what went wrong?

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irishmassagequeen
irishmassagequeen Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
I lost 5 pounds in the first 10 days of doing this.... but then 14 days later I weighed in and didn't lose a single pound? I don't understand what went wrong. I'm always under my calories and fat... I just don't get. I didn't do anything different - I stayed under all my numbers for calories, fat, sat. fat, and sodium and I was getting more fiber than required too. I was meticulous in my recipes making sure every little detail was accounted for also. I tried on some pants that have been a bit tight and no change there either - so it's not even that I lost fat but gained muscle. I waited 2 weeks instead of just 1 specifically so this wouldn't happen. I feel like giving up :( I have about 70 pounds to lose - I could understand if I was only needing to lose 20 and it's harder to get those last few off.... but I need to lose a LOT more. Before I came on here, I had lost 70 already and plateaued not knowing what to eat from then on b/c I did Atkins before and it just stopped working. Am I just going to be stuck here the rest of my life or what? :(

Replies

  • summersk
    summersk Posts: 59
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    Don't give up! You should try changing up your work out routine, and maybe just for a day go over you counts. I know the latter sounds completely crazy, but I have read many a post on here were people have done just that and pulled out of a plateau. Maybe this will work for you too. Hope this helps out and good luck to you! :smile:
  • dore0021
    dore0021 Posts: 137
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    Congrats on your lose so far! That's A LOT for one week.
    Don't get so discouraged. I'm sure you'll see a change next week. It's hard to give you any advice though without seeing your food/exercise diary.
    There are so many reasons why you may not have lost this week.
  • sngnyrslp
    sngnyrslp Posts: 315 Member
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    I'm sorry to hear you've hit a plateau :( I know it can be really tough to keep going when you're not seeing results, but hang in there! Are you exercising? If so, are you eating your exercise calories? How many calories do you net in a day? You need to consume a net of at least 1200 calories a day or your body will go into starvation mode and hang onto everything.
  • MFPfriend
    MFPfriend Posts: 1,121 Member
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    The second to third week of the journey is the hardest. You normally see a huge drop the first week (around 10 pounds sometimes), and then you stop. The first few pounds are normally water weight that you lose. Give it about two more weeks and see if you notice a change on the scale. You will not notice much difference in sizes yet- I had 70 pounds to lose, and I didn't lose a size until now (23 pounds down!).

    Also, if you are exercising, you will gain a little weight initially, especially if you are sore (something about water or lactic acid entering the muscles so they can repair themselves).

    Good luck, and don't give up! You're doing something good for yourself, but it does take time. :flowerforyou:
  • Laceylala
    Laceylala Posts: 3,094 Member
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    Don't get discouraged. It is very normal for people to drop a big number in the first few weeks and then not see anything for a while. Read through some more posts, you will find this often. I think that our bodies tend to drop water weight with a change in calories and exercise and then hold onto body weight and fat for a bit until it gets used to the idea that you are doing this consistently.

    It took me about 6-8 weeks of consistently working out and being on target with my eating before I really saw any changes at all. On the scale, or in the way my clothes fit. That was a long long long time and it was frustrating, but I kept reminding myself about how good I was feeling, how much more energy I had, and the posts I'd been reading about other MFP members going through the same thing at the beginning.

    In the General Weight Loss forum there are some posts at the top that always stay there - read through some of them. While they can be kindof confusing, they do explain how the MFP site works, how you need to eat your exercise calories you've burned, and most other questions new members have had.

    Good luck! Do not give up. Keep going!!
  • irishmassagequeen
    irishmassagequeen Posts: 12
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    I don't usually eat my exercise calories.... and I sometimes struggle to go over 1200 calories since a lot of foods I like that are lower in sat. fats are also fairly low in calories. I do always make sure to get at least to 1200 though even if I have to force myself to eat something else - like a banana or something.
  • islandnutshel
    islandnutshel Posts: 1,143 Member
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    Don't give up. Don't you dare, because I bet in two more weeks you will have another drop. I would put money on it, if you continue as you have. Remember, women have hormone fluxes. I have an official weigh in only once a month for comparison, and to see if what I am doing is working. Specificaly I weigh once a month, one week after the "monthly visit". My wii weighs me almost daily and during the month, I can see the way our body naturaly fluxes. Your two week weigh in puts you at opposite ends of your cycle. Try 4 weeks. Please Dont give up.
  • prisha
    prisha Posts: 2
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    Giving up is the last thing that should be on your mind. You are on the right track to lose weight. I think the reason why you are not able to lose any more weight is because you are not losing more calories than you consume. Try a different kind of workout. I bought a workout DVD and started working out every day while meticulously following my diet as well. I am losing weight gradually. I have learnt that even thought counting calories is very essential workout out is very important to lose weight. If you workout every day where you sweat so hard I am sure you will be able to lose pounds. Good luck.
  • Laceylala
    Laceylala Posts: 3,094 Member
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    I don't usually eat my exercise calories.... and I sometimes struggle to go over 1200 calories since a lot of foods I like that are lower in sat. fats are also fairly low in calories. I do always make sure to get at least to 1200 though even if I have to force myself to eat something else - like a banana or something.

    I'm not going to say that not eating your work out cals is a bad thing, because it seems that for some people it works...but I would urge you in a few weeks if you still see no change to consider trying it out for a month to six weeks and see what happens.

    I can understand how you are having a hard time eating the 1200 cals. It seems so easy in the beginning to not eat that many cals once you get used to it, people can be afraid to eat more. Have you thought about making a smoothie with protein powder in it? I find I can make a 400 cal smoothie with a banana, milk, spinach and protein powder. It is a great way to get some extra calories if indeed at the end of the day you find you need to eat more. You can add some nonfat greek yogurt to it as well.

    I didn't look at your profile, I don't know what you weigh or how much you exercise, etc...but in a few weeks if you still see no change, at least you have somewhere you can go, you know? Something to consider at least if nothing else is working.
  • canstey
    canstey Posts: 118
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    Your body changes how much water it retains on a constant basis and of the initial 5 pound loss, several were probably water. It is very easy for our bodies to retain excess water to hide several weeks worth of real weight loss and then have it drop 3-5 lbs in a matter of days. That is not your body "holding on to fat" during the 3-4 week plateau and then letting it all go it 2 days. It doesn't work that way but rather your body retaining excess water and then deciding it didn't need it.

    I know there is a lot of information that is repeated here that would make you think that your body has a mind of its own but it is a machine. The belief put forth about plateaus is your body's attempt to retain more fat because of low calorie intake is like believing your car gets better gas mileage on a low tank because "it knows to keep more gas since it is running low". Real changes to your metabolism take significant and sustained low calorie diets and you would have other signs long before that happens like always feeling like you are starving, thinking about food 24/7, and the occasional uncontrollable binge.

    Keep track of everything as you do now and hang with it. I know it can be very tough to see 3 weeks with no loss or even a gain but usually you will average out correctly about every 4 weeks. If after 4-6 weeks though things don't seem to add up where according to MFP's computed calorie deficit / 3500 calories per pound it says you should have lost 8 lbs and you have lost only 2, you should first reevaluate your accuracy of calories consumed and calories burned from exercise. It is very easy to overestimate calories burned during exercise with some of the exercise calculators found here and on the net. Even using a heart rate monitor can overestimate if you are using the wrong settings for your body like setting MaxHR by the age formula but you have a much higher actual MaxHR.
  • July24Lioness
    July24Lioness Posts: 2,399 Member
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    I lost 5 pounds in the first 10 days of doing this.... but then 14 days later I weighed in and didn't lose a single pound? I don't understand what went wrong. I'm always under my calories and fat... I just don't get. I didn't do anything different - I stayed under all my numbers for calories, fat, sat. fat, and sodium and I was getting more fiber than required too. I was meticulous in my recipes making sure every little detail was accounted for also. I tried on some pants that have been a bit tight and no change there either - so it's not even that I lost fat but gained muscle. I waited 2 weeks instead of just 1 specifically so this wouldn't happen. I feel like giving up :( I have about 70 pounds to lose - I could understand if I was only needing to lose 20 and it's harder to get those last few off.... but I need to lose a LOT more. Before I came on here, I had lost 70 already and plateaued not knowing what to eat from then on b/c I did Atkins before and it just stopped working. Am I just going to be stuck here the rest of my life or what? :(

    When you were doing Atkins were you focusing on moving up the carb ladder and eating WHOLE, natural foods?

    Or, were you trying to keep your carbs ultra low and consuming the shakes and bars?

    Scenario #1 will keep you losing weight as this is doing the plan as it was originally written.............

    Going down path #2 will get you a long plateau.

    It take a while for a plan to start working, so you have to be patient and give it time to work for your body.

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