So close

kitty19572015
kitty19572015 Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
Been trying to reach an interim goal now for a couple of weeks. One day I’m almost there and two days later I’m up again? I know I will get there but it’s discouraging at times. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.
Karen

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,255 Member
    Unfortunately, that sounds kind of normal: With a consistent-ish eating/activity routine, fat loss tends to be a thing that happens gradually, a small number of ounces or a few dozen grams per day, even with fast fat loss. If we lose 2 pounds a week (fast), that's about 4.5 ounces a day. If we lose a kilogram a week, it's about 143 grams a day.

    Shifts in water retention or (to a lesser extent) food residue in the digestive tract on its way to becoming waste . . . those things vary by multiple pounds from one day to the next. The smaller-magnitude fat loss plays peek-a-boo on the body weight scale with the larger-magnitude water/waste variability.

    A glass of water weighs more than 4.5 ounces/143 grams, whether it's in our hand or in our stomach. Ditto for a good-sized apple's non-caloric fiber/water content.

    Sometimes people are deceived or discouraged by the water/waste fluctuations, and give up, thinking they're not making progress with fat loss.

    Don't do that. Letting that perfectly normal effect defeat you is where bad things can happen (like giving
    up too soon). Be wily about it: Out-wait it.

    Don't try to game it, because handling water retention and waste are part of how a healthy body stays healthy. Let it happen, understand that it will.

    If you're on a good course, your gradual fat loss will add up, and out-pace the water/waste weirdness eventually. Fat loss shows up in body weight trends over 4-6 weeks. It's not an everyday scale drop.

    If you haven't read it, this is a great thread (especially the article linked in the first post):

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    Hang in there. I 100% get that the ups and downs are frustrating. But if the gradual fast loss is happening, those ups and downs are bumps in an overall downhill slope of weight trend. The fat loss will show up eventually!

Categories