Kind Of Discouraged

ISIS786

Hi guys!! My name is Isis and I am new to this site and I have just started my healthy/weight loss journey about 2-3 weeks ago. I am about 5'6 and started at 166 lbs. As of yesterday I weighed in at 165 and this morning I weighed 162.5. I'm looking to lose approx. 20-25 lbs. How can I accurately know if I'm actually losing weight with these big flucuations??!! Right now, I am maintaing a healthy diet and exercise regimen. I worry that I may not be burning enough calories. I honestly don't know how many cals I am burning..I don't feel that the janky machines that I workout on are accurate.

I've also read through tons of posts and I'm not sure if I understand the whole calorie deficit thing.

I am glad I joined this website!! Some of your stories are extremely motivational to me :happy:

Dawners98

I only weigh myself once a week. I figure if in 3 or 4 weeks, the number is still going down, then I must be losing weight and it's not just fluctuation. Good luck!

Goal_Line

Measure over a long period of time - it will average out. Be patient.

Maddi_InBetweenDays

Hi! I am the same height and was stuck around the 165 mark for a long while. With water retention, the time of day you weight yourself, what you've eaten, the amount of salt you've had etc. you can expect a 3 or 4 pound fluctuation. A friend of mine even has a 6 pound difference between her morning weight and her evening weight. And depending on your cycle, you can have swelling and water weight to consider. I weight myself the same time of day in the same or similar clothes, just to maintain a little more accurate measure. Don't get frustrated or discouraged, just keep going with eating healthy, exercising and logging it all.

SARgirl

I would suggest weighing yourself only once a week. Pick a day and a time of day that works best for you (for example: I weight myself on Friday mornings when I get to the gym). As far as calories burned I use a Heart Rate Monitor but before that I just used the numbers from here and they aren't too far off from my HRM on most things. My starting stats were similar to yours (5'5" 158lbs) and I set my numbers at 1 pound a week loss and ate my exercise calories back. The hardest part is having patience but I promise over time you will start to see and feel the differences! Good luck!

youcandooeet

The closer you are to your goal weight, the harder it gets! Try to think about just getting your body healthy and take your measurements and check those every month or so... and not worry as much about the number on the scale. It will happen but don't focus on it because it will drive you nuts.

Your body requires a certain number of calories to maintain your current weight. Calorie deficit means you are intaking less than that number. You will lose 1 lb every week for every 3500 calories you cut from the weekly maintenance amount. MFP does these calculations for you, but some people fiddle with the numbers for different results. Exercise calories are calories you are allowed to (and in some cases should) eat in addition to your goal because of the calories burned in your exercise. Be warned though! MFP is not exactly the most accurate judge of how many calories you earned back.

JackShow70

Hey ISIS786,

If you are going to weigh daily do it at the same time each day.
Do not worry about a pound or two difference in a given day. You have to look at your progress over weeks/months.
Are you logging your food here? If so, maybe open it up so people can view it and provide feedback. If not, logging food is really helpful in getting a grip on what we are eating.

Glad you are here!

RainingBrooke

Hi Isis, I am new to posting, had the motivation to join this wonderful site and that's about it. Your family seems to have the same health issues as mine and right now, I'm at a point where I want to lose, rather than coming to a point of being forced to lose. I'm 160lbs and trying to lose anywheres from 30-40. I weighed myself at my dad's and do not own a scale. I have two teenage daughters and I didn't want to burden them with weight issues, they have enough things to worry about and that right now, is not one of them. If you'd like some moral support, I'm here!!! Bonnie

Illona88

Your weight will fluctuate a lot from day to day, so best to only weigh once a week and check under "reports" section on MFP for a nice graph that shows whether you're losing weight over a longer period of time.

abbygrit

I think what you'll want to do first is enter all your info onto your profile here. Then when you've entered the foods you've eaten as well as your exercises the website automatically tells you and you get a pretty good idea for what you're doing. And the basis for the calorie deficit thing: basically your body only needs so many calories a day to function. If you eat less than your required calories, that turns into pounds lost (I think it's 1 pound loss for every 3500 too few calories consumed). So if you eat 500 calories less a day than you need for a week then you lose 1 pound.

I completely sympathize but believe me when I tell you that weighing yourself on a daily basis is not a good idea. Just do it once a week and that will be a much more accurate representation of your progress!

As for the machines measuring calories burned being inaccurate: you're totally on the nose. Those things are notorious for fluctuating wildly. Just enter your exercises into your profile here and it will show you a better number

8goodgirl0

Hi

You need to weigh yourself at the same time of day - you will fluctuate 2lbs over the course of a day. I agree also try to only weigh once a week.

bsix3

Hi guys!! My name is Isis and I am new to this site and I have just started my healthy/weight loss journey about 2-3 weeks ago. I am about 5'6 and started at 166 lbs. As of yesterday I weighed in at 165 and this morning I weighed 162.5. I'm looking to lose approx. 20-25 lbs. How can I accurately know if I'm actually losing weight with these big flucuations??!! Right now, I am maintaing a healthy diet and exercise regimen. I worry that I may not be burning enough calories. I honestly don't know how many cals I am burning..I don't feel that the janky machines that I workout on are accurate.

I've also read through tons of posts and I'm not sure if I understand the whole calorie deficit thing.

I am glad I joined this website!! Some of your stories are extremely motivational to me :happy:

Congrats again on your efforts to persuing better health. Even though the machines you're using may be crap, log it. You need something to guide you in knowing what your taking in and burning off. The fluctuations could be water weight so don't stress over that. try to weigh yourself at the same time once a week. Stay consistent and know that your hard work is paying off. you may not immediately see lbs drop but also take notice of the inches you loose. That was one of my biggest frustrations. I knew i was working my butt off but the weight was slowly moving. It turned out i was loosing many inches!!!!

You can do this!!

opuntia

I am about 5'6 and started at 166 lbs. As of yesterday I weighed in at 165 and this morning I weighed 162.5. I'm looking to lose approx. 20-25 lbs. How can I accurately know if I'm actually losing weight with these big flucuations??!!

I don't think these are big fluctuations. My weight fluctuates like this every day. It's natural - you're lighter when you get up, after you've been for a poo, etc, and heavier after you've had a big meal, or when it's that time of the month. That is why I wait a while before updating my weight on here - I will weigh myself at the gym, and over a couple of weeks or so I will start to see a trend. For instance, if you're seeing 162 a lot more than you're seeing 165, then you can record your weight as 162 (or 163 to be on the conservative side). What I do is record my maximum weight over the two weeks. As you lose weight, your maximum weight will decrease.

elyelyse

weight can fluctuate as much as a few pounds over the course of a day or two, so I know getting on a scale that regularly would drive me crazy. Some people want that number to look at to gauge their success, but for me, I'm weighing in every 2 weeks. (lots of people do once a week, I don't know if my nerves could take the anxiety!)

Your diary isn't open, so I can't judge, but, if you are really, honestly sticking to an appropriate number of calories, and you are being active, then I say learn to trust that you are going in the right direction and let the number on the scale measure your success in a more general, longer term way.

auntiebabs

Overall trends.

Some folks are good about weighing only once a week.
Me, I'm toooooo curious to wait that long.

If you are going to weigh more often, you've got think of it like tracking the stock market, you can't let the fluctuations bother you, but track and chart to keep an eye on overall trends.

As long as your overall trend is heading in the right direction you are doing okay.

When the number on the scale goes down, I won't enter it into MFP unless I've maintained it (or lower) for at least 3 days in a row.

Also I always take my "for the record weight" in the morning (pre breakfast, post-potty.)
But I do weigh at different times of the day to see what my natural range is my evening weight is about 3-5 more than my morning weight. So I try not to stress over a 3- 5 lb fluctuation.

start121

Definitely don't weigh in every day. Weight fluctuates so much depending on what you have eaten, drunk and what exercise you have done (just to mention a few things that can affect it). and it's even worse for wome who a lovely monthly cycle to factor into things too. If you can, weight yourself monthly, or if you can't wait that long (I know I wanted to weigh myself every day at the start too just to see if it was 'working') every week.

Don't be discouraged by the scales though - if I was to go by the scales alone I'd be very frustrated because I think I should have lost more, but then I try on clothes that never fit and now do!

Good luck with it.

kls13la

I found it helpful when I first started out to weigh myself first thing in the morning, (and even in the evening sometimes before bed) and to write it down. I had never really examined my weight that closely, so it was interesting to see the fluctuations -- time of day, time of the month, before eating, after eating, after a "bad diet" day, etc. Some days my weight varies by as much as a couple of pounds. What I do, though, is only really pay close attention to the number once a week. That's my "official" weigh day, and when I update it here on the site. I personally like having it written down each morning so I can go back and look straight back at one week ago, four days ago, three weeks ago, etc. for any given day to make sure I am on the right track. But seriously, don't worry about little daily fluctuations.

mikeschratz

Aloha,
You might want to use the spreadsheets and HelloitsDan’s instructions on weight loss. All of this is located at: https://docs.google.com/folder/d/0B3kFzsaVmRjmd1k4YjA1SlVWaFU/edit

I had no idea how to go about losing weight the correct way, without hurting myself and without being hungry all the time. I found out from all the knowledgeable folks here on MFP that neither situation has to occur if you are losing the weight the proper way.

Please feel free to use, copy, download anything in that folder. I believe in “Paying it Forward” as HelloItsDan says….

MsKeelah919

For me, I (will start) to LOG my weigh ins only one day per week. I do get on the scale everyday though. Good luck, this site is an AWESOME resource!!

ChristyRunStarr

Hi guys!! My name is Isis and I am new to this site and I have just started my healthy/weight loss journey about 2-3 weeks ago. I am about 5'6 and started at 166 lbs. As of yesterday I weighed in at 165 and this morning I weighed 162.5. I'm looking to lose approx. 20-25 lbs. How can I accurately know if I'm actually losing weight with these big flucuations??!! Right now, I am maintaing a healthy diet and exercise regimen. I worry that I may not be burning enough calories. I honestly don't know how many cals I am burning..I don't feel that the janky machines that I workout on are accurate.

I've also read through tons of posts and I'm not sure if I understand the whole calorie deficit thing.

I am glad I joined this website!! Some of your stories are extremely motivational to me :happy:

Hey Isis, welcome! I weigh myself once a week but I also measure myself more-which I feel helps and is more true to how I feel my clothes are fitting me. Weight goes up and down so if you weigh yourself too much, you'll be discouraged when it goes up one morning then down another. Something that might work for me, might not work for you and visa versa. The best thing is to try something out for a bit, if it doesn't work, change it up a bit.

As for how many calories you burn, you'd be better off getting a HRM (If you search the posts here, you'll see a ton about each one)

Is your diary open? Good luck!

Petaaaah1

Hi Isis,

So, first off I would suggest the "4 - Hour Body, released last year. (Its a big book but you only need to select certain chapters) - I am sure amazon has quite a load of second hand ones at this point.

All healthy foods are not created equal, and some should not be eaten at all. If you want to go equally hardcore on diet google “ryan reynolds diet” and you’ll see what he did to turn into the super six pack he is. My body has reacted very well to this, but it is quite harsh in terms of protein shakes, some meals without “carbs” etc.

Diet is more important that working out for weight loss, trust me…most of us would never have the time to just workout to loose the lbs we need. Think 5 X 1 hours of really intense working out for 1 lbs.
I would suggest for feelings of feel being and curbing you diet exercise comes in a very strong second.

So measuring weight loss (and this is necessarily not the best measure of your success it just the easiest - see below).

A. If you are fixed on weight yourself everyday, and some people can’t help themselves…do it, but then average it out at the end of the week and compare averages. Just have a note pad and be consistent and, hey if you only do it 4 times, just divide by four, if you weight yourself 7 times, just divide by 7, it will all work out.

B. Weight yourself at the same time every day. Best time is in the morning just before you get into the shower…(A) it will be at its lowest as you will have lost water through metabolism and vapour inyour breathing through the night. The amount of water in your system is the biggest influencer of fluctuation…so I see morning as best (and not to be crude.. but after you more “pee” is best)

So measuring your workout and Calorie burn.

Great Support with apps on your smartphone or iPad.
“Edmundo" is free. It uses GPS tracking for things like running biking and walking. It uses you current weight as a factor in fat loss which you can update every week or two. Easy as pie to work.

Other recommendations to reaching your goal:
Lift weights, once you muscles create tone, they burn calories at a stand still and sleep, therefore increase you resting metabolism.
Your goal is to burn fat calories while you’re not in the gym or out running. Power yoga is a good substitute for this also. Its easy to download a video or get your ands on ad DVD for power yoga if you can’t get to a yoga centre. My preference is working out with Kettlebells… it’s a bit of a latest, but intense craze. But mix it up, just make sure your muscles or working and sore at least the first few times out.

Running is a great burner, but many folks have a hard time getting past the 5Km/3mile mark which really limits the calorie burn to less than 300 per effort. It can be discouraging.

My suggestion get a bike (a road bike if you can) if you don thane one. You’ll find hour long rides will burn 500-700 calories/hr if you are pushing yourself. Again you can carry your smart phone with Edmundo with you to measure and track calorie burn and then enter the total calorie burn into Myfitnesspal. You’ll also find you’ll soon be wanting to take off for 2-4 hour rides!

So look at other measures on hear (and you can add them). Waist, thighs, belly, but, arms in terms of inches, and measure those once a month or so. Inches lost is a better measure for your success than weight loss.

So my big five for you would be:

1. Learn about food, and make this an on going thing- most foods spike insulin and prompt fat storage (The 4 Hour BOdy will give you lots of background and recommendations, then some web research now and again will keep you up on things). Look for the Glycemic Index for things to stay away from. Insulin spikes are your enemy.

2. Lift weights as part of your routine (or power yoga). A full body weight workout 2X per week.

3. Minimum 5 X 1 hours a week of working out (gyms are great for hi intensity classes that kick you *kitten*)

4. Edmundo on your phone for runs, walks and biking as incentive to push for a certain amount of calories burned instead of “I’ll walk for 30 mins"

5. Get a bike, second had, and something hat will last…have you seen the abs, butts and legs on bikers? (and join a social biking club that will have you go longer distances in safely with all the upside of making friends and begin surrounded by like minded folks.


Last year I dropped from 178 lbs to 159 libs in 50 days. All I can say a good 70% was due to learning about food and following a simple (and yes boring) routine around food (with one cheat day)

This year, I am putting on some muscle, so inches is the new measure along with body fat. Weight loss is the poorest measure of progress. Muscle is far more dense than fat…so you could weigh the very same, and have changed your body shape drastically.

It can be done, and you can do it!
Let me know how it goes!

Peter (Toronto, ON.)







Weight lifting is difficult to do: If you don’t have delay between you can consider it Cardio X 1.5.

opuntia

So, first off I would suggest the "4 - Hour Body, released last year. (Its a big book but you only need to select certain chapters) - I am sure amazon has quite a load of second hand ones at this point.

I found the 4-Hour Body useful too - but, as you say, it is a very big book! There's a youtube video of Tim Ferriss doing a talk about the main points of his book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK2m-kjhhQM

(His main points seem to be: eat 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up, take photos of your all meals, and do kettlebell swings. And I've tried all these things, and found them to be surprisingly effective.)