Its been 3 weeks, have only lost 2 pounds.

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tayloripeterson
tayloripeterson Posts: 10 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello there, My name is Taylor and I have been using my Fitness Pal for about 3 weeks in a row. I track everything, Ive only missed a few days. I feel much healthier.I have so much more energy! I used to drink maybe one glass of water a day (I would drink soda and juice). Not I drink up to 14 glasses of H20 a day. And rarely have a soda. Still after all of this hard work, I have only lost 2 pounds. My starting weight is 252 pounds, and I am 5'9''. Anyone have any ideas why my weight loss is so slow? I do work out a few times a week.
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Replies

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Your deficit may be small. Honestly, 2 lbs in 3 weeks isn't bad. That's a little under a pound a week. I'm personally doing the 1/2lb/week plan myself.

    Taking measurements will be a more accurate gauge of progress as well. I'd recommend that. The lbs may not be coming off, but the inches can be a better gauge of progress.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    3 weeks isn't sufficient time to get an accurate read on how much weight you have lost. You may have lost 2 pounds of fat, you may have lost 4 pounds of fat and are regularly retaining an extra 2 pounds of water, you may have lost 0 pounds of fat and have shed 2 pounds of water. It is impossible to tell until you track for longer, probably at least 6 weeks to 2 months time.
  • Yep_imchicbad
    Yep_imchicbad Posts: 66 Member
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    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/974889-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    here. try this.
  • sdonovan96
    sdonovan96 Posts: 46 Member
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    3 weeks isn't sufficient time to get an accurate read on how much weight you have lost. You may have lost 2 pounds of fat, you may have lost 4 pounds of fat and are regularly retaining an extra 2 pounds of water, you may have lost 0 pounds of fat and have shed 2 pounds of water. It is impossible to tell until you track for longer, probably at least 6 weeks to 2 months time.

    ^^this
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    That's terrific - I fail to see the problem.
  • arenad
    arenad Posts: 142 Member
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    I haven't lost anything. I keep telling myself it could be much worse, I could be gaining. Hang in there....
  • ReikiLove
    ReikiLove Posts: 26 Member
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    Do not get discouraged! Your body is adjusting to the changes you've made. The weight will come off. As you increase your fitness level and follow your meal plan, you will notice physical changes before the weight drops off. I've been exercising since 9/25/2013, and I've lost a total of 22 lbs with on and off use. It's different for everyone. We don't all have the same metabolism, so our results are different.

    Keep up the good work and be patient. :happy:
  • zeal26
    zeal26 Posts: 602 Member
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    You're doing fine. Keep at it, and try not to miss days in your log. I didn't lose very much at all my first month, but it's been coming off steadily since month 2.
  • HardyGirl4Ever
    HardyGirl4Ever Posts: 1,017 Member
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    I WISH I could lose 2 pounds in 3 weeks. It usually takes me a month or so. :smile:
  • PJPrimrose
    PJPrimrose Posts: 916 Member
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    Pat yourself on the back and keep going!
  • laurawiggs74
    laurawiggs74 Posts: 25 Member
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    I'm a big fan of my tanita ironman scale. It measures not only weight, but your body composition as well. It uses bioelectric impedence to measure your comp, which is not the most accurate for a 1 time reading, but is extremely accurate to monitor change over time. For example, it might say you have 32% body fat. You could actually be anywhere from 25-40% in reality! But, if you check it daily, or weekly, any change it shows will be accurate relative to the starting measurement. So if after 3 weeks it shows you've gone from 32 down to 30, you might actually have a different true body fat %, but you have truly dropped 2%.

    Sorry if that is a rambling way of explaining. Short story is this... weight is a deceptive measure. Body comp is best.
    Stay focused on the "gains" of more energy and feeling healthy. The drop will happen if you stay committed. Good luck!
  • onefortyone
    onefortyone Posts: 531 Member
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    Yeah I'd take that loss! Mine came off quickly in the first week (water weight) now I'm hovering. Weight loss is not linear, predictable, or quick. So I'm thankful I'm not gaining (like I have been for the past year), and happy to have taken steps to turn my life around. I'd maybe start to worry if you got to 6-8 weeks without losing, because it'd mean you're eating at maintenance and not at a deficit. Congrats so far and don't get discouraged!
  • Amy01Liz
    Amy01Liz Posts: 73 Member
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    By looking at your food diary, do you think maybe your daily intake is too high? Starting at almost 2000cals a day seems like enough calories to "maintain". Maybe drop your calories to 1700? Maybe that will help? Either way, a loss is a loss! :)
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I agree that it might just be too soon. Sure technically you could've lost more by now but there are other factors to consider in your scale weight than just calories in/out - and most of them have to do with water weight. If you're new to exercising, your body is getting used to the new activity and likely retaining water (and glycogen) for muscle repair. Once this becomes more of a habit, your body will adjust but keep it in mind for anytime you up your game by adding new or more intense activies. Then there's sodium intake and monthly hormone cycles...

    I disagree that your calories may be too high. If you're sure all your profile info, activity level, etc is correct then trust the numbers that MFP gives you.

    There are some improvements you could make... I took a quick look at your diary for the last few days and most of it looks good but you might want to consider weighing some of that food rather than measuring it with cups and spoons or going by the size of the fruit. I was hesitant with weighing but once I started I found a few things where I was underestimating - not by a lot but 20-30 calories here and there can add up.
    Another thing that popped out to me was the Great Value cheese. I use their pepperjack and it's more like 70 calories a slice -I think your listing said 30something calories so that doesn't sound right to me. If you can, double check against product labels. Many of the listing on here are user entered and could be inaccurate or out of date (product change all the time)

    Also, while it's good to eat your exercise calories back, be careful as some of those listing overestimate. Start with eating back half but feel free to eat a bit more if you're still truly hungry.
  • kpchefai
    kpchefai Posts: 54 Member
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    I don't see anything wrong with that....'d highly recommend you get a good scale and weigh instead of guessing or using measuring cups for solids.! Stick with it as others have said 3 weeks is too short a time to really see steady progress and results. Good luck!
  • nnnykkeee
    nnnykkeee Posts: 10
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    Its healthy to lose a pound a week. Soo I'd say you're doing awesome! Keep it up :)
  • peachstategal
    peachstategal Posts: 398 Member
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    Try adding more protein and vegetables to your diet and limit some of the sweets and carbs. Just my opinion!

    You can do it! Keep trying!
  • ccozzi89
    ccozzi89 Posts: 10 Member
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    I looked at your food journal...I see where the problem is. I studied nutrition in college/nursing school so please take my advice. I see a pattern in your journal and you tend to always exceed your sugar and fat intake. That's a HUGE problem. Before I knew anything about nutrition, I used to do the same thing, especially since I was a vegetarian. I used to think it was all about calories and burning calories via exercise. Needless to say, I was very wrong and never lost weight, I was just hungry all the time.

    My advice according to your food journal is to seriously lower your sugar and fat intake and start counting your carbs. I don't see where your carbs are located, I only see sugar, which is basically the same thing. I am assuming your carbs are way too high also. Even if you exercise, you should keep your fat, sugar, and carbs at the suggested daily value for a woman of your age/BMI and according to how much weight you want to lose. This website suggests that your fat intake not exceed around 60-ish grams, and your sugar not exceed around 70-ish. On one day you had 93 grams of fat and 114 grams of sugar!! OMG hun, do you see what I mean? Excess sugar/carbs turns to fat, and extra fat just turns to additional fat, regardless of exercise. Also another thing is that don't overdo the protein either, because extra protein turns to heavier mass/muscle and the rest turns to fat.

    Please start counting your carbs and lower your sugar and fat intake and let us know how you are doing =) I would suggest a medium/low carb intake, a low sugar intake, and a medium fat intake, and make sure you get the recommended amount of protein but don't exceed your limit.
  • ccozzi89
    ccozzi89 Posts: 10 Member
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    I forgot to mention that I feel like you should have lost a minimum of 4-5 pounds. I'm not sure what you weigh but if you are obese or overweight, the weight should be coming off much faster, at least 2 pounds a week. When you get to a normal weight, it should be about 1 or 1/2 pound a week. And don't eat anything 3 hours before you go to sleep (even if you are just laying there watching tv or something.) The point is that if you rest or sleep on a full stomach or after you ate anything (esp carbs or sweets) your body doesn't metabolize the food in the same way. You're not burning as many calories and your body stores the extra energy as fat.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
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    That's terrific - I fail to see the problem.

    word...

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