Disappointing Weigh Ins

Marillian

Not happy with my weigh ins for the past 3 weeks. Three weeks ago, I lost 5 pounds following the MFP's recommendation of 1850 calories. Last week I gained 4 lbs. despite staying within or under my calorie goal. Last week I lowered my calories to 1450. Today I weighed in and only lost 3 pounds. I really expected more considering some days I only ate 1250.

I don't rack up a lot of excercise calories and those that I do, I usually only eat half of them. I eat extremely healthy food. All meat and poultry is humanely raised, pastured/free roaming, 100% grass feed beef, organically fed pork, organic fruits and vegetables. I have eliminated processed sugar and drastically reduced my carb intake. I try not to eat processed foods. I never use or eat anything with artificial sweeteners, or "fat free" foods (too much sugar).

So this begs the question, what calorie range should I really be eating to have consistent weight loss? I have 80 pounds to get rid of.

Any advice appreciated!

digitalsteel

I am firmly under the impression that weight loss is contributed more to the types of foods you eat vs the number of calories you eat. I have had better results on following a primal/paleo aproach than doing anything else. Perhaps it would work for you.

snowchj

Hi there.

Are you weighing yourself once per week or everyday?

Tips for the scale...
- Weigh yourself everyday
- Weigh in at the same time everyday (I like to do it right after waking up)
- Wear the same clothes every time
- Average all seven values from week to week to come up with a more accurate number

lizard053

If you're following MFP's guidelines you should be averaging about 2 pounds a week at most! You probably lost quite a bit of water weight week 1, then gained most of that back week 2. Maybe you had a lot of sodium the day before your weigh-in?

You lost 3 pounds this week? That's a fantastic loss!

You don't have to rack up a lot of exercise calories to succeed at weight loss. In theory, following the MFP guidelines you don't have to exercise at all. I find I need to no matter what, no matter how little I eat.

It sounds like you're eating a lot of the right things. But sometimes our bodies just don't agree in the first few weeks. Make sure you're getting plenty of water daily, to keep things moving! I think 1450 was too few for you. 1650 sounds like a nice happy medium. Don't get impatient. It can take up to a month for your body to adjust to a new routine! And of all new routines, eating healthy for weight loss is a big one! The weight loss will come!

devonette

Are you accurately measuring and weighing your foods, or are you just guestimating and eyeballing them? I found that once I started using a digital scale and measuring every 1/2 cup of pasta or every Tablespoon of syrup etc. I noticed a big difference in how I was losing weight. I had been overestimating on everything!

Marillian

I should clarify that although I started MFP a month ago, I was on Weight Watchers for who knows how long when I simply stopped losing no matter how strict I was in following the program. From my highest weight, I'm down 47 pounds, but that's taken 3 years to achieve. I just want the lose/gain/lose/gain cycle to stop!

Marillian

I weigh and and measure everything. I have portion control issues, so I must do that every day.

cantobean

So, in total, you've lost 4 pounds in three weeks? Congrats!

Using MFP's recommendation, the MOST you should have lost is 6 pounds. I think 4 is an excellent start. Heck, that's a way faster rate than the one I'm losing it.

Weight loss is a slow process, and many other things will affect your scale reading week after week: sodium, water, exercise, TOM, time of day, etc. This is not something you can rush, and you can't expect to see a loss of 3-5 pounds every week. It doesn't work that way.

You didn't put the weight on quickly, and it's not going to come off that quickly, either. Don't let yourself get discouraged every time you see a couple extra pounds on the scale. You're in this for the long haul, not just this week's weigh-in. And don't cut your calories to extremely low just to speed up the process, or you could damage your metabolism and slow it down instead.


I'd stick with the cals MFP originally suggested for you.