birth control and weight loss :S

i've been on birthcontrol for almost 10 years and it has never been a hinderance to maintaining weight/lossing weight. perhaps it is more of a sodium thing which causes water retention. you drink more water when you excercise but if your diet is high in sodium you will retain a lot of water....it is possible since you only just started the diet that this is the cause. If you eat a diet low in sodium already perhaps it is the inital muscle gain from strenth training and it is offsetting the weight loss on the scale... If you are strength training (which is excellent, don't get me wrong), a lot of times when people start out the muscle they build (since it weights more than fat) is seen on the scale - what i am trying to say is that although you are loosing weight (with a -900 calorie it is impossible to not) you body is building muscle and it is counteracting the weight loss on the scale. If this is the case then just be patient - the numbers will appear once your body because excellent at burning fat (simply put). What you likely notice if this is the case is how your clothes feel...looser, better...etc. Anyways, just some encouragement. It sounds like you are doing great - keep up the good work.

Why such a big deficit? You don't even weigh that much. Stick with a 500 calorie deficit so that if you NEED to, when you reach a plateau months from now, you will be able to reduce it a bit further. If you stall now, where will you go with those calories? All you're doing with almost a grand of deficit at your weight is slowing your metabolism.

I have also been on BC for about 5 years now, and the only thing that affects my gain and loss is whether I'm eating junk and sitting around or eating clean and lifting. Menstruation can cause some water retention, but that weight is NOT fat weight and shouldn't be treated as such.

Remember that fat weight isn't the same as scale weight, and one can change while the other stays static.

Why such a big deficit? You don't even weigh that much. Stick with a 500 calorie deficit so that if you NEED to, when you reach a plateau months from now, you will be able to reduce it a bit further. If you stall now, where will you go with those calories? All you're doing with almost a grand of deficit at your weight is slowing your metabolism.

I have also been on BC for about 5 years now, and the only thing that affects my gain and loss is whether I'm eating junk and sitting around or eating clean and lifting. Menstruation can cause some water retention, but that weight is NOT fat weight and shouldn't be treated as such.

Remember that fat weight isn't the same as scale weight, and one can change while the other stays static.

what does deficit mean & how much am I supposed to have? I never understood that. I am almost 5/5 & my personal trainer wants me to stick to a 1200 cal a day diet as well as see him for an hour 2-3 times per week & on my days off from him to do an hour of cardio with one day a week off. my goal is to lose 20 lbs. Does this have something to do with when I add my excercise to my log it makes the calories go up? I know I probably sound a little clueless here. He didn't really explain it to me very good.

Why such a big deficit? You don't even weigh that much. Stick with a 500 calorie deficit so that if you NEED to, when you reach a plateau months from now, you will be able to reduce it a bit further. If you stall now, where will you go with those calories? All you're doing with almost a grand of deficit at your weight is slowing your metabolism.

I have also been on BC for about 5 years now, and the only thing that affects my gain and loss is whether I'm eating junk and sitting around or eating clean and lifting. Menstruation can cause some water retention, but that weight is NOT fat weight and shouldn't be treated as such.

Remember that fat weight isn't the same as scale weight, and one can change while the other stays static.

what does deficit mean & how much am I supposed to have? I never understood that. I am almost 5/5 & my personal trainer wants me to stick to a 1200 cal a day diet as well as see him for an hour 2-3 times per week & on my days off from him to do an hour of cardio with one day a week off. my goal is to lose 20 lbs. Does this have something to do with when I add my excercise to my log it makes the calories go up? I know I probably sound a little clueless here. He didn't really explain it to me very good.

Ah, a deficit is the space between the calories you're eating and the calories you're burning. This site creates a built-in deficit. Your calories here increase because, when you exercise, you burn more calories than when you're just sitting around, so you need to eat more to stay in a 500 calorie deficit. Unless your personal trainer is also a certified nutritionist, his recommendation is ONLY advice and should be taken as such. Not all trainers are created equal, and not all certifications are equally stringent in who has enough knowledge to pass. It doesn't sound as if he's done a very thorough job with your nutrition prescription.


Karathrace, it is okay to fall under by a little bit to make up for error, but when you're bordering a 1000 calorie deficit, it's doing more harm than good. That is only recommended for the very obese who need to lose fat as quickly as possible. You really don't want to rush this, or you'll see a plateau faster than you'll see results, and you'll see muscle loss along with it. I promise that a slow and steady fat loss will leave you much happier in the end.

thank you so much for the info!