15 Days In - Have Not Lost Any Weight

empoweredkatlen855

Hi All!

I am 5'6"
181lbs
38 years old
My goal is to lose 20lbs
@ 1lb per week.
@1400 calories per day

I am 15 days in and have not lost any weight.. not an ounce. I have been following the app
very strictly. With a small slip up of a few glasses of wine one night.

I have my exercise set to sedentary, because I have a desk job till 3pm. But after
that, I am active as a mom… you know the drill. Cleaning, cooking, running around, etc.

I am starting to work in exercise (baby steps) such as swimming and light yoga. Nothing
that will burn TONS of calories, but it's a start.

I am not totally discouraged, because I feel great. But am hoping for some advise, encouragement, or
similar stories to help keep me on track.

Thanks SO much!!!!

AskTracyAnnK28

Since you don't have that much to lose, maybe drop it to 1200 calories a day. And remember to drink tons of water!

janeite1990

After 35, I found it took at least 2 weeks of living perfect to see scale movement. Keep doing the right things. Warning: I also found that I have to exercise like a maniac. Just chasing the kids doesn't do it for me. I need 30 minutes of real cardio daily, and weights help, too.

Good luck!

Marie047

Sounds to me your over-eating and eating to maintain.

Do you weigh and measure all your food? Weigh food, measure liquid?

Your diary is closed so cannot review.

toothfairy79

I don't think eating 1400 calories/ day is eating too much.. but I agree with the importance to mesure and weigh the foods and drinks. I am 34 and find that it takes longer to see a change as oppose to when I was 25.. Keep up the spirit.. Yoga and swimming are great exercise.. the importance is that you do something and most importantly that you like what you do! Good luck:)

trogalicious

Since you don't have that much to lose, maybe drop it to 1200 calories a day. And remember to drink tons of water!

No.

Don't just automatically cut anything.

OP, it takes weeks for the body to adjust to changes to your diet. If you're weighing your food accurately, logging everything, and still don't see any changes after six weeks.. then you know what your maintenance calories / TDEE is. At that point, cut a minimal amount and start the process again.

enterdanger

I wouldn't drop your calories to 1200. You'll starve. Give it another 2 weeks. Sometimes it takes a while. Also, might help to measure and see if you lost any inches. Weight is not the only measurement that matters, especially if you feel good.

deksgrl

Since you don't have that much to lose, maybe drop it to 1200 calories a day. And remember to drink tons of water!

No. Because then when you need to drop the last bit, you don't have anywhere else to go but down further. Not a good plan.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Hard to say without having access to your diary, but I echo most of the posts here that you need to be a bit more patient. My body takes around 2 weeks to show any changes I've made, good or bad.

wkwebby

Our bodies react differently to different foods as well. Besides watching your calories, see if you are intaking too much sodium. Perhaps there is some water retention here? Two weeks isn't too long in the whole scheme of things so just stay with the program like it sounds like you are and no eyeballing it with food...especially when just starting out. Logging every crumb that is put into your mouth is important even if you don't think it is a lot of calories (i.e. the last bite of your kid's dinner, etc.).

Good luck, and stay the course! You can do this! :happy:

sympha01

You need more than 2 weeks to be sure you're not seeing progress. As a woman, I find it's always best to go through one complete menstrual cycle before coming to any conclusions about results from any changes in my regimen, because I have a very clear cyclical pattern relating to my cycle. If it were me, those 2 weeks could just have started at the point of my water retention phase of the month. (And FWIW, I don't seem to retain water at the same point that I'm "supposed" to, so don't be too sure you know what your individual pattern is based on pure logic!)

Also, if you're just starting out, it takes your bowels a little time to get used to changes in your diet (less food overall, possibly more fiber). You could simply be retaining a bit of intestinal bulk + water and that'll probably clear up and normalize shortly too.

LizzySparker

Don't fret, sometimes it take a bit for the momentum to get going. Double check what you are eating. I know as a Mom its easy for me to sabotage my calorie count by having a bit of everything the kids are eating. A few goldfish here, eating their last few bits of food because I don't want to throw it away, "tasteing" the food as I am cooking. Also "eyeballing" measures gets me too. I do better when I measure everything with measuring cups and a cheap food scale from Wal-Mart. Also you might want to try some easy exercise...take the kids for a walk each night, every little bit adds up.

You got this!

Early_Riser

.

DerekVTX

Please answer these questions:

Do you have a food scale?
Are you weighing and measuring everything you consume?

Also some of the food items in the database are not accurate. (for instance if it says a slice of peperoni pizza is 40 calories and another listing is 280 calories........280 is the correct one..

ChantalGG

do hot yoga you will lose weight lol also add some strengthening exercises like do 10 push ups, 10 sit ups, 10 squats, Hip Bridge etc. Whenever you think about a cookie or soda stop and do something. Workout your butt and legs to increase you metabolism.

trogalicious

I'll just leave this here for you, too...

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

Ready2Rock206

Patience and accurate logging should get you where you want to be. Did you log those "slip ups"? Do you use a food scale? Log everything you eat? If you eat back exercise calories are you logging those accurately?

mareacuda

I have been almost 25 days and lost nothing. I have my calories set at 1200 and have rarely gone over... I originally set it at 1600 but lowered after 10 days of no loss. My kicker is that I am 6' tall and 270 lbs so according to everyone, the weight should be coming off as my deficit is over 1000 calories per day.. it's just not. Everyone told me to buy a food scale, so I did that, but I can say with 100% honesty that I was not/am not eating over my calories. I feel better, so I am just focusing on that at the moment.

djnanners

Maintain heart rate by doing cardio or Circuit training for 20 minutes (where you add weights and cardio intermittently) might help. Even if you can get it in 3 days a week... to start with. Then you can add more time to your workouts per week as it fits your schedule

luckypony71

i found that without a digital food scale I was overestimating just about everything I ate. If you don't have one, get one. I didn't really see changes until I bought mine. Best money I ever spent.

55044TeamJoy

Are you taking body measurements too? Are you weighing yourself at the same time of the day?

adoll127

A calorie calculator I really like is Scooby's (scoobysworkshop/calorie-calculator/) and with entering your info you're eating under your BMR right now - which isn't the way to go. Based on your info - and I put desk job with little exercise (but you might want to adjust that since you chase the kids around) and it came back with 1505 calories for the day for weight loss.
Now even if I just add in 1-3 hours of exercise per week that takes you up to 1724. I would look into making some adjustments there, it's a crazy numbers game but once you find something that's working for you it gets easier!! You should take a look at it again every 5-10 lbs though, to make sure you're still aiming for the right thing.

Also - give yourself more time!! 2 weeks is no time yet, your body is adjusting to any changes you've made. Keep at it

crazypineapple

Remember too that if you are being more active you could be gaining muscle which is off setting your fat loss display on the scale. I would worry less about the scale, and go more by measurements and how you feel.

adoll127

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adoll127

I have been almost 25 days and lost nothing. I have my calories set at 1200 and have rarely gone over... I originally set it at 1600 but lowered after 10 days of no loss. My kicker is that I am 6' tall and 270 lbs so according to everyone, the weight should be coming off as my deficit is over 1000 calories per day.. it's just not. Everyone told me to buy a food scale, so I did that, but I can say with 100% honesty that I was not/am not eating over my calories. I feel better, so I am just focusing on that at the moment.

You're probably at too high of a deficit to be losing, your body isn't going to let go of anything when it's not getting enough in - eventually over time it will be it's not going to be loss in a healthy way. I would definitely check out a calorie calculator like the one I did for OP and see what you get back.

empoweredkatlen855

Thanks EVERYONE!!!

I'll grab a food scale today.

Seems like everyone is saying that 2 weeks isn't enough time to see real results, which I appreciate knowing.

I don't think I am drinking enough water, so I'll up that intake.

And keep moving towards more cardio…

Appreciate all the advise and encouragement!

trogalicious

Remember too that if you are being more active you could be gaining muscle which is off setting your fat loss display on the scale. I would worry less about the scale, and go more by measurements and how you feel.

No.

stop the madness. OP is not gaining muscle.

sweetpea03b

1) Give it a month before you start panicing. Anytime you start a new routine like this it takes a while to see a difference. Are you taking your measurements? Scales suck. I ignore mine most of the time and just go by how my clothes are fitting because esp with TOTM and all that your water weight throws everything off.

2) You only have 25# to lose so it might be a little unrealistic to go for 1#/week. Maybe try for 1/2lb/week. I'm 5'2, 165# and my goal is about 1500cal/day. But... I also work out everyday. I always try to keep in mind BMR and make sure i'm not going too far below that. Yours is around 1530 so I would really not go much below that.

3) Have you tried lifting or even body weight exercises? I always have better results when I don't rely solely on cardio. Good luck!

acorsaut89

Since you don't have that much to lose, maybe drop it to 1200 calories a day. And remember to drink tons of water!

Sorry but how does dropping to 1200 cal/day help her when she doesn't have that much to lose? If she doesn't, and really 20 lbs compared to my 80 is not much, then she doesn't need to drop her calorie intake.

Also, 1200 calories is a ridiculous number that everyone seems to stick to. Unless you've done the math based on your BMR and TDEE . . . it's an arbitrary number, period.

J72FIT

1400 - 1500 calories a day seems legit. What are your macros set to? I agree with the rest, get and use a food scale.

summer92008

Make sure you are measuring all of your foods properly. You can eat a lot more than you think if you don't measure them.
I was actually eating some baked fries for dinner, noticing that 22 fries were the serving. So I proceeded to count out 22 fries. My mom comes over and says, "Are you really going to count those?" I replied with, "Do you think I've lost 10 lbs by not counting them?" She had no response lol. So make sure that you are measuring everything accurately.
Also, try to squeeze in an evening walk. Even a mile or so. Take your kids with you! You can burn around 80 calories a mile (give or take).

I am 5'6'' and started at 149 lbs 10 weeks ago. I didn't notice much movement on the scale, either, until about 2-2 1/2 weeks in. So keep going. 10 weeks in and 10 lbs down, 10 to go! You just have to stick with it and keep going at it. Good luck.