One week in with no pounds lost...Please help!

The first thing this morning I weighed myself on this end to my first week of ‘training’ only to realize that I have not lost a pound. I don’t understand...I have done two workouts a day with Jillian Michaels and or other cardio (Elliptical). Sooo...feeling a bit out of sorts with my same weight staring me in the face as when I started last week I went to the Support & Motivation section of MFP. Before I could post anything I read about this lady who’s husband said some nasty things to her. It immediately turned my focus off of me and on to her. I posted my message to her and in doing so all of a sudden didn’t need to post anything for my personal dilemma. I pulled myself up just by extending my hand to someone else.

That being said, to address my issue I’m going to adjust what type of calories I am putting into my body, less/no bad carbs & sugar. I have been having just one small bite of something sweet each day...no more, that’s finished. I did have a little salty stuff a couple of times last week, but I’ve been drinking lots of water to flush that out, as well as, sweating profusely during my workouts. I am retaining quite a bit of water weight this week, 46.5% according to my weight scale. I’m not really sure how accurate that number is, but it is an ‘upscale’ scale. lol I’m almost completely a vegetarian. Once in a while I will have a little fish. If anyone has anything constructive to contribute that would help me reach my goal I would appreciate it.
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Replies

  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Wait 2 months doing exactly what your doing, and then weigh yourself.
  • the scale may not show you a change yet but it has only been 1 week.. think of how long it took you to get where you are at today.... don't get discouraged,. You are making a life change :)
  • 1LKP
    1LKP Posts: 5 Member
    Maybe not quite as long as two months but it does sometimes take your body a wee while to get the message, especially if you are exercising as well.

    Stick with it, it will shift.
  • surromom2010
    surromom2010 Posts: 457 Member
    did you think maybe you're gaining muscle while losing fat? Have you measured yourself? If not, do so and getrid of the scale.. I watched my calories and did insanity every day for 6 weeks. I only lost .5 lbs but I lost 6 inches.. The scale is useless IMO...The weight you gained didn't happen in one week so you can't expect it to be gone in one week either.
  • beccarockslife
    beccarockslife Posts: 816 Member
    did you think maybe you're gaining muscle while losing fat? Have you measured yourself? If not, do so and getrid of the scale.. I watched my calories and did insanity every day for 6 weeks. I only lost .5 lbs but I lost 6 inches.. The scale is useless IMO...The weight you gained didn't happen in one week so you can't expect it to be gone in one week either.

    You think she gained muscle in one week?
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
    It's been a week. You are judging progress by a scale. Both are problems.

    You need to give it more time. You also need to realize what the scale represents - overall body weight. It has no idea how or why you weigh what you weigh... it only knows a number. It knows nothing about water retention, body fat/lean muscle, etc etc.
  • Fozzi43
    Fozzi43 Posts: 2,984 Member
    It's only a week..give yourself time.
  • tonightokayalright
    tonightokayalright Posts: 289 Member
    You shouldn't weigh yourself at all for the first 1-2 months, you definitely won't see change in the first week. Your body doesn't even know what you're doing yet.
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    On the plus side, you didn't gain.
  • lovemykids58
    lovemykids58 Posts: 195 Member
    It takes time. I cant see what you have been eating but make sure you are getting in lots of veggies ( not too much fruit) and lean meants/ beans. Also DRINK WATER!! I can not stress that enough.
  • BeingAwesome247
    BeingAwesome247 Posts: 1,171 Member
    It's been a week. You are judging progress by a scale. Both are problems.

    You need to give it more time. You also need to realize what the scale represents - overall body weight. It has no idea how or why you weigh what you weigh... it only knows a number. It knows nothing about water retention, body fat/lean muscle, etc etc.

    Wait at least 3 weeks IMO
  • COShelly
    COShelly Posts: 9 Member
    From experience, I know it's difficult. I've been at the same weight for 4 months and the scale has started to creep back up. It's no fun. My suggestion to you would be the following: Take your measurements and pay attention to the way your clothes are fitting vice the number on the scale. If you're working out as much as you say you are, you are building muscle and burning fat. Try to start getting in 100 oz of water in EVERY day. Good luck. Let's become friends and get through this together.
  • MissEBK
    MissEBK Posts: 23
    Girl!! There are times I will go three solid weeks with no weight loss change and then bam, my butt will go and weight myself and 5lbs has disappeared. I use to let it bother me but not anymore, especially when my clothes tell a totally different story. See even though the scale was not moving, my clothes however were hanging off of me which means I had lost some serious inches!! So pretty lady DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED and you had better not give up!!! Keep doing what you have been doing. It will all pay off in the end. Remember you did not put all your weight on in a week so it is not all gonna fall off in a week either!
  • dcglobalgirl
    dcglobalgirl Posts: 207 Member
    You don't mention how many calories you're trying to eat each day and we can't see your diary. Exercise is very important but you absolutely have to focus on the food if you want to lose. It's possible that even though you are eating very healthy food, your portions may still be too big and if you aren't burning more than you are taking in, you're not going to lose.
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    Tough love time!

    I've had a lot of "one weeks" with no pounds lost.
    People who have lost 300 pounds on this site have had one week with no pounds lost.
    You JUST STARTED. Do you want to give up???
    Dial back the exercise by about 75%, get yourself right on your calories - - not too much, not too little - - and settle in for a long slow train ride to awesometown.
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    This is just my opinion, but I don't think you need to do 3 workouts per day....it may be that your muscles are holding onto water as you've taxed them quite a bit this week.

    Weight loss is primarily from creating a calorie deficit. Whether it's by your intake or by exercise, or a bit of both. I've 'dieted' a million different ways over the years, and the most important thing I've learned in the last few months is that I need to feed my body!

    I've done very low cal, low carb, low everything diets in the past only to lose and gain the same 10-20 lbs over an over!! Now, I'm the lightest I've been in years, am in better shape than I've been since I was a teenager and am not depriving myself of anything!

    I have calculated my BMR / TDEE and keep a slight deficit. I do a 40 minute bootcamp class 3 x per week, and run 2-3 times per week. I eat what I want (I don't have the cleanest diet that's for sure), and keep it within my cals for the day. Deprivation has always sent me on a week's long binge!!

    I am finally at peace with the whole diet and fitness thing and have found a way to live an active lifestyle that works for me! It took me some time to learn patience and trust the process as my losses have been about a half pound per week, but it has been simple and totally worth it!!

    I am 40 years old, 5'5", 133 lbs and eat around 1800 cals per day on average.

    Hope that helps!
  • senglishrose
    senglishrose Posts: 86 Member
    I am a professional dieter so I know the frustrations one can feel when the scale does not reflect the efforts you have put in. I also know there are many variables that can flux the scale. For example when I used to follow Weight Watchers, I could clearly stay within my point range but if I ate a large number of my points the day before I weighed in, clearly the scale would show that even if I had a weight loss the previous day.

    I agree with some others that you should not let the scale determine whether you did well. I used to be obsess with the scale but now I'm looking at what I'm doing and know that the number on the scale will eventually move.

    Measurements, logging your food, and activities are all good means of determining your success. Congrats on your first week of doing Jillian -- she's tough!
  • Elzecat
    Elzecat Posts: 2,916 Member
    Tough love time!

    I've had a lot of "one weeks" with no pounds lost.
    People who have lost 300 pounds on this site have had one week with no pounds lost.
    You JUST STARTED. Do you want to give up???
    Dial back the exercise by about 75%, get yourself right on your calories - - not too much, not too little - - and settle in for a long slow train ride to awesometown.

    ^This times 1000.

    Quoted especially because I love the phrase "settle in for a long slow train ride to awesometown."
  • sillygoosie
    sillygoosie Posts: 1,109 Member
    You said yourself that you think you are retaining water.

    Beyond that, take photos and measurements right now and try to base your progress off of those and not the scale. Also, like others have said, it's been a week. A week! Don't step on that scale for a month. Please don't get overly frustrated after only a 7 days.
  • Thesoundofwolf
    Thesoundofwolf Posts: 378 Member
    Eat clean. Drink water. And time.


    eating garbage and working out is like putting cheap gas in a car. It's gonna funk up the system and break it eventually.

    Also measure yourself. I tape-test at least every other weigh in, and I weigh in once a week (including my TOM, but I don't recorde it until after my TOM).

    Be honest with your food. Get a good food-scale, it'll be worth the investment, in portion control and food allotment (It's like payday for peanuts with me, when I see that I can have more, plus counting chips can be tiresome).
  • Scarlett_Belle
    Scarlett_Belle Posts: 145 Member
    I am with the idea of measuring yourself. Just do it honestly. No one has to know what your numbers are except you and while you may not be losing weight right away you could be losing inches. I don't know how it happens for other people but when I do a life style change I lose inches from the face down pretty much. I don't lose quickly it takes about 2-3 weeks to see scale results but I could have already lost 1-2 inches in that time and firmed up my flub. Don't just measure yourself with a scale, it's not always healthy and it can really suck down your motivation. Just keep your chin up and keep on keeping on. You can do it! :flowerforyou:
  • Snooozie
    Snooozie Posts: 3,461 Member
    I'm not in a position to offer much advice yet - but I can say just keep doing what you're doing and don't give in to the frustration you may be feeling; when I started I went an entire month without seeing any results; and was getting totally frustrated and a little pissed off to be honest lol because I was making all these changes and nothing was happening...... :explode:

    but I was fortunate enough to find a great group of friends who taught me a lot and kept me SANE over the weeks, and I invested a lot of time reading loads of good information on here from other people willing to lend their opinions and knowledge, and probably one of the most .. reassuring things someone said to me was that our bodies are not linear.. they respond to changes in their own damn time and own damn way.. and that got me through til, with the addition of learning more to keep tweaking my food choices and exercise options, suddenly it started to happen.

    Patience is NOT one of my virtues.. but I'm learning it... all I can offer is to let you know that you're not alone in how you feel, and the encouragement to keep doing what you're doing and you WILL see the results of all your hard work... congrats on doing so well btw!! :smile:
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    The first thing this morning I weighed myself on this end to my first week of ‘training’ only to realize that I have not lost a pound. I don’t understand...I have done two workouts a day with Jillian Michaels and or other cardio (Elliptical). Sooo...feeling a bit out of sorts with my same weight staring me in the face as when I started last week I went to the Support & Motivation section of MFP. Before I could post anything I read about this lady who’s husband said some nasty things to her. It immediately turned my focus off of me and on to her. I posted my message to her and in doing so all of a sudden didn’t need to post anything for my personal dilemma. I pulled myself up just by extending my hand to someone else.

    That being said, to address my issue I’m going to adjust what type of calories I am putting into my body, less/no bad carbs & sugar. I have been having just one small bite of something sweet each day...no more, that’s finished. I did have a little salty stuff a couple of times last week, but I’ve been drinking lots of water to flush that out, as well as, sweating profusely during my workouts. I am retaining quite a bit of water weight this week, 46.5% according to my weight scale. I’m not really sure how accurate that number is, but it is an ‘upscale’ scale. lol I’m almost completely a vegetarian. Once in a while I will have a little fish. If anyone has anything constructive to contribute that would help me reach my goal I would appreciate it.

    Oh honey...it took me 3 months to lose my first 7 lbs. Then I hit a good place and lost like 20 lbs in 4 months...then 4 months ago my weight loss slowed down dramatically--to a pound or less per month. You just have to keep going.

    I only lost 1.4 lbs in the month of December, the tape measure didn't even show any change...but when I looked at pictures, THEY told me what I wanted to hear.
  • Chinadorian
    Chinadorian Posts: 200 Member
    Tough love time!

    I've had a lot of "one weeks" with no pounds lost.
    People who have lost 300 pounds on this site have had one week with no pounds lost.
    You JUST STARTED. Do you want to give up???
    Dial back the exercise by about 75%, get yourself right on your calories - - not too much, not too little - - and settle in for a long slow train ride to awesometown.

    ^^yerp
  • Weebs628
    Weebs628 Posts: 574 Member
    I gained my first week. If I would have given up then, I'd be in the same miserable spot I was in 6 months ago. Don't give up! Put away the scale if you have to!

    Make sure you take measurements too.
  • HeidiChriston
    HeidiChriston Posts: 8 Member
    Don't forget, you could be losing inches still even if you didnt lose any weight this week... Try and drink a gallon of water a day, And lots of veggies and NO sugar :-)
  • monjacq1964
    monjacq1964 Posts: 291 Member
    It's important to get enough calories in, especially when you're exercising (and the right kind of calories, good dense proteins). Remember, weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint. You're not going to tell yourself you're winning the race if you've just left the starting line.
    Weigh yourself no more than once every two weeks, look at trends, not specific numbers (eg, if you're down 5 pounds after two weeks, but the next week you're up one, you've still lost four).
    Look at other indicators of weight loss. How are your clothes fitting? Measure yourself. Weight "redistributes" as well, so pay attention to where you're seeing weight come off of.
  • eAddict
    eAddict Posts: 212 Member
    When I was on WW I actually went UP the first three weeks. Now 10 months later I am just shy of 60lb down. Patience. And you will hit plateaus throughout your journey. And weight loss should only be ONE part of an overall goal of getting healthy.

    Best of luck and hang in there!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Tough love time!

    I've had a lot of "one weeks" with no pounds lost.
    People who have lost 300 pounds on this site have had one week with no pounds lost.
    You JUST STARTED. Do you want to give up???
    Dial back the exercise by about 75%, get yourself right on your calories - - not too much, not too little - - and settle in for a long slow train ride to awesometown.

    Well put. This thing is not linear OP...it's a general trend over a period of time that averages out to whatever your goal is. I have weeks where I lose nothing...then boom, a couple pounds...then I'll be up half a pound...and then nothing...and then boom, 1.5 Lbs, etc, etc, etc. I've even had weeks that I've logged and I gained...it wa water weight, but I still log it. When I look at it on a graph over the last couple months though, it show a steady trend averaging about 1.2 Lbs per week.

    And yes, dial back on the exercise. Diet for weight loss/weight control. Exercise for fitness. You're also probably retaining a lot of water because your body isn't used to workingout.
  • 7 whole days without loss? 7 WHOLE days.....