I must be doing something wrong...

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cindyangotti
cindyangotti Posts: 294 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
The past 14 days I have been burning all the calories I eat plus calories I haven't eaten. (I have a polar heart rate monitor so I know exactly what I burn) I have been eating lots of veggies, fruit, chicken, and drinking lots of water. I have cut my carbs down and have had no junk food.

So WHY have I lost only 3 pounds in 2 weeks?
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Replies

  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    How much weight do you need to lose?

    And 3 pounds in 2 weeks is averaging 1.5 pounds per week. That is pretty good to me.
  • Mirlyn
    Mirlyn Posts: 256
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    Well you're burning thousands of calories a day with exercise, possibly you're not eating enough to keep up with that kind of burn. Body needs fuel just like a car.
  • SarahNicole317
    SarahNicole317 Posts: 302 Member
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    Are you using the HR monitor for exercise, or all day long? The accuracy goes way down when you use it for longer than just working out.Also, do you weigh or measure your food? Guesstimates can be way off. Like someone else said, 1.5 lbs a week is good. You don't want to lose more than 2 lbs a week because the faster weight is lost, the fast it is gained back.
  • lisadonachie
    lisadonachie Posts: 21
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    i have done all that and gained 2lbs im gutted thinking about just giving up im exercising loads and eating real healthy just found out that wholemeal bread is bad thu as it converts to sugar as it pasta so now im gonna try 1 week n cut those out
  • jeniam
    jeniam Posts: 13
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    First of all, 1.5lbs a week is really good!
    Secondly, use the basic calorie math to figure out how much you should be losing. First, make sure you calorie base is high enough (1200-1500 calories per day based on how much you need to lose and what types of food you need to eat to up your metabolism and not feel icky) then make sure your burning more than you eat. 1 pound = 3500 calories so a deficit of 750 calories per day (3500/7) = 1.5 lbs lost per week. Since you have a way of knowing how many calories you burn even when sedentary (your PHRM), It shoud be pretty easy to keep up with it. Good luck and honestly, congratulations on losing 1.5lbs per week! 1.5lbs per week is actually my weekly goal and fitness experts say 2lbs per week should be your realistic max so enjoy your success! You're losing weight and making a healthy lifestyle change!!
  • BlackBeltLife
    BlackBeltLife Posts: 180
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    I wouldnt beat yourself up. 1-2 lbs a week is healthy weight lose (I know we as Americans want everything microwave fast) Here is another question what type of workouts are you doing and are you taking measurements. I workout with P90X and there will be 2-3 weeks I do not loose anything on the scale, but drop an inch off my waist. Just a thought. Keep up the good work (its a marathon not a sprint.......................Only the diciplined are truly free"
  • sagithia
    sagithia Posts: 135 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat.... so that could be it. And your body may think that it is in starvation mode so eat a bit more and go from there....
  • cindyangotti
    cindyangotti Posts: 294 Member
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    Are you using the HR monitor for exercise, or all day long? The accuracy goes way down when you use it for longer than just working out.Also, do you weigh or measure your food? Guesstimates can be way off. Like someone else said, 1.5 lbs a week is good. You don't want to lose more than 2 lbs a week because the faster weight is lost, the fast it is gained back.


    I only use the HR for exercise. The exercise I do is rollerblading. I burn between 1000-1400 calories each time (depending on how long I can take the Florida heat) Usually 50-65 minutes. I do not guess on my food weight and measurements. I have a good food scale and make much use out of all my measuring cups and spoons. This is why I feel I should have lost more. I'll give it another two weeks and see what happens. It's funny though... I was losing more when I wasn't working out.
  • AnneElise
    AnneElise Posts: 4,221 Member
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    3 lbs in 2 weeks is good. be patient. this is a lifestyle change... it takes time to be healthy.
  • cindyangotti
    cindyangotti Posts: 294 Member
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    (its a marathon not a sprint.......................Only the disciplined are truly free"

    Thanks for the quote! Love it.
  • lilolite
    lilolite Posts: 3
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    :smile: I have been working out and eating health as well. I have not lost any wieght, however I have lost 3.5 inches from my waist in 1 month, and 1 inch from each arm and each thigh. I am more tone and feel great. You may not be losing mad weight, but take your measurement and check your body fat. You might be surprised.
  • katie30
    katie30 Posts: 55
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    It sounds like you are just noticing a slow down in the scale. This happens. With the exercise you are doing your gaining muscle mass, so you may be loosing inches without loosing weight. You'll see this happen several times before you loose all the weight you want to. Remember, its not all about the scale. Are your clothes still getting bigger?
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    Dude, I'd punch people to lose 3 lbs in 2 weeks! Look at you go! I wish I was still losing that much.
  • Sunsh1ne
    Sunsh1ne Posts: 879 Member
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    i have done all that and gained 2lbs im gutted thinking about just giving up im exercising loads and eating real healthy just found out that wholemeal bread is bad thu as it converts to sugar as it pasta so now im gonna try 1 week n cut those out

    All carbohydrates convert to glucose, or blood sugar, when you digest them. This isn't bad, it's the fuel you need to function. And as carbohydrates go, whole wheat bread is actually pretty good, because the extra fiber slows the conversion into glucose, so you don't get a fast spike and drop in your blood sugar.

    If you gained two pounds it could be a lot of things, but the most likely is that you're retaining water. After you turn carbs into glucose, your body turns some of that into glycogen, which is stored in the muscles. You burn glycogen when you work out, and afterwards, it replenishes those stores from what you eat. If you're working out a lot more than usual and eating a lot less than usual, your body has probably increased the amount of glycogen it stores in your muscles - and it is stored in water, which makes the number on the scale go up. This is part of the process of making your lean muscle work for you. It's a good thing, it's just numerically frustrating.

    Please don't give up! If you work out regularly and make smart food choices, you will lose weight.

    And OP - 1.5 pounds a week is good. I know it seems really slow, but that's right in the healthy range for weight loss (or gain) speed. Remember that when you lose weight you are getting rid of actual body tissue. A pound and a half is about the volume of six sticks of butter, so that is quite an accomplishment!
  • iRun4wine
    iRun4wine Posts: 5,126
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    3 pounds in 2 weeks is great! You're probably losing inches, and feeling better too :smile:
  • charis2032
    charis2032 Posts: 64
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    What others have said here is right, 1.5 - 2 pounds per week is GREAT!!! It is also possible that you are not consuming enough calories based on the number you are burning. I'm just starting on this journey and finding that some days it is hard to eat enough of the right kind of calories because I'm just not that hungry. You'll figure out the right balance in time. Between now and then, give yourself a break and don't quit trying!
  • LadyLorax
    LadyLorax Posts: 20
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    Do you take measurements or just weigh yourself? When I lift weights, I don't lose any weight but I drop inches relatively quickly. At the end of the day, I don't care if the scale says 200 pounds as long as the tape measure says 26 inch waist ;)

    I once read that your body becomes accustom to a certain body weight and will "fight" to stay there until it gets use to the new lifestyle changes and starts to see that as 'normal' and not the old weight. It takes time to get your body on the band wagon, I guess :)
  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    That's a great rate of weight loss! If you have a lot to lose and that's why you think it should be quicker...think about increasing your bsae calories, because you may not be eating enough, as someone else posted.
  • barresa
    barresa Posts: 16 Member
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    I agree. I think your food intake may be low. If you're burning 1000-1400 cals You should be eating A LOT more than when sedentary. Are you eating back most of your exercise calories?

    Your rate is pretty good though, so "if it ain't broke why fix it?"....
  • Akasha13
    Akasha13 Posts: 7
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    When I first started trying to lose weight (in early 2009), I was watching everything I ate - cut out carbs, pasta and breads - exercised 3 times a day, every day. The most I lost in 1 year was 7 pounds. I got frustrated and gave up because I was doing everything "by the book" (if you will) and the results were not what I had expected. I started back on losing weight about 6 months ago. I went into it with the attitude that I WILL stick with it this time no matter what.

    I will admit that I do not go out of my way to exercise. The exercise I do get comes from getting off of my butt and doing things for myself instead of having others do it for me, stair climbing (we have 1 bathroom and it's upstairs ... I spend the majority of my time downstairs), grocery shopping, going out and shooting photos, go for an occasional walk, going and hanging out at the park (we walk around a lot there too ... plus there's a dam that has 2 zillion steps (okay, maybe not that many, but it seems like it), and just every day stuff.

    My daily calorie intake goal is what I go by. I do not read anything on the label except for how many calories is in what I'm getting. My goal is 1640 a day, but I try to keep it under 1200. If I do, great ... if I don't, I don't stress out about it. Sometimes I do go over 1640 calories a day ... again, no stress. And in this time around, I've lost 12 pounds so far.

    I'm not saying my "slacker" approach will work for anyone else. It's working for me and that's all I can attest to. I just got frustrated (before) with putting all of my efforts into losing weight and nothing happening. So this time, I decided that I will lose the weight and I will stick with it until I get to my goal ... but I'm not going to let the occasional setback be a problem. It's just not worth the stress.

    Losing 1.5 pounds a week is great (in my opinion). Pushing yourself too hard can actually be counterproductive (as I'm sure you're aware by now). You push your body too hard and it's going to push back. Not getting enough calories is just as bad as getting too many.

    Sorry for the babbling up there ... that tends to happen from time to time.

    Have a lovely weekend everyone.

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