Lack of results

nurselynn1964289

hello all, 2 weeks in hitting my daily exercise and food goals. Scale not moving, hard to stay motivated when working so hard!!!

Matthew_Gainey

Hi there, I hear what you’re saying. It’s important to remember that if you’re exercising you’ll probably be building some muscle, and that’s going to weight something! While the scale may not move early on, if you stick with it (for at least 12 weeks) you will see a change in weight AND in the mirror.

yirara

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48567746#Comment_48567746

TO is not gaining muscle from whatever exercise they're doing. Not in 2 weeks, and not if in a calorie deficit.

Matthew, we need a lot more info from you: what are your current stats? How have you been measuring your food intake and how exercise calories? What are you doing with them? Two weeks certainly is very short, especially if you picked up a new exercise. Not because of surprise muscles, but because of water retention from healing. Also, eating differently can lead to digestive issues and potentially more food in transit on the way out. How often do you step on the scale? Lots of questions that need answering before we can give you some better advice.

AnnPT77

Yes, two weeks isn't really long enough to know the average weight loss per week, realistically. I'd suggest 4-6 weeks minimum, or one whole menstrual cycle if female and the relevant age/stage, so you can compare body weight at the same relative point in at least two different cycles. As Yirara suggests, if the exercise is new that tends to distort scale results for up to a couple of weeks or so because of water retention issues, and there are some other start-up factors that can make early weeks look weird, too.

After you have 4-6 weeks/one cycle where you've stuck pretty close to the same eating/activity regimen, you can use your results to adjust calorie goal if necessary. To do that, assume that 500 calories per day is roughly a pound a week of body fat change, 1100 calories a day per kilo for those who measure body weight in kilos. Use arithmetic to figure partial pounds/kilos.

Twelve weeks is IMO unnecessarily long, unless trying to lose at a very slow rate, like half a pound a week or less. I was losing at less than half a pound a week for a while (on purpose that slowly), and the longest pseudo-stall I saw on the scale was 4-6 weeks.

Sadly, it's also true that no one is gaining substantial new muscle mass in 2 weeks, especially not in a calorie deficit. New strength in 2 weeks is possible, but it's not from added muscle mass: It's from better recruiting and utilizing existing muscle fibers, at the start.

Hang in there!

springlering62

if you’re new to exercise, and particularly if you’ve absolutely thrown yourself into it, exercise can actually cause temporary weight gain.

But, it’s a water gain, not fat.

If you’re sore, doing the duck walk, having a hard time getting off sofa or bed because muscles are aching, those (unless you actually injured yourself) are micro-tears.

Each time a micro tear heals and tears a little again, that’s ultimately building strength and muscle.

It’s worse (a LOT worse - I’ve been there!) when you’re new to exercise, or coming off a hiatus.

Your wise body retains and directs water to sources of injury, including those micro tears. So while you’re experiencing muscle tenderness, you’re very likely picking up water weight as well.

Same thing when you’ve had a bad cut, burn or surgery. That oozing in the wound is water that’s been retained and directed for healing Isn’t your body amazing?

I just returned from six weeks of travel, and then my trainer immediately left for some of her own. I’m stiff and sore after my first training session in a couple months. Between that and a bout of arthritis flaring up because of the fluky weather here the past week, my weight was up four pounds over night, in spite of being in a solid calorie deficit the past few days.

I’m not panicking. I’m carrying on, and know that the water weight will ….errr…..release when my muscle tenderness goes away and my joints are feeling better.

Stick to it. As Ann says, the first few weeks can be a roller coaster. Why would you expect otherwise?

Here body of mine, I’m going to change up what I’ve been feeding you for years and throw unfamiliar exercise at you, too. What? You’re rebelling?

AnnPT77

Back in to say this: This - judging from posts here over the years I've been here - is a crucial point in the process, potentially a succeed or give up point.

Generically: People make big changes in eating and exercise, and it feels hard. Perhaps conditioned by things in the blogosphere, on reality TV, in the tabloids at the grocery checkout line, they expect big results from the hard work. They don't see those results, and lose motivation, maybe give up and "go back to normal".

There are various things that could lead to long-term success at that point. Here are a few:

1. Stick it out for that whole 4-6 weeks or one menstrual cycle, following the same calorie goal and activity regimen. See what happens on average over the whole time. At worst, a person can come out of that with a decent personalized calorie-needs estimate . . . even if they don't lose weight. That's useful. Besides, that's a more actionable decision point than an early "it's too hard, no results, quit, no insight". Yeah, it's hard. Maybe it's an investment in a better future?
2. Make an easier plan. Why is it hard? Can it be easier? Fewer restrictive rules about eating, maybe target an even slower loss rate, don't do - or even overdo - a bunch of unpleasant exercise? Change is always somewhat hard, but sometimes we make it harder than it minimally needs to be. As a bonus, an easier plan is a jump start on finding the habits we'll need to maintain weight loss long term, and most people find maintenance harder than loss.
3. Make a more extreme plan, to try to lose faster, and do it now. Many people choose that route, seems like, but I can't recommend it. It seems like it's just paving the path toward giving up before losing a meaningful total amount of weight.

Personally, I'd recommend a combination of #1 and #2. Either complete #1, and get that useful insight about calorie needs, then use that knowledge while shifting to an easier plan; or shift to an easier plan right now, and restart the 4-6 week/one cycle timer.

From experience, I think think successfully losing a meaningful total amount of weight isn't a quick project that uses high motivation to reach a relatively soon end date.

I think successful weight loss - at least for people like me whose natural trend is toward overweight - is really long-term (permanent) weight management by gradually finding and practicing relatively easy - at least tolerable and practical - permanent new, healthier habits. Those can be habits that are sustainable, that once practiced for a while, can happen almost on autopilot when other parts of life get complicated . . . which they eventually will.

That's a completely different mindset.