Weight loss goals vs. Results! HELP!
mustnothrowcantelopes
Posts: 116 Member
So I just started back on MFP after having given up completely for over a year, possibly two. I started last Thursday and put in under fitness goals that I wanted to lose 1lb a week. Since I started, I've managed to stay under my calorie intake goal every single day by like 100-300 calories. In addition, I've legitimately changed the way I eat. I was eating a ton of sweats and having fried food and carbs most days as well as just not eating enough. I would have either 2 large meals a day or sometimes I would just eat once or not eat for 24 hours straight or outright binge. It got really bad. I was afraid I was going to develop an eating disorder if I continued the way I was going but I was really depressed and just wanted to sleep all day and convinced myself that because I was really obese it wasn't a big deal if I starved myself.
Since I got back on MFP, I've tried really hard to replace a lot of the breads with high energy protein and good fats and gluten free friendly foods like buckwheat, quinoa, add at least 2 meals a day where I have veggies or meat with veggies and have three or four full meals with snack in between. I'm also eating fruit or yogurt instead of processed sugar. I've also changed my sleep schedule to going to bed around 11 pm the latest most days and waking up around 7-9am.
I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb. I don't want to just quit what I'm doing or feel bad because even half a pound is progress. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It seems to me like all these changes are positive. Aside from throwing in exercise, which I hadn't had time for , I don't know what else I could do meet this goal. I'm afraid to lower my calorie intake because I feel like my biggest problem in the past came from feeling like I was starving myself /not allowed to indulge from what my goal settings were, which was to lose 2lb a day and I had something like 1300-1400 and it was just not enough for me.
I don't want to cry about it or feel disappointed in myself. I would appreciate some con crit/feedback/encouragement.
Since I got back on MFP, I've tried really hard to replace a lot of the breads with high energy protein and good fats and gluten free friendly foods like buckwheat, quinoa, add at least 2 meals a day where I have veggies or meat with veggies and have three or four full meals with snack in between. I'm also eating fruit or yogurt instead of processed sugar. I've also changed my sleep schedule to going to bed around 11 pm the latest most days and waking up around 7-9am.
I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb. I don't want to just quit what I'm doing or feel bad because even half a pound is progress. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It seems to me like all these changes are positive. Aside from throwing in exercise, which I hadn't had time for , I don't know what else I could do meet this goal. I'm afraid to lower my calorie intake because I feel like my biggest problem in the past came from feeling like I was starving myself /not allowed to indulge from what my goal settings were, which was to lose 2lb a day and I had something like 1300-1400 and it was just not enough for me.
I don't want to cry about it or feel disappointed in myself. I would appreciate some con crit/feedback/encouragement.
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Replies
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2 lbs a day? That must be a typo. Before you go lowering anything, are you weighing and accurately logging your food? Open up your diary.0
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First, weight loss isn't linear. Rarely did I ever hit my exact weight loss target each week. One week would be something like .5 lbs and then the next would be 1.5 lbs. It's not a straight line.
Second, you just started exercise so your body is most likely retaining water for muscle repair.
Third, you need to give it more time. There's no instant gratification in weight loss. Exercise patience and lower your expectations. Also, celebrate any and all losses, no matter how big or small they are. They will all add up.0 -
I think what you're doing is great for your health but it doesn't need to be so drastic!
Keep in some treats and favorite foods or it will become unsustainable for you.
Also, most important of all: buy yourself a food scale and WEIGH all the food you eat to get the correct calorie counts!
Log everything-even the inevitable overeating and binges.
If you need more specific help-tell us your:
Height
Weight
You can also open your diary.
Never give up (even after a binge or weight gain) and you will surely reach your goal!0 -
Don't expect to hit the weekly target loss without any variance. Weight loss is not an exact science. In a week you may lose a half pound, lose 2 pounds or even gain a pound. Look at the trend over a six to eight week period. Over time the ups and downs will average out and you can calculate your actual avg. weight loss per week.mustnothrowcantelopes wrote: »I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb.
It sounds like you are making positive changes and doing well. Stay disciplined and keep going. Be patient, the results will follow.0 -
Laurend224 wrote: »2 lbs a day? That must be a typo. Before you go lowering anything, are you weighing and accurately logging your food? Open up your diary.
Lol. Yes, that is a typo. I meant 2lb a week!
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healthygreek wrote: »I think what you're doing is great for your health but it doesn't need to be so drastic!
Keep in some treats and favorite foods or it will become unsustainable for you.
Also, most important of all: buy yourself a food scale and WEIGH all the food you eat to get the correct calorie counts!
Log everything-even the inevitable overeating and binges.
If you need more specific help-tell us your:
Height
Weight
You can also open your diary.
Never give up (even after a binge or weight gain) and you will surely reach your goal!
I do indeed use a scale to weigh everything unless I'm out of the house and don't bring food with me, in which case I do my best to eyeball measurements. I also use measuring cups and spoons that I purchased specifically for this purpose. I'd like to open up my diary but I'm a bit afraid to do so with people I don't know but I will strongly consider it.
Height - 5'3.5"
Wight- 219.8 lb
I haven't yet taken my measurements so maybe I might have lost inches ?0 -
Don't expect to hit the weekly target loss without any variance. Weight loss is not an exact science. In a week you may lose a half pound, lose 2 pounds or even gain a pound. Look at the trend over a six to eight week period. Over time the ups and downs will average out and you can calculate your actual avg. weight loss per week.mustnothrowcantelopes wrote: »I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb.
It sounds like you are making positive changes and doing well. Stay disciplined and keep going. Be patient, the results will follow.
Thank you for the encouragement and support. I will try not freak out or be so hard on myself and keep in mind that it's not an exact science. Maybe my body just needs time to get used to the changes.
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If you had high sodium the day before your weigh-in, that would definitely contribute to not seeing the results you anticipated. Give it time, and one day you'll see that number drop. Good luck!0
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Thank you, Andrea, I'll try to keep that in mind as well!0
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It really helped me when I switched myself to "sedentary" when setting my weight loss goals on MFP. I never thought I was, but I was really kidding myself. If you have a job where you sit for most of the day, switch it.
Also, weighing all of your food is a big one. And double check the nutrition information on MFP, too. People put in the wrong or outdated info all the time, so it might not be accurate to what you're actually eating. Eventually MFP saves what you put in your diary so the accurate ones you eat most often will be there.
Also, add in some exercise, even if it's only 10 minutes a day, and it doesn't have to be intense. I walk around the parking lot during my lunch break. I downloaded the app MapMyWalk and I try to get to a mile (about 20 minutes). My coworkers have even joined me! It's made a difference in my weight loss.0 -
mustnothrowcantelopes wrote: »I started last Thursday and put in under fitness goals that I wanted to lose 1lb a week.
...
I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb.
... I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Okay, good news. If your program was tight, you've lost about 1 pound of fat. That's math and physics/thermodynamics. But your scale weight includes stuff like water, poop, new muscle, the byproducts of the fat you burned yesterday, contents of your stomach and bladder, and the scale's own margin of error. This is an excellent start. You didn't struggle with getting to your calorie goal -- that's amazing in the first week.
I'm willing to predict that if you keep going, you'll be down an average of 1 pound a week as you go past weeks 3, 4, 5, 6. Now maybe one of those weeks will be less than a pound, another will be a gain of a pound, one will be a loss of 3 pounds ... but the average will come out close to a pound a week. Weight loss is not linear.
I've lost 87 pounds in 188 days here on MyFitnessPal. I've lost faster than predicted (I added walking).
Keep doing, you're doing great!0 -
Setting a goal to lose 2lbs per week is probably unrealistic. I mean, it's possible, but miserable--always hungry, always tempted to eat more (re: unhealthy foods), alwasy discouraged when you don't hit that mark.
Instead of focusing on the weight loss, may I suggest shifting your focus on eating healthy & getting exercise. If success is measured by what the scale says, you will constantly feel like failure. If success is measure by your food choices and your exericse goals, then most every day you can feel accomplished and satisfied. The weight loss will become a by-product of goals you can control.
I've lost 26lbs in the last 6 months. Weight loss was never my goal. My goal is to climb Mt. Rainier this coming Labor Day, and I knew I wasn't in good enough shape to accomplish that. I got ZenLab's Couch to 5K app. It started me out with daily walks that slowly built into daily runs. I've now run in three 5K races, and I am training for a full Marathon in April. (Understand, I hadn't run a lap since gym class 30 years ago.) When the weight started coming off, I was kind of surprised--happy, but surprised. But even if I hadn't lost a pound, I know I am healthier than I was 6 months ago, and I'm having fun being fit, not miserable trying to shed weight.0 -
Keep Calm and Carry On.
You are losing weight.
It took a crap-ton of time to put it on, it will take a crap-ton of time to take it off.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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I agree with all of the above. It's not linear or perfect. I've mentioned elsewhere that I gained 3 pounds my first two weeks on MFP, but lost inches/bloat and fit back into my clothes, and then I lost regularly after that. Just trust that it will work and keep going.
Also, you wrote, "Since I started, I've managed to stay under my calorie intake goal every single day by like 100-300 calories." The calorie goal is just that--a goal, something to hit. Don't overdo it by undershooting your goal (though 100 over/under probably doesn't matter--I figure that's probably a normal margin of error). You might not feel it immediately, but I think eventually you'll burn out. Everyone's instinct (mine, too) at the start seems to be to go full-force and try to lose weight as quickly as possible, but slow and steady is the way to go.
Finally, I and many other people have found this invaluable:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p10 -
Chill! It's only been a week. And our weight fluctuates from any number of factors. Some that are completely out of our control. You can't expect it to be exact every week. You are doing fine... But you seriously need to chill!0
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My weight loss on myfitnesspal (always staying within or under calorie goals)
Week 1: 1 lb lost
Week 2: 0 lbs lost
Week 3: 3 lbs lost
Week 4: 0.5 lb gain.
End of 4 weeks: 3.5 lbs down. But if I had stopped at Week 2, I wouldn't have seen the later success. Weight loss isn't linear and scale weight fluctuates. I will say that I lost more weight more consistently when I got a food scale to weigh my food.0 -
UPDATE: I've opened my diary!0
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mustnothrowcantelopes wrote: »I started last Thursday and put in under fitness goals that I wanted to lose 1lb a week.
...
I had expected to lose exactly what my goal was when I weighed myself this morning, which is a 1lb but I only lost 0.5lb.
... I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Okay, good news. If your program was tight, you've lost about 1 pound of fat. That's math and physics/thermodynamics. But your scale weight includes stuff like water, poop, new muscle, the byproducts of the fat you burned yesterday, contents of your stomach and bladder, and the scale's own margin of error. This is an excellent start. You didn't struggle with getting to your calorie goal -- that's amazing in the first week.
I'm willing to predict that if you keep going, you'll be down an average of 1 pound a week as you go past weeks 3, 4, 5, 6. Now maybe one of those weeks will be less than a pound, another will be a gain of a pound, one will be a loss of 3 pounds ... but the average will come out close to a pound a week. Weight loss is not linear.
I've lost 87 pounds in 188 days here on MyFitnessPal. I've lost faster than predicted (I added walking).
Keep doing, you're doing great!
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This discussion has been closed.
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