Working out everyday, maintaining slight caloric deficit, but still not losing any weight!?

FitFoodie95
FitFoodie95 Posts: 23 Member
edited November 2024 in Motivation and Support
It's been almost 2 weeks since I started working out more intensively on a daily basis (1 hr weightlifting 3 times a week, 20-30 min elliptical 4 times a week). I've been eating between 1200-1500 calories a day and increased my protein intake slightly. I own a food scale and weigh everything that enters my mouth, so my calculations can't be inaccurate. When I didn't work out everyday, it'd be a lot easier to drop the lbs, but now it's impossible. The scale won't budge; I've actually gained a pound instead. It can't be muscle this early on especially since I'm not eating over maintenance. I switched to a high carb vegan diet and eat no processed sugar. My measurements haven't changed aside from my waist getting a bit bigger, but I attribute that to the ab and oblique exercises I've been doing. What gives?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    If you're not losing weight, there isn't a deficit.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    This^^^ two weeks is long enough to know if you have it right especially if you say you are in a slight calorie deficit.
  • FitFoodie95
    FitFoodie95 Posts: 23 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    This^^^ two weeks is long enough to know if you have it right especially if you say you are in a slight calorie deficit.

    I used to easily maintain and even lose weight eating 1500-1600 calories a year ago. Should I just assume that my metabolism has slowed down and my maintenance numbers have significantly decreased?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    FitFoodie95 wrote: »
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    This^^^ two weeks is long enough to know if you have it right especially if you say you are in a slight calorie deficit.

    I used to easily maintain and even lose weight eating 1500-1600 calories a year ago. Should I just assume that my metabolism has slowed down and my maintenance numbers have significantly decreased?

    My guess would be that you're not as accurate as you think you are in your logging and that you're probably eating more than you think you are. You're weighing things which is good...but are you validating your entries, etc? There are a lot of very wrong entries in the database and a lot of generic entries as well which are no good.

    Most women can maintain without deliberate exercise at around 1800-2000 calories...with exercise, most women will maintain around 2000-2300 calories or more.

    Beyond that, with only two weeks in, natural fluctuations could be masking things on the scale...particularly if you're only in a small deficit.
  • CathReese33
    CathReese33 Posts: 112 Member
    If you have switched to a 'high carb' diet then you may find it is water weight. I can fluctuate by 10lbs in water depending upon what I eat. Keep going for another 2 weeks as you are, as that will allow time for your body to adjust to the new plan.
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    It could also be water weight just because you've upped the intensity of your exercise and now your muscles are retaining more water (muscle repair requires the muscle to swell a bit).

    Also, how many data points do you mean by "two weeks"? That could be anything from two data points to fourteen data points. The fewer points, the less accurate your trending is going to be. If it's two or three data points (e.g. weekly weigh-ins) you really don't have enough data to say if you're gaining or losing or staying the same. If you have daily weigh-ins and the trend line is flat, my first guess is water retention, but you could also be not eating in a deficit. I'd just keep up what you're doing for a few more weeks, particularly as you said you're in a "slight" deficit - slow weight loss is much more easily obscured by normal fluctuations or fluid balance.
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