What the??

holbabe
holbabe Posts: 2
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,
I am fairly new to MFP and this is my first post. I started 2 weeks ago today. I used to barely exercise and not count my calories. Well for the last 2 weeks I have exercised 11 out of the 14 days for at least 45 mins-60mins each time. Walking, biking etc. working up quite a sweat. And I have staying within or below my daily calorie allotment, with the exception of 2 days. Plus I have drank all my water everyday and more.

I have only lost 1 lb!! This is getting very frustrating!! While I do feel a bit healthier....I want to see the scale move!

Any thoughts on how I can move that scale (lower of course!) ? I have close to 100 lbs to lose.

Thank you!

Replies

  • Bellajake
    Bellajake Posts: 1
    You may be eating too little.
  • fitandhealthy
    fitandhealthy Posts: 82 Member
    Don't get frusturated :) keep going as you are. It takes time to get your body moving into the other direction. You cannot always go by the scale, you may be losing inches. Give it time; this is not a diet, it is a new way of thinking and eating. Stick to it, and I promise you WILL see results soon! Keep going! :)
  • kevcar0603
    kevcar0603 Posts: 18 Member
    Are you eating your exercise calories? If you're not, try eating most of them. MFP already creates a deficit for you, so you can eat the exercise calories.
  • JStarnes
    JStarnes Posts: 5,576 Member
    You didn't put those 100lbs on in 2 weeks so its going to take time to get it off. Relax, keep doing what you're doing & the weight will come off. If the scale isn't showing what you want, maybe you should take your measurements - you may be losing inches but not pounds. The scale isn't the best way to tell if you're getting healthier.

    Good luck to you :flowerforyou:
  • LaurenH2010
    LaurenH2010 Posts: 71
    I am not an expert or anythinga and honestly am still trying to figure it all out myself. I do know however that muscle weighs more than fat. So you may be building muscle and losing fat and therefore not seeing the scale move. Have you measured yourself? You may actually see results this way, I know I have. Try doing more cardio. Also if you want to strength train you get better results by doing your strenght training before your cardio workout. I hope some of this helps and stick with it you will see results it's only a matter of time :smile:
  • lilchino4af
    lilchino4af Posts: 1,292 Member
    if you barely exercised before 2 weeks ago and you worked out 11 of 14 days it could be water weight from your body repairing muscles. Also, eat your workout calories. You're body needs them right now. If you don't have a HRM and are using the numbers on the machine or from MFP, only eat back 75% of the workout calories because both tend to estimate too many calories burned. Also, watch your sodium; too much and not enough water causes water retention/bloating. Drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water a day, but recommend half your body weight in ounces; more if you work out, more for excess sodium.

    And remember: you didn't put it on in a day, it won't come off any faster. Slow and steady keeps it off longer. Good luck!
  • mommyhof3
    mommyhof3 Posts: 551 Member
    The very first thing you need to do is take your measurements. You can even track them on here. Too many people get frustrated by the scale. Also watch how you feel, how your clothes fit, and how others see you. These are all victories. The scale is minor when you take everything else into consideration.

    On that note: are you weighing and measuring everything you put into your mouth? Are you eating your exercise calories? Do you wear a HRM or do you go by what MFP says? I learned the hard way that MFP overestimates by almost double what I actually burn during my workouts. Are you watching your sodium? Sodium will help you hold onto your water and there are so many foods out there that you don't realize are super high in sodium.

    After taking these into consideration just keep going. It will happen gradually. The faster it comes off the easier it is to come back :flowerforyou:
  • pfenixa
    pfenixa Posts: 194 Member
    All things take time and weight loss is not even close to being an exception. 2 weeks is not enough time to gauge any progress you're making. The first couple months are the roughest. Most weight loss you see in the very beginning will be water weight. And the whole time you're body is trying to adjust to this new regimen that you're adopting. It took me 6 or 7 weeks before my body finally realized that I was going to stick with the exercise and eating healthy and then the weight started to come off.

    I know it's frustrating to bust into working on weight loss and not see immediate results. You know how Jeff Foxworthy says that men are like bottle rockets and women are like diesel engines? Weight loss is like a diesel engine. You gotta warm it up before you really get going. So keep that in mind and stick to it. :flowerforyou:
  • cobygrey
    cobygrey Posts: 270 Member
    Are you eating your exercise calories? If you're not, try eating most of them. MFP already creates a deficit for you, so you can eat the exercise calories.

    I had to start eating them for my weight loss to increase. I know it sounds odd to eat to lose but it's really true.
  • dj_stevie_c
    dj_stevie_c Posts: 270
    I know we'd like it to go faster, but 1-2lb a week is fine, sometimes we'll get a nice spike in loss, sometimes we may not lose anything. But the changes you're making to your intake and your body are all positive. Even if you didn't drop weight this week, if you've eaten well, exercised and treated your body like you should then it's a positive step.

    Stop panicking about the scales, they should not be controlling how you feel.

    Keep your head up and keep healthy. As others have said look at small things that may not be helping, raised Sodium etc.
  • miqisha
    miqisha Posts: 1,534 Member
    How many calories are you eating daily? Sometimes increasing your calores is what you need.....It is suggested to eat atleast 1/2 your workout calories....Some people dont do that......but you will need to eat atleast be 1200 or more calories....cant go below

    I know you would love to lose more weight already......but atleast you are losing and getting your body healthy

    It takes time....didnt put the weight on over night, so you wont lose it as fast as you woulf think either

    Keep going strong
  • LittleSpy
    LittleSpy Posts: 6,754 Member
    One thing I don't think has been mentioned yet here is that when you first start exercising (or when you start a new routine or increase your intensity), your muscles FREAK OUT and retain water. This water retention masks your fat loss.

    This recently happened to me (yes, after 9 months of exercising & losing weight). I joined a gym & started strength training. I had previously been focusing on mostly cardio so my muscles were like "WTF are you doing to us?!" I gained 3-4 pounds and kept it on for almost 2 weeks. Apparently my muscles have now adapted some to my new exercise routine because over the last several days my muscles have been releasing that water and I've lost 5-6 pounds.

    Luckily, I knew this was what was going on so seeing the weight gain (all the way back up in the 200s after I had just hit onderland, no less!) wasn't a big deal to me, but I imagine it could freak a lot of folks out who didn't know better. :wink:

    Also, you will probably retain water during ovulation, during your TOM, when you eat salty food, and at other times as well. Water retention is a sneaky beast and can easily ruin a weigh in. Just because the scale isn't moving doesn't mean you're not losing fat. AND, just because you're not losing inches doesn't mean you're not losing fat. Water retention can skew your measurements as well. So, if you're eating enough, you're weighing and measuring your portions, and you're exercising (and not overestimating your calories burned), you're most likely losing fat. And that fat loss will show up on the scale eventually if you keep at it. :smile:
  • holbabe
    holbabe Posts: 2
    Hi All,
    Thank you for listening and for the very helpful tips and encouraging words!

    I do not have a tape measure and I am going to go and buy one today!! I also do not own a HRM and I think I will also invest in one of those.

    As far as exercise calories I am going by what the machine says at the gym and figuring those calories in my "exericise" entries, not what MFP says, since I thought those seemed a bit high. I am going to start doing some strength exercises today. There is a "circuit area" in my gym.

    Yes...I know the weight did not come on overnight...and I am going to stick with this. I feel mentally different this time than l have with other weightloss programs. I actually feel like I can stick to this one!!

    After your posts...I realize that I need to be patient!! (Hard for a sales person!)

    Cheers!
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