Feeling downhearted

All I can say is our bodies are incredibly complex. I'll lose weight on weeks I don't think I should and gain weight when I've been on point with exercise and eating. I use the scale as a long term gauge only. Keep doing what you're doing…you're doing sooo many things right. Don't let a stupid scale take that away from you!

One week is nothing to worry about.

I can only speak for myself, but I will only lose weight if I do NOT eat back my workout calories and if I keep a calorie deficit every day. My usual calorie goal is 1343 - if I don't exercise, I TRY (being the operative word) to not exceed 1400 calories. If I work out , I try to have at least a 150-200 calorie deficit (my workouts usually are 340 to 420 burns). So I eat back some of my workout, but not all. This works for me.

Hey don't feel downhearted!

Sorry if this post is long, but I hope this detailed explanation helps you.

This is only based on my experience.

I'm 5'3".

I was 140 lbs 5 weeks ago. I was quite sedentary and emotionally I was feeling a bit lazy and semi-down.

For 3 and 1/2 weeks I did not know why my weight was not going down.

During that time my fitnesspal consisted of this log:

Exercise:

15 minute, 5.0 mph jogging on treadmill
3 x 50 lb arm and leg reps each
10 minutes on the cycle

Total 40 min at the mini gym in my apartment complex.

Food:

1,200 calories max.

Sometimes I ate over the amount of calories. The first couple weeks, I slowly, and I mean slowly, decreased my calories.
Drastic changes can make your body bounce out and it can hurt you later.

Week 1: I slowly transitioned to more veges each day.
Week 2: continue with veges, look for low calorie recipes around 400. I still ate cheese because I'm a cheese lover.
Week 3: I switched to less carbs and more protein, i.e. baking fish with minimal oil and salt.

I weighed and I was still 140 lbs!

What was I doing wrong?

After some online research, I realized at the gym, I did not challenge my body enough. 15 minute constant 5.5 mph treadmill was only training for the endurance, it does not burn fat.

Its been two weeks and I lost 3 lbs already by using a high intensity exercise workout called Fast and Furious with incline.

Inclines are great to work out your butt, thigh and core! After a good mountain hike, that's what I realized! Haha.

Exercise:
Treadmill
5 minute 10% incline 3.5 mph
2 minute 1% incline 7 mph
1 minute 5.5% incline 3.5 mph
2 minute 2.0% incline 5.5 mph
1 minute 5.5% incline 3.5 mph
2 minute 1.0% incline 7 mph
10 minute 5.0% incline 3.5 mph and if I'm feeling great, increase the incline in the end
5 minute 0.0% cool down 3.5 mph
Estimated calorie burn: 215 kcal

Afterwards, I do my usual weights to tone my arms and legs.

Total time: 30 minutes at gym

This is High Intensity, so I recommend you do it 3x a week to let your body recover. I now do it 5-7x a week because my body has increased in endurance.

Food wise:

Week 4: I slowly stopped eating night snacks after 9pm. If I was really craving it was kettle pop or a bag of baby carrots. Also slowly made calorie deficits, meaning I did not reach my 1,200 calorie limit. I was at a deficit of about 100 calories per night. Sometimes I gave myself a reward i.e. sushi with spicy mayo and be over 1,200 calories.
Week 5: which I am at, I see toning on my lower and upper abdomen and tone in my legs. I did not check the scale til today! and at 136.2 lbs now!

So for your bicycling, definitely challenge yourself! Increase resistance at times and then decrease for a 1 minute break, then increase again. Get your heart pumping, your skin sweaty, and believe you can do it!

let me take a stab at this one.

you started your diet and exercise plan right after your cycle ended.

you're now right at the pointed where your cycle begins

you've been heretofore unaware that women will vary in weight depending on where they are in their cycle.

am i close?

Weight loss isn't linear and one week without a loss is nothing. Sure it's frustrating, but respoding to every change will drive you mad.

What you need to do at the moment is take a deep breath and continue to do what you're doing. May be take the time to ensure you're weighing your food and logging accurately. If the scales haven't started to shift in two to three weeks, you're either eating more than you think or burning less. Recheck your food logging and scale back the proportion of exercise cals eaten back.

Oh and for reference, 1700kcals plus exercise calories is not unreasonable for a female. I'm 38 and am losing weight on 1640kcals plus about 2/3 of my exercise calories eaten back. Average gross for the last six months is 1880kcals.

Keep doing what your doing. Stay consistent. This happens. You have to keep going. There may not be loss everyweek, but you will loose if you keep at it.