So Much For the Calories In - Calories Out Thing

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  • EmmaKarney
    EmmaKarney Posts: 690 Member
    Weightless doesn't work in neat 1 week increments.

    It's an incremental process....
  • avatrx
    avatrx Posts: 52
    I am sooooooo with you on this!!!! I have watched and weighed and exercised to no avail. I am sick of trying-I've been exercising 6 days a week, and haven't lost a pound. My body is changing, but no loss whatsoever. Very discouraging.......
  • WDEvy
    WDEvy Posts: 814 Member
    Really?!!!

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  • chasetwins
    chasetwins Posts: 702 Member
    My weight fluctuates however I started to make a spreadsheet to track what may influence any gains / losses more. I log everything here but also on the spreadsheet I keep track of calories, fat,carbs, protein,my percentages, workouts (actual) as well as sodium. On each weigh in day I put on the previous week my loss / gain etc. after a few weeks I will go and compare numbers to see if there is a pattern. Being a woman - I will also track my monthly friend as this will play a HUGE role in any weight gain.

    The spreadsheet so far is only 3 weeks in and nothing stands out yet except maybe sodium. One week will not give you a clear picture of what affects your weight. I also measure myself...this helps boost my mood when the scale doesn't move or moves the wrong way. Last week I only lost .6 of a pound however I lost an inch off my waist and over an inch off my arms....my body fat % is also down.

    Do not solely rely on the scale - measure yourself at least monthly. The scale measures everything - fat - WATER - gas etc.

    It is heart breaking when the scale doesn't show a loss so using other methods may help boost your confidence. FYI - I also started to use the TDEE-20% (first week of using this method I lost 3 lbs - course the following only .6)
  • avatrx
    avatrx Posts: 52
    I am sooooooo with you on this!!!! I have watched and weighed and exercised to no avail. I am sick of trying-I've been exercising 6 days a week, and haven't lost a pound. My body is changing, but no loss whatsoever. Very discouraging.......

    I find this thread so interesting. I was saying the same thing over a month ago. Then I started writing down everything, or at least as much as I could. I find putting in food into the counter rather difficult since most of what I consume - other than basic stuff - I make. I make soup. I make pasta - I make bread etc. you get the point. so I often just do the 'add calories' section and put in the amount as best I can based on my recipe program that calculates. (I'll post the software in another thread)

    I exercise at least 3 times per week. I indulge in my Kirkland Brand margaritas at least twice, but I do allow calories for that.

    It now seems I've lost about 5 lbs. initially I gained. I bought a new scale. WW scale at Bed Bath and Beyond $29. measures weight / body fat/ bone mass / water weight and 1 other.

    I may only have lost 5 lbs, but today I had to change my jeans because the ones that were tight - bagged out so badly after about an hour - I had to take them off.

    I'm 59 - post menopause (which I blamed for a long time).

    My son is doing P90X and this is what they say (if I remember correctly - if not someone please correct me)
    breakfast - eat carbs - they will provide fuel for the day. lunch - fruits, veggies and some protein to keep you going. dinner - mostly protein to repair the day's worth of damage. don't go more than three hours without something. I carry nutri-grain fruit crunch bars in my tote when I'm out an about. 1 bar = 95 calories. one midmorning - 1 mid afternoon.

    All the while - keep track of your calories. try to stay at or above at LEAST 1000. preferably 1200. I tend to fluctuate between 900 and 1300. I do consume back - the extra calories I get.

    A month ago I would have felt the same as you do. I'm becoming a believer. hopefully now that I"ve said this I won't gain 10 lbs.:smile:
  • cmstirp
    cmstirp Posts: 51 Member
    I totally get that you''re frustrated and feel like no matter what you do, you can't lose weight.
    To me, it sounds like you had already decided this method wouldn't work for you, and you were just waiting for it to fail. So what kind of a chance did it really have at working?

    As others have said, try it out for a month or two, and see if you get different results.
  • elenathegreat
    elenathegreat Posts: 3,988 Member
    A week, really? I recorded my weight daily for two months just out of curiosity, and it fluctuated anywhere from 2.5 to 5 pounds within a one-week period...So many things can factor into your total body weight from day to day, that a week's experimentation will NOT give you an accurate representation of anything--give it a month or two at least...
  • aliceclutz90
    aliceclutz90 Posts: 151 Member
    I am sooooooo with you on this!!!! I have watched and weighed and exercised to no avail. I am sick of trying-I've been exercising 6 days a week, and haven't lost a pound. My body is changing, but no loss whatsoever. Very discouraging.......

    You are most likely gaining lean muscle and losing fat. Great result IMO :) Take your physical measurements and if you know of anywhere you can ask a trainer to do a body fat tes for you, I would recommend that too.

    I say this because my weight in the past few months has stayed at the same give or take 1 or 2 lbs, my body fat has decreased by over 4% and I've lost 6cm off my stomach, 2cm off my hips and 1cm off each thigh. So I don't really care what the scales say any more
  • DaniH826
    DaniH826 Posts: 1,335 Member
    My body is changing

    Put your scale in the closet, keep it there for a couple months, stay the course, and focus on what you see in the mirror.

    You're way too hung up on numbers to the point of being OCD.

    Your body is responding, which means you're doing the right thing !!!!

    Let your body changes be the indicator of your true progress, not some number on some scale. Scale weight is just one of many indicators of success or progress, and not even the main indicator. It won't tell you what part of those numbers is water gains/losses versus fat gains/losses versus strength gains, muscle gains, lean body mass gains, fitness levels, etc.

    Yank your scale off the pedestal you've put it on and aim for a healthy balance with sensible lifestyle choices. You're making yourself crazy for no reason whatsoever. Trust your body and your choices. Fat loss and fitness has everything to do with making sensible choices and with patience and persistence to gain long-term results, not something that happens in a week. A week is nothing in the grand scheme of things. It's what you do over the span of some months and/or years that ultimately matters, so just stay the course and stick to a general range of numbers that you know are realistic for you.

    If you notice, the name of this site is MyFitnessPal, not MyCaloriePal or MyScalePal, so focus on the fitness aspect of things and choose foods that will help you achieve your fitness goals and enhance your health and overall well-being.
  • Griffin220x
    Griffin220x Posts: 399
    A week? You're basing this off of a week?
  • _Zardoz_
    _Zardoz_ Posts: 3,987 Member
    Weight loss is not Linear
  • titanbonnie
    titanbonnie Posts: 37
    Nothing happens in a week unless you completely deprive yourself of all nutrition ( starvation). It takes 4 weeks to see real change if you're doing it the healthy way. stick with it for a few weeks then report back = )
  • ellaloveslove
    ellaloveslove Posts: 166 Member
    I know it's super easy to get caught up in the scale. I'm the QUEEN of getting caught up in the scale, especially since I haven't lost weight in over 4 months. But maybe this will help: two pictures, taken 4 months apart last year:

    61bd37fd-0516-4667-a3e7-3017aeddf29a_zpscdb99bb6.jpg
    1ccd2369-ddfa-4f2d-9559-f6d9ca91ef93_zps8a5e5af0.jpg

    Looks like quite a big difference, right? It's only a difference of 3.6 pounds.

    So keep up the working out! The weight WILL come off. But you can still see a difference in appearance even if there isn't one on the scale!

    Congrats! You look awesome!
    I agree with everyone else, even though it's hard, a week isn't enough time to make a decision. Patience is one of the hardest things (and something I am definitely struggling with!) but don't give up, give it 6 weeks, as hard as that seems, and reassess. Also, if you did quit working out just for this experiment, I would get back into your routine of exercising, it will help the calories in/calories out ratio!
  • likepepsicola
    likepepsicola Posts: 117 Member
    This is why I actually don't count or log anymore. My weight will do want it wants and I can't control it based on how much or what I eat, so FINALLY I just eat when I'm hungry & stop when I'm full/don't want anymore. It took me a LONG TIME to get to this place though. I used to be unable to leave a package of half-eaten cookies in the pantry. Now I can eat two or three and leave the rest there for months. Doesn't bother me. Eating this way changed my entire viewpoint on food and my body.

    I'm sure some people would argue otherwise, that you can control the outcome by counting, but I honestly don't care because it was lowering my quality of life. I've spent YEARS undereating, years overeating, years measuring every little speck of food including lettuce, years going through a binge/restrict cycle, years being afraid of food, and for what? I actually weigh less NOW trusting myself vs trying to control everything. I know it might not be this way for everybody and maybe I'm lucky, but I'm so happy I reached this place of being content with food. I never thought I would be able to get to a place of being "normal" with food. Where I can go out to a restaurant and not care that I don't know the nutritional info...where I can eat a huge breakfast and not beat myself up with guilt...where if I don't eat a few days because I'm legitimately sick it's no big deal...or if I am super hungry for a month straight and eat far more than usual it doesn't matter either because I don't have a mental hang up about it and I'm not going to extend it into a year long binge.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    Water weight? Having to poop? Give it 6 weeks and see if you average out.

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