Struggling to lose weight.

kroonha

I started my fitness plan about a month and a half ago. The first 3kgs (~6lbs) came off easy and now I've been struggling for at least two weeks, if not more to keep my weight loss above 5kgs (~11lbs). I am not losing that 1kg/2lbs a week for sure.

I eat clean, I am in my calories. Minimal carbs and artificial sugar. I work out 3-5 times a week. I started running last week.
Am I doing something wrong?

I'm not expecting to drop huge numbers of kilos super fast, I'd just like to stick to about 1kg a week. I weigh myself daily and on Sunday I was xx.6kgs and then Monday I weighed 0.8 kilos more again. Today, I am 0.6 down from yesterday. Whenever I put on weight (usually no more than a kilo) it takes me forever to lose it again. Although these gains I don't understand sometimes...

I feel like I'm going one step forward and two steps backwards right now. Pretty sure that I did not have this issue when I first started out; I'd eat the same and each morning there'd be a 0.2-0.4kg difference from the day before.

I'm wondering if my issue is with weighing everyday and getting paranoid? However, I don't know if I could weigh once a week - what if I've gained/not lost a full kg after that week?! Should I cut down the weighing to twice a week or every other day to begin with?


I'd really appreciate someone's help with this...

soldiergrl_101

Hi There, I would like to see your diary so i can help you more

I weigh myself everyday but always the same time, right when I wake up. My food is digested and stomach is empty, it helps. Be sure to watch your salt, anything over 2000mg a day can be detrimental, just 1000mg over is a pound in water weight you carry so it adds up fast. Drink lots of water it keeps you from bloating. I drink about 4L of water a day. My calorie intake is 1200 cals a day, I typically burn 200-500 at the gym and I dont eat back those calories. Stay strong you will get passed it

drop_it_like_a_squat

My calorie intake is 1200 cals a day, I typically burn 200-500 at the gym and I dont eat back those calories.

Not sure praising VLCD's is the way to go.

OP. It's only natural that you lose weight fast when you first start to eat in a deficit. It's mostly water weight coming off.
As long as you make sure to hit your calorie target/be in a calorie deficit, you can not gain actual weight. What you are mentioning there are just fluctactions. These can be influenced by numerous things: salt intake, carb intake, water intake etc.

If numbers drive you that mad quite weighing yourself so often. Weigh yourself every 1-2 weeks and take measurements.

Lift2Shift

Step away from the scales!

Your weight can fluctuate literally by lbs depending on the time of day you weight yourself, the fluids you have consumed and the stage of digestion any food within you is at. By weighing yourself daily you may be setting yourself up for disappointment - Oh No! Soldier girl's comment regarding weighing yourself in the morning, after you've been to the loo but before consumption of anything (including fluids) is sound advice - I would also stress not wearing clothes when you weigh yourself, but only do it once a week, you'll torture yourself stressing about the numbers on the scales.

Fixating on weight alone won't show your progression. Muscle weighs more than fat and your body composition is likely to be changing - lean muscle increase / fat levels decrease - but this won't be reflected on the scales. Grab a pair of jeans you know to fit you well and use how these jeans sit on you as another marker of progression.

If you've been doing this for a while and you really want to see changes look to re-vamping your training sessions, some HIIT and Lifts may be required to increase your BMR.

x

geekyjock76

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

TavistockToad

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

all of this, plus, if you are following MFP numbers, eat back your exercise cals.

Railr0aderTony

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

all of this, plus, if you are following MFP numbers, eat back your exercise cals.

padams2359

Understand. My weight has gone down, but fat % has gone up, according to Omron. Go with measurements, and weigh once a week

kroonha

Step away from the scales!

Your weight can fluctuate literally by lbs depending on the time of day you weight yourself, the fluids you have consumed and the stage of digestion any food within you is at. By weighing yourself daily you may be setting yourself up for disappointment - Oh No! Soldier girl's comment regarding weighing yourself in the morning, after you've been to the loo but before consumption of anything (including fluids) is sound advice - I would also stress not wearing clothes when you weigh yourself, but only do it once a week, you'll torture yourself stressing about the numbers on the scales.

Fixating on weight alone won't show your progression. Muscle weighs more than fat and your body composition is likely to be changing - lean muscle increase / fat levels decrease - but this won't be reflected on the scales. Grab a pair of jeans you know to fit you well and use how these jeans sit on you as another marker of progression.

If you've been doing this for a while and you really want to see changes look to re-vamping your training sessions, some HIIT and Lifts may be required to increase your BMR.

x

I usually weigh myself at the same time, each morning & with no clothes...
But I am taking measurements and apparently my waist has gone down by 4 cm which I consider quite a chunk. I'm also taking bi-weekly progress pictures.
I know that the number on the scale isn't everything but at the same time, I'm currently at a high number that I should not be at.

I'll cut down the daily scale sessions and instead weigh myself twice a week for now and hope that steady effort will prove to be effective. Thank you for the input!

kroonha

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

Thank you for the input! Total weight I would say is around 40-50lbs so quite a lot. But I guess I just have to take it easy and keep up the hard work to see steady progress.

kroonha

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

all of this, plus, if you are following MFP numbers, eat back your exercise cals.

I generally eat back my exercise calories (measured by my HRM) but sometimes it is hard - yesterday I ate under a 1000 cals and I was so full the entire time whilst I worked off almost 400 cals.

Francl27

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

all of this, plus, if you are following MFP numbers, eat back your exercise cals.

I generally eat back my exercise calories (measured by my HRM) but sometimes it is hard - yesterday I ate under a 1000 cals and I was so full the entire time whilst I worked off almost 400 cals.

That's exactly what you shouldn't do. Starving your body and netting 600 calories is NEVER the solution.

Use MFP like it's supposed to be used - eat the calories it tells you to eat (weigh everything.. otherwise you might be eating way more than you think), eat back your exercise calories (or part of them if you don't have a heart rate monitor to tell you how much you're burning during exercise). It's that simple.

kroonha

How much total weight do you have to lose? A 2 lb per week weight loss is expected for someone with 80 lbs or more to lose. If you have less fat mass to lose, then expect a smaller weekly loss. This is why leaner people lose at a much slower rate than very fat individuals.

Secondly, you admitted to increasing exercise recently. Any increase in activity will yield temporary increases in water storage to aid in recovery.

Finally, make sure you weigh everything with a digital scale - do not guess or use measuring cups - and account for all that you consume. If you eat pre-packaged foods, weigh those, too, since the actual weight could be greater than what's posted on nutrition labels.

all of this, plus, if you are following MFP numbers, eat back your exercise cals.

I generally eat back my exercise calories (measured by my HRM) but sometimes it is hard - yesterday I ate under a 1000 cals and I was so full the entire time whilst I worked off almost 400 cals.

That's exactly what you shouldn't do. Starving your body and netting 600 calories is NEVER the solution.

Use MFP like it's supposed to be used - eat the calories it tells you to eat (weigh everything.. otherwise you might be eating way more than you think), eat back your exercise calories (or part of them if you don't have a heart rate monitor to tell you how much you're burning during exercise). It's that simple.

It isn't like I'm starving myself on purpose; I feel entirely full but I just need to get some more high-calorie foods into my diet - probably lunch or breakfast.
Generally I love food though & I eat back the calories - which are counted with my heart rate monitor.

TavistockToad

yesterday I ate under a 1000 cals whilst I worked off almost 400 cals.

Generally I love food

These 2 comments just don't make sense.... If you love food it's not so hard to eat a reasonable number of calories....

kroonha

yesterday I ate under a 1000 cals whilst I worked off almost 400 cals.

Generally I love food

These 2 comments just don't make sense.... If you love food it's not so hard to eat a reasonable number of calories....

I can't help it if the food I love is veggies, salads etc?
Some days it is most of what I eat and it keeps me full but doesn't give enough calories.
Yesterday I indulged in a healthy high-cal meal as my main meal of the day as well as two small treats in the evening.

Loving food does not mean I'll eat it non stop.

TavistockToad

I can't help it if the food I love is veggies, salads etc?
Some days it is most of what I eat and it keeps me full but doesn't give enough calories.
Yesterday I indulged in a healthy high-cal meal as my main meal of the day as well as two small treats in the evening.

Loving food does not mean I'll eat it non stop.

theres plenty of things you can eat with the veg & salads to increase the cals... salmon, cheese, seeds, olives, avocado, hummus...

kroonha

theres plenty of things you can eat with the veg & salads to increase the cals... salmon, cheese, seeds, olives, avocado, hummus...

I know this, and I'm trying to improve.