Two and a half weeks - no discernible loss on scale
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thelistsmfp
Posts: 7 Member
Hello!
I recently decided to wake up and take my health and weight loss seriously. Currently sitting at 370 lbs, I've been counting calories for three weeks, 2.5 of those on MFP, and exercising 6 days / week. I've done cardio work for a couple decades (but without the whole watching what goes in part). Currently doing 35 - 40 minutes of elliptical work per day, alternating days between steady pace and HIIT (which for me is about 30 seconds of a sprint, then 2 or 3 minutes of my normal pace for recovery, which I get is a higher "rest" ratio to high intensity, but that's all I can do). Later in the day, another 15 - 30 minutes of weights / pushups / other muscle work.
MFP has me at 2100 calories per day, and for the past 2.5 weeks I've been somewhere between 1900 - 2100 per day. The biggest shift for me was moving away from my normal eating patterns and focusing more on fruits / veggies & healthier choices in general. I weigh the food with a kitchen scale, or volumetrically, and rarely eat out. Typically eat three meals, with a snack (apple or greek yogurt with fruit) between lunch and dinner, and then something light after dinner. Cookies are my vice, but I eat them sparingly, and always round up the calories when tracking.
When I started taking this seriously, about 3 weeks ago, I began to weigh myself at the phase of getting ready every day. It started at 369, then 368, and has fluctuated in that range (today is 369.4).
I've got slightly high blood pressure, which I take a beta blocker to correct, but it's a low dose. I get my heart rate up and keep it there during workouts, and my resting HR is around 75 - 80.
Most calculators online put me around 3500 calories for weight loss, but I have a feeling those are much too high. Do you think I'm still too high at 2100 cals / day? There isn't some sort of delayed reaction for starting weight loss when you're this round, is there?
Appreciate any and all thoughts / anecdotes / advice!
I recently decided to wake up and take my health and weight loss seriously. Currently sitting at 370 lbs, I've been counting calories for three weeks, 2.5 of those on MFP, and exercising 6 days / week. I've done cardio work for a couple decades (but without the whole watching what goes in part). Currently doing 35 - 40 minutes of elliptical work per day, alternating days between steady pace and HIIT (which for me is about 30 seconds of a sprint, then 2 or 3 minutes of my normal pace for recovery, which I get is a higher "rest" ratio to high intensity, but that's all I can do). Later in the day, another 15 - 30 minutes of weights / pushups / other muscle work.
MFP has me at 2100 calories per day, and for the past 2.5 weeks I've been somewhere between 1900 - 2100 per day. The biggest shift for me was moving away from my normal eating patterns and focusing more on fruits / veggies & healthier choices in general. I weigh the food with a kitchen scale, or volumetrically, and rarely eat out. Typically eat three meals, with a snack (apple or greek yogurt with fruit) between lunch and dinner, and then something light after dinner. Cookies are my vice, but I eat them sparingly, and always round up the calories when tracking.
When I started taking this seriously, about 3 weeks ago, I began to weigh myself at the phase of getting ready every day. It started at 369, then 368, and has fluctuated in that range (today is 369.4).
I've got slightly high blood pressure, which I take a beta blocker to correct, but it's a low dose. I get my heart rate up and keep it there during workouts, and my resting HR is around 75 - 80.
Most calculators online put me around 3500 calories for weight loss, but I have a feeling those are much too high. Do you think I'm still too high at 2100 cals / day? There isn't some sort of delayed reaction for starting weight loss when you're this round, is there?
Appreciate any and all thoughts / anecdotes / advice!
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Replies
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Sorry I'm not going to go more in depth, you gave lots of great info! But basically it takes time. I spent at least 2 weeks with no scale loss, and this week I have seen 5lbs drop. I suggest more time before you worry about eating too much. I worried I was eating too much too but that's not been the case, my body just isn't releasing stored fat the same day it's being used. Perhaps your body is still making sense of all your good changes!0
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I appreciate the response. I'll keep at it for another couple weeks and see what happens, then will likely either try dropping calories some more, or talking with my doc. Frustrating, but I've been this way for a while; going to take some time to correct.0
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thelistsmfp wrote: »I appreciate the response. I'll keep at it for another couple weeks and see what happens, then will likely either try dropping calories some more, or talking with my doc. Frustrating, but I've been this way for a while; going to take some time to correct.thelistsmfp wrote: »I appreciate the response. I'll keep at it for another couple weeks and see what happens, then will likely either try dropping calories some more, or talking with my doc. Frustrating, but I've been this way for a while; going to take some time to correct.
Precisely, it's a process. Sure, for some they jump in to 1200 calories and do great. The rest of us spend some time tweaking and learning before getting it nailed down. And as soon as you get used to it, you'll probably stall and need to adjust further haha. Seeing it as a learning process makes it easier to not get frustrated. And of course it's not a race, the less time pressure you put on yourself your life will be happier.0 -
thelistsmfp wrote: »Hello!
I recently decided to wake up and take my health and weight loss seriously. Currently sitting at 370 lbs, I've been counting calories for three weeks, 2.5 of those on MFP, and exercising 6 days / week. I've done cardio work for a couple decades (but without the whole watching what goes in part). Currently doing 35 - 40 minutes of elliptical work per day, alternating days between steady pace and HIIT (which for me is about 30 seconds of a sprint, then 2 or 3 minutes of my normal pace for recovery, which I get is a higher "rest" ratio to high intensity, but that's all I can do). Later in the day, another 15 - 30 minutes of weights / pushups / other muscle work.
MFP has me at 2100 calories per day, and for the past 2.5 weeks I've been somewhere between 1900 - 2100 per day. The biggest shift for me was moving away from my normal eating patterns and focusing more on fruits / veggies & healthier choices in general. I weigh the food with a kitchen scale, or volumetrically, and rarely eat out. Typically eat three meals, with a snack (apple or greek yogurt with fruit) between lunch and dinner, and then something light after dinner. Cookies are my vice, but I eat them sparingly, and always round up the calories when tracking.
When I started taking this seriously, about 3 weeks ago, I began to weigh myself at the phase of getting ready every day. It started at 369, then 368, and has fluctuated in that range (today is 369.4).
I've got slightly high blood pressure, which I take a beta blocker to correct, but it's a low dose. I get my heart rate up and keep it there during workouts, and my resting HR is around 75 - 80.
Most calculators online put me around 3500 calories for weight loss, but I have a feeling those are much too high. Do you think I'm still too high at 2100 cals / day? There isn't some sort of delayed reaction for starting weight loss when you're this round, is there?
Appreciate any and all thoughts / anecdotes / advice!
Also, I don't know if you are, but try not to eat those exercise calories back either. A lot of people overestimate those calories and then eat them back which could stall their weight loss. Just a suggestion based on what you've said.0 -
You would get better advice if you made your diary public, so people can see what and how much you are eating.0
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Considering the amount of exercise you're doing, some of it could be water retention hiding the actual loss.0
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Considering the amount of exercise you're doing, some of it could be water retention hiding the actual loss.
This is what I was thinking. I was thinking water retention for you might be a lot worse than someone at a smaller size, because you are going to actually have a LOT of muscle. If you just increased/changed what you did, that could easily account for a "gain" (in water) of several pounds, which would be masking any fat loss you are having.
Doctor is not a bad idea either though. I'm assuming you've had your thyroid checked?1 -
I started about 40 pounds lighter than you. I didn't lose any scale weight (or inches!) for the first 6 weeks. Then, I moved into a pattern of dropping a couple pounds during a 3 - 5 day period, going 3 weeks without any weight loss, then repeating that pattern. I have no explanation for why I was losing on a 3 week cycle.
At this point I'm losing fairly consistently, although I did recently have an 8 week plateau in which I lost a ton of inches, then suddenly dropped 6lb.
In summary, please keep at it. Past 2 weeks. Past 4 weeks. Just keep doing what you're doing, and don't starve yourself! You're going to see positive change soon. Add me if you need support.4 -
Give it more time.. the scale will play ball if you're eating consistently at deficit.3
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no_day_but_2day wrote: »Also, I don't know if you are, but try not to eat those exercise calories back either. A lot of people overestimate those calories and then eat them back which could stall their weight loss. Just a suggestion based on what you've said.
Fair enough; I didn't directly specify, but I turned that feature off. MFP suggests 2100 calories, not accounting for any additional exercise, and I keep my calories between 1900 and 2100 per day, regardless of how much (or little on my rest day) I work out.0 -
blues4miles wrote: »Considering the amount of exercise you're doing, some of it could be water retention hiding the actual loss.
This is what I was thinking. I was thinking water retention for you might be a lot worse than someone at a smaller size, because you are going to actually have a LOT of muscle. If you just increased/changed what you did, that could easily account for a "gain" (in water) of several pounds, which would be masking any fat loss you are having.
Doctor is not a bad idea either though. I'm assuming you've had your thyroid checked?
Yeah, doc fully supports the whole losing weight thing. Actually, I feel extremely fortunate that so far everything in my bloodwork / checkup was A-OK with the exception of my blood pressure, which I'm being medicated for (and is one of the drivers for wanting to lose the weight to hopefully be able to stop taking it).0 -
Panda_Poptarts wrote: »I started about 40 pounds lighter than you. I didn't lose any scale weight (or inches!) for the first 6 weeks. Then, I moved into a pattern of dropping a couple pounds during a 3 - 5 day period, going 3 weeks without any weight loss, then repeating that pattern. I have no explanation for why I was losing on a 3 week cycle.
At this point I'm losing fairly consistently, although I did recently have an 8 week plateau in which I lost a ton of inches, then suddenly dropped 6lb.
In summary, please keep at it. Past 2 weeks. Past 4 weeks. Just keep doing what you're doing, and don't starve yourself! You're going to see positive change soon. Add me if you need support.
That's extremely interesting. I'm curious to see if I follow any sort of similar pattern. There are some discussions / documents / videos out there talking about glycogen store increases that can account for some stalling (especially initially). Wondering how much this might be related.0 -
I_Will_End_You wrote: »You would get better advice if you made your diary public, so people can see what and how much you are eating.
^^This.
How are you calculating the calories you're consuming? Do you weigh your food on a food scale?0 -
If you are logging accurately, just hang in there. I recently started lifting regularly and went FIVE WEEKS with no scale loss. Clothes were getting looser though. This morning I was down 4.5 lbs!!!! Just stick with it.1
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Definitely give it more time. I'm in the high 280's and I started logging in March and only lost 2.5lbs all month. I was so frustrated that I stopped logging until last week when I started up again and today posted a nine pound loss. I was shocked. So just be patient. The work will pay off.0
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thelistsmfp wrote: »
Yeah, doc fully supports the whole losing weight thing. Actually, I feel extremely fortunate that so far everything in my bloodwork / checkup was A-OK with the exception of my blood pressure, which I'm being medicated for (and is one of the drivers for wanting to lose the weight to hopefully be able to stop taking it).
Count yourself lucky but it isn't going to last. I could have written exactly that for the decades I was over 300 lb, but the blood work didn't turn bad until I was over 50 and then I was under 300 lb.
Keep logging, measuring, working, staying between 1900 and 2100, and you'll lost weight. Everybody is a little bit different but the CICO holds true over the course of months. Daily stuff, including muscle injury, sodium, stress, low fiber, and no telling what else can mess with your mind when you're convinced that you deserve to measure a loss now.
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It takes time for your body to adjust. Give it 4-5 weeks at least. Assuming there's not a specific health reason, it's simple math. You have to burn more than you consume, and it sounds like you are making the changes needed to do that. Don't get discouraged, and soon you'll be surprised how fast it starts going,... then you'll plateau,..don't get discouraged then, either. It happens, and sometimes you'll have to retweak the numbers, but you'll probably find you have more energy and feel like exercising/burning more anyway, or that you need less to feel full. Best wishes!1
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I would vote for measuring my food intake accurately, which means a scale and correct entries from the database.
Measuring accurately I would eat over 2K; to be honest unless you're very short I would probably be eating at over 2.5K at your current size.
For you this is currently NOT a lot of calories. You will have plenty of time to drop to lower calories as you get lighter. Dropping more now would be counterproductive.
Since you don't mind weighting yourself daily I would hook up www.trendweight.com (may require a freely available even without a device fitbit.com account), or www.weightgrapher.com (same as trendweight; but also allows manual entry), or Libra for Android, or Happy Scale for iPhone. These weight trending programs, after you've loaded a good month of data, will help you judge your weight level changes
How much low level activity are you doing? At your current size there is the possibility that your workout is knocking the wind out of you and reducing your activity the rest of the day. Your risk of joint injury is also elevated.
You have to balance calories burned via "hard core" exercise against what you could accomplish by increasing your daily activity and walking.
I personally chose to increase daily activity and walking and not to bother with more vigorous workouts in the beginning. I have, in fact, been able to scale up and keep simple walking as an extremely effective exercise for me all the way from Obese III to normal weight.
Water retention due to exercise could be masking a fat drop. Lack of low level activity as a side effect of your more intense exercise might be reducing your fat drop. Water retention associated with sodium or monthly hormonal cyclescould be masking a fat drop.
If you are logging accurately and eating less than 2500 Cal and you continue to do so, at your current weight you WILL drop weight...0 -
Definitely appreciate all of the comments, reinforced suggestions and ideas from folks!
Wanted to come back and give an update - as some of you stated, there was definitely a delay before seeing results, but it looks like my numbers are OK for now. Weight has started to drop - down 6 lbs so far on my scale, and still feeling good.
I had scheduled a checkup with my doc to get another weight taken on their scale, check BP, and discuss whether I should drop the calories further. Turns out, on their scale, I'm actually down 14 lbs since I was last in 5 weeks ago.
My scale is a Homedics SC-540C (from a few years ago, but with fresh batteries), which says the max capacity is 400lbs with a 0.2lb resolution. Using free weights that we have here at home the scale seems to be accurate at least up to 50lbs, but I think I may still invest in a new one.1 -
Came back to find my old thread for the off chance that someone else is running into a problem jump-starting their journey.
It definitely took a while to start seeing results on the scale, but I've been losing an average of 3 lbs per week (close to 1.5% body fat weight) with:- Intake: 2000ish calories per day. Occasionally as low as 1700, and sometimes up to 2500. One day in the past three months I hit 3000 calories. I eat 3 meals a day, and a couple snacks. Definitely shifting towards healthier choices 90% of the time, but I will absolutely, without a doubt, eat a candy bar, or cake, or WTFever strikes me as long as I account for the calories. This was my stumbling block before - completely denying cravings and eating (what I considered to be) bland, boring food.
- Workout: 40 minutes (5 wm up, 5 cool down) of elliptical (usually), recumbent bike (sometimes), or walking (rarely) generally daily. I want to get back to riding my road bike, but going for a weight of < 300 before starting that back up. The loingest I've skipped working out was for 1 and a half weeks where things were completely hectic.
- Cheat days: None. Absolutely none. If I want a snickers bar, or a cookie, and I can't satiate that with an apple or some other sweet fruit, I eat it and just count the calories. My attitude was going for a sustainable lifestyle change, where I (for the moment) don't foresee cutting those things out completely.
So, if someone comes across this post feeling discouraged for similar reasons, just keep at it. As of this post, I'm down 42 lbs from my starting weight, after a 3-to-4 week period of seeing no movement on the scale. Thinking about how much weight 42lbs is -- imagine carrying around one of those 40-packs of water (the 16-oz variety) from Costco or wherever -- is encouraging in that I've lost that much already, but also daunting (3 more 40-packs to go). Perseverance will pay off!
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