It is unlikely that you will lose weight consistently (i.e., weight loss is not linear)

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  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    For me, logging every day instead of weekly has ended up being really helpful. It is a good reminder that the scale can fluctuate a lot. Only seeing low measurements in my log would make it too easy to forget that weight changes are not always downward, even when eating/exercising to plan.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    Great post :smile:
  • WillLift4Tats
    WillLift4Tats Posts: 1,699 Member
    JAT74 wrote: »
    It's good to read this in order to remind ourselves that this is the case! Having said that, after a week of exercising daily, sticking within a 500 calorie deficit and increasing steps with my new Fitbit it's really hard when my weight goes up a pound (like it has done over the past few days).

    I tend not to log any gains on the scale and wait until the next loss shows up, though I know that the fluctuation could be down to sodium or water levels, not having been to the loo or other factors.

    This week I'm starting 5:2 so I'll have two days a week of 500 calories and the other days probably between 1400-1500. I know that the scales will be up and down even more than normal so I'll try to ignore it and pick a day 2-3 days after my previous Fast day to weigh myself each week and hopefully I'll continue to see a loss.

    Please don't do that. On 5:2, your deficit comes from those 2 500 calorie days. The other 5 days, you should be eating at maintenance, not another deficit. Please re-research this WOE.
  • radiosilents
    radiosilents Posts: 223 Member
    azulvioleta6 wrote: »
    Very true. I've been doing this for several years and my weight loss has sort of a scalloped pattern--I lose 8-10 pounds, maintain at a new weight for quite a while, then go down again.

    You can be doing everything right and not be able to see that on the scale right away. These things take patience!

    This is what happens to me a lot, too – though it happens with 4-5 pounds rather than 8-10. ;) Either way, I believe in diligence and patience when it comes to doing this. Diligence so that you continue doing all the good things you set out to do whether the scale reflects that effort or not, and patience so that you can get through the stalled times that we will all experience. The weight is not falling off me regularly, but like the OP over time I see nothing but a downward trend. I touch on this subject in my blog, where you can also see my weight chart chronicling the last six months – it is NOT a straight line by any means. amytenpercent.blogspot.com/2015/02/brutal-winter.html

    Thanks so much for this post, OP! Exactly, exactly, exactly.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    great reminder! I've been in a steady downward 'spiral' which is AWESOME but i KNOW it will slow/ stall. I need to take measurements (I couldnt find my tape and it just reappeared the other day), so that when the inevitable slow down happens, I can focus on other areas, as well! Great post!
  • Driagnor
    Driagnor Posts: 323 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    For me, logging every day instead of weekly has ended up being really helpful. It is a good reminder that the scale can fluctuate a lot. Only seeing low measurements in my log would make it too easy to forget that weight changes are not always downward, even when eating/exercising to plan.

    I also much prefer weighing myself each day - I find it helps to keep me accountable. I don't stress about any fluctuations, so a day when my weight jumps up isn't a cause for concern. I also have a 7 day average that my spreadsheet calculates each day, and I tend to pay more attention to that - that's usually going in the right direction, and the few times it isn't, I can usually trace it back to one or two anomalous days.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    i weigh myself every day but only log it once a week. i think we all have what works for us with the scale and logging weight.
  • sherbear702
    sherbear702 Posts: 650 Member
    This post should be copied and pasted as a reply to every "I'm not losing weight" thread. This sums it up quite nicely.
  • nikiste
    nikiste Posts: 861 Member
    I think people should also consider stress level and how it relates to hormones and weight loss. Especially for those of us in school! I was super fit last summer, and when school started back up, even though I was logging and still under, I was finding it harder to shed. Granted, it's in part because I no longer had time to work out for two hours in the morning, hike four miles, then work as a server for 6 hours on my feet (plus, it's cold as hell! no hiking for me!). But my net calories have stayed just about the same, I'm still eating under, and retaining a lot more because of extreme stress causing imbalances in hormones. Don't panic if you're struggling, just keep up with a healthy lifestyle and rest assured that your body will thank you in the long run.
  • hananemolki
    hananemolki Posts: 6 Member
    I started working out recently ..after not being in the gym for close to a year ..it was very difficult at the beginning..but I think am doing good so far ..am always under the calories intake and for the last 2 week I have stayed the same and am getting frustrated. .I feel bloated constantly! !! Any advice? I eat fruit daily like strawberry raspberries kiwi and clementine. .is that maybe the issue ? Please advice
    Thank you
  • Holla4mom
    Holla4mom Posts: 587 Member
    edited February 2015
    Bump for daily dose of "not-so-common" sense.
  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,081 Member
    willlift4tats I know all about how 5:2 works. I've got the books and watched the doc several times over. How do you know I'm not eating at maintenance? My sedentary TDEE is 1500 so I'm basically eating at that level without eating exercise calories back on my non fast days. Plus what tends to happen is you don't feel as hungry after a fast day so it's natural to et a bit less.

    The conclusion of the doc was that calorie restriction is good for you but as most of us can't sustain alternate day fasts or longer periods of fasting the 5:2 method was developed to make it easier to do long term with similar results. There actually weren't initially any rules about exactly how much you eat on the feast days, just that you should eat normally.

    In addition they even say that if you feel the need you can even add in another fast day, though they feel it's not necessary.
  • tbunnyshy
    tbunnyshy Posts: 6 Member
    I lost 35 lbs between last September and November. I have been the same weight since. I might loose and gain the same two pounds. That's it. I am happy about maintaining the weight loss but I don't know how to straighten out my metabolism. I want to lose another 20. Is a reverse diet the way to go?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    It sounds to me like a diet break would be a good idea. In the past, I've done one week breaks by just setting my mfp to lose 0 pounds, eating my exercise calories, and then going back to a deficit after a week.

    Now, though, I'm thinking of reverse dieting for a bit. @Ndj1979 posted these steps in another thread earlier today:
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    reverse diet should take a total of about two to three months...

    step 1 = 100 calories a week until you hit maintenance
    step 2 = once you hit maintenance stay there for a month
    step 3 = slowly reduce 100 calories per week back down to deficit level of half pound or one pound per week loss...
  • dandayatra
    dandayatra Posts: 53
    great post
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    hananemolki wrote: »
    I started working out recently ..after not being in the gym for close to a year ..it was very difficult at the beginning..but I think am doing good so far ..am always under the calories intake and for the last 2 week I have stayed the same and am getting frustrated. .I feel bloated constantly! !! Any advice? I eat fruit daily like strawberry raspberries kiwi and clementine. .is that maybe the issue ? Please advice
    Thank you

    @hananemolki‌ Starting to work out can cause water retention. It is completely normal and necessary should not be viewed as a reason not to exercise. Give it a few weeks and your body will get used to the activity and water retention will subside. You'll still see some flux if you have a heavy workout, most likely. Just remember that it is water, not fat.

    Don't worry about the fruit at this point. It likely has nothing to do with the bloat. Two weeks at the same weight is common. Backtracking slightly is common. Just keep on chugging along :)
  • hananemolki
    hananemolki Posts: 6 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    hananemolki wrote: »
    I started working out recently ..after not being in the gym for close to a year ..it was very difficult at the beginning..but I think am doing good so far ..am always under the calories intake and for the last 2 week I have stayed the same and am getting frustrated. .I feel bloated constantly! !! Any advice? I eat fruit daily like strawberry raspberries kiwi and clementine. .is that maybe the issue ? Please advice
    Thank you

    @hananemolki‌ Starting to work out can cause water retention. It is completely normal and necessary should not be viewed as a reason not to exercise. Give it a few weeks and your body will get used to the activity and water retention will subside. You'll still see some flux if you have a heavy workout, most likely. Just remember that it is water, not fat.

    Don't worry about the fruit at this point. It likely has nothing to do with the bloat. Two weeks at the same weight is common. Backtracking slightly is common. Just keep on chugging along :)

  • hananemolki
    hananemolki Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks you for the advice
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    Bumping this up again, since it looks like a bunch of people on the boards today would probably want to read this.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    This thread needs lots of bumps.
  • NuCaz
    NuCaz Posts: 13 Member
    Excellent, excellent post. Thank you
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    Oh yeah, I definitely have to remind myself of this a lot. Just last week I posted on my newsfeed that weight loss was feeling like two steps forward, two steps back. One of my friends replied to keep at it and one day I'd get three steps forward. That's pretty much how it works.
  • sssgilber
    sssgilber Posts: 90 Member
    With 90 days of tracking my weight every day, I can finally see my pattern as one month of tiny ups and downs, then 2 pounds gone.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    segacs wrote: »
    @mods, can we nominate this post to be a sticky, please?
    Agreed! Well done.
  • ogmomma2012
    ogmomma2012 Posts: 1,520 Member
    I'm bumping this to give me the strength to not say F-it because my weight has gone up by two pounds in the last 4 days and I don't know why. :neutral_face:
  • Annie81503
    Annie81503 Posts: 43 Member
    I needed to read this post today, thank you so much! Slowly but surely.....
  • subversive99
    subversive99 Posts: 273 Member
    edited March 2015
    We got an Aria scale, connected it to Fitbit account (which is connected to MFP) and Trendweight, and man does it do a good job of taking the stress out of daily fluctuations. I just check that my trend line is still moving down and then focus on controlling what I eat and doing my exercise. Everything else will take care of itself.

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