how long till your body starts to lose weight?

Joey1982 · June 2010

Does anyone know anything about how long it takes your body to start recognizing the extra activities and the healthy eating to start losing the weight.

This may be a silly question so bare with me

I have limited my calorie intake to about 1200 calories, some days I am under that and some days I am over; I'm trying to get consistently at 1200. I have increased my cardio (almost double!) and have also included strength training this week, I actually started on Sunday. Yesterday I got on the scale and I haven't lost a pound or a decimal point since Sunday I have actually gone up .6. I weigh in the same time everytime I do it, but I'm just curious if anyone has any inforamtion. Do our bodies try to hold on to the weight for a while because it is out of it's comfort zone and then after a week or so it starts to slowly disappear.

I feel as though I hit a plateau but I really haven't lost that much weight nor have I gotten a consistent workout plan till this week.
Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone else in the early stages (first couple weeks) of losing weight?

lutzsher · June 2010

Everyone is completely different so will respond differently . . . I will say though that if you are doing a lot of cardio you should be eating some of your exercise calories. You have likely not seen results because of this. You should be getting a deficit of 500 calories per day, half from eating fewer calories, and half from exercise. If you do an hour of cardio and burn off 400 calories (or so) you should shoot for eating about 1/2 of those or you may go into starvation mode and won't lose anything at all.
Days I do a lot of exercise I bump up my calorie intake to compensate. I only get 1200 calories if I don't do much activity in a day.
Good luck!

sabrinafaith · June 2010

That happened to me. I decided that 1200 calories was actually a very high start point for my metabolism, so I reset it to 1000. I still eat about 1200 calories a day, but I don't go over as much as before. I've lost 1.4 lb since doing this.

scunnin8 · June 2010

Your body is noticing these changes! It is good that you have increased your cardio, you need to always keep your body guessing. If you keep doing the same work out over a period of time , your body will get used to it and there will be no strain on it...so no progress will be made. Try changing up your workout...even if it is small changes. If you do cardio....like a bike...try an elyptical. If you run on a tred, try to run longer than before.... or try running outside...or increasing your incline. Always keep that body guessing. As far as your food, if mfp is saying 1200 keep it there and try not to go so far under those calories, or else your body will be put in starvation and it is harder to lose weight that way. You need your energy! Drink your water. Try to get 8 cups or more. And get plently of sleep! You started your weight training on Sunday, that is awesome! Keep it up and in a couple weeks you will see a difference I promise! Remember muscle weighs about 5 times more than fat, so you might be losing, but gaining muscle. That is when your measurements come in handy! Keep it up and you will notice a difference!!!! Promise.

melodyg · June 2010

Last time I lost weight, it took about a month to start losing weight. I was *so* frustrated but I think it just took some time for my body to figure out what was going on! I haven't weighed again since my initial weigh-in this time.

I agree with others that you need to be eating your exercise calories. 1200 is the minimum daily limit to stay healthy so if you exercise you are going under that calorie range and need to eat the calories from exercising to stay at 1200 calories net.

lds25 · June 2010

I have noticed that when i increase to more fresh raw veg and increase in water up to 2 litres per day, that i have dropped the weight like crazy. I also decreased my starches and eliminated salt. My body reacted right away, this is day 4 for me and i have lost 5 lbs since i started.

cbirdso · June 2010

There are many previous posts on this same topic. Everything points to the fact you are eating too FEW calories for the amount of activity you are preforming. When you do that, your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows to a crawl and holds on to every calorie and molecule of water you consume.

I have found the most success with daily lightish to moderate exercise, and a calorie level that MFP calculates as me losing half a pound a week. In reality, I have been losing about 1.5 pounds a week. I only weigh myself once a week because if I do it more often, the water weight levels can cause the scale to fluctuate by more than 3 lbs. I don't need that kind of discouragement.

I have only experienced a plateau for one week following the guidelines above. My solution to this plateau was to indulge VERY slightly and rest a bit more, and the next week, I lost another two pounds.

Joey1982 · June 2010

You guys are great! Thanks so much, I'm sticking with it for sure and I'll try switching up my schedule and maybe including a few activities I don't do very often and see what happens! Thanks to Everyone!

Joey1982 · June 2010

You guys are so encouraging!!!

sjcply · June 2010

You need more calories if u are working out! Not sure how much protein your getting, but if ur working out you may need a little extra. I stopped losing, then when I increased my calories after a few weeks it started coming off! I increased protein and decreased carbs! Just play with it and see what works for you and Dont stop!
Good Luck!

vineas · June 2010

Everything the other people said, plus you mention that you recently added strength training and doubled your cardio. When starting on a new exercise or drastically changing the exercise you're doing, your muscles will retain some water in order to heal themselves. The water weight will go away once your body gets used to the exercise, probably within the first week.

how long till your body starts to lose weight?

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