Haven't Lost in 4 days now...advice?

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Replies

  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
    katiepaff wrote: »
    Thanks for the perspective, guys. Appreciate it! I will try to stay patient.

    Are you close to getting your period? Or are you possibly ovulating? These things make my weight loss stall. I don't even count these as plateaus because if I keep eating cleanly throughout, I know that the weight will come off right after.
  • ledarkrose
    ledarkrose Posts: 1 Member
    If I don't lose anything after 2 weeks, I realize it's time to step it up :smiley:
  • Chasity6
    Chasity6 Posts: 183 Member
    Agreed stay patient. I love trendweight it helps me to stay on track when the scale moves around even though it goes up and down averaging 1lb or more a week slowly going down.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    katiepaff wrote: »
    Sorry, I realize it seems like I'm making a problem out of nothing. The reason I asked about eating back exercise calories is I keep hearing conflicting things. An acquaintance of mine says that unless I'm doing extreme training, I should stick to my 1500 calories, and not eating back any exercise calories burned. But mfp adds them to your daily allowance. I'm just confused. Apologies if it seems like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here.

    Your MFP calorie amount does not include calories burned from exercise, so you should eat those back. However, many people consider the calorie burns given to be inflated, and so suggest you only eat back 50-75% of the calories give. You can adjust these manually.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    katiepaff wrote: »
    Sorry, I realize it seems like I'm making a problem out of nothing. The reason I asked about eating back exercise calories is I keep hearing conflicting things. An acquaintance of mine says that unless I'm doing extreme training, I should stick to my 1500 calories, and not eating back any exercise calories burned. But mfp adds them to your daily allowance. I'm just confused. Apologies if it seems like I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here.

    Your MFP calorie amount does not include calories burned from exercise, so you should eat those back. However, many people consider the calorie burns given to be inflated, and so suggest you only eat back 50-75% of the calories give. You can adjust these manually.

    She's losing at two and a half times her planned rate on average over the past month.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,213 Member
    I am in such a rush to enter a new lower number on the scales, that I turn a blind eye to the cause. Whether I spent the previous day running to the bathroom and now find myself unusually empty, or whether I am dehydrated for one of various reasons, I push those silly thoughts aside and rejoice at seeing that new lower number. A new low is a new low. All is well until days and days go by and the scale won't push past that artificial loss, and I forget that it was artificial to begin with and my frustration builds. Or at least it used to. I try not to let the scales rule me anymore. My success is defined by whether I am eating under goal. Period.
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    So if I'm using a Polar HRM for workouts I should not eat back those calories burned?
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    katiepaff wrote: »
    So if I'm using a Polar HRM for workouts I should not eat back those calories burned?

    Why would you NOT? You're losing much faster than you're planning to.
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    I don't know if I'm going to continue to lose so quickly or if that was just a fluke/luck during my first month
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited October 2015
    Most people get an initial big whoosh of water weight loss when they cut calories. You are likely correct that your weight loss is simply slowing down at this point. Now it is a more normal rate.
  • Clarewho
    Clarewho Posts: 494 Member
    As others have said, day to day fluctuation in weight is completely normal. A high sodium meal makes you retain more water and that adds weight. For instance a restaurant meal or certain foods. But it's not fat. If you think you've had a sodium bomb, drink more water - it sounds contradictory but if you give your body plenty of water, it won't retain it. Trust in the process of CICO and stick with it, reassess in a couple of weeks. In the meantime you can learn a lot in the forums, I know I did :smile:
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    Thank you Clare. I'm just conflicted as to whether or not I should eat back my exercise calories (I use a hrm)
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    I am a big proponent of eating exercise calories. It's going to come down to your goals though. Is weight loss your only goal? If so, you might not eat them. Is overall fitness, which could include properly-fueled workouts, your goal? If so, eat up.

    There's another poster who says "the winner is the person who loses weight while eating the most" and I agree with her. When I've followed the MFP goal, I've always eaten all of my exercise calories.
  • Clarewho
    Clarewho Posts: 494 Member
    Well MFP is designed for you to eat back the exercise calories, that said a lot of people, myself included, only eat back a proportion. I'd recommend trying for a few wks at say 50% then looking at the rate of loss. If it's faster than 1lb/wk then eat back a higher %, if slower then eat back less. It's trial and error and some weeks you'll lose more than others, but if you're accurate then over time you will lose - trust the maths. A 3500 calorie deficit =~1lb. Good luck :smiley:
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
    You lost TWO AND A HALF TIMES your planned rate of loss. Now, after just four days of no loss ... which is probably normal fluctuations ... you seem hellbent on cutting your intake even further. You're an adult. You can make an informed decision based on the solid information you received or you can keep flailing away trying to find a problem and reason to further cut intake ... your choice.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    katiepaff wrote: »
    Thank you Clare. I'm just conflicted as to whether or not I should eat back my exercise calories (I use a hrm)

    Yes, you should eat them back. Especially since you're using an HRM. Which I assume you've set up correctly and know that it's only useful for steady-state cardio (not weightlifting, every day activity, or HIIT).

    I know I hit you with a link earlier and I have no idea if you found it useful or not. I'm going to leave a couple of others here that I think would be useful reads:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/818082/exercise-calories-again-wtf

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1343719/get-rich-quick
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    Thanks so much @diannethegeek. I appreciate it!
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    Just wanted to report that the scale finally moved again and I have lost another 1.5lbs since this post! Thank you all for your input :)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Thanks for the update!

    hooray-for-kittens.jpg
  • tayloralanj
    tayloralanj Posts: 137 Member
    @shadow2soul that's pretty bad *kitten*, although I do not have a contraption that goes with the site :neutral:
  • acorsaut89
    acorsaut89 Posts: 1,147 Member
    shadow2soul wrote: »
    katiepaff wrote: »
    Like the subject says, I haven't lost any weight in 4 days now and I'm starting to get frustrated. I'm eating 1500-ish cals a day, trying to work out 30 mins a day, 5-6 days a week. I lost 10lbs in a month and then nothing the past 4 days. Any advice to break past this plateau? Feeling very discouraged :(

    Weight loss isn't linear. You will not lose every week and definitely not every day. Some weeks you will stay the same and some you will see a slight gain. Look for trends over a period of several weeks.
    No loss for 4 days =/= plateau
    Plateau = 4-6+ weeks without a loss

    Hormones around TOM will cause a slight gain on the scale for most women. It's water retention that comes off on it's own, but yes it shows as a gain in weight on the scale. This is one of the reasons it is recommended to look at the trend over a 4 week period.
    New exercise plan or increased intensity in workout will show on the scale. Either it will look as though nothing is changing or you will see a slight gain. This is the body storing water for muscle repairs. Again it comes off on it's own. Another reason to look at the overall trend and not individual weigh-in's.
    Eat more sodium than normal. Expect to see a slight gain on the scale. It's water retention that sticks around long enough for your body to flush out the excess sodium.
    Constipated. Yes, that will show on the scale too.

    Take measurements. Take pictures. Don't rely on the scale as the only way to judge your progress. Be patient.

    An example of why individual weigh in's can be misleading:
    Last week Monday - 125.2 lbs
    Today - 127.8 lbs
    Looks like a gain of 2.6 lbs

    Avg weight 9/28 to 10/4 - 127.13 lbs
    Avg weight 10/5 to 10/11 - 126.6 lbs
    Loss of 0.53 lbs
    My average weight shows that I lost weight even though the individual weigh-in's look like a really bad gain. The amount I lost between the averages is about what I should expect given my weight. I expect my average to fall within 0.5 and 1.2 lbs per week at this point.

    And here is from what my weigh-in's from trendweight.com look like at 4 weeks, zoomed out to 3 months, and zoomed out to 6 months:
    red line is the trend
    1f0tlq2hdn31.jpg

    wy7zgmvsyh3n.jpg


    I love your graphs and stats . . . you're very much like me in how I look at, plus I also love anything to do with charting or manipulative data . . .

    I like you. Let's be friends :)

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