annoyed with weight loss

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shopaholic97504
shopaholic97504 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I'm at my sedentary setting...eating only 1370 calories a day. I walk a mile each day on my lunch (used to be a couch potato) . I have gone over my calories a couple times this week....by maybe 50-100 calories. (Including eating back my exercise calories) and did my weigh in this morning and I am only down .5 a lb in 5 days :( my weight loss expected is 2 lbs a week. Help!! I don't wanna feel a failure and fall off. I've done this before. :(

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Five days is way too short of a time to evaluate and get annoyed at smaller than expected results over. Have patience, and don't freak out if there are days or weeks you don't lose, as weight loss is not linear.
  • nik_nak_83
    nik_nak_83 Posts: 37 Member
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    7 days in a week last time i looked --- give it longer!
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
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    First you need to have patience, a half pound loss is actually pretty good. Second, if you aren't weighing/measuring everything you eat then you could be eating way more than you realize. Also, learn to manage your expectations.
  • terbusha
    terbusha Posts: 1,483 Member
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    Give it 2 weeks before you make an adjustment. If you are exercising by walking 1 mile, then ramp it up and do something more effective.

    What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day (total: do not eat back exercise calories). Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    Your body will naturally fluctuate water weight daily, even as much as 5lbs. Weight loss is about trends over 4-8 weeks, not daily/weekly ups and downs. Be a little more patient.


    And if you want overall more knowledge I would read: Calorie Counting 101 and A guide to get you started on your path to sexypants
  • evivahealth
    evivahealth Posts: 567 Member
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    Totally agree ^^

    Give it time. Try focusing on things not related to the scale. Congratulations for getting out for your walks and staying within goal. You're already winning, you've just got to give your body time to catch up is all.

    Also, if you'e a lady, then something to keep in mind is which week of the month it is if you know what I mean... This'll make an impact on your scale readings due to your body naturally retaining water at that time. Give it a week and see.

    The other thing to mention I guess is that if you persevere for a whole month and aren't seeing results then open up your food diary and ask for some suggestions - people are happy to chime in with ideas for what could be causing a lack of weight loss.

    Good luck and hang in there buddy! Just keep doing what you're doing :)
  • shopaholic97504
    shopaholic97504 Posts: 8 Member
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    evelynwhitelaw wrote: »
    Totally agree ^^

    Give it time. Try focusing on things not related to the scale. Congratulations for getting out for your walks and staying within goal. You're already winning, you've just got to give your body time to catch up is all.

    Also, if you'e a lady, then something to keep in mind is which week of the month it is if you know what I mean... This'll make an impact on your scale readings due to your body naturally retaining water at that time. Give it a week and see.

    The other thing to mention I guess is that if you persevere for a whole month and aren't seeing results then open up your food diary and ask for some suggestions - people are happy to chime in with ideas for what could be causing a lack of weight loss.

    Good luck and hang in there buddy! Just keep doing what you're doing :)

    Thanks for this :) btw...how do I open my food diary?
  • jskyjse
    jskyjse Posts: 28 Member
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    I didn't lose anything the first three weeks...wait for it.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    I took a peek at your diary and you are using quick adds and not using a food scale nor are you using good entries.

    For example on monday...8oz of chicken breast skinless is not 248 calories...8 oz is 226 grams and that per usda is 341 calories.

    You are eating more than you think.
  • peachyfuzzle
    peachyfuzzle Posts: 1,122 Member
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    malibu927 wrote: »
    Five days is way too short of a time to evaluate and get annoyed at smaller than expected results over. Have patience, and don't freak out if there are days or weeks you don't lose, as weight loss is not linear.

    This, but also try to eat back only half of your exercise calories, or none at all. Calorie burn is nothing more than a bad estimation at best, so it's generally safest to not eat them back.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    peachyfuzzle wrote: »
    malibu927 wrote: »
    Five days is way too short of a time to evaluate and get annoyed at smaller than expected results over. Have patience, and don't freak out if there are days or weeks you don't lose, as weight loss is not linear.

    This, but also try to eat back only half of your exercise calories, or none at all. Calorie burn is nothing more than a bad estimation at best, so it's generally safest to not eat them back.

    not so much..eating back a portion is generally safest.

    Not eating any back can put your health and fitness in jeopardy
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
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    walking a mile doesn't really burn much calories. If you want faster results you have to work for it. It takes like 3000 burned calories to get rid of a pound. 300 calorie walks don't get there fast.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    brdnw wrote: »
    walking a mile doesn't really burn much calories. If you want faster results you have to work for it. It takes like 3000 burned calories to get rid of a pound. 300 calorie walks don't get there fast.

    Exercise is for health and fitness.

    300 Calorie walks are great esp when done 10x.

    And it's actually 3500 for 1 lb of fat...
  • evivahealth
    evivahealth Posts: 567 Member
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    brdnw wrote: »
    walking a mile doesn't really burn much calories. If you want faster results you have to work for it. It takes like 3000 burned calories to get rid of a pound. 300 calorie walks don't get there fast.

    Yeah you could burn more calories smashing out some massive work out, but you know what OP, you're off your *kitten* and doing something which is a million times better than doing nothing at all. You're breaking up your day, you're getting fresh air and vitamin D, you're increasing your circulation and lowering your risk of disease and strengthening your bones. One mile a day is better than no miles a day. Keep up the good work and be patient, you'll see the results :)
  • evivahealth
    evivahealth Posts: 567 Member
    edited May 2015
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    shopaholic97504 wrote: »
    evelynwhitelaw wrote: »
    Totally agree ^^

    Give it time. Try focusing on things not related to the scale. Congratulations for getting out for your walks and staying within goal. You're already winning, you've just got to give your body time to catch up is all.

    Also, if you'e a lady, then something to keep in mind is which week of the month it is if you know what I mean... This'll make an impact on your scale readings due to your body naturally retaining water at that time. Give it a week and see.

    The other thing to mention I guess is that if you persevere for a whole month and aren't seeing results then open up your food diary and ask for some suggestions - people are happy to chime in with ideas for what could be causing a lack of weight loss.

    Good luck and hang in there buddy! Just keep doing what you're doing :)

    Thanks for this :) btw...how do I open my food diary?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/mike/view/share-your-diaries-with-others-7636 :)
  • imregnar
    imregnar Posts: 1 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Hey hang in there. I started out and realized quickly you will reach points where you go stagnant. I'll then get discouraged and begin eating over my intake. This did nothing but hurt myself and made it that much harder to reach my goal. You have to just stick with it, your body will adjust and will shred -- yes it may take sometime.

    Here's some tips that worked for me: When you go walking, do so at locations that require you to go uphill and frequent. This will help burn calories if you're set-in-stone on sticking with walking. If you're using a treadmill, same thing, use the incline if you can and alternate 45-60 second runs in there. Get that heart pumping. It may take 20-30 minutes of activity before your body goes "Oh snaps, let's do this." Water & Sodium. These things can linger in your body for a good few days and impact your scale-ins. With this in mind, be sure to weigh only at a particular time (ie. morning). I gained a good 12 lbs in one day due to this and two days later, bam, lose it again. Don't get discouraged, it's an uphill battle but very rewarding.

    Lost 33 lbs myself, I can't wait to hear your success story :)


  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    I took a peek at your diary and you are using quick adds and not using a food scale nor are you using good entries.

    For example on monday...8oz of chicken breast skinless is not 248 calories...8 oz is 226 grams and that per usda is 341 calories.

    You are eating more than you think.

    That's odd. Tyson says that their chicken breasts are 280 calories for 8 oz.
  • Vune
    Vune Posts: 672 Member
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    TimothyFish wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    I took a peek at your diary and you are using quick adds and not using a food scale nor are you using good entries.

    For example on monday...8oz of chicken breast skinless is not 248 calories...8 oz is 226 grams and that per usda is 341 calories.

    You are eating more than you think.

    That's odd. Tyson says that their chicken breasts are 280 calories for 8 oz.

    Raw, prepackaged chicken usually has water added to plump it up. That would explain some discrepancy in calorie counts.
  • spzjlb
    spzjlb Posts: 599 Member
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    brdnw wrote: »
    walking a mile doesn't really burn much calories. If you want faster results you have to work for it. It takes like 3000 burned calories to get rid of a pound. 300 calorie walks don't get there fast.

    I disagree. Baby steps, OP. Once your fitness improves, you can ramp up your exercise. The important thing is that you have started to move. You will want to re-think your goals as you progress, anyway. Good luck and be patient. remember, in three months, you will surely see a change in yourself. That is not so long.

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