losing pounds but not inches!

VoodooAborisha

I started doing 30 Day shred about 6 weeks ago. I know it's longer than 30 days, but it is taking me longer to progress to the next level than 10 days, due to being out of shape and going to Spain for a week in the middle etc! Plus I recently had to buy heavier weights because my 2 kilo ones were not doing anything for me anymore, so I had to go back down to level 1 of the 30 day shred because there is no way I could do level 2 with my new weights yet. Have done one session of that with my new weights and it kicked my butt. Nicely sore today.) and have been logging my calories here also. I have lost 8 pounds as of today, but I just did my measurements, and I have not lost any inches. Just wondering 2 things:

1) where did I lose the weight from, because my measurements show no change?

2) is this normal to lose weight but no inches - do the measurements change a lot more slowly than weight?

The first 4 weeks my calorie goal was around 1200 - 1400, and I lost no weight. So I lowered it to 1100 and finally started losing weight - the 8 lbs have all gone in the past 2 weeks. (I drink a lot of water even though I usually forget to log it in my food diary) I measure my food, and I include everything I eat - even a splash of vinegar or a squirt of mustard.

I am becoming visibly more toned, so good stuff is happening, but my main goal was to get thinner. Does my progress seem normal? Will the inches start coming off when I lose more weight?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edit: I am short - 5 feet 1.5 inches.

89nunu

Where do you measure? Just the default parts that mfp suggests or also other arts? Maybe other parts have gone down...

Also are you sure you measured in the exact same place as last time? Just half an inch further up or down can make a big difference!

Did you measure at the same time as last time? It's best to do it in the morning before breakfast especially the belly changes a lot during the day having to accommodate food and all that.

And then one last thing that you might not want to hear. 30 day shred is quite demanding for someone that says of themself they are out of shape, please eat at least 1200 net! It's normal to not see a change on the scales when you start a new routine because of water retention. If you say you can see a difference something definitely happened!

gigglesinthesun

8lbs is a lot to lose in 2 weeks and 1100 calories seems a tad low. Is that number at least net?

edited to see what you diary says and I only went back like 2 weeks and it seems you are only logging every other day? Are you fasting?

astronomicals

water will make you bigger... you coulda been dry when u measured before

VoodooAborisha

8lbs is a lot to lose in 2 weeks and 1100 calories seems a tad low. Is that number at least net?

My goal is 1100 before I exercise. So if I exercise 200 calories, then my food diary says my goal is now 1300 and I eat that. So I eat back what I exercise on top of the 1100 goal, so really eating 1300 - 1400 per day, but netting less due to exercise.

VoodooAborisha

edited to see what you diary says and I only went back like 2 weeks and it seems you are only logging every other day? Are you fasting?

Definitely not fasting! I log on here every day I have access to a computer. When I can't get to a computer, I have a book of food lists with the calories/fat/protein/carb values and I write it down. I don't have a smart phone or anything so I can't log online when I am away from home.

Alta2000

Looking at the days that you logged the food info, you need to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Just keep doing what you are doing and you will eventually see inches going down everywhere. Your progress is normal. But you do need to eat more and do not be in a hurry, you do not have that much to lose.
Try this to calculate the daily calories

http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

VoodooAborisha

Where do you measure? Just the default parts that mfp suggests or also other arts? Maybe other parts have gone down...

Also are you sure you measured in the exact same place as last time? Just half an inch further up or down can make a big difference!

Did you measure at the same time as last time? It's best to do it in the morning before breakfast especially the belly changes a lot during the day having to accommodate food and all that.

And then one last thing that you might not want to hear. 30 day shred is quite demanding for someone that says of themself they are out of shape, please eat at least 1200 net! It's normal to not see a change on the scales when you start a new routine because of water retention. If you say you can see a difference something definitely happened!

I try to measure in the same place, and always in the morning before any food, but I realize it might not be accurate - so small changes will be hard to see.

I am afraid to eat more, because this is the first time in years I have actually started losing weight. I am really short - do short people also have to eat 1200 net?

89nunu

I put your stats into scoobysworkshop.com calorie calculator. According to him your tdee on only 1-3 hours of workout a week, which you should easily do with 20 min 30ds and having kids (assuming the baby in your arm is yours), is 1733. Which means you burn 1733 calories a day including workout. Your bmr is around 1260 (the calories you burn if you were in a coma, so without walking, brushing your teeth or just sitting) so you should always eat at least your bmr, otherwise you can mess up your metabolism in the long run (don't worry that doesn't happen in a few weeks)

Now as the shorty you are you should be able lose weight on about 1300 (this is not net cause your workout is already included). So your 1300 net is actually not bad at all, but if you are really moving more then what I put in you should adjust accordingly. Cause if you only move for about 2 hours more a week (which is quite possible if it actually is your kid) your tdee is closer to 1950 meaning you should rather eat something like 1500 a day. Now this all a bit trial and error, it takes time to find the sweet spot between going hungry and being happy but losing weight. What is most important on these low calorie intakes is that you eat enough protein and good fats. About 0.8-1 gram of protein per pound you weigh and 0.35 gram of fat.

And as I said before when you started 30ds you weren't used to it so your body retained water for muscle repair (even if they are not sore) so the scale might have actually lied to you then (could be the reason why it went down so drastically now) keep at it!! When you already see visible differences something good is happening and not just since you went down in calories!

ETA: just looked at your diary, you also eat a lot of sodium which makes the body retained water which (in very easy and unscietifically speaking) is stored between muscle and skin making you look 'bloated' and screw with your measurements

Stage14

Chances are good that you lost a good portion of initial
water weight. Also, different people lose weight differently. My body tends to lose all over pretty evenly with cardio, so I can drop 5-8 actual lbs and not be visibly different or have my measurements change that much. I had similar results to you on 30DS, where I dropped some weight and could see differences in some places, but my waist and thighs did not change much at all measurement-wise (less than a 1/4"). I didn't start to lose inches until I began to focus on real strength training and body composition, letting my diet do the weight loss work.

Others have given some good advice on the food end, so I will just say that not every body responds the same way to every workout. If you want to stick with 30DS and see it through, go for it. But if you aren't happy with the results you're getting, you can always try something else.

olyabe

Not sure how you manage to lose lb bit not inches - most likely biased measurement, but if you are losing lb, you are definitely losing something.

Re calorie goal, there will be loads of people telling you you have to eat more, at least 1500-1700 net, etc. I am happy that those people exist, and very jealous of them, I hope that you are one of them - but not everyone is like that, they are just kind of loud around here

I do not lose weight if I am netting more than 1000-1100. I will maintain for months, but lose nothing - and that is with BMI well over 25, so not vanity pounds. I am 5'2', 37 years old, and done the yo-yo a few times with about 50 lb amplitudes... so I feel like i know a enough about losing (and know less about maintaining sadly..). I also know from experience that weight training helps, so it's great you are doing 30DS!