I eat is eaten at home now, so it's much easier to get the scales out. Even when I've had not so good days (I allow myself a bit more leeway on Sundays) I have still recorded everything.

My calories consumed over the week were just shy of 11,000. Per my fitbit, my calories burned were just shy of 20,000.

But this morning's weigh in (I weigh every Monday morning, same time, same location etc) I'd only lost 1lb.

I had planned for weight loss to slow as I got further in to this process - but I wasn't planning for such modest loss in week 2. Am I doing the maths wrong? Or does this just mean that for my body a 9000 cal deficit is what it takes to shift 1lb?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited January 2021
    One disappointing week simply isn't a reliable indicator of anything.
    I'm maintaining (in Surrey so not far from you...) but my weight can jump around easily by 3lbs a day and that's obviously not fat.

    Over time it doesn't matter for my weight trend but short term that would give a very misleading view of my calorie balance. Maybe invest in one of the weight trending tools (Libra or Happy Scale get mentioned) to help develop a long-term view?

    Even if you take a two week view you should be happy you have lost more than half a stone.
    The initial start weight bit have been an outlier due to an odd non-fat fluctuation, your week one might be, your week two might be - the more data points you build over the weeks the clearer the trend becomes.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,841 Member
    edited January 2021
    You just need to change your perspective a bit. Weight loss is not linear, you won't lose the same amount each week.
    Especially at the start of weight loss, it's common to see a big loss the first week (a lot of water, as you said) and subsequently the weight loss seems to slow simply because your body is 'recalibrating' its water weight level.

    Look at the long term trend instead of judging purely from one week to another. You've lost 7.5 lbs in two weeks, nothing slow about that.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    As other's have mentioned weight loss is not linear and water fluctuations can often mask fat loss.

    Below is my weight loss chart from 2017, I was in an average 500 cal per day deficit, but as you can see the scale weight daily was up and down like a yoyo. I second the recommendation for using a trendweight app which can help you better understand the correlations between what's happening in your life and your diet and the number on the scale (hormonal times of month the scale often jumps up for me, alcohol it jumps down, more carbs and sodium than normal up, progressive weight training long periods of water retention)

    zy01wd14b0c6.jpg
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    SouthWestLondon wrote: »
    Thanks guys. That's really helpful - and definitely agree I need to keep my perspective long term. Where I've failed in the past has always been looking for quick fixes and short term wins - then either the wins happened, and I allowed myself to get slack and lose all the wins; or they didn't happen and I got dejected and went back to old habits.

    So this definitely has to be a longer term thing with a longer perspective.

    I guess I was just worried that maybe I'm doing something wrong. I confess that I've tried to make this as simple as possible - so going with a really basic CICO approach. So I keep an eye on my macros but don't stick rigidly to them. And I've found ways to incorporate less healthy things into my diet (like Chocolate) but within by 1750 daily calorie maximum. And I allow myself one day a week where I can consume up to my TDEE using any 'banked' extra calories by being under 1750 any days over the previous week. My exercise over the last week has been limited to long walks.

    So I've actually found it actually kind of easy to stick to the plan like that. I worried maybe it's too easy and that I've botched the plan somehow.

    But I think I will stick at it for another few weeks and see what the loss rate is like.

    It sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan, it's more or less how I lost weight, I maintained for 18 months too, only reason I've regained is work stress and binge eating as a result.

    Stick with it!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,841 Member
    SouthWestLondon wrote: »

    So I've actually found it actually kind of easy to stick to the plan like that. I worried maybe it's too easy and that I've botched the plan somehow.

    I don't have a long history of dieting (more a long history of varying degrees of weight gain). But I've lost 55lbs so far. And quite frankly it has been easy overall, much easier than I ever expected. Easy is good, it's sustainable.
  • SouthWestLondon
    SouthWestLondon Posts: 134 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »

    I don't have a long history of dieting (more a long history of varying degrees of weight gain). But I've lost 55lbs so far. And quite frankly it has been easy overall, much easier than I ever expected. Easy is good, it's sustainable.

    Thanks. To be honest it's mainly easy because I'm stuck at home. So I can weigh and measure everything I eat, and I can control what temptations get put in my way. And because I'm not commuting I have time to go for long walks. I do want to incorporate some light running and modest body strength workouts as well.

    I know it will get much harder when things open up again and I can go back to restaurants and bars, or even things like commuting to an office where it's just so much easier to nip into a shop for 'just one' chocolate bar to have on the train home. But that reality won't be back for a few months at least, so I want to make the most of this time when it is (comparatively) easy.
  • riffraff2112
    riffraff2112 Posts: 1,756 Member
    Any loss after one week is to be celebrated. As others have mentioned, weight definitely fluctuates with water retention, and even eating 'perfectly' and well within (or under) budget doesn't necessarily guarantee that the scale will show a loss. Hold true to the course of action and unless you notice a longer period of time (several weeks) where the scale isn't moving there is no cause for concern.
    During my weight loss, I often had up to 2 or 3 lbs of weight 'gain' after a week of being completely disciplined. Eventually the scale catches up with what is happening in the body and the trend will continue.
  • x_stephisaur_x
    x_stephisaur_x Posts: 149 Member
    All excellent advice above ^

    I just wanted to add that I have always found that I lose less the week after a big loss. So if I were to lose 5lbs one week, I'd lose 0.5/1lb the following week.

    As you go on, you'll learn your body's pattern and it won't take up so much mental energy :)

    Congratulations on a brilliant loss so far!
  • Anabirgite
    Anabirgite Posts: 537 Member
    After tracking my weight now everyday for more then a year, you do start to understand particular trends in your own body. They can still be upsetting, as example: yesterday 120.4, this morning 122.4 >:) - I ate sushi Saturday, I know now that this is my delayed sodium water retention reaction . It happens every time for me, I gain 2 days later and take 3 days to expel. I learned this fact over time, still upsetting. But I am not saying you should weigh everyday but you may need a longer perspective and datapoints to identify specific trends in your own body weight fluctuations.
  • SouthWestLondon
    SouthWestLondon Posts: 134 Member
    Anabirgite wrote: »
    After tracking my weight now everyday for more then a year, you do start to understand particular trends in your own body. They can still be upsetting, as example: yesterday 120.4, this morning 122.4 >:) - I ate sushi Saturday, I know now that this is my delayed sodium water retention reaction . It happens every time for me, I gain 2 days later and take 3 days to expel. I learned this fact over time, still upsetting. But I am not saying you should weigh everyday but you may need a longer perspective and datapoints to identify specific trends in your own body weight fluctuations.


    Thanks. That's really interesting.

    The one thing I haven't been tracking is any extra salt I add to my meals. It's not much - a pinch of salt flakes on my chicken at lunch, and a pinch on a steak at dinner. But I guess it adds up. On a quick google, those pinches themselves might be about 700mg of sodium that MFP is not recording. My MFP has my sodium intake usually fairly well below the recommended daily amount, but with these extra pinches it's probably slightly (200mg or so) over the recommended 2300mg sodium. But even so, that would be significantly below the sodium I would have consumed two weeks ago when I had lots of processed foods AND added table salt.

    So maybe that sodium is causing some water retention.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    see more reasons for loss not being as expected >>https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1
  • SouthWestLondon
    SouthWestLondon Posts: 134 Member
    LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »
    see more reasons for loss not being as expected >>https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634529/why-did-the-number-on-the-scale-go-up-this-week-heres-why/p1

    Thanks so much. Have bumped that thread as I found it really useful.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    SouthWestLondon wrote: »
    Anabirgite wrote: »
    After tracking my weight now everyday for more then a year, you do start to understand particular trends in your own body. They can still be upsetting, as example: yesterday 120.4, this morning 122.4 >:) - I ate sushi Saturday, I know now that this is my delayed sodium water retention reaction . It happens every time for me, I gain 2 days later and take 3 days to expel. I learned this fact over time, still upsetting. But I am not saying you should weigh everyday but you may need a longer perspective and datapoints to identify specific trends in your own body weight fluctuations.


    Thanks. That's really interesting.

    The one thing I haven't been tracking is any extra salt I add to my meals. It's not much - a pinch of salt flakes on my chicken at lunch, and a pinch on a steak at dinner. But I guess it adds up. On a quick google, those pinches themselves might be about 700mg of sodium that MFP is not recording. My MFP has my sodium intake usually fairly well below the recommended daily amount, but with these extra pinches it's probably slightly (200mg or so) over the recommended 2300mg sodium. But even so, that would be significantly below the sodium I would have consumed two weeks ago when I had lots of processed foods AND added table salt.

    So maybe that sodium is causing some water retention.

    It may not be worth delving too deep into things like sodium tracking (many of the items in the database have the wrong amounts anyway), just looking back over your diary can help in general. If it's not something you made yourself from scratch chances are it's slightly higher in sodium than if you would make it yourself, particularly restaurant/takeaway food and many ready meals. Like I could look back over the weekend and think you know what I had pizza Friday night from the takeaway, that's why my weight was up by a pound Saturday morning, but back down again Sunday/Monday.

  • SouthWestLondon
    SouthWestLondon Posts: 134 Member
    tinkerbellang83 wrote: »

    It may not be worth delving too deep into things like sodium tracking (many of the items in the database have the wrong amounts anyway), just looking back over your diary can help in general. If it's not something you made yourself from scratch chances are it's slightly higher in sodium than if you would make it yourself, particularly restaurant/takeaway food and many ready meals. Like I could look back over the weekend and think you know what I had pizza Friday night from the takeaway, that's why my weight was up by a pound Saturday morning, but back down again Sunday/Monday.

    Really helpful.

    Weekends are definitely likely to be more sodium heavy than weekdays - we have takeaways (though I still track, control my portions and stick within calories) etc. So really helpful advice. Might see if there's any movement in the next couple of days as my sodium intake should fall a bit the further out from the weekend we get.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Great to get your update OP, and glad you are looking at things more positively - all the best with your continued loss :smile:

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