Can someone PLEASE explain this to me?!

hickory

Some of you may remember my post (whining post actually) about being here for 2 weeks - eating the right amount of quality calories - exercising my behind off (lots of cardio) - and not lose a pound or an inch in 2 weeks.

Well, I was pretty down about that - then a bunch of things went wrong at home and work - and let's just say week 3 (this week) I have completely fallen off the mfp wagon...eating junk food, not exercising, etc.

So, this morning I decided to end this pity party and get back into things, and I weighed myself to see my new starting weight - assuming I would have gained a couple pounds based on how I've behaved this week.

Well...I LOST 3 pounds. From eating junk and lazing around all day?! Can someone PLEASE explain losing weight NOW - and NOT losing weight when I was doing everything right?! I'm so confused. I know weight fluctuates, but it hasn't fluctuated at all for the previous 2 weeks - so why now?

EDIT: Unbelievable!!! I just measured myself and lost 1.5 inches from my waist and 1 inch from my hips!!!!! Holy moly!

KatWood

My guess is that the sudden change in your eating habits shocked your system. The junk food kick started your metabolism. Don't count on the weightloss continuing though if you keep eating the junk, it will catch up with you. Sounds like you've broken through your plateau which is great! So get back on track and you should continue to see the weight come off :happy:

amymeenieminymo

Sometimes if your body gets used to something your weightloss can stall....so I've found that sometimes when I fall off the wagon and eat junk, I actually lose weight. It's weird I know. Are you sure you were eating enough calories before? Sometimes eating too few can inhibit weightloss....since you've been eating more calories lately (granted not good ones, but more nonetheless) your weightloss has picked up. When you work out, are you eating those exercise calories?

hickory

When I was working out I tried to eat the exercise calories...but I admit it was sometimes really hard to eat them all because I just wasn't hungry enough.

gemiwing

I have a 'free day' once a week and the day after I almost always see a weight loss. I usually eat about 1800-2000 calories on my free days and it's not all that healthy, yet it's not all that bad either.

Plus if I really want a cookie- I wait until then and I eat the cookie. Maybe two if I'm feeling frisky!

ngwife4life

Two things are possible in my opinion:
1) You didn't give it long enough. Did you say just two weeks is how long you were "good"? It can take 2-3 weeks before you see a change on the scale (though, I've never heard of anyone not having a movement when they first makes changes unless they weren't doing completely horribly before in their lifestyle). I know it's messed up but the weeks that I do REALLY well are the weeks right after I do REALLY crappy and I will get frustrated because the scale does not reflect my efforts for the current week. Then the following week, regardless of what I do, it shows a big drop. If you're one of those people whose body has a lag, I highly suggest not weighing in every single week until you can grasp the lag effect.

2) You honestly may not have been eating enough before. Only you know if you were hitting your net calorie goals. And it's good to have a treat (cheat) MEAL (not day, week or month) every week or two. If you were working your butt off but not even hitting your pre-exercise calorie goals, consider what foods you can add into your diet to help you hit that target. There are a lot of wonderful suggestions on this from previous posters asking the same question.

Best of luck to ya! And get back to eating healthy!!! I promise you, it's better for your body!

SHBoss1673

Two things are possible in my opinion:
1) You didn't give it long enough. Did you say just two weeks is how long you were "good"? It can take 2-3 weeks before you see a change on the scale (though, I've never heard of anyone not having a movement when they first makes changes unless they weren't doing completely horribly before in their lifestyle). I know it's messed up but the weeks that I do REALLY well are the weeks right after I do REALLY crappy and I will get frustrated because the scale does not reflect my efforts for the current week. Then the following week, regardless of what I do, it shows a big drop. If you're one of those people whose body has a lag, I highly suggest not weighing in every single week until you can grasp the lag effect.

2) You honestly may not have been eating enough before. Only you know if you were hitting your net calorie goals. And it's good to have a treat (cheat) MEAL (not day, week or month) every week or two. If you were working your butt off but not even hitting your pre-exercise calorie goals, consider what foods you can add into your diet to help you hit that target. There are a lot of wonderful suggestions on this from previous posters asking the same question.

Best of luck to ya! And get back to eating healthy!!! I promise you, it's better for your body!

I wholeheartedly agree with both of these statements. In fact, before I read them, they were almost word for word what I was going to write. Nice work ng!

Remember, this is about long term health, with regards to weight and body health, almost nothing your body does is on the scale of days or weeks, it's on the scale of months. Which is why weighing yourself every day, or every week is a little bit of a futile exercise.

gemiwing

For me, can't speak for anyone else, the cheat day works very well. It's a day off where I don't worry about eating every three hours, cramming as much food in as I can handle (oh those exercise calories!) and drinking water all day.

I think that it depends on one's definition of 'cheat' is. For me, it's eating a hamburger instead of turkey, still no bun (bloodsugar issues). It's waiting until noon to eat if I want to. It's being able to have a diet soda. I don't eat five big macs or a box of cookies. It's more about having a day that I'm not on such a schedule or being restricted as much. Of course, enter everything you eat and drink- it'll keep it honest.

I do think it's important to not eat 3000 calories or go hog wild on a 'free day'. I do agree that if you seem to eat waaaay too much for a free day, then a free meal would be a great alternative!

Maybe 'cheat day' isn't the best word for what I do. Maybe 'relax day' is better.

Sorry for the thread hijack- I just wanted to explain what my free day looks like. :flowerforyou:

ngwife4life

For me, can't speak for anyone else, the cheat day works very well. It's a day off where I don't worry about eating every three hours, cramming as much food in as I can handle (oh those exercise calories!) and drinking water all day.

I think that it depends on one's definition of 'cheat' is. For me, it's eating a hamburger instead of turkey, still no bun (bloodsugar issues). It's waiting until noon to eat if I want to. It's being able to have a diet soda. I don't eat five big macs or a box of cookies. It's more about having a day that I'm not on such a schedule or being restricted as much. Of course, enter everything you eat and drink- it'll keep it honest.

I do think it's important to not eat 3000 calories or go hog wild on a 'free day'. I do agree that if you seem to eat waaaay too much for a free day, then a free meal would be a great alternative!

Maybe 'cheat day' isn't the best word for what I do. Maybe 'relax day' is better.

Sorry for the thread hijack- I just wanted to explain what my free day looks like. :flowerforyou:

I totally agree. I just wasn't disciplined enough to grasp that it wasn't "stuff your face with all of the crap you've been depriving yourself of until you feel like you want to vomit" day at first. Because that's what I did and then I'd be completely off track for the rest of the week, thinking "well, I've blown it now!" I wouldn't log my food for that day and beat myself up over it thinking I must have eaten 5,000 calories. In reality, I would have been at 3,000 MAX.

Now I give myself treats whenever I want to, provided I have the calories. My treat meal might be going out without having to worry about not ordering french fries or maybe just that I want spaghetti WITH texas toast or I might skip the salad. I generally only change one thing about my meal and I log it, too. My one requirement for the day is that is I don't go over by more than 500 calories.

I think you have to find what works best for you so that you have the freedom you want but also the discipline you need!

gemiwing

I totally agree. I just wasn't disciplined enough to grasp that it wasn't "stuff your face with all of the crap you've been depriving yourself of until you feel like you want to vomit" day at first.

EXACTLY. I think that's where we go wrong with the idea of a 'free day'. I know exactly what you mean abut the french fries too. I call it being a Wild Woman On The Loose. Oooohhh I'm gonna eat fries! Then I eat about four or six of them. *sigh* Oh yah, I'm wild and crazy alright.

I do agree as well, that you have to know yourself and what you'll stick to. If you are going to cram your face on your 'relax day' then no, you should just keep it to a meal until you develop more control.

Trial and error, along with knowing yourself, is a huge part of healthy weight loss. Plus, what works for one, might not work for another. Progress is the goal, not perfection.