How long before I'll see results?

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k9shrink1
k9shrink1 Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm a 49 yr. female whose weight has fluctuated my entire adult life. I tend to lose weight when living abroad and gain weight when living in the U.S.

After my most recent return to America in 2012, I ballooned from 148 to a record high of 181.5 in just 5 months, despite a healthy diet and daily work doing heavy landscaping. During and after this gain, I tried the Paleo diet, Anytime Fitness (gym), salsa dancing lessons, square dancing lessons, ballroom dancing lessons, walking 10,000 steps a day with a pedometer, competing with my dog in agility competitions, and riding my bike. Most of these killed my arthritic right knee, and none caused any weight loss at all. In fact, 8 of the pounds I gained was while doing Paleo for three months.

I got a recumbent exercise bike in January, and have ridden 750 miles of biking in seven weeks. It is the perfect exercise for my bad knee…but I've GAINED another pound.

I keep running into people who say they lost 20-50 pounds using MyFitnessPal. They all rave about “losing 5 pounds the first week!”. However, I’ve tried logging for 3-7 days at a time on multiple occasions with no effect.

I assume that's not nearly enough. But how many days/weeks/months of daily logging are necessary to see results?

I’d like to hear from all types: those who lost quickly, those who didn’t begin losing until many weeks of logging, and those who never lost weight, despite months of logging. Please let me know your experiences!

Thanks.

Replies

  • deadyankee
    deadyankee Posts: 74
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    The activity is great but to see results you need to be focusing upon what you are consuming and ensuring that it is below that required to maintain your current weight.
  • eddiesmith1
    eddiesmith1 Posts: 1,550 Member
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    The activity is great but to see results you need to be focusing upon what you are consuming and ensuring that it is below that required to maintain your current weight.

    This ^^^
    If you aren't losing you are consuming enough calories to maintain . Some of it may also be water retention. So best advice is Weigh everything (don't use measures use weights as measuring cups are frequently off and you end up eating more than you think - make sure you log everything even the oil you cook with. That will give you an accurate read on intake. as for ewhat you burn you will get loads of opinions, whats working for me is setting the calculator to sedentary and my loss goal (In my case 2 pounds a week right now) I then eat back a good portion of the calories i burn exercising but not all. to get an accurate read ion those a fitbit or other device will help be accurate as everyone is different in their burn rate depending on their fitness level size etc

    I will add if you drink a lot of water already it won't make a difference but I drink 12+ glasses a day and at the beginning you will see a big bump just from that (I've lost before and got lazy about water intake so it worked for me when I started up again)
  • k9shrink1
    k9shrink1 Posts: 5
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    Thanks, deadyankee,

    Simple but very true advice. I definitely think calories are the most important factor, though you can earn the right to more of them if you exercise. I read recently that research has shown that exercise alone causes zero weight loss. This is anecdotally confirmed by the large number of farmers and construction workers who are overweight. Also, I read about a group of women who skied and carried all their own possessions to the North Pole. Some were a bit overweight to start, and assumed they'd lose 20+ pounds. But on average, they gained a pound during these months of extremely hard work.
  • k9shrink1
    k9shrink1 Posts: 5
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    Thanks, eddiesmith1,

    I have just ordered a scale from Amazon, and I'll start measuring/weighing everything. I tend to guesstimate, and I'm sure I'm erring on the side of giving myself more food. :-) I'll also up the water intake. I've committed myself to at least 5 weeks of daily logging on MFP this time before I decide whether it's working for me or not.
  • mulecanter
    mulecanter Posts: 1,792 Member
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    You have the advice you need. Think net calories and you will see results. Also, you are on the verge of 50 (sorry!), welcome to the our club of the slowing metabolism and creaking body parts. You can fight it by increasing your exercise and acting young (in a mature way). I'm 54 and I run about 25 miles a week, do several hours on an elliptical and lift weights. So for me, 50 is the new 30.

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