when does the "honeymoon" end

hortensehildegarde
hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
You know that period of time after you first start "eating better" or watching calories or however you want to call it (it'd be called "dieting" for some)? When you drop a lot of weight relatively speaking for whatever reason (usually cited as "water weight")?

When did that time period where you lost more than you'd expect based on the numbers stop for you? After the first week? After the second week? It never happened?

Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    Never happened, especially since I've been logging on MFP because I had lost like 30-40 lbs before then. Every MFP lb lost has been blood, sweat and tears
  • alyssaby
    alyssaby Posts: 5 Member
    Never happened, especially since I've been logging on MFP because I had lost like 30-40 lbs before then. Every MFP lb lost has been blood, sweat and tears


    love it.
  • drepublic
    drepublic Posts: 180 Member
    Early on in fitness journeys you may lose more than expected in the first week...but with the tracking available here your weight loss should be a weekly planned event...doesn't stop until you decided to stop. Just execute the plan and stay on target to your goals.
  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
    Early on in fitness journeys you may lose more than expected in the first week...but with the tracking available here your weight loss should be a weekly planned event...doesn't stop until you decided to stop. Just execute the plan and stay on target to your goals.

    Ok that's what I thought, that the "more than expected" loss should just be the first week. I'm not worried about the loss stopping, I'm just trying to get my tracking down properly and I know the beginning is not a good indicator of typical loss over time but wasn't sure if the "beginning" would just be the first week.

    So I'm in week 2 of the present go-around so I take it that means this week should show expected loss. Thanks!

    (and Janeir36 awesome work! I am hoping to avoid the blood and tears portion of this event but guessing the sweat will be unavoidable :) )
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    I think it was about 30% of the way in that it stopped flying off of me.

    The more you lose, the harder it gets, so enjoy the pounds flying off while they do that! And don't lose heart when they stop doing that. If it were easy, we wouldn't get to be so proud of ourselves when we were done losing! :)
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
    Well I know personally, whenever I hit a "plateau" that happens. I had a solid 8 lb loss in July-August, but feel like since I hit my 30 lb loss, it's just been sitting there. Especially as I feel like my diet is better than ever recently. I know I'm getting stronger, and weight isn't the REAL issue, but it doesn't help me feel better about it.

    Now... putting on pants I wasn't able to do up last winter and having them slide on and off? That helps. Scale be damned.
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
    Never happened, especially since I've been logging on MFP because I had lost like 30-40 lbs before then. Every MFP lb lost has been blood, sweat and tears

    Love it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    It hasn't happened for me. I'm losing about what I would expect.
  • kmsnyg
    kmsnyg Posts: 100 Member
    It lasted three weeks for me. I lost a lot of weight, plus I drastically changed my eating habits to more fresh veggies/lean protein, so I was NEVER hungry.

    Now, five months and change in, the losses are much slower and I'm hungry before meals.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    If dieting, I imagine anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. Just my guess.

    Personally I'm not dieting. I have become much more meticulous at thinking about what I'm eating, how much, etc. Having the MFP app on my phone makes that very easy so its something I can do long - if I feel that I should. 9 months in, this is still working for me because I'm not dieting. And I'm nearly at my goal though have non-weight related fitness goals to work on as well. My loss HAS slowed, but that's because I've adjusted my deficit to aim for a lower/realistic loss.

    But who knows? I may reach a point where I log sporadically and weigh in once a month for a status check.
  • hortensehildegarde
    hortensehildegarde Posts: 592 Member
    You look great StaciMarie1974! I remember years ago when I did pretty much the same journey you just did (similar starting and ending weights) but at the time I wasn't weighing myself at all when I started so I have no frame of reference for how fast the weight initially came off.

    To make it clearer why/what I am asking, 10 days ago I weighed anywhere from 236-241 and now scale is showing 231-233. My goal is set at .5 per week and I am eating right at the 1960/1930 MFP suggests (as sedentary, which I absolutely am, I don't even go to work and often literally lie on the couch all day save to get up to eat and go to the bathroom. I don't even sit up. Yes I am lazy. Good news is it is VERY easy for me to get more active, which I will soon). Oh I do go the grocery store once a week and walk there while shopping. I also did walk 3 miles one day at the beginning because I wanted to eat something else, but that activity I logged and ate back.

    Anyway all of that is to say that eating 1900ish calories a day should not result in even 1 lb lost in 10 days, so I'm thinking I'm doing a poor job at tracking if the pattern repeats itself. I know the weight comes off faster at first, but that's just due to how many more calories I use due to the extra weight, the .5 projection should still be semi-accurate with eating MFP's suggested calories as it takes into account my current weight. I know there is some variation for the individual but I am pretty sure I do not have a super-human metabolism such that my BMR or TDEE is 30% more than projected.

    Fortunately I know how to fix the logging inaccuracy, if I can eat more I sure as heck want to! I was just trying to get a feel for different people's experience with the scale fluctuations especially right at the very beginning. Thanks all!

    ETA: my "start" weight on my ticker is from January. I stopped logging and went back to my usual 3-4k a day eating habits sometime maybe around April/May so this is "the beginning" again so my current "start" weight is lower
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    One pound is nothing to lose sleep over. You could have a variation of one pound and probably more in a single day. Think long term :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    After the first 2 and a half months I stopped with the drastic results; That doesn't mean my honeymoon is over. I'm in for the long haul. This is a lifestyle change and I need to wake up everyday and persevere, regardless of whether I'm dropping pounds or not.

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