Not losing when I (think I!) should be.

janellec885 · January 2016

spoonyspork wrote: »

Just to make sure! When you weigh things, do you weigh them before AND after cooking? The 'cooked' calorie listings I've found vary *wildly* and many are not in any way accurate. Weigh raw and enter the 'raw' calories, then weigh at the end only in order to split the meal equally.

Example: when I cook fish, the packaging always gives the 'cooked' portion calories (3oz cooked is 110). If I cook a whole filet the raw weight varies from 6-8oz, but a 6oz portion could weigh as much as 5oz after cooked, but an 8oz portion could also end up weighing as little as 3oz. So I could be accidentally under-eating (not much too few in the calories, but there's the fat and protein to consider), or eating almost 300 calories and entering it as 110! Do that a couple times a day, especially on a day you didn't exercise and... yeah. So I find the USDA entry for that type of fish raw, and always enter its raw weight.

Thanks! I'll consider the cooked vs not cooked weight. Chicken/turkey I usually weigh after I cook it. I bag it up in 3oz servings and freeze it. With hamburger I use the raw weight.

janellec885 · January 2016

thorsmom01 wrote: »

We all go through this at some point. Weight loss isn't linear. Sometimes we do everything right and still don't see a loss for a while. Fluctuations are normal. Sometimes my scale goes up 8lbs! Because of water retention .

What matters is that over a length of time you see a downward trend. Use an app like trend weight and log your weight there .

Yeah, there's a certain week of the month I don't even get on the scale. I'll gain 3-5 pounds in water weight!

spoonyspork · January 2016

janellec885 wrote: »

spoonyspork wrote: »

Just to make sure! When you weigh things, do you weigh them before AND after cooking? The 'cooked' calorie listings I've found vary *wildly* and many are not in any way accurate. Weigh raw and enter the 'raw' calories, then weigh at the end only in order to split the meal equally.

Example: when I cook fish, the packaging always gives the 'cooked' portion calories (3oz cooked is 110). If I cook a whole filet the raw weight varies from 6-8oz, but a 6oz portion could weigh as much as 5oz after cooked, but an 8oz portion could also end up weighing as little as 3oz. So I could be accidentally under-eating (not much too few in the calories, but there's the fat and protein to consider), or eating almost 300 calories and entering it as 110! Do that a couple times a day, especially on a day you didn't exercise and... yeah. So I find the USDA entry for that type of fish raw, and always enter its raw weight.

Thanks! I'll consider the cooked vs not cooked weight. Chicken/turkey I usually weigh after I cook it. I bag it up in 3oz servings and freeze it. With hamburger I use the raw weight.

Yeah, gotta be careful! You could easily actually be under-eating (I found I was funny enough, sometimes by a LOT. Worked it out when I started showing signs of not eating enough fat).

Hamburger is one of those fun ones. If you eat higher fat hamburger, but drain it, you could be eating significantly less than you think. I eat 93 & 97 % lean only and never drain for that very reason.

Bacon is another - usually you drain off a LOT of the fat, so the raw portion is very seldom accurate. I always enter whatever the packaging says and don't worry about it, because bacon XD

But this is all really just something to worry about if you continue not to lose, or as you lose more weight and need to tighten up more. Your trend is downward and that's all that really matters

GsKiki · January 2016

You say you lost 30 pounds in 3 1/2 months which is pretty amazing. And that was probably the easy weight to lose. The deeper you go, the harder it will be to lose the weight. Don't get discouraged! Keep on with your plan and results will come for sure! Good luck

janellec885 · January 2016

GsKiki wrote: »

You say you lost 30 pounds in 3 1/2 months which is pretty amazing. And that was probably the easy weight to lose. The deeper you go, the harder it will be to lose the weight. Don't get discouraged! Keep on with your plan and results will come for sure! Good luck

Yeaaaah. MY-Fitness-Pal has already lowered my calories twice. People said I was losing too fast (shut up. I gained it even faster.) Honestly the first 10 pounds or so I wasn't doing anything but not eating the sugary things anymore. Then using the app and logging my food helped immensely! I love the triumphal "If everyday were like today... " statement when you complete your entry for the day. (yay me!)

janellec885 · January 2016

I got on the scale today, and was 212.6 . Yesterday I was 214.something! It was water weight. So I actually lost a pound from last Thursday's weigh-in. From now on, I only weigh-in once a week. I'll move the scale upstairs so I'm not tempted. I'm too lazy to walk up the stairs in the morning.

I want to thank everyone for answering my post. I was really surprised that so many people responded! And wanted to be my friend, too! You guys are great! =D

crb426 · January 2016

janellec885 wrote: »

I got on the scale today, and was 212.6 . Yesterday I was 214.something! It was water weight. So I actually lost a pound from last Thursday's weigh-in. From now on, I only weigh-in once a week. I'll move the scale upstairs so I'm not tempted. I'm too lazy to walk up the stairs in the morning.

I want to thank everyone for answering my post. I was really surprised that so many people responded! And wanted to be my friend, too! You guys are great! =D

There's nothing wrong with weighing everyday. Especially because you will start to see the daily fluctuations and it won't freak you out as much.

veganbaum · January 2016

janellec885 wrote: »

I got on the scale today, and was 212.6 . Yesterday I was 214.something! It was water weight. So I actually lost a pound from last Thursday's weigh-in. From now on, I only weigh-in once a week. I'll move the scale upstairs so I'm not tempted. I'm too lazy to walk up the stairs in the morning.

I want to thank everyone for answering my post. I was really surprised that so many people responded! And wanted to be my friend, too! You guys are great! =D

Just remember that if you weigh once a week, you may weigh on a high day, such as when you "gained" that 2 pounds. Find whatever works for you, just keep that in mind. That's why I like daily weighing and use trendweight to track my progress.

Also, don't worry about TDEE and BMR and all that right now if you're still getting used to the basics. 30 pounds in three months is quite a bit, so your loss is likely to slow down. While it can be exciting to see the weight loss, you don't want to lose more lean body mass than you have to. I'd suggest just sticking with MFP's method for a while. Eventually your losses should generally reflect your goal (e.g. if it's 1lb/wk, you might not lose that every week, but the average should be about that). If you find that's not happening, lower or raise your calorie goal for 4-6 weeks, or adjust your exercise calories. Most people have to work with the numbers since they're just estimates.

WendyLaubach · January 2016

For a while I was weighing daily and also keeping a 7-day average. I don't bother any more; I'm used to the fluctuations now.

Evilla25 · January 2016

Hey it's normal to have some weight fluctuations so don't panick. Plus don't always worry what the scale says that shouldn't b your primary goal, primary goal is to have a healthier lifestyle and feeling good the weight loss is just an added bonus. Also you may not b loosing the weight but maybe you have lost some inches. Another big contributor to weight gain might b excess water or just that your muscles are a bit swollen and are trying to repair themselves after an intense workout session. Like I said its normal and don't panick just keep on eating healthy and doing excersie. Keep up you hard work and keep on crushing it!!!

Not losing when I (think I!) should be.

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