Plateaued after only 1 week

htwestiii
htwestiii Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started this calorie counting two weeks ago. I am fairly heavy and my target weight is 230 lbs, so I still get to eat a lot of calories every day. For the first week, I was wildly successful, losing about 11 lbs. However, since that time, I have stopped losing weight. In fact, over the last several days, I have gained about 3 lbs, despite the fact that I am 500 to 1500 calories under my target every day and have continued to work out. I don't understand it. Can someone give me some insight as to why this is happening?

Replies

  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    You have lost 4 pounds per week, awesome!! keep going
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Use the flow chart to follow it with what is going on in your deficit. A week is NOT a plateau. A good bit of weight that came off first week is water.

    Most importantly, are you using a food scale and how are you calculating exercise calorie burns...

    The FLOW CHART works if you follow it to a tee.


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  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
    Just keep on going! I track my weight everyday to see the changes in the scale.
  • neohdiver
    neohdiver Posts: 738 Member
    Weight loss is not linear. Your first "loss" likely included dumping a lot of excess fluid you were carrying around. The 3 lb "gain" may be restocking some of it. Expect your weight to go up and down - what you want to look for is a trend, not daily changes. My weight can vary as much as 5 lbs in a single day.
  • Tkdchampxi
    Tkdchampxi Posts: 2 Member
    1500 under your your target is way too many. I honestly don't think you should be anymore than 500 under your target. There's no shortcut to being in shape. Don't starve yourself. It's going to take time
  • aub6689
    aub6689 Posts: 351 Member
    I don't think a week or several days is long enough to feel you are in a true plateau. Losing 11 lbs the first week, your body could have lost some water weight and so your weight loss might not be stable if that makes sense. I would just keep going at the calorie set you have or minorly drop it. Often times people recalibrate every 10 lbs lost. I know it is frustrating, but right now I think I'd encourage patience.
  • Unknown
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  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    queenliz99 wrote: »
    You have lost 4 pounds per week, awesome!! keep going

    This. You know you didn't lose 11 lbs of fat in one week, right? Your actual fat loss for the last 2 weeks is actually hidden somewhere there in a water weight fluctuation. By the end of the month you should have a better idea where you actually are.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    htwestiii wrote: »
    I started this calorie counting two weeks ago. I am fairly heavy and my target weight is 230 lbs, so I still get to eat a lot of calories every day. For the first week, I was wildly successful, losing about 11 lbs. However, since that time, I have stopped losing weight. In fact, over the last several days, I have gained about 3 lbs, despite the fact that I am 500 to 1500 calories under my target every day and have continued to work out. I don't understand it. Can someone give me some insight as to why this is happening?

    Because initially you're going to lose lot of water and you will have less inherent waste in your system...this is why people often drop weight really quickly the first week...but the body is pretty good at re-regulating itself...so what you're experiencing is normal...

    It is unrealistic to think you can lose 11 Lbs in a week...and you have to understand that of that 11 Lbs, probably only 1 or 2 Lbs was actually fat...just do the math...it's a mathematical impossibility to los 11 Lbs of fat in a week.

    Weight loss is not a linear function, and you better wrap your head around that petty quickly or you're going to be in for a tough road ahead...you will have weeks with bigger losses, smaller losses, no losses, and gains....weight loss is all about trends over time, not a week or two...you really need to wrap your head around that.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,319 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    htwestiii wrote: »
    I started this calorie counting two weeks ago. I am fairly heavy and my target weight is 230 lbs, so I still get to eat a lot of calories every day. For the first week, I was wildly successful, losing about 11 lbs. However, since that time, I have stopped losing weight. In fact, over the last several days, I have gained about 3 lbs, despite the fact that I am 500 to 1500 calories under my target every day and have continued to work out. I don't understand it. Can someone give me some insight as to why this is happening?

    Because initially you're going to lose lot of water and you will have less inherent waste in your system...this is why people often drop weight really quickly the first week...but the body is pretty good at re-regulating itself...so what you're experiencing is normal...

    It is unrealistic to think you can lose 11 Lbs in a week...and you have to understand that of that 11 Lbs, probably only 1 or 2 Lbs was actually fat...just do the math...it's a mathematical impossibility to los 11 Lbs of fat in a week.

    Weight loss is not a linear function, and you better wrap your head around that petty quickly or you're going to be in for a tough road ahead...you will have weeks with bigger losses, smaller losses, no losses, and gains....weight loss is all about trends over time, not a week or two...you really need to wrap your head around that.

    This!

    Also, the calories given you by Myfitnesspal are your goal for the day, not something you need to be 500-1500 below. Eat to your calorie goal and you will lose weight assuming you are logging correctly.
  • htwestiii
    htwestiii Posts: 8 Member
    Thank you to everyone for your responses. I have read several statements that weight loss is not linear, but the long term trend is what matters. I think I can live with that.
  • htwestiii
    htwestiii Posts: 8 Member
    edited March 2016
    Tkdchampxi wrote: »
    1500 under your your target is way too many. I honestly don't think you should be anymore than 500 under your target. There's no shortcut to being in shape. Don't starve yourself. It's going to take time

    I think you are right about this. This is not something I am intentionally doing, though, it just kind of happens. I have a target of 3125 calories per day, and I actually struggle to make that while eating the foods I am supposed to eat. It complicates matter that I am diabetic, because this necessitates that I lower my carb intake. My MFP plan allows for 400 carbs a day, but I really need to keep it under 120. This eliminates a lot of high calorie foods from my diet.

  • htwestiii
    htwestiii Posts: 8 Member
    neohdiver wrote: »
    Weight loss is not linear. Your first "loss" likely included dumping a lot of excess fluid you were carrying around. The 3 lb "gain" may be restocking some of it. Expect your weight to go up and down - what you want to look for is a trend, not daily changes. My weight can vary as much as 5 lbs in a single day.

    This is good advice, I think. I have seen a number of people refer to water weight, and I'm afraid I don't know what that means. I am new to counting calories, but I have actually been counting carbs for 2 years and exercising. I don't understand how suddenly starting to limit my calories would cause me to lose water weight. In addition, I take water pills for a health condition that I have, so that actually draws water out of me.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    Don't worry, a week is not a plateau. I believe on MFP it's considered 4-6 weeks. Someone will correct me, I'm sure.

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