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Really frustrated...

capsfan617
capsfan617 Posts: 4
edited February 1 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 19yr old male, 6ft, hovering around 209lbs. On July 17th I started restricting my calorie intake to 1500/day. According to MFP, my maintenance level is about 2500 calories which means I should be losing 2lb/week. Initially, I weighed 209.6. After the first week, I was 207.2lbs. I was so happy. I kept to my same habits, and one week later I came in at 206.6. I was pretty disappointed, hoping to keep up my cuts of about 2lbs/week, but I stuck with the diet anyway. I just weighed myself today, 23 days after I stared this diet, and i came in at 208.8!!!! how does that happen?

I am definitely sticking to my calorie intake, always erring on the conservative side and overestimating calorie intake when I can't know for sure. I was 200 calories over my weekly goal the 2nd week and about 500 over the 3rd week, so at worst I would expect to have lost maybe 5.5 lbs instead of 6, but I gained 2lbs???

I am weighing myself at relatively the same time every week, maybe an hour or two difference. The one thing I am noticing about my eating is that I am consuming a considerable amount of sodium more than what my goal is (goal is 2300mg/day and I've been consuming close to about 4000mg/day.) Could that be the reason? I know sodium has nothing to do with actual loss of fat and just retains more water which could distort my weight, but I don't know. I want to be at 180 by December and if I lose 1.5-2lbs a week I can definitely do that, but it's just really frustrating when I don't see the results I want. I expected to be at 203 by now.

Any advice?

Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Are you tracking everything and using a food scale? How much are you drinking?
  • capsfan617
    capsfan617 Posts: 4
    I'm not using a food scale but most foods I eat have exact nutritional information for them. I rarely have to estimate. I'm drinking probably about 50oz of water a day.
  • bdtyson77302
    bdtyson77302 Posts: 86 Member
    Don't get discouraged! It happens. Keep doing what you're doing and it will come off!!
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Are you weighing every day at the same time?

    If you're doing 1/week, you could just be getting unlucky with your weigh-ins, especially with high sodium intake.

    Probably see a big drop soon.
  • ren_ascent
    ren_ascent Posts: 432 Member
    Are you working out at all? Just saying that weight lifting gets rid of fat but has a tendency to maintain your body weight while you're building all that awesome muscle mass. Also, with the sodium. You could be retaining water as a result. Extra water weight = a heavier body. Cut some sodium and drink more water.
  • PunkinSpice79
    PunkinSpice79 Posts: 309 Member
    I was just complaining this morning that I've gone way over my sodium for the last 3 days, even though I've been under my calorie goals. I've already "gained" 3.4 pounds. Today, I'm back to my regular, low salt plan and I anticipate dropping those pounds pretty quick. Watch your salt, for sure!
  • capsfan617
    capsfan617 Posts: 4
    Yeah I've been weight lifting about 3 times a week. Maybe that could be a contributing factor. I guess I should start to watch my sodium intake and drink more. I'll see what that does after a couple weeks. Is there anything else that could cause this?
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Is there anything else that could cause this?

    You could be using an inaccurate MFP entry on a regular food item and/or messing up on serving size.

    It's probably fluctuation and water retention though.
  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Yeah I've been weight lifting about 3 times a week. Maybe that could be a contributing factor. I guess I should start to watch my sodium intake and drink more. I'll see what that does after a couple weeks. Is there anything else that could cause this?

    Weight lifting causes water retention, and your muscles will draw in water for repair. The scale is not important, body fat percentage, measurements, and the mirror are what's really important.
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