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

Options
13»

Replies

  • Clarewho
    Clarewho Posts: 494 Member
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    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
    Options
    Thanks so much @diannethegeek. I appreciate it!
  • katiepaff
    katiepaff Posts: 33 Member
    Options
    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: 27,996 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the update!

    hooray-for-kittens.jpg
  • tayloralanj
    tayloralanj Posts: 137 Member
    Options
    @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
    Options
    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 :)

Categories