The scales lied for a day!!

Jules190179

I am sooooo annoyed! I planned this summer holiday to spend 6 week working hard to shift lots of weight and get into my new clothes for September. I spent two weeks solid eating within MFP limits and exercising, then went on holiday to Dorset. With no treadmill and lots of wine etc I have no way of tracking and having not lost in the first place, put on an extra pound. The week after it seemed to fall off and within a week I had lost 3lb. The next day it shot back up so I'd only really lost 1lb. I thought I may be a one off and drop back, but two week later I am still the same. So in 5 weeks, I have only lost 1lb. One week left of the hols and I am no better off. I know it will be easier when I am back at work as I'll be walking round the classroom all day every day. I'm going to take my measurements now to see if they have improved!!

neandermagnon

definitely focus on measurements rather than the scale. water weight gains/losses can make the scale "lie"... which would explain the 2lb overnight gain. So don't stress about it. Losing 1lb in a week is really good progress... fat is lost and gained slowly, so realistically you won't lose more than 1-2lb pure fat in a week anyway, except for really severely obese people who can lose more because they have so much more to lose. The less you have to lose, the slower fat loss is, so really 1lb loss in a week is great. And don't worry about the week in dorset... it's your day to day life that counts, not holidays that happen once a year, only 1lb gain for a holiday is good going. And you lost it again.

Keep it up, slow and steady wins this race. Big losses on the scale are going to be other things besides fat, usually water weight but it can be loss of muscle mass or bone density.

DesireeNL

Meh, what's 6 weeks in a lifetime? There's no point in putting a timeframe on your weight loss, especially one that limited. If you have 46lb to lose, you know it's going to take time. I get that you were trying to use this time off to work on your weight and health, but that's not going to stop after 6 weeks right? There's no reason why you can't continue monitoring your calorie intake when you're back to work. Take it one step at a time and look at the big picture. At least you didn't gain during your vacation, a lot of people do, so I wouldn't say you're no better off!

Jules190179

No inch loss either! :ohwell:

schnarfo

I've only lost 1.5 in 5 weeks, don't. Give up its a slow and steady game! Take measurements of yourself - you might be surprised do you exercise or just follow mfp?

jardin12

ok, Ive lost 8kg in 18 months, 7cm off my waist and 9cm off my hips. It might sound pathetic and slow and boring (it is at times!), but just have to keep reminding myself that not only lost this weight, kept it off. its not coming back at this rate! I don't have as much to loose as some but to me it's just as important. I live a little, I try a lot...Ill get there but not in five minutes and not even in five months. In it for life! especially after illness - can change your perspective. There is so much good advice on MFP - these people are wonderful and I want them all to know they keep me going back to that running machine everyday. thankyou guys! funny enough also, I am Australian and it's the first time in my life I can say I have felt 'connected' to America and it's people...you're not a bad lot! goodluck and keep going xxx

neandermagnon

Slow and steady really is best...

if it's tooooo slow (I'm not sure your weight loss is, because during these 5 weeks you went on holiday so IMO that doesn't count), there are two things you can look at:

- how are you doing your portion sizes? Are you guesstimating, or measuring? The most accurate way is to use a kitchen scale. If you're overestimating portion sizes, you could be eating more calories than you think, and that would slow down weight loss.

- when you go back to work, you'll be quite a bit more active, that may be all you need to get the weight loss going again, in fact you'd then have to be careful in the other direction, i.e. that you're eating enough. 1-2lb/week weight loss is what you want to aim for with the amount you have to lose... as you get closer to goal, it's better to raise your calories a little and switch that to 0.5lb/week, to ensure that what you're losing is all fat, and not water, bone density, etc. Exercise also helps to protect your bones and muscles from this.

Jules190179

Both. I have a 1200 target which is 620 deficit each day, and I exercise to work off any extra cals, and even work to a bigger deficit sometimes. If I have a Chinese on a Friday I work off the extra to make sure I am always at a net of around 1200.

Jules190179

I've only lost 1.5 in 5 weeks, don't. Give up its a slow and steady game! Take measurements of yourself - you might be surprised do you exercise or just follow mfp?

My reply was to this sorry - forgot to quote.

Jules190179

Slow and steady really is best...

if it's tooooo slow (I'm not sure your weight loss is, because during these 5 weeks you went on holiday so IMO that doesn't count), there are two things you can look at:

- how are you doing your portion sizes? Are you guesstimating, or measuring? The most accurate way is to use a kitchen scale. If you're overestimating portion sizes, you could be eating more calories than you think, and that would slow down weight loss.

- when you go back to work, you'll be quite a bit more active, that may be all you need to get the weight loss going again, in fact you'd then have to be careful in the other direction, i.e. that you're eating enough. 1-2lb/week weight loss is what you want to aim for with the amount you have to lose... as you get closer to goal, it's better to raise your calories a little and switch that to 0.5lb/week, to ensure that what you're losing is all fat, and not water, bone density, etc. Exercise also helps to protect your bones and muscles from this.

I always measure carefully. My clothes started to feel a little better before the holiday so I may have lost a few cm here and there. I only started measuring in the last couple of weeks. I think going back to work will do the trick, being more active.

Thanks to everyone for their support. I wont give up, I really need to do this for many reasons. x