no weight loss...

devineh123

I've been on a 1200-1400 cal diet now for 2 weeks, have been really healthy, dranks lots of water and have worked out at least 4 times each week vigorously!!
I weighed myself today for the first time since I started my diet to find I haven't even lost 1 pound
The confusing thing is I do feel a lot more toned, my waist seems to feel a little smaller and I feel soo much more healthier! Yet no weight loss...I feel like giving up after working so hard

Anyone got any suggestions??

xx

melholden10

when you start vigourous excercise you body turns fat into muscle which weighs more if your lucky you stay the same weight and then you start to lose. i've been marothon training and in the last month lost 3 inches from my waist but gained half a stone its frustrating but the weight will come off just have to keep going

JeanWalker109

Depending on what kind of exercises you're doing, it is possible that your body is shifting. It's possible that you're shrinking in inches, but the pounds don't show on the scale....YET. Remain consistent. I'd say give it 1 or 2 more weeks. If you don't see a change by then, at that time consider changing something in your program. It's crucial, at this point, that you don't get discouraged. Be sure to surround yourself with positive, motivational things. Keep doing what you know is right. It will absolutely pay off, whether sooner or later.

Keep movin' on! You got this!

*smiles*

Jean

Barbj56

Take your measurements today so you can see what's happening!

JeanWalker109

when you start vigourous excercise you body turns fat into muscle which weighs more if your lucky you stay the same weight and then you start to lose. i've been marothon training and in the last month lost 3 inches from my waist but gained half a stone its frustrating but the weight will come off just have to keep going

The thing is muscle and fat are not interchangeable, but it does give the illusion that you're exchanging the two. What happens is the fat can shrink and the muscle can gain strength and "grow". Muscle is dense, which means it takes up less space than fat. 5 pounds of fat will take up more space than 5 pounds of muscle, so you can shrink in inches, but not necessarily lose weight right away. That's totally possible.

Happy0326

Thank you for sharing. I feel in the SAME boat. Im so discouraged. I started doing Tae Bo & really watching my food intake stayed on my water & not ONE pound lost in a week. SO DISCOURAGING!!! But I guess we gotta keep going. SOMETHING has to change & if we are exercising & doing the right things it has to happen at some point. But YES very dissappointing when you put so much work into it. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!!!!

mmccullough2

I wouldn't focus so much on a single metric for such a short term period. Hang in there and look at your success over the longer period. Your program is clearly working.

sldavis73

I feel your pain... I have been at this for 3 weeks and this is the first week that I have lost. It's hard to understand how you can work so hard and nothing on the scale happens... however you yourself said you feel changes going on! Asa woman we look to the scale to tell us if we are doing something right when in reality we should just listen to our body. It has been a very hard concept for me to take on but it is true. Don't give up, your body is just adjusting to the changes you are making.. Stay positive, motivated and enjoy how your body is changing...

Keep up the good work!!!!!!!!!!! You can do it..

capNramsey

Keep working at it. At times when I felt like I wasn't losing anything, I started measuring and sure enough clothes were feeling looser and my waist was shrinking. That is also a victory. I'm at a plateau right now and I know it's frustrating, but hang in there and see if measurement numbers are going down. If that isn't changing, you might need to change something. And I find weight comes off very slowly and you might only lose a lb a week so keep at it and over time you should see some results.

kristarablue

First....take a deep breath...it's ok. I know how frustrating not losing can feel but understand this, the scale is an archaic way of measuring how we are doing, probably the only thing worse is the BMI. But in saying that we are conditioned to only think about weight and how the scale looks. May I second in the suggestion that you take measurements, I did not until I lost like 75 pounds and I really wish I would have so I could see a true measure of how I have done. Also I have a friend that has been in maintenance for almost 2 years, has not lost or gained weight however has completely changed her body and has gone down three sizes during maintenance without losing due to exercise and really changing her body composition.

Good luck, you will not see movement on the scales every week...measure yourself and don't stop....we only fail when we stop trying. You are doing amazing!!

tigersword

If you're only eating 1200 calories and working out "vigorously" then you probably aren't eating enough.

Also, muscle doesn't grow on a calorie deficit. Could be water retention.

Keep plugging, and everything will balance out.

ceeshelman

Toss out the scales. You will be happier. Go to the gym or the next door neighbor's house to weight once a week or never. When your clothes are loose and you feel healthy, you have arrived. Just a thought.

Mom2rh

I'd like to point out that you said you think you look better and you feel healthier. Why would you give that up? Those are two HUGE things!

I know I struggle with defining myself by a number...a size or my weight. But MFP is about making a lifestyle change for the better. Not a temporary diet. Look at your original motivation. Hang in there. Stay the course. You can do this.

carloP90X

The scale doesn't lie but it doesn't tell you everything like how much lean muscle you have or how many inches you have lost. You are going in the right direction. Do not give up.

lynn1982

I started losing weight before joining here so I can't relate exactly, but I don't tend to lose every single week. I think my first week on here I lost about half a pound. And then the scale stayed the same for about 2 weeks and then suddenly I lost 4 pounds. I've heard people on here before say that they record their weight once a month. So maybe stay at it for another couple of weeks and see what happens.

Stormyyy

I started nearly 3 months ago and although i never worry about what i eat, before i was a total couch potato and these last 9 or 10 weeks i swim my @ss off for an hour 3 times a week and do strength training most days and i've consistantly stayed at the same weight but like you ihave noticed HUGE changes in my body and i'll even give you an instance. This morning i was touching my thighs and couldn't pinch more than an inch even at the very tops. My 16 yr old Son also tried and was well impressed when he did the same with his and grabbed more hehe.

I'm learning to eat more foods which amazingly i've upped my calories by almost 800-1000 and not put

a pound on so hopefully in the next few day when i cut bk i'll also drop some weight...

Dnt be discouraged, take measurements, feel ur wobbly bits, get to know them and you'll see changes

devineh123

Thank you! You're all so motivational!
It's just really hard when you feel like the least you deserve is for the scales to just reward you a little! Haha...

But yeah, I feel a lot healthier and I'm enjoying working out. I'm gonna give it another two weeks then weigh again. Hopefully it's just muscle

Surely eating less and exercising more can only result in weight loss!

Thanks people!
&You're all doing amazing, keep up the good work!
xx

Bluejay789

Measure yourself, arms, hips, thighs, chest. You are probably loosing inches. Muscle weighs more than fat. So do not go by the scales. You can also use an item of clothing that is tight or too small. Try it on, hang it in your closet so you can see it and then keep doing what your doing and then try it on in 2-3 weeks. I did that with a shirt 3 weeks ago and wore it yesterday to work! My 18 yr old Son asked me yesterday if I had on a new shirt. I said no, it is actually 2 years but now I can fit into it. He said, good job Mom!

I have only lost 7 pounds but I am getting into clothes that I could not wear a month ago. I love it. Don't give up! You are doing great! Claire

maserati185

If you really want this, you've got to change up your perspective or you make find yourself yo-yoing. Don't let something as minor as the scales discourage you. The scales are just an object - they don't lead you. YOU lead you. Consider it a lifestyle change... a permenant change of bad habits to good ones. We all slip but you want to be making say 80+% healthy choices, consistently. If you can stick with 100%, awesome. Take it a few weeks at a time. Don't live by the scale. Think of how the body is being ever used - taking in food, removing waste, sweating, hormones, adapting to temperatures. Your scales can say you've gained 2 lbs. and you haven't in the way you think.

I've changed a lot of my bad habits and learned to push through if I don't get immediate results but relish the small accomplishments along the way. You said you can tell you've become more toned and feel better. That is called a NSV (non-scale victory) and it is worthy of celebration! You don't have to abandon the scale, but continue to look for those NSVs too.

tigersword

Thank you! You're all so motivational!
It's just really hard when you feel like the least you deserve is for the scales to just reward you a little! Haha...

First off, change your mindset. The scale can't reward or punish you. It's just a tool for tracking progress, and not even really a good one for that matter. Measurements and body fat percentage are much better trackers for health. As a 5'7" male, I could be equally healthy at 150 pounds, 175 pounds, or 200 pounds, if I maintain 8% body fat. Which to me, makes the scale useless as an overall progress tracker, as the final goal weight changes, as my body composition changes. I'm actually upping my goal from 170 to 190 because I rechecked my body fat and I actually have a higher lean body mass than I originally thought.

So worry about measurements, if you have calipers, measure your body fat, and use those as markers for progress. Even if you don't have calipers, the YMCA body fat formula (you can find calculators online) can give you a pretty close estimate of your body fat which is a much better indication than the number on the scale.

deaterrae

Get a new, fancier scale. There's nothing wrong with the basic scale I assume you have, but for about $40 at a discount store that sells exercise equipment (I went to Target), you can purchase a scale that also measures your percentage body fat (some will do the calculations for you and tell you what that is in pounds, as well.) If the amount of fat in your body is dropping, you'll see that, even if your weight isn't changing due to water and/or greater muscle mass.

The scale I got (this is not an add - but I'll say that it is Weight Watchers brand) gives me: weight in pounds, pounds of fat, percentage fat, percentage water, percentage bone mass (important if you're aging and concerned about osteoporosis), and BMI. That's a lot of really useful information to get. You know what type of tissue is causing weight gain/loss.

Some Ys or gyms can provide you access to an even fancier version of this technology (often for a fee). The one at my Y is called "InBody," and it provides a print-out of much more information you want to know about body composition, including weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, intracellular water, and extracellular water. It has a section that compares your obesity diagnosis from the BMI scale to the Percent Body Fat scale. (Huge difference for me! I'm normal in BMI, and overweight by percentage body fat.) Then it breaks down to show you how much lean development (muscle mass) you have in various parts of your body - each of your arms, your trunk, and each of your legs. It's amazing to see where your muscle development is good, great, or under-developed. Also, it calculates the exact base number of calories you need for a day - your Basal Metabolic Rate.

The technology is amazing and can be very helpful in better understanding how each of us can best approach our fitness goals.

tigersword

The fancy scales that calculate body fat, are, unfortunately, totally inaccurate. They rely on electrical impulse alone to decide what is fat, muscle, water, bone, etc, and hydration levels easily throw them out of whack. I have a scale that shows body fat, and i've tried out several brands, and they always seem to overestimate my body fat % by about 10-15%. After researching a bit more online I found that that's pretty much par for the course with those scales. Calipers and most online calculators will give you a much more realistic number. Of course, nothing beats underwater weighing, but that's not generally practical for everyday life.