please do not tell me to be patient!!

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  • husseycd
    husseycd Posts: 814 Member
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    In the past when I've tried to lose weight, I always have a "whoosh" effect. Where I don't lose, don't lose, and then suddenly drop four lbs. This article explains it, though I'm sure there are other theories out there as well: http://www.muscleforlife.com/water-retention-and-weight-loss/

    At any rate, I'm doing a mini-cut before Halloween and am noticing the same thing. I weigh everything and have for over a year, so I know I'm eating less. However, the scale hasn't budged. If the "whoosh" theory holds true, I should be down a few pounds by next week. It can definitely be discouraging though!
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    Thanks. I think she edited to add that, or I didn't notice it...

    OP - I see you said you logged in Fitbit, so assume you're using a Fitbit. You're also manually logging some exercise. What is the total daily calorie burn # that Fitbit is giving you?

    Still wondering about food scale use...
    In the past week you have 2 days where you didn't log anything, and another where you only logged a partial day. I didn't go back thru the entire 3 weeks.

    In the OP she explained that MFP was not working but she still logged elsewhere.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    Your calories burns seem a bit high at 599. How are you getting that number?
  • CanadianMag
    CanadianMag Posts: 53 Member
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    To answer some questions:

    I have a digitial scale - which I think is accurate because last night when I took my 10oz package of peanuts it made exactly 10 - 1oz packages. I weight and measure everything I put in my mouth. The only thing that could be off is my hummus as I do that at work, so if I was off it would be a very small amount.

    I get my calories I have lost from my Polar P7 watch. Which I realize could be off a little bit, but I would not imagine off a lot.

    My pants are fitting the same, I wear the same 2 pairs of pants to work and I have not felt them fitting any difference.

    If you notice on my food diary I do not eat "complex" meals. Dinner is a piece of meat usually only with seasoning and side items. nothing is really mixed together in a recipe form so there is again little error. I also scan all the lables on my foods with the bar code reader. I do not check for accuracy on that. shouldI start?
  • zanne54
    zanne54 Posts: 336 Member
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    At 5'10" and 204, setting your calories at 1200 and then consistently undereating them is way too low.

    Fewer calories is not "better" when it comes to weight loss. Set your goal to max 1 lb a week, and eat your alloted calories, plus up to half of your earned exercise calories. It seems counterintuitive, but it WORKS.
  • CanadianMag
    CanadianMag Posts: 53 Member
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    Staci, I logged on Fitfit. My app was not working.
  • sassyjae21
    sassyjae21 Posts: 1,217 Member
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    .
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    God, just be patient. ;)

    First, you should see a doctor every year for a physical. You're a mom now and you can't let things slide and get caught late because those little people are depending on you. Make an appointment now to discuss your weight loss (and have a physical, if you haven't been doing that.). The doctor can find out if anything physical is holding up your weight loss, give you a nice target weight, advise you on appropriate calories per day, tell you what (if any) exercise limits you have, what kind of foods you should and shouldn't be eating and answer all your questions (which you should jot down so you don't forget them.)

    You could be retaining water. It's not uncommon to go up several pounds before a period. If you take in a lot of sodium, that will also add a couple pounds of water.

    If you have no physical issues and aren't losing, you have to eat less and/or move more. All the complicated advice always comes back to that. (It can be as simple or as difficult as you want to make it, but those are the end results, any way you go. Eat less. Move more.)

    Increasing calories will not lead to weight loss. If only donuts and cake were the path to skinny!!! Sadly, No.

    It will come off. You just have to get into the right groove for you. It does take time.

    And, honestly, (don't hit me for saying this!) if you're planning to lose weight, you really will need lots of patience.
  • SEAFOODMAN
    SEAFOODMAN Posts: 342
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    cut your carbs in half and 1600 is a good number....avg 1500-1600 and don't eat your exercise cal back.....no need to log it
    good luck in however you do it.
  • roanokejoe49
    roanokejoe49 Posts: 820 Member
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    What's the deal with drinking 3-4 liters of water a day? No reason for that, unless you are exercising like a freak! You are retaining a lot of water.
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    1. sorry but, be patient. lets say you are trying to lose weight at a healthy calories defecit and average loss of .5-2 pounds a week. you have been doing this three weeks. ok so... a scale fluctuates about 3.5 pounds in either direction all throughout the day. you do not have a single weight but a weight range of about 7 pounds. you will find your weight within that range at any randome time throughout any day to varying degrees. therefore you cannot truly say whether you have lost any weight until your weight range changes... which is harder to guage. furthermore, if you are getting exactly the same reading every time you step on the scale, your scale is broken.

    2. weight comes off slowly. if you are not patient you will probably either not succeed, or end up losing weight in an unhealthy way.

    3. you will not have the perfect diet set up the second you start. you have to adjust it sometimes, because MFP is often wrong in their suggestions. i didnt lose anything when i used their suggestions, i had to adjust my calorie goal every few weeks until i found my magic number.

    4. i had to be consistent every single day, even track everything when i soooo didnt feel like it. i dont weigh my food all the time, but i take that into account when i track and estimate on the high side if i dont.

    theres not really much to say except be patient, sorry, and adjust as needed, and remember that healthy weight loss is slow.

    (also, the last time i beat a plateau it was because i got a fitbit and realized i was overestimating my walking burns, and then started weighing my cheese and sandwich meat, both my biggest culprits for bad estimates. for a week i weighed everything and found that some calorie dense foods were always wrong so i got a better idea of what i needed to do... so that if i dont weigh at least i know how much an average three slices of turkey is, instead of just being all "that looks like 3 oz to me" )
  • Original_Sinner
    Original_Sinner Posts: 180 Member
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    you need to be patient.


    why do you tell us to not give you the answer that is most likely correct?
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    I get my calories I have lost from my Polar P7 watch. Which I realize could be off a little bit, but I would not imagine off a lot.

    Cut that number in half, at least.
    i dont weigh my food all the time,

    What does estimating on the "high side" mean? Unless you're weighing, even you don't know.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    For this, are you constantly moving or is your session a series of start, stop activities? If not steady state cardio, a heart rate monitor is not going to be accurate.


    I get my calories I have lost from my Polar P7 watch. Which I realize could be off a little bit, but I would not imagine off a lot.


    Yes! Food packaging can be off 10-20% and still meet FDA requirements. Maybe 1 in 10 times do I weigh bread and have it weigh right. Its usually 10-15% higher than what a slice is supposed to weigh. Just an example. And sometimes packaging will say something like '1 serving = 50 grams, package = approx 2 servings' and then be 2.2 servings as its actually 110g total.

    And for meat, just be careful that the entry matches your method. Such as if you weigh the chicken raw you would not want to select a cooked entry. (And vice versa.)
    Dinner is a piece of meat usually only with seasoning and side items. nothing is really mixed together in a recipe form so there is again little error. I also scan all the lables on my foods with the bar code reader. I do not check for accuracy on that. shouldI start?
  • Glowiie1
    Glowiie1 Posts: 85 Member
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    I'm 5'10 as well. When I first started out I didn't lose a thing when eating 1200 cal/day. Not sure why considering I was walking/jogging 30 min a day and lifting. Anyway, I upped myself to about 1500 cal/day, and I left it up to my stomach to tell me whether I should eat back my workout calories or not. If I'm hungry, I do, and if I'm not hungry, I don't eat them back.

    I lost 1-2 lb/week doing this (and then life happened and I fell off the wagon, gained most of it back, and that is why it says I only lost 3 lb in my ticker).

    Anyway, a slightly higher cal intake may help you. It helped me out.
  • CanadianMag
    CanadianMag Posts: 53 Member
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    Roan - I am always thirsty, have been since I was a teenager. They tested for MS, thyroid, several items/ Over the years docotors chaulked it up to habit. This is the only liquid I drink (besised coffee). That amount of water is actually down from where I used to be back in my 20s! I used to drink a good gallon!
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
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    I get my calories I have lost from my Polar P7 watch. Which I realize could be off a little bit, but I would not imagine off a lot.

    Cut that number in half, at least.

    Yep, this. I've noticed that Polar's come in pretty high.
  • CanadianMag
    CanadianMag Posts: 53 Member
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    Ahh hah. this might be it. I weight everything cooked. I need to look at this going forward. I honestly dont know what option I am selecting when doing calories. Thank you for this. This could be a game changer :-)
  • chadya07
    chadya07 Posts: 627 Member
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    I get my calories I have lost from my Polar P7 watch. Which I realize could be off a little bit, but I would not imagine off a lot.

    Cut that number in half, at least.
    i dont weigh my food all the time,

    What does estimating on the "high side" mean? Unless you're weighing, even you don't know.

    key word, ALL i dont weigh ALL the time. so... maybe... just maybe.,.. i have weighed some things enough to know what 4oz looks like.... maybe.
  • Akimajuktuq
    Akimajuktuq Posts: 3,037 Member
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    It took me 18 months to lose 29 pounds.

    You need to be patient.

    One does not need to be a math genius to lose fat (hint: the human body is FAR more complex than JUST calories in and out) but one does need to be committed AND patient (and the food DOES matter for many of us). I've been here over two years and the last 20 pounds is stubborn but the important part is my HEALTH is amazing. Screw the scale. I have a food plan that I love and will continue for the rest of my life. So I have nothing but time to let my body figure out it's healthy weight.

    Of course you can starve yourself and lose lean body mass. You'll like the results of that on the scale but I'm not sure you'll like what you see in the mirror or how you feel. But if only the number on the scale matters than that's likely what you'll get.

    So, if you must lose weight as fast as possible and there it is a time limit what happens when you reach your goal? Gain the weight back?

    If you aren't willing to be patient what are the other options? Quit?

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