Week 2 loss very low, need some advice

watergirl626

So I started 6/1 by taking a look at what I was eating before (3K calories, oh my!), and started doing the 1630 that MFP recommended I also went from no exercise to at least a 15 minute walk 3-5x/week)

When I weighed in after week 1, I was down 10 lbs. I was also on a different scale, different time of day, and no clothes, and I know water weight accounts of a lot of that too.)
Today, end of week 2, I weighed in at 213.8, which is only a 0.4 loss. Doesn't help that I ate a 400 calorie apple pie last night (but was still under my calorie goal - net cals 1393). I knew I was in trouble yesterday though, because before dinner, my net cals were only at 543, so I knew to reach an acceptable min of 1200, I'd be eating a lot in the evening, which would mean it wouldn't have as much time to digest and get out before I weighed in.

I'm not sure if this week's low loss is due to:
1) not eating as many net cals (this week I avg just under 1400, whereas the week before I more between 1500-1600).
2) last week Monday and Tues were over 100', so maybe I weighed less than normal because I wasn't as hydrated? Although I drank over 20 8-oz glasses of water each day.
3) not eating as steadily throughout the day, so my body starts thinking it needs to store when I do eat (i.e. only netting 543 calories before 5:30 yesterday, then having to cram in the other 700 in a 3 hour period).
4) Maybe I've hit "phase 2" early where my body suddenly realizes it's changed and is panicking a little, and I just need to hold steady so my body knows this is its new normal (but I thought that would be week 3 or 4)

So I need to eat more during the day, I think. I'm always worried I'll run out of calories, but I haven't yet, so I don't know why I think that. I need to aim for only having 600 or so left when I leave work.

But any thoughts as to why the weight loss pretty much didn't happen this week? Is it too early to be wondering if I need to make any adjustments?

erickirb

You are over thinking it a little too much. You have lost almost 11 pounds in 2 weeks, I'm sure your goal is 1-2 lbs/week so you are way ahead. Remember your body can fluctuate by 5lbs in a single day do to food in your system and hydration levels. So your 0.4 loss my be more like 1.2, but you are holding extra water who know, just stick with it and over time you should average 1-2 lbs/week, some weeks more than others.

ph0t0m0m

Drinking more water now that you're watching what you're eating can cause your body to "hold onto" the water. It's not used to getting it so it stores it thinking it may be a while until it gets it again. It will eventually know that you're going to be drinking it regularly. And then it will stop storing it and you will see loss easier.

Stay away from anything with salt in it the night before weighing yourself. Your body will hold onto water like crazy with salt in the system.

If you're weighing in with clothing, wear the same clothing every time! It helps you get a better idea of your loss.

Weigh in at the same time every time.

Good luck!!!!

jaimejean478

Don't worry too much about the net cal's when it's only a day or so. Yesterday I had 2 GREAT workouts, and at the end of the day my netcals were only 435, but my food in was still 1535. I wasn't going to just sit and eat 800 calories because I was "supposed to". I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat. I'll probably suffer by having a day today where I just can't eat enough, haha

But listen to your body, not so much the numbers. If you're not starving, don't make yourself eat for the sake of eating to reach a number. I think it'd take more than a few days of that habit to create a plateau anyway.

acakeforawife

You are over thinking it a little too much. You have lost almost 11 pounds in 2 weeks, I'm sure your goal is 1-2 lbs/week so you are way ahead. Remember your body can fluctuate by 5lbs in a single day do to food in your system and hydration levels. So your 0.4 loss my be more like 1.2, but you are holding extra water who know, just stick with it and over time you should average 1-2 lbs/week, some weeks more than others.

This.

I cannot see ANYTHING you need to do differently at this point. The scale will average out in a couple weeks. The first few weeks are always a bit weird, and I think the general rule of thumb is that you should take your combined loss for the first four weeks, and divide by four, to see if you're trending in the right direction. Hold tight and give it some time.

melsinct

You are over thinking it a little too much. You have lost almost 11 pounds in 2 weeks, I'm sure your goal is 1-2 lbs/week so you are way ahead. Remember your body can fluctuate by 5lbs in a single day do to food in your system and hydration levels. So your 0.4 loss my be more like 1.2, but you are holding extra water who know, just stick with it and over time you should average 1-2 lbs/week, some weeks more than others.

This.

I cannot see ANYTHING you need to do differently at this point. The scale will average out in a couple weeks. The first few weeks are always a bit weird, and I think the general rule of thumb is that you should take your combined loss for the first four weeks, and divide by four, to see if you're trending in the right direction. Hold tight and give it some time.

I agree with all of this, and honestly? Get used to inconsistency. Many of us are all over the place with weekly losses. Some weeks I was down 2 pounds, other weeks I lost nothing. Bodies are not predictable machines.

watergirl626

Thanks guys. And really, I know that even a small loss is still a loss, which is the right direction. I'll just hold steady for now.

@ph0t0m0m, I'm not drinking more water. I've always been a really big water drinker, drinking 12-14 glasses a day easily.

SheehyCFC

I agree with what everyone else has said - you are doing well and are definitely on the right track. I'd also like to point out that you said you weighed yourself using a lot of different "limiting factors" (different scale, different time of day (big one!), different clothes). All of those things can fluctuate greatly... so you may have lost more than 0.4 this week and less than 10 last week... consistency is key if you're basing your #'s on a scale. I personally try to go by self-(body) image or measurements, but either way - great job and keep it up!

watergirl626

Well, I've been feeling great, higher level of energy, so that alone is motivating. I used the same scale/variables last week to this week. It was just my start weight that was different, although I did have to replace the battery in my scale from last week to this week. Thank you everybody for your encouragement. I think this site will make all the difference for me actually keeping this up.