am at my wits end

lotuslottie
lotuslottie Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
i started dieting 4 weeks ago, overall i have lost 1 pound :-(
all my family and friends have been commenting on how slim i am looking and my mum thinks i have lost half a stone already.
but the scale still says i have lost one pound
what is going on, its making me really unmotivated.

Replies

  • branflakes1980
    branflakes1980 Posts: 2,516 Member
    I would suggest not caring what the scale says. Track your progress via measurements, how your clothes fit and how you feel. Good luck to you. :flowerforyou:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    It is quite possible that you have, for example, lost 5 pounds of fat while due to increased activity your body has retained 4 poundsbof water. That happens. Truth is after such a short period of time (4 weeks isn't long) you aren't going to be able to tell by scale how much fat you are losing...all a scale tells you is how much you weigh and that includes water weight.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    With a closed diary and no details about your diet and routine, it's tough to give specific advice.

    You're logging everything you eat? Including condiments, cooking oils, veggies, cheat days, etc? Are you using a food scale, measuring cups, or eyeballing your portion sizes? Most people can be off in their estimates by several hundred calories when they eyeball portions. Measuring cups are better, but a food scale is going to be the most accurate.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1290491-how-and-why-to-use-a-digital-food-scale

    And make sure that you've calculated your calorie goals appropriately. Remember that these are just estimates. You may need to play around a little to find what works best for you.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets

    If you're exercising and eating back your earned exercise calories, be sure that you're using accurate estimates of your burn. MFP and gym machines have a tendency to overestimate certain activities, which can cause you to eat back more calories than you need to. Even a heart rate monitor isn't 100% accurate. If you're eating those extra earned calories it might be a good idea to eat only 50-75% of those.
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    Diannethegeek has it pretty much on the nose.

    No details means no concrete advice other than the basics.

    Food scales, logging accurately, goals, numbers, etc.

    I will add though, when you weigh yourself, you should do it at the same point under the same conditions. I weigh myself in the morning before I eat and after I pee, in just my underwear. This helps offset any daily fluctuations we all normally have.
  • Guffaw1984
    Guffaw1984 Posts: 12
    Could you have lost body fat but gained muscle?
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I would suggest not caring what the scale says. Track your progress via measurements, how your clothes fit and how you feel. Good luck to you. :flowerforyou:
    Bingo. The scale will mess with your head. Track measurements for a better look at your progress. I went six months without any change on the scale, but dropped a full size. I laughed at my scale and went out and bought new jeans. :drinker:
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    Could you have lost body fat but gained muscle?

    You cannot gain a significant amount of muscle in 4 weeks even under ideal circumstances and being at a caloric deficit is the anthethesis of ideal circumstances for muscle development.

    Is it muscle offsetting the scale? No. Could it be water retention? Yeah, it could be.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    OP I have been calorically restricting for about 5 months now and during that time have weighed myself and recorded it almost every day. My routinue has seen some minor changes but I have always kept my deficit at about the same amount from beginning to end.

    Want to see what my weight loss looked like as a graph of my weight over time?
    Weight.jpg

    Want to see that same graph but plotting only the first 5 weeks?
    Weight_first_5_weeks.jpg

    During those first 5 weeks of course I had my doubts but I trusted the system, I realized that it was impossible that calorie restriction over time would not eventually lead to weight loss and I kept at it. Just keep up what you are doing, evaluate in about 8 weeks.
  • lotuslottie
    lotuslottie Posts: 6
    i have been rowing for 3 30 hours everyday, does this mean i might be retaining water??
  • rainman400
    rainman400 Posts: 5 Member
    I totally feel you there. I am in a very similar situation and it is slightly frustrating, only because I have never had a problem losing weight before. Infact, I lost close to 15 pounds January - February. I realize a lot of that is holiday and came off easily.

    But now, I have been stuck at 173 pounds for the longest time. I am certain that I am maintaining a calorie deficit, And eating a lot under on most days just to be sure. I work out 3-4 times a week, mostly resistance training and 15 minutes of interval training on the treadmill.

    And though I feel some of my muscles tightening / getting stronger, I do not see any fat loss in the measurements. I plan to keep at it, and start up doing the Insanity workout come the 10th of this month (when my gym membership runs out).
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    i have been rowing for 3 30 hours everyday, does this mean i might be retaining water??

    If you go from sedentary to heavy exercise or even change your workout routinue there can be additional water retention in your muscles for glycogen storage and repair. So yeah, you could be retaining water in your muscles. The other side-effect of that is that your muscles will feel harder and sometimes be sore.

    Thing is over just 4 weeks you probably haven't lost much more than 4-6 pounds of fat. For a normal person your bodyweight can fluctuate by 5 pounds easily just from normal changes in water retention. Add on top of that a new exercise routinue and yeah, your fat loss could be masked by water retention.

    You can look at progress by other measures as well. Use a measuring tape or gauge by how your clothes fit.

    Either way it is quite possible that your routinue and your diet are fine and you just need to be patient.
  • lotuslottie
    lotuslottie Posts: 6
    How do you get rid of water retention? I eat mainly protein and fruit, no wheat, i thought that was supposed to stop water retention.
  • Guffaw1984
    Guffaw1984 Posts: 12
    How do you get rid of water retention? I eat mainly protein and fruit, no wheat, i thought that was supposed to stop water retention.
    I think but I'm not 100% that you just need to drink more water.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    How do you get rid of water retention? I eat mainly protein and fruit, no wheat, i thought that was supposed to stop water retention.
    I think but I'm not 100% that you just need to drink more water.

    And give it time. Another two weeks max though, I might start to worry if any water retention hasn't come off

    And OP, unless you set your weight loss goal really conservatively, with only 13 lbs to lose, 1 lb last month may not be all that bad. What do you weigh, and what's your account setup to eat per day?
  • gail1961
    gail1961 Posts: 111 Member
    Thanks for graph Aaron K. I had similar experience. I went up and down the first 9 weeks and was down 3 pounds total. I was ready to give up. Week 10 down 7 total! Continued to lose going up a little once in awhile. By week 20, another 7 down. Hit goal! My food and exercise was consistent each week so I had no clue why things happened the way they did.

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