Only 1lb off this week and feeling disappointed

I'm still very new to MFP and the whole calorie counting thing. I started about 2.5 weeks ago now. The first weigh in I did was last Friday and I'd lost 5lbs which I was very happy about. Did my 2nd weigh in this morning and I've only lost a further 1lb and I'm feeling disappointed.

I expected more to come off in the first week so wasn't expecting 5lbs again but I was hoping for 2lbs as all my numbers in MFP are set up for a steady 2lbs a week weight loss.

My calorie goal is 1400 and I have been exercising every day (swimming twice a week, wii fit for between 30mins - 1 hour every day and the 30 day shred every day for past week). I have consistently ended the day under my overall calorie goal.

I've been eating very healthily, have increased my intake of fruit and vegetables and have been taking multivitamins and iron as well as calcium supplements every day. My only junky food has been a little bit of chocolate on 2 of the days when my calories were way below goal and I just ate a small amount.

I drink only water most days (no tea or coffee and only the occasional diet coke when I take my Grandad to the pub). I have been struggling to drink full 8 glasses a day though working on this.

I started out at 19st 8lb (274 lbs) and am now 19st 2lbs (268lbs) and am around 5'7.

Should I be concerned that this week is just a 1lb loss instead of intended 2lbs or just chalk it up to a bad week (though I thought I'd done well?!). I really would like to achieve my goal of 2lbs a week loss and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Any advice/tips?
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Replies

  • AlphamaleBAMF
    AlphamaleBAMF Posts: 373 Member
    Your body is going to do what it wants and the weight will come off in whatever fashion it chooses. There really is no set forumla for weight loss. I think the 3,500 calories : 1lb of body fat rule is just a guideline.

    I went about a month and only lost 2 kg. And then I've lost 5kg this week.

    You should be happy, you lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks. And if your expectations are more than that you should lower them and take each positive step as it is. A victory in a single battle in the war against your weight.
  • debst24
    debst24 Posts: 3 Member
    it's not a bad week if you lost a pound, it's a bad week if you gain a pound, plus if you work it out 6 pounds in 2 weeks is pretty darn good nearly half a stone :)
  • Tank_Girl
    Tank_Girl Posts: 372 Member
    Im finding the weight drops off every 2-3wks with me... I didnt put the weight on overnight and i wont lose it overnight
  • fstephanie4
    fstephanie4 Posts: 196 Member
    I understand where you are coming from. I only lost 0.4 lbs one week and it is upsetting. However, I've changed my view on weight loss which I was totally not expecting. I saw my 0.4lbs gone as a loss and I was happy that I lost it!
    Whether it is 1lbs or 10lbs, positive thinking that it is a loss will help. And then it gives you motivation for next weigh in.

    I said right...I lost 0.4 this week I will lose 1.4 next week and so on. Positively looking at it as a loss is difficult but if you master it then you will always smile on the scales :)

    Hope that helps.

    Feel free to add for support.
  • bradphil87
    bradphil87 Posts: 617 Member
    Im finding the weight drops off every 2-3wks with me... I didnt put the weight on overnight and i wont lose it overnight
    I've noticed this too. On weeks that I don't lose, the following week (it's taken a few weeks before) it comes off in a chunk, like 2 lbs. one time almost 3! So I wouldn't be disappointed, and to be honest, I'd love to be losing a pound a week again lol but it slows down a bit when you get closer and closer. Makes those 1 lb a week drops look awsome :)
  • ElleBee66
    ElleBee66 Posts: 128 Member
    I'm still very new to MFP and the whole calorie counting thing. I started about 2.5 weeks ago now. The first weigh in I did was last Friday and I'd lost 5lbs which I was very happy about. Did my 2nd weigh in this morning and I've only lost a further 1lb and I'm feeling disappointed.

    I expected more to come off in the first week so wasn't expecting 5lbs again but I was hoping for 2lbs as all my numbers in MFP are set up for a steady 2lbs a week weight loss.

    My calorie goal is 1400 and I have been exercising every day (swimming twice a week, wii fit for between 30mins - 1 hour every day and the 30 day shred every day for past week). I have consistently ended the day under my overall calorie goal.

    I've been eating very healthily, have increased my intake of fruit and vegetables and have been taking multivitamins and iron as well as calcium supplements every day. My only junky food has been a little bit of chocolate on 2 of the days when my calories were way below goal and I just ate a small amount.

    I drink only water most days (no tea or coffee and only the occasional diet coke when I take my Grandad to the pub). I have been struggling to drink full 8 glasses a day though working on this.

    I started out at 19st 8lb (274 lbs) and am now 19st 2lbs (268lbs) and am around 5'7.

    Should I be concerned that this week is just a 1lb loss instead of intended 2lbs or just chalk it up to a bad week (though I thought I'd done well?!). I really would like to achieve my goal of 2lbs a week loss and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

    Any advice/tips?

    No, you don't need to be concerned - the two pounds a week is the average weight loss you are aiming for and with 6 pounds in two weeks you have averaged 3lbs - so that's great. I find that I lose 2 or 3 lbs about every three weeks at this stage (I have lost 70 ish lbs). Weight loss is not linear for some/most people. I have weeks when I don't lose but when I look back over my entire time at MFP I am averaging about 1.5lb a week. Keep going and it will happen - but don't fall into the trap of expecting a big loss every week and then being disappointed if you don't get it and then falling off the wagon.

    Good luck, well done and keep going.
  • Lonewolf1507
    Lonewolf1507 Posts: 507 Member
    As you have just started then the first week will give a larger jump than what you can expect all the time. Also you have added extra exercises to your weekly programme, this might increase water retention which will reduce weight loss.

    As Debs said, a loss of any kind is a good week, a gain is a bad week.

    Good luck with your goals, you might want to set mini targets and set treats for yourself when you reach them.

    Andy
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    There's nothing special about "1 week". Look at it as a total loss of 6 lbs - which is great, keep at it!
  • ElleBee66
    ElleBee66 Posts: 128 Member
    There's nothing special about "1 week". Look at it as a total loss of 6 lbs - which is great, keep at it!

    This!

    (I have gained 4 lbs this 'week' - so I am begging for this to be true! lol)
  • Your body is going to do what it wants and the weight will come off in whatever fashion it chooses. There really is no set forumla for weight loss. I think the 3,500 calories : 1lb of body fat rule is just a guideline.

    I went about a month and only lost 2 kg. And then I've lost 5kg this week.

    You should be happy, you lost 6 lbs in 2 weeks. And if your expectations are more than that you should lower them and take each positive step as it is. A victory in a single battle in the war against your weight.

    Wise words ^^
  • chatterbox3110
    chatterbox3110 Posts: 630 Member
    You're doing great - 6lbs in 2 weeks is brilliant.

    If you've ever watched the Biggest Loser TV series, you will recall that quite often, week 2 is known as the week of gloom as the inital brilliant losses are invariably followed by a week of very little loss, despite the whole change in lifestyle and massive increase in exercise.

    As someone else has already mentioned in relation to irregular losses, I also have similar issues - I can go a couple of weeks without losing, then get a fantastic loss, but as time has passed I've come to realise this is the way my body works in relation to my new lifestyle (I don't see this as a diet anymore) and overall I'm averaging out exactly where I want to be.

    The secret is not to give up, but to put any disappointments behind you and look forward to new directions.

    Good luck on your journey.
  • Don't get down I have a feeling that you may have gained some muscle. And that would be a good thing. I use to weigh 236 now I am at 139. I have lost 124 lbs of fat. and gained 15 lbs of muscle. be careful do let let you body go into starvation mode. you will lose muscle and gain fat YES! your body will start turning your muscle into fat. Hang in there nothing great ever comes with out hard work. That first week you may have also lost alot of water. And always remember there will be weeks when you fail. Forgiver yourself and go on. Get right back on the horse and continue!!! you well get there JoanFalk
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
    Any loss is good. As long as I am consistently losing then I'm happy. I did everything right this week and put on 0.10lb so I would have been over the moon with 1lb loss. You are doing everything right, stick with it and you will get the results that you want.
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
    I had this exact thing happen to me at my 2 week weigh in. The first week I lost 7lbs (yeah thats a lot of water!) and then the next week I lost 1lb. I was disappointed, but continued onto week 3. At week 3, i lost another 3lbs! Keep your cycle in mind as well as this will add weight gain/water retention for about 1 week out of the month. :D Great job on the 6lb loss!
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
    If I lost 1lb a week I would be estatic.
    I have my goal at 2lbs a week.
    I log meticulously and exercise 4 times a week and dot wear back my exercise calories
    I'm lactose intolerent so I'm not eating dairy
    And I eat very clean and 'healthy' 95 % of the time .
    And I'm big and have a lot to lose so it's not that


    And im NOT usually losing as much as a lb a week
    6lbs in two weeks is fantastic
    Keep it up xx
  • Do not feel disappointed!!

    You have to get into a mindset of anything lost is a complete result :smile:

    My first weigh in is on Monday and my fear is that I will either be the same or put on which will be severely demotivatiing but I will keep on going!!

    I think you are doing everything right and like everyone says - 6lbs in 2 weeks is amazing work!

    Keep the faith :flowerforyou:
  • I log my weight and waist measurements on TactioHealth on my iPhone as it links to my FitBit (I love getting a gold cup award for steps and workout!). I can see from my graph there that my weight loss isn't at all linear but as long as that orange trend line is going downwards, I'm happy. I lose in chunks and then plateau and then lose in chunks. I've recently started on Couch to 5K. I'm doing the NHS free podcast version and finished week two this morning. I'm finding it's really helping me to get in touch with how my body feels and despite being red faced and aching, I'm really enjoying seeing progress.
  • Thanks everyone!

    Don't get me wrong, I AM happy that it's a loss (hey a loss is a loss right?!) and I fully wasn't expecting to lose as much as the first week as I know that's unrealistic, I had just been hoping for 2lbs.

    I'm not expecting overnight miracles or anything - I know this will be a long process and I'm prepared for that I think. It is TOM right now so I also know that may have something to do with it. I also have PCOS so I don't know if that may also affect the rate at which I can lose weight (this means I don't have a very regular cycle - I'm hoping losing weight may help with this).

    Definitely going to keep going, really want to shift the weight now and feel comfortable with myself. I think that's why I was disappointed with just 1lb down! Reassuring to know that's not actually bad. DH tried to show me with a tub of margerine how much 1lb of fat actually is and when it's presented like that it does actually look like quite a bit!

    Would love some new MFP friends if anyone want to add me?
  • I've recently started on Couch to 5K. I'm doing the NHS free podcast version and finished week two this morning. I'm finding it's really helping me to get in touch with how my body feels and despite being red faced and aching, I'm really enjoying seeing progress.

    I've not heard of this - am off to google...
  • lacroyx
    lacroyx Posts: 5,754 Member
    Any advice/tips?

    Patience. I dropped 30 lbs. my 1st week when I started back in Dec. 2009. It was mostly water weight....well in my case I say soda weight since I never drank water before. :laugh: I was almost 500 lbs. The more you have to lose, the faster you will drop. Did I repeat that the following week? Of course not. Was I disappointed? No. I didn't expect to lose that much to begin with the 1st week and I didn't have anymore double digit losses until 8 months later when I dropped 10 lbs. in one week.

    Unless you are super big like me, it's actually better to have small drops per week. Also I don't know if you are but I believe it's important to do monthly measurements. The scale will never tell the whole story. Just because you don't drop any weight for 1 month, doesn't mean you are not making progress in other ways. I think lack of patience is one of the biggest downfalls for people here. Progress slows down, people get mad, fusterated and give up without realizing that slow progress is still progress.
  • You need to be realistic about weight loss. It's a long hard road, and if you set your goals too high, you're gonna land with a bump and feel disappointed. Every loss should be celebrated, no matter how small, it's all in the right direction. We all have good and bad weeks, if it was that easy, none of us would be here!! Everybody's body is different, just because one person lost 10lb in their first 2 weeks doesn't mean to say you will. I'm weighing myself once a month, some might say that's too long, but it works for me so i don't get obsessed with standing on the scales. I separate my weight loss into 7lb chunks, when one's gone i'm onto the next, another goal reached, it breaks up the total amount that i have to lose, so that i'm not overwhelmed with the big loss i need to make! Keep going, you're doing fab.
  • I haven't been taking measurements but I plan to buy a tape measure this weekend and start! DH says he is already noticing a difference in me around my face and waist but I'm not noticing a difference in my clothes yet so I think measuring would be useful for me.

    I Would say I'm quite big (UK size 20) but would never expect to lose double digits in a week. I thin water retention may be a problem so although I only really drink water I'm going to really focus on upping the amount I drink to see how that makes a difference.

    Thanks everyone - this site is so supportive it's great. I haven't really told anyone I'm 'on a diet' so it's nice to be able to talk about it and hopefully people will start noticing a difference soon!
  • ebony__
    ebony__ Posts: 519 Member
    It's incredible u lost anything at all during Tom... Wow
  • Am I right in saying I should be eating as close to my goal as possible? So if my goal is 1400 calories then I should be aiming for my NET calories to be as close to 1400 as possible? At the moment I'm consistently under so maybe that's not good either?
  • Jenjaz1910
    Jenjaz1910 Posts: 433 Member
    You should try and net as close to you daily goal as possible, so if you workout and burn 400 cals you should be eating about 1,800 cals x
  • That's what I thought. And I totally haven't managed it yet - I'm consistently under - especially on days I go swimming when I burn a lot of calories (I swim breaststoke steadily for an hour and do about a mile in that time but I'm aiming to get faster!).

    So obviously I don;t want to make up the calories eating junk food so do I just eat bigger portions of the healthy stuff?! Getting your head round it all is HARD!
  • I'm still very new to MFP and the whole calorie counting thing. I started about 2.5 weeks ago now. The first weigh in I did was last Friday and I'd lost 5lbs which I was very happy about. Did my 2nd weigh in this morning and I've only lost a further 1lb and I'm feeling disappointed.

    I expected more to come off in the first week so wasn't expecting 5lbs again but I was hoping for 2lbs as all my numbers in MFP are set up for a steady 2lbs a week weight loss.

    My calorie goal is 1400 and I have been exercising every day (swimming twice a week, wii fit for between 30mins - 1 hour every day and the 30 day shred every day for past week). I have consistently ended the day under my overall calorie goal.

    I've been eating very healthily, have increased my intake of fruit and vegetables and have been taking multivitamins and iron as well as calcium supplements every day. My only junky food has been a little bit of chocolate on 2 of the days when my calories were way below goal and I just ate a small amount.

    I drink only water most days (no tea or coffee and only the occasional diet coke when I take my Grandad to the pub). I have been struggling to drink full 8 glasses a day though working on this.

    I started out at 19st 8lb (274 lbs) and am now 19st 2lbs (268lbs) and am around 5'7.

    Should I be concerned that this week is just a 1lb loss instead of intended 2lbs or just chalk it up to a bad week (though I thought I'd done well?!). I really would like to achieve my goal of 2lbs a week loss and I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

    Any advice/tips?

    your 1st 5 lbs lost was only your water weight. Don't be discouraged if you lose only 1 pound.....what i learned is that 1-2 lbs of weight lost is healthy and is ideal. You should celebrate each time you lose weight...at least you are not gaining!
  • This is true! I am pleased I've lost honest!
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    You should build in a rest day, where you do no exercise more strenuous than light walking, at least one day a week. Then, make your weekly weigh in the next morning. After exercise, our bodies hold onto fluid in our muscles. You should have a rest day anyway to help your muscles repair themselves--that's how you see results.
  • Jenjaz1910
    Jenjaz1910 Posts: 433 Member
    That's what I thought. And I totally haven't managed it yet - I'm consistently under - especially on days I go swimming when I burn a lot of calories (I swim breaststoke steadily for an hour and do about a mile in that time but I'm aiming to get faster!).

    So obviously I don;t want to make up the calories eating junk food so do I just eat bigger portions of the healthy stuff?! Getting your head round it all is HARD!

    A handful of nuts or a spoonful of peanut butter etc... are healthy options that are not too filling but will bump your cals up, without making you feel too full! i eat 6 times a day also, I think my dairy is open if you wanted to take a look

    I aim for 1,600 cals a day and I am losing (on average only about 2lbs a months but a los is a loss and slow and steady wins the race) x