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

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Replies

  • droneofvelvet
    droneofvelvet Posts: 290 Member
    I read something online or in a book, if I remembered where I would refer you. I heard that your body , once it empties the fat cells, the empty cell attracts water. Your body will hold onto equal to the weight you lost or MORE water than the fat you lost. Just keep up the good work. Some people eat dry carbs (within their calories) without drinking they say it absorbs the water. Thats why people who have cheat days sometimes think they lost a bunch of weight after and are surprised.

    If this is bro science someone please tell me, LOL.
  • nornas42
    nornas42 Posts: 73 Member
    Hang in there! I started in November right after Thanksgiving by tracking colories & doing my first ever workout with a beginner boot camp. It took me 3 weeks to start losing weight! My body had to adjust to new food, new schedule, new demands, and I know I was challenged in drinking enough water and staying hydrated at first. My exercise was intensive so I know I had to build some muscle. I'm down 6lbs now in 6 weeks - it will catch up!
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    7 whole days without loss? 7 WHOLE days.....

    So I have a question for you - - you've lost an AMAZING 70 pounds. What was your longest plateau?
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 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.

    ^ What he said....Weight loss isn't a race to see who gets to their goals fastest. This shouldn't be a "diet"..this should be a lifestyle change...and that is going to take time to adjust to, both physically and mentally.

    Edited to correct typo
  • FeatherontheWind
    FeatherontheWind Posts: 22 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.
    [/quote

    Thank you for your reply, but no one said anything about giving up. What I said was, "If anyone has anything constructive to contribute that would help me reach my goal I would appreciate it."

    Thank you to everyone that else that offered their experience's and knowledge.

    To those who think I may not be drinking enough water...I set out my minimum eight servings daily. Yesterday I managed to drink in excess of that. That's pretty good for someone who didn't really drink much water before, mostly just decaf coffee or tea. To anyone who thinks I may be consuming more than my share of calories, I'm actually eating a little less than 1,200 calories/day. My minimum is supposed to 1,200. I did eat approximately over 1,300 one day, but that was because I got duped into thinking a shot glass of dessert at an organic restaurant wouldn't be so bad. My fish dinner calculated 340 cals., my shot glass of pecan pie was 341 cals. It was only two bites. They fooled me once...lesson learned. Also, I was out that day and didn't get my workout in to offset the extra calories. Also, almost a vegetarian, not a junk food junkie. We have a few butterball cookies left in the tin after the holidays. They were a homemade gift from a relative. Each one equals one bite and 43 calories. One per day wasn't going to make much of a difference with all the exercise I've been doing. Anyway, my husband can enjoy the last few by himself. Also, I didn't mean to give the impression that I am working out vigorously three times a day my first week. That was an unintentional oops. I workout twice a day either with Jillian or with Jillian combined with another form of exercise. Sorry for the mistake.

    The point is I'm on a mission and I am trying to do everything right...not half @$$ed. I've watched The Biggest Loser many seasons and saw great losses the first week. (I know I'm not at the ranch doing what they are doing) I thought I would at least see a one pound loss my first week. That goes out to 70 lb loser that commented "7 whole days."

    I appreciate all the constructive contributions and hope to see you around MFP more.
    Thank you again. :flowerforyou:
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 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.

    It took me two and a half to three weeks for my body to react to my caloric adjustment and exercise regimen.

    DO NOT GIVE UP. I know how frustrating it is, and that this advice is probably going to go in one ear and out the other (it did for me anyways) but just give it time!
  • kr1stadee
    kr1stadee Posts: 1,774 Member
    To anyone who thinks I may be consuming more than my share of calories, I'm actually eating a little less than 1,200 calories/day. My minimum is supposed to 1,200.

    Right there.

    Set your goal to 0.5 - 1 pound per week. Eat the calories it gives you. ALL of them. Eat back at least half of your exercise calories (or up your activity level setting).
    Weigh and measure everything, don't eyeball any portions,

    All of that exercise in the first week, I bet you're muscles are sore (mine are just from reading that!!), you may hold fluid while the muscles repair themselves (If this is wrong, someone, please correct me!!!)
  • nellyett
    nellyett Posts: 436 Member
    Are you eating back your exercise calories to NET 1200?

    I made that mistake early on and stalled out on my weight loss pretty quickly. When I eat too few calories, my body holds onto everything it can with a vengeance!! I did a pile of research and joined the Eat More to Weigh Less group on here and have restarted the fat loss and muscle gains without feeling deprived.

    Have a look at that or the In Place of a Road Map 2.0 information and really nail down your calorie allowance for the day. Less calories in does not necessarily mean faster weight loss. it didn't for me anyway.

    Besides, if I had known this from the beginning I would have saved myself a ton of frustration....and who wouldn't want to be able to eat More and lose weight at the same time??? :)
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Don't work out excessively and don't eat too few calories. Also I'm sure you didn't gain all the weight in a week, you're not going to lose it in a week either. Be patient - it will happen. Your AVERAGE should be .5-1lb a week - some weeks will be zero some weeks will be 2 or 3 lbs. This week your body is probably just wondering what is going on and doesn't know what to do! :flowerforyou:
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
    If you are doing cardio / Jillian micheals daily, and eating less than 1200 calories a day you will lose weight but you will also do it slower and harder than it needs to be, and with out long term success or the nutrition your body needs.

    If you want to gain health and lose weight consistantly then set your daily calorie DEFICIT at no more than a 1000 calories (less is better) and that works better if half of it is earned by exercise and the other by your calorie limit.

    Then set the nutrition goals to calcium, iron, vitamon C, and work at making your calories count. Being vegetarian you probably are a step ahead in this already. (maybe try watching carbs/salt instead)

    Set your mind to achieve your goals slowly and mindfully and at the end you will have a healthy body and a greater understanding about what it needs.

    Wishing you the best of health.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:

    *hug*

    I wish I had had your tough love years ago..lol :)
  • BurtHuttz
    BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:

    *hug*

    I wish I had had your tough love years ago..lol :)

    Hahah, thanks. It's hard to know that good advice will be ignored, and that comment up there about "set your daily calorie deficit at no more than a 1000 calories (less is better)" is going to get misinterpreted by OP as setting her caloric intake target to 1,000 or less. Within four weeks of two-a-days and malnourishment, after several uncontrollable binging episodes, she'll decide that diet and exercise are way, way too hard, that she can't do it, and quit. As has been seen here again and again and again by people who think it needs to be difficult in order to work.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:

    *hug*

    I wish I had had your tough love years ago..lol :)

    Hahah, thanks. It's hard to know that good advice will be ignored, and that comment up there about "set your daily calorie deficit at no more than a 1000 calories (less is better)" is going to get misinterpreted by OP as setting her caloric intake target to 1,000 or less. Within four weeks of two-a-days and malnourishment, after several uncontrollable binging episodes, she'll decide that diet and exercise are way, way too hard, that she can't do it, and quit. As has been seen here again and again and again by people who think it needs to be difficult in order to work.

    And following on what Emanyalpsid is going on...I would suggest looking at this link to see what your TDEE is set at. To be honest, I tried 1200 because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. ....1200 and less. I did that and could barely get through a 30 min workout. Getting my TDEE set correctly not only allowed me to have energy because, well, FOOD = ENERGY....But now I can easily do 600+ calorie burns...I've even hit 1600! I could not have done that on a 1200 cal diet..lol.

    Not only did I gain more energy but I realized what I had been doing was dangerous. When I was doing 1200 and less, I ended up depriving myself of protein even more than I was before I started tracking my calories and am now very protein deficient...and I'm not saying that just due to the macro #s..but because I am experiencing the side effects of lack of proper nutrition - especially with protein due to me trying to deprive myself because I didn't educate myself on fitness/health.

    If you want, check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.

    Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance


    For more information about fitness and nutrition, I highly suggest checking out and joining this group:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

    Read all the stickies. It's great information to know.
  • janeite1990
    janeite1990 Posts: 671 Member
    Eat enough. Less than 1200 net is not enough for anyone. Eating less won't speed the process.

    It took me over two weeks of busting it and eating very clean to see even half a pound of movement. Don't give up. You'll get there. Slow is good.
  • surromom2010
    surromom2010 Posts: 457 Member
    They could be swollen with water easily, yes
  • KenosFeoh
    KenosFeoh Posts: 1,837 Member
    Bodies are weird that way. Keep working at it.

    I know how disappointing it is to see the scales moving in the wrong direction. I was up 3 pounds this morning, and I have no idea why. One thing I know for sure, I haven't been overeating.
  • sm1zzle
    sm1zzle Posts: 920 Member
    What have you been eating/drinking ?

    Some people on here will tell you not to pay attention to the scale, but in your first week I'd believe you would notice a decent weight loss on the scale.... unless you're not eating/drinking right.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    FUH SERIOUS??
  • jukyu
    jukyu Posts: 80 Member
    I agree with jacksonpt. Body changes are gradual, nowhere near as black and white as a number on scale. Also, if you're training with enough intensity and eating clean, there's no reason for multiple workouts in a day.
  • NiagaraCheryl
    NiagaraCheryl Posts: 56 Member
    I GAINED 6 pounds my first week. I had really gotten serious about working out so I was quite startled with the gain. A lot of reading showed me that your muscles start hanging onto the water to protect themselves when you first start out. Drink lots to alleviate this..
  • Dona_Maria
    Dona_Maria Posts: 78 Member
    Sorry but you need to give it time and see it as a lifestyle change and not judge your success strictly off the scale. During my weight lose adventures (still losing and struggling), I can tell you I have had many stalls. One week is nothing in the spectrum of it all, keep doing what you are doing! Eventually, you will see changes on the scale or in how your clothing fit you.

    I wish you much success!
    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.
  • FeatherontheWind
    FeatherontheWind Posts: 22 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:

    *hug*

    I wish I had had your tough love years ago..lol :)

    Hahah, thanks. It's hard to know that good advice will be ignored, and that comment up there about "set your daily calorie deficit at no more than a 1000 calories (less is better)" is going to get misinterpreted by OP as setting her caloric intake target to 1,000 or less. Within four weeks of two-a-days and malnourishment, after several uncontrollable binging episodes, she'll decide that diet and exercise are way, way too hard, that she can't do it, and quit. As has been seen here again and again and again by people who think it needs to be difficult in order to work.


    There are so many constructive and informative responses to my posts. Yours is not one of them. I have no idea to whom you are referring. You’re psychic reading does not resemble me in the least. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself jumping to conclusions. You shouldn’t pretend to know me especially when... You have no idea who I am, what I think, my level of intelligence or how diligent I am in accomplishing my goals. Clearly YOU are the one who MISINTERPRETED my request for constructive contributions that would help me reach my goal. Quite frankly, you haven’t given any good advice yet. You are the one blathering on about me GIVING UP! I certainly hope you are not in the business of talking people down off the ledge... I feel sorry for you that you have so much hostility inside and choose to take it out on others. Good Luck with that...


    Again, I would like to thank all the friendly, knowledgable contributors to this post. I WILL take their helpful advice and put it to good use.

    By the way, it WAS water weight...I dropped my pound over night. Woo Hoo!!!
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
    . . . right. Best of luck in week 2. :grumble:

    *hug*

    I wish I had had your tough love years ago..lol :)

    Hahah, thanks. It's hard to know that good advice will be ignored, and that comment up there about "set your daily calorie deficit at no more than a 1000 calories (less is better)" is going to get misinterpreted by OP as setting her caloric intake target to 1,000 or less. Within four weeks of two-a-days and malnourishment, after several uncontrollable binging episodes, she'll decide that diet and exercise are way, way too hard, that she can't do it, and quit. As has been seen here again and again and again by people who think it needs to be difficult in order to work.


    There are so many constructive and informative responses to my posts. Yours is not one of them. I have no idea to whom you are referring. You’re psychic reading does not resemble me in the least. I hope you didn’t hurt yourself jumping to conclusions. You shouldn’t pretend to know me especially when... You have no idea who I am, what I think, my level of intelligence or how diligent I am in accomplishing my goals. Clearly YOU are the one who MISINTERPRETED my request for constructive contributions that would help me reach my goal. Quite frankly, you haven’t given any good advice yet. You are the one blathering on about me GIVING UP! I certainly hope you are not in the business of talking people down off the ledge... I feel sorry for you that you have so much hostility inside and choose to take it out on others. Good Luck with that...


    Again, I would like to thank all the friendly, knowledgable contributors to this post. I WILL take their helpful advice and put it to good use.

    By the way, it WAS water weight...I dropped my pound over night. Woo Hoo!!!

    did you poop?
  • FeatherontheWind
    FeatherontheWind Posts: 22 Member
    [/quote]

    did you poop?
    [/quote]

    Not yet, but when I do I'll let you know how much more weight I dropped...if you're really into that.
  • Rtossas
    Rtossas Posts: 29
    assuming your counting macros i would adjust the daily caloric deficit by 200 additional cals and wait one more week to see if the trend continues. It's quite possible your body is recompositioning itself in terms of muscle gain. Keep up the hard work and always remain optimistic in your goals!!
  • amdahwd
    amdahwd Posts: 237 Member
    I have been doing MFP now for a little over a year and one thing I have learned is that if I do not exercise Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, I will have a big loss on Monday and get really excited. I go back to class or running or lifting on Monday and then Tuesday morning I am back up 2-3 pounds. It is all about water weight and I have to remember that. I had not lost a pound in months but by continuing to follow my calorie goal (1200 and I do not eat my exercise calories back), I managed to change clothing sizes again.

    If you continue to do what you are doing and ignore the numbers on the scale, they will eventually catch up with you and if they don't and you are seeing changes by measuring and clothing, then who cares what the scales say anyway - leave them behind and get a tape measure. I know that is hard to say - I was a slave to the scale once too. Now, I still weigh often but it is out of habit and the number has no effect on me.

    Great luck to you and congratulations on that 1-pound loss!
  • FeatherontheWind
    FeatherontheWind Posts: 22 Member
    Editing
  • FeatherontheWind
    FeatherontheWind Posts: 22 Member

    If you continue to do what you are doing and ignore the numbers on the scale, they will eventually catch up with you and if they don't and you are seeing changes by measuring and clothing, then who cares what the scales say anyway - leave them behind and get a tape measure. I know that is hard to say - I was a slave to the scale once too. Now, I still weigh often but it is out of habit and the number has no effect on me.

    Thank you and congratulations on your journey. It sounds like you are doing really well. As far as the scale goes, I was just curious. I'm not a serial weigher. Since I'm new I didn't weigh myself until I completed my first week. My clothes were EXTRA tight and I'd have to be VERY optimistic to think a tape measure would show anything in a positive direction my first week in. Thank you for your advice. I will log my measurements today since I am not quite so bloated as yesterday.
    Thank you again.
    Have a fabulous day! :flowerforyou: