Another "Why am I not losing weight?" Post.

TCamardella
TCamardella Posts: 13 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
24 years old, 285 pounds starting out (exactly one week ago).
I have been tracking religiously. I own a food scale and weigh everything to the exact gram (even if that means finding a smaller blackberry in the bunch).
I admit my water intake is less.
Last time I weighed myself it was on a full stomach, at night.
This morning I weighed after using the restroom, I did NOT eat first.
No change, not a single budge.
The ONLY thing I can think of is that I started Remeron three weeks ago. Other than that there's been no change in medication.
Help?

Replies

  • ptsmiles
    ptsmiles Posts: 511 Member
    Have you been exercising more or eating less/healthier? It may take time for your body to catch up. It has only been a week. I know it is frustrating, and I'm sure you have heard it before, but the weight didn't come on in a week and it isn't going to leave in a week. Give it some time. Kudos for starting the journey!
  • elos18
    elos18 Posts: 38 Member
    Hi, I'm the same age as you and started at the same weight as you. I weigh weekly on a Thursday morning. I have never weighed myself except for a Thursday morning but for some reason yesterday afternoon I weighed myself (after breakfast and lunch and a litre of water) and I had put on 4 pounds since my last weigh in. This morning I weighed in (after eating how I would normally eat the night before a weigh in) and I had lost 3 pounds from my last weigh in weight. So 7 pounds from what I was the afternoon before.

    I can't give any advice regarding your meds as I'm not any myself but I guess the moral of my story is fluctuations happen! For whatever reason: not enough water, too much salt, time of month, full moon, whatever! I don't think multiple weigh ins is a healthy idea for many people (it defo isn't for me) so try and keep it to max once a week so you don't drive yourself crazy!

    Aside from that, keep doing your thing! Drink as much water as poss and keep track of your calories (and macros if you're into that) and it WILL work and you WILL lose weight.
  • TCamardella
    TCamardella Posts: 13 Member
    I've recently (as in the last 4 days) started doing 10 minutes of cardio, and 15 minutes of walking every day. I know it's not a ton but I'm doing my best for right now (I plan on upping as it gets easier, as horrible as it is to admit I get out of breath pretty quickly).

    I admit I'm a salty eater, especially around my time of the month (sorry, TMI!), maybe I'm not drinking enough to balance it out?
  • TheBeachgod
    TheBeachgod Posts: 825 Member
    bgvgz3uz0cgh.jpg
  • elos18
    elos18 Posts: 38 Member
    I'm the most lazy person in the whole world and rarely do any exercise. When I do, I notice that I can hold on to a few pounds for a few days/ a week after, even if my eating has been on point. Obviously this isn't a reason not to exercise anymore, but just so you know!

    Also, you don't need to justify your level of exercise to anyone except yourself. Your doing what you can, for whatever reason and that's awesome.

    I'm sure someone is more knowledgable than me about the effects of salty food on weight loss but from what I can gather eating salty food can make you hold on to water weight so yeah, chug that water!!
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    Give it more time. Weight loss is not linear, any number of things can cause fluctuations. It's normal. Don't get discouraged.
  • JustMissTracy
    JustMissTracy Posts: 6,338 Member
    edited December 2015
    It's only been a week. Give yourself time, results take time. I'm sure you didn't get up to 285 in a week, you wont lose that in a week either. It all comes down to CICO (Calories in Calories Out)....keep logging religiously....keep moving your body, daily if possible....if you find you get out of breath, do a few little walks that add up to 30 mins a day.......activity will not make you lose weight, but it will help you to create the deficit you need to drop those pounds. Try to stay patient, and understand that real results take time. I didn't see the scales drop until after the first three weeks, and then it was only half lbs....now I go literally two mnths at a time without seeing a change, then suddenly one day, It'll be down another pound. Give yourself a break, give yourself time. Be consistent. Stick to whatever plan you have set out for yourself, and it will all fall into place eventually. But nothing good happens easily, or in a week. Good luck, you can do this if you just be patient, and have faith in yourself. xo
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
    I suggest you start to log your weight on a graph that looks at the trend of weight loss over a number of days. It will help you keep sane in the coming weeks when your weight bounces up and down. Weight loss is not linear and it may be that you have lost some fat weight, but you have some water weight masking that loss.

    For instance, yesterday I was 177 pounds. Today I am 178.5 pounds. Why? Heck knows. I ate at a deficit yesterday and did additional exercise. I'm not too worried though because I know for a fact I didn't eat an extra 5000 calories yesterday. So it's not a fat gain. It's 'something else'. *shrugs*
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    There will always be weeks when we don't lose or gain. You said you started exercising, which can cause water retention in muscles that masks weight loss. Be patient and if it doesn't start dropping in another 2-3 weeks then it's time to reevaluate your logging.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    I'm going to give you a little tip here, looking at your diary for a week. You're sodium is off the charts high on some days. this is going to drastically affect your day to day weight. While this may not bother your weight loss in the long term (usually), eating things that high in sodium will trigger water retention and will totally invalidate day over day weight losses or gains. Not that I think you should be weighing yourself daily anyway. You should probably put the scale away for 6 to 8 weeks and concentrate on figuring out a healthy stable diet strategy first but...
  • alyssagb1
    alyssagb1 Posts: 353 Member
    TCamardella wrote: »
    I've recently (as in the last 4 days) started doing 10 minutes of cardio, and 15 minutes of walking every day. I know it's not a ton but I'm doing my best for right now (I plan on upping as it gets easier, as horrible as it is to admit I get out of breath pretty quickly).

    I admit I'm a salty eater, especially around my time of the month (sorry, TMI!), maybe I'm not drinking enough to balance it out?

    Though exercise isn't exactly nessesary for weight loss, in my experience it has helped. I too started off pretty small, and gradually worked up to longer times. At first I couldn't walk up the stairs without getting short on breath, let alone run for more than 2 minutes without cursing lol. My salt intake is pretty high, though my water is as well. I fluctuate A LOT. During my time of the month (IDC if its tmi lol- we all know what it is :p) I usually retain about 10lbs.

    Anyhow, yes it could very well be salt and too little water masking progress. Regardless keep weighing food, tracking and exercising (when and how is better for you) and you'll get there. It'll take time, but you will.

    Good luck!! :)
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited December 2015
    1 week is really not enough time to judge. Give it 3-4 weeks... Though if you always get the EXACT same weight, and its a digital scale, replace the batteries...
    TCamardella wrote: »
    24 years old, 285 pounds starting out (exactly one week ago).
    I have been tracking religiously. I own a food scale and weigh everything to the exact gram (even if that means finding a smaller blackberry in the bunch).
    I admit my water intake is less.
    Last time I weighed myself it was on a full stomach, at night.
    This morning I weighed after using the restroom, I did NOT eat first.
    No change, not a single budge.
    The ONLY thing I can think of is that I started Remeron three weeks ago. Other than that there's been no change in medication.
    Help?

  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
    TheBeachgod wrote: »
    bgvgz3uz0cgh.jpg

    Love this!

  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    exactly how much weight did you expect to lose in ONE week?
  • xKoalaBearx
    xKoalaBearx Posts: 181 Member
    It's always hard in the beginning because we want immediate results. But just stick with it. After 20 weeks, let's say, you'll look back on this and realize it was just too soon to make judgments.
  • Commander_Keen
    Commander_Keen Posts: 1,179 Member
    TCamardella wrote: »
    24 years old, 285 pounds starting out (exactly one week ago).
    I have been tracking religiously. I own a food scale and weigh everything to the exact gram (even if that means finding a smaller blackberry in the bunch).
    I admit my water intake is less.
    Last time I weighed myself it was on a full stomach, at night.
    This morning I weighed after using the restroom, I did NOT eat first.
    No change, not a single budge.
    The ONLY thing I can think of is that I started Remeron three weeks ago. Other than that there's been no change in medication.
    Help?

    -- 1 it takes time to see results
    -- 2 eat less, exercise more.
    -- 3 keep dropping the calories, until you start seeing results.

  • wkwebby
    wkwebby Posts: 807 Member
    Don't forget these causes:
    -water retention/too much sodium in your last day
    -medication side effects (makes your body think it is insulin resistant or perhaps increase your water retention). Take a look at the common (and not so common) side effects
    -just give it more time. One day is not anything to worry about even if the scale went up. I will also suggest trendlining your weight if you need to weigh every day like I do.

    Good luck!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    edited December 2015
    Your blackberry comment made me smile, because I do the same thing!

    Be patient, OP. You sound like you're doing the right things.

    Make sure you use the scale the same time each day. For me, it's in the morning, naked, after peeing, before eating. I do weigh myself every day, but I also realize that sodium, hormones, etc, can affect my numbers. If you cannot handle seeing the numbers fluctuate daily, I would suggest weighing only once a week.

    I also gain approximately 4 pounds the week before my period. I lose it again right after. Be aware that PMS and TOM time can screw with your numbers. It's just water weight, not actual fat gained, so don't sweat it.

    Good luck! You got this!
  • shrcpr
    shrcpr Posts: 885 Member
    It took me 5 weeks before I started seeing any scale movement. Our bodies are good at adapting and sometimes it just takes time. Good news is that once I started losing it caught up to where I expected within the next few weeks. As long as you know you're doing everything right you likely just need to wait it out.
  • strong_curves
    strong_curves Posts: 2,229 Member
    It's been a week. :|

    It took 3 weeks for the scale to move for me. You're going to need a lot of patience and realistic expectations (this is real life, not the biggest loser) if you're going to succeed at weight loss.

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