5 weeks in question about fluctuating weight

digital_davem

Hi

I started dieting at the beginning of March. I'm using a fitbit tracker to measure activity and MFP to log food and progress. I have a sedentary desk job so my only regular exercise is walking 5 miles per day and playing table tennis for an hour a week.

I set my goal in MFP at 1 pound loss a week and it recommends a calories intake of 2000 per day. I've actually been eating less than this an average about 1600 per day over the first 5 weeks. I weigh myself on digital scales every morning when I get up.

Looking at my weight loss so far, I lost 3 lb in week 1, 2.5 lb in week 2, 2.5lb in week 3, 2.1 lb in week 4. In week 5 with no change to activity or consumption levels I have lost only 0.3 lb. Not only that, my measured weight suddenly started fluctuating from day to day which didn't happen in the first month - my weight was changing 1.5 lb up and down from day to day (which is theoretically impossible in energy balance terms).

Clearly, there are complications in weight loss programmes that defy the simple calorie deficit = weight lost paradigm (even though I believe in this, starving people lose weight every time).

I've taken into account some obvious possibilities (maybe I got lazy and stopped accurate diary entries, maybe it's been just bad luck at the point of done the weight-in) but at this new pattern has continued across the week, it seems more than this to me. How can you eat half your calorie requirement and gain 1.5 lb in one day!

I'm going to take a guess here and hazard that my experience is quite common: weight loss does not continue in a nice even continuous fashion from day to day but fluctuates apparently randomly irrespective of intake and activity level.

Is this in line with others' experiences?

Regards

Dave

SezxyStef

weight loss is not linear and you will see ups and downs on the scale.

There are too many factors that contribute to that like time of day, what happened the day before, water weight, sodium intake.

I only record one weigh in a week but I know I can step on the scale in the morning and weigh one weight and 3 hours later weigh something different...sometimes more sometimes less...depends on how much coffee, if I have gone to the bathroom etc.

This is why it is recommended not to weigh daily and as well not to just use the scale as a measurment of sucess...takes before and after shots, take measurments and get a good BF% reading all of which help measure goals better than the scale.

_Zardoz_

Weightloss isn't linear. So may things effect your daily weight from hormones to environmental factors. I weigh daily but I know and except these fluctuations and only log a consistent loss. In reality losing weight is part of the whole picture and your goal shouldn't be to lose weight but to get healthy. Weightloss is just a tool and guide to getting healthier. Just follow the trend if it's downwards what you're doing is working

Faye_Anderson

Agree with the above. I'd suggest weighing absolutely everything and tracking accurately. Also can I ask why you only eat 1600 (which is a very low amount for a male) when your goal is 2000? I find the people who say they eat a lot less than they are supposed to are the ones who usually complain about "plateau" :flowerforyou:

acpgee

The first 10 lbs shift more quickly because initial losses are glycogen, rather than fat, which is less calorie dense. Nice explanation here.

http://justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/

editorgrrl

You only have 11 lb. to go. The closer I got to goal, the more my weight fluctuated. And the closer you get to goal the more slowly you lose. Set your goal to .5 lb. per week.

Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

Have you connected your Fitbit & MFP accounts? (Via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page.) MFP has a Fitbit Users group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

digital_davem

Hi

I didn't set out deliberately to eat less than target (and in fact I am determined to take a patient view to this programme). When I punched in the figures to MFP that I thought were sustainable, it reckons this will be a 3 year programme! That's Ok with me. This undereating is just the result of newbie incompetence.

As time goes by I'll sort out a proper weekly recipe that will be nutritionally balanced and the right number of calories.

It's early days at the moment and I'm still trying to work out the practicalities (for example, I'd rather eat a home made lunch than sandwiches from the supermarket but life is busy and I haven't yet got in the groove of preparing food in advance).

For me, the first good habits to establish are a regular weigh in, regular activity, regular food logging and training myself to avoid snack food and eat raw carrots ;-) I'm getting there with that, next we'll start looking at more sensible food planning.

No, what has interested me so far is the remarkable uniformity of weight loss in the first 4 weeks and then this sudden step change in week 5 for no apparent reason. There no magic involved here, so something must explain the change...

SezxyStef

No, what has interested me so far is the remarkable uniformity of weight loss in the first 4 weeks and then this sudden step change in week 5 for no apparent reason. There no magic involved here, so something must explain the change...

Yes there is something it's called the human body. Water retention, waste in the body etc.

some people consistently lose weight every week, some don't...the only thing to explain it is that everyone is different and you can't expect to lose the same amount of weight every week as there are too many factors involved.

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sodakat

No, what has interested me so far is the remarkable uniformity of weight loss in the first 4 weeks and then this sudden step change in week 5 for no apparent reason. There no magic involved here, so something must explain the change...

Yes there is something it's called the human body. Water retention, waste in the body etc.

some people consistently lose weight every week, some don't...the only thing to explain it is that everyone is different and you can't expect to lose the same amount of weight every week as there are too many factors involved.

OT, but Stef, I noticed you have gone from "5" to "4" and now to "3" pounds to go in the last month! You are so close to goal yet still plugging along. You must be working very hard at this! Congratulations and thanks for being an inspiration!! --Kathy

jec285

Weigh weekly, don't stress over daily fluctuations. You're pretty much at your goal weight so leveling off shouldn't be much of a surprise/disappointment to you.

digital_davem

I remember seeing the results of a study published in New Scientist many years ago. It involved a group of people with weight loss problems who volunteered for a special research programme. They agreed to be incarcerated in a sealed room for several months. The only food they could eat was what was supplied to them and all their body wastes, oxygen consumption and the like was measured.

They all lost weight, every one of them and at the rate predicted by the calorie deficit they were prescribed. This convinced me empirically that there is no magic in dieting: restrict food and you will slowly starve to death.

What is interesting though is the hour to hour fluctuations along the way. Clearly, our intuition about the rate of weight loss in the short term vs the long term is wrong. As people note, weight loss is rarely linear. It's the reason why this is that is puzzling. Clearly, there are a lot of factors involved, most of which we are not tracking. This inconsistency can be quite disheartening to dieters, especially if you have the naive expectation that your weight loss will be perfectly predictable.

It would be interesting to hear the views of long term successful dieters who have measured their weight loss carefully as to what their short term patterns were compared to their long term. I've heard people say for example that you can lose a lot of weight quickly at the beginning then it slows down (which can be disheartening)...

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digital_davem

Hi

I'm not worried, just curious...

SezxyStef

I remember seeing the results of a study published in New Scientist many years ago. It involved a group of people with weight loss problems who volunteered for a special research programme. They agreed to be incarcerated in a sealed room for several months. The only food they could eat was what was supplied to them and all their body wastes, oxygen consumption and the like was measured.

They all lost weight, every one of them and at the rate predicted by the calorie deficit they were prescribed. This convinced me empirically that there is no magic in dieting: restrict food and you will slowly starve to death.

What is interesting though is the hour to hour fluctuations along the way. Clearly, our intuition about the rate of weight loss in the short term vs the long term is wrong. As people note, weight loss is rarely linear. It's the reason why this is that is puzzling. Clearly, there are a lot of factors involved, most of which we are not tracking. This inconsistency can be quite disheartening to dieters, especially if you have the naive expectation that your weight loss will be perfectly predictable.

It would be interesting to hear the views of long term successful dieters who have measured their weight loss carefully as to what their short term patterns were compared to their long term. I've heard people say for example that you can lose a lot of weight quickly at the beginning then it slows down (which can be disheartening)...

If you are in a room with these kinds of measures..yes it would be quite linear...there are no outside influences but you are in not locked in a room being fed specifics etc.

I am not what you call a "long term success"...but I have tracked my weight loss the entire time I have been here on an excel spreadsheet...along with the charts here.

If you saw the flucuations in gains/losses etc you might understand. I can lose 2lbs one week...up 1lb next week, no change the week after, then down 1/2lb, then nothing for 3 weeks, then 3/4lb, up 1.5 etc.

But the average is 0.74lbs a week...over the last 42 weeks...and that is the key...the average over a long period of time.

@sodakat thanks I appreciate that. I am happy to hear that I inspire, I never thought I would be that one...I remember seeing others who inspired me and now understand how important it is to keep plugging away if only just to help one.