Weight loss stalling

dionisiax

Ok, I could use some encouragement. I’ve hit my 1200 cal diet goal for 9 days straight. I’ve also added in 10,000 steps and a five mile hike yesterday. This morning my scale still did not budge!!!! I’m not cheating or under calculating calories. I know you aren’t supposed to weight yourself daily but I’m n the past, seeing a few ounces/day come off was really helpful for sticking to it. Please share your tips if this has happened to you.

kshama2001

If you went from very few steps to 10,000 steps you are likely retaining water, which is masking fat loss on the scale.

There's nothing wrong with weighing daily. However, unless you are quite overweight (in which case you should be eating a lot more than 1200 calories) seeing a few ounces per day come off every day is an indicator that you are being too aggressive.



https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

Being too aggressive can backfire in a number of ways, including increasing cortisol, which can also lead to water retention.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dietary-restraint-and-cortisol-levels-research-review.html/

...a group of women who scored higher on dietary restraint scores showed elevated baseline cortisol levels. By itself this might not be problematic, but as often as not, these types of dieters are drawn to extreme approaches to dieting.

They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention (there are other mechanisms for this, mind you, leptin actually inhibits cortisol release and as it drops on a diet, cortisol levels go up further). Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow.

And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. Harder dieting means more cortisol means more water retention means more dieting. Which backfires (other problems come in the long-term with this approach but you’ll have to wait for the book to read about that).

When what they should do is take a day or two off (even one day off from training, at least in men, lets cortisol drop significantly). Raise calories, especially from carbohydrates. This helps cortisol to drop. More than that they need to find a way to freaking chill out. Meditation, yoga, get a massage... Get in the bath, candles, a little Enya, a glass of wine, have some you-time but please just chill.

claireychn074

New exercise = water weight. Your muscles swell after exercise and hold water. Keep at it, and you’ll see a “whoosh” of weight loss.

I hope you’re eating your exercise cals back - walking that much on 1200 calories is generally not great.

tomcustombuilder

9 days is not enough time. Wait 3-4 weeks and review then. In 4 weeks if no change then you’re taking in more weekly calories than you think

CrazyMermaid1

For me personally, it takes at least a week or two to show up on the scale. Keep the faith.

Corina1143

I hope you're eating more than 1200 calories total. If not, your poor body. Stress!
When your body is under that much stress, it will definitely react. Probably not well.

I've weighed myself multiple times daily for several years, recorded it once daily. My scales is in front of my microwave (small kitchen, only room with flat, uncarpeted floor), so I either have to move it or stand on it. I've learned a lot about what influences my weight fluctuations and how much and how easily weight changes. It's never hurt my weight.

AnnPT77

dionisiax wrote: »

Ok, I could use some encouragement. I’ve hit my 1200 cal diet goal for 9 days straight. I’ve also added in 10,000 steps and a five mile hike yesterday. This morning my scale still did not budge!!!! I’m not cheating or under calculating calories. I know you aren’t supposed to weight yourself daily but I’m n the past, seeing a few ounces/day come off was really helpful for sticking to it. Please share your tips if this has happened to you.

Good advice from others. When losing weight at a sensibly moderate rate, scale weight will not drop every day.

What shows up on the scale is a combination of water (bodies can be up to 60%+ water), fat, skeleton, other lean tissue, food waste in transit on its way to the exit, a few pounds of gut microbes that aren't even genetically "us", and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

It's the fat we want to lose, isn't it? We can be losing fat, and not losing scale weight, because those other things (especially water and food waste) have much bigger swings than body fat has. That's just real, so the up and down scale will happen. Over multiple weeks, if fat is being lost, the range of daily weights will drop lower . . . i.e., the multi-week trend is where the fat loss shows up.

You might get some useful insight from this thread, especially the article linked in the first post:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

ddsb1111

Why is weighing daily bad for you?

Are you using a food scale?

I had to eat 1200 a day during weight loss cause I’m a shortie and work at a computer all day, but it’s not for every body, shape, and size, which means it might not be right for you. What are your stats?

zebasschick

Corina1143 wrote: »

I hope you're eating more than 1200 calories total. If not, your poor body. Stress!
When your body is under that much stress, it will definitely react. Probably not well.

I've weighed myself multiple times daily for several years, recorded it once daily. My scales is in front of my microwave (small kitchen, only room with flat, uncarpeted floor), so I either have to move it or stand on it. I've learned a lot about what influences my weight fluctuations and how much and how easily weight changes. It's never hurt my weight.

whether 1200 calories is enough depends on a person's height, gender, and goals. i'm 5' 4", and i lost about half a pound a week eating 1200 calories per day total - in addition, i ate back about half my exercise calories, but i didn't consider steps without purposeful walking when figuring exercise calories.

AnnPT77

AnnPT77 wrote: »

dionisiax wrote: »

Ok, I could use some encouragement. I’ve hit my 1200 cal diet goal for 9 days straight. I’ve also added in 10,000 steps and a five mile hike yesterday. This morning my scale still did not budge!!!! I’m not cheating or under calculating calories. I know you aren’t supposed to weight yourself daily but I’m n the past, seeing a few ounces/day come off was really helpful for sticking to it. Please share your tips if this has happened to you.

Good advice from others. When losing weight at a sensibly moderate rate, scale weight will not drop every day.

What shows up on the scale is a combination of water (bodies can be up to 60%+ water), fat, skeleton, other lean tissue, food waste in transit on its way to the exit, a few pounds of gut microbes that aren't even genetically "us", and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

It's the fat we want to lose, isn't it? We can be losing fat, and not losing scale weight, because those other things (especially water and food waste) have much bigger swings than body fat has. That's just real, so the up and down scale will happen. Over multiple weeks, if fat is being lost, the range of daily weights will drop lower . . . i.e., the multi-week trend is where the fat loss shows up.

You might get some useful insight from this thread, especially the article linked in the first post:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

Oops, linked the wrong thread. Apologies, OP!

I meant to link this one, and recommend the article linked in its first post:

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