Normal?

So for the first few months I was really strict with what I was eating, protein for breakfast, salad for lunch then whatever was in the house for dinner, and I was going to the gym 5/6 days a week... And I noticed if lose one week then gain the next... Recently I've become less strict, I'll have a whole wheat bagel with light cream cheese for breakfast and soup/salad/sandwich for lunch and I'm only going to the gym 2-3 times a week... I noticed last week when I weighed myself that my weight FINALLY started to move... Is this normal?

Replies

  • hwoeltjen
    hwoeltjen Posts: 199 Member
    You are going to lose weight if you are at a caloric deficit. So if you became less strict and lost weight, you apparently started eating less calories.

    The real key here is to measure your intake. If you aren't aware of your caloric intake you aren't going to get consistent results.
  • bf43005
    bf43005 Posts: 287
    Maybe you needed a shock to your system. You were doing the same thing too long and your body got used to it, so you stopped losing weight.
  • arcticqueen
    arcticqueen Posts: 15 Member
    A couple of months ago I got stuck at a plateau and didn't move for a few weeks. I did some research and found that after some weight loss and increase of exercise, I was eating TOO FEW calories to lose weight. It's all about the net calories. I increased my calorie intake while keeping my exercise the same and started losing again. Look up TDEE and how to use that to lose weight. I found that I had to aim for 600 below my TDEE. Good Luck!
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    There are a lot of variables that effect weight. So realistically, you want to look at trends over a month or two. Water weight from exercise, eating loads of carbs, or natural fluctuations all have effects. The biggest key to success to tracking accuracy. A food scale should be your # 1 tool.