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Not losing weight after 4 weeks
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fitnow621
Posts: 3 Member
Hello I am eating 1250 calories a day while getting in my recommended protein and studying below carbs, however my weight is fluctuating and am not able to lose anymore. I work out 5 days a week. Don’t want to decrease anymore calories but not sure what else I can do.
Thanks
Thanks
0
Answers
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How long have you been restricting calories?0
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To give any kind of nuanced idea about what could be happening, we'd need more information from you.
When you say your weight is fluctuating, what does that mean? Zero net loss over 4 weeks, or loss initially but then ups and downs, or . . . ? Please be specific.
How old are you, what current height/weight? I'm assuming you're female, but if not, please correct that.
If you are female and have monthly cycles, hormonal water retention can make the scale stall for a week or more even if fat loss is continuing behind the scenes.
If the 4 weeks is your first 4 weeks on a new eating/activity routine, it's common to see a bigger drop at the start, part of which is water weight, then the body rebalances water weight for a couple of weeks, again hiding fat loss on the scale.
If the exercise is new, that, too, can add water weight for a while.
For all but very petite, older, quite inactive women, a 1250 calorie goal would be likely to yield fat loss. However, it won't happen evenly each week by any means.
This is a point where quite a few people get discouraged and give up. Don't. Stick with it for now, and you may see a quick scale drop. Even if not, with more information, experienced people here may be able to give you some insight or ideas to try.
Best wishes for success!2 -
Sorry yes I’m 40 year old female. I started calorie restriction march 4th and have lost 5 lbs since then but last two weeks I’m going up and down couple pounds I lose a pound snd next day gain a pound and stays that way for few days and still not able to break the cycle and not seeing the slow abs steady decline which I did the first 3 weeks. I’m an active woman. Have I hit a plateau? I’m getting frustrated. Any advise is helpful.
Thanks0 -
Sorry yes I’m 40 year old female. I started calorie restriction march 4th and have lost 5 lbs since then but last two weeks I’m going up and down couple pounds I lose a pound snd next day gain a pound and stays that way for few days and still not able to break the cycle and not seeing the slow abs steady decline which I did the first 3 weeks. I’m an active woman. Have I hit a plateau? I’m getting frustrated. Any advise is helpful.
Thanks
Wait it out. It's likely to be water retention rebalancing, distorting scale results. You're averaging more than a pound a week over the 4 weeks, and that's great. At 40, you probably still have menstrual cycles. Though it's not the most common pattern, some women only see a new low weight once a month at a particular point in their cycle: Hormonal water fluctuations can be that weird for some!
While you're waiting, and continuing to do Good Stuff, read this thread (if you haven't), especially the thread linked in the first post:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Don't give up. Keep going. My best bet would be that you'll see a sudden scale drop (a couple of pounds or more) sometime in the next 2-4 weeks. Only quitting gets you nowhere. Continuing, analyzing sound evidence, and adjusting plans if needed - that's the productive route.
I'm cheering for you to succeed: The results are more than worth the effort!
ETA P.S. If you do decide to wait it out - or adjust some way - maybe come back to this thread if you feel up to it, and let us know how things are going? Selfishly, I always wonder how people end up after threads like this . . . and you might help others understand and adjust their tactics, besides.1 -
Thank you for the motivation! I will keep it going1
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