Honest Expectations - Help?

232good
232good Posts: 92 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey All,

I have been doing this eating healthy, logging, working out consistently for about 20 days now :) woohoo! I started at 132 and am now 126 which is fabulous! I want to get to 118 then down to 110-112 and the weight drop is slowing down a ton!! The first 6lb came off really fast. What is a normal expectation for weight loss to reach my first goal of 118? I'm so lost. I eat around 1200 calories a day and workout about 5x/week. Am I plateauing already? Hmm. I hope not! I really don't want to cut my calories more. I just need some insight from non newbies such as myself. Thank you ☺️

Replies

  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    As we get closer to a healthy weight, losing weight can be a bit harder and take a bit longer because we can't eat as large of a deficit while still getting the nutrients we need, which leaves less room for error.

    Do you own a food scale? Being as accurate as possible by weighing your food (as opposed to measuring cups/spoons or eyeballing) can make all the difference. You could very likely be eating more than you think. You can eat as healthy and clean as you want to and still not lose weight if you're not eating less calories than you burn.

    Another suggestion would be to try weight training if you don't do so already. Beginning a weight training program can make a huge difference and you may even find that you like the way you look a bit heavier with a lower BF% than you would be at 110 with next to no muscle tone.
  • 232good
    232good Posts: 92 Member
    Thank you! I do not own a food scale but I will definitely invest! And I do some workout classes which work the whole body and some weights (not super heavy) as well, which I am hoping keep up the muscle tone. I have no desire to look tiny with no muscle. :) but tiny with some muscle and feeling fit and healthy is best!
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,237 Member
    edited September 2016
    Your height is not listed. Your weights sound fairly normal. Your picture does not depict an overweight person. I will make a wild guess that you're at a normal body weight already.

    What does www.smartbmicalculator.com say about your current weight and goals?

    Is weight loss or "toning"/looking leaner your real goal? (someone has already talked about weight training/recomp further up-thread).

    Small deficit to preserve lean mass is my suggestion. We are talking 250 Cal here... not the 1000 Cal you've input into MFP.

    Note that if you simultaneously create a deficit and start new exercise you will have scale conflicts with water weight increasing at times for muscle repair and doing so more rapidly than the weight decrease due to fat loss. Plus normal water weight variations that affect everyone.

    So, with a small deficit you should probably get a trending weight app to avoid going crazy over water weight variations.

    Trending weight app suggestions: www.weightgrapher.com, happy scale iphone, libra android, my favourite www.trendweight.com--requires a freely available fitbit.com account or a supported scale for data entry.
  • 232good
    232good Posts: 92 Member
    Thank you!! I am 5'2" and yes I'm within normal weight but it is not the weight I prefer. I know I feel more comfortable around 112. Yes, I do want to be leaner and even 20 days has already helped but I still want to lose a little more! There's got to be others in the same boat as me! I will try the apps you listed
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited September 2016
    Weight loss is not a steady thing, if you set your loss to 1lb a week then you might lose 4lb one week, then nothing the next, then gain 1lb the next - it's the average loss over several weeks that you need to pay attention to, as your bodyweight fluctuates hugely from day to day due to water, far more than the amount of fat you lose in a week. Keep the faith.

    A healthy rate of loss is between half a lb and 2lb per week, and it depends how heavy you are - someone who is very obese can healthily lose at a faster rate, but if you are relatively close to your healthy weight you should aim for a slower loss, to avoid malnutrition and muscle loss (and excessive hunger).

    Hope that helps.
  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    232good wrote: »
    Thank you!! I am 5'2" and yes I'm within normal weight but it is not the weight I prefer. I know I feel more comfortable around 112. Yes, I do want to be leaner and even 20 days has already helped but I still want to lose a little more! There's got to be others in the same boat as me! I will try the apps you listed

    20 days is not a whole lot of time to be gauging success. 6lbs in 20 days comes out to about 2.3lbs/week, which unfortunately at your size probably isn't going to keep up. I think almost everyone would love results sooner than later, but these things take some time.

    There's so many factors that play into your "weight", which is why I don't ever like to set any goals based on a scale number. Scales don't measure body composition.

    From your OP, with eating that amount of calories and doing that amount of exercising; your net calories may be somewhere in the 600-800 range (hard to tell because you're private). One of the issues people have with massive deficits right off the bat, is that you have to make a BIGGER deficit as you get leaner. That means either moving around more, or eating less.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    232good wrote: »
    Hey All,

    I have been doing this eating healthy, logging, working out consistently for about 20 days now :) woohoo! I started at 132 and am now 126 which is fabulous! I want to get to 118 then down to 110-112 and the weight drop is slowing down a ton!! The first 6lb came off really fast. What is a normal expectation for weight loss to reach my first goal of 118? I'm so lost. I eat around 1200 calories a day and workout about 5x/week. Am I plateauing already? Hmm. I hope not! I really don't want to cut my calories more. I just need some insight from non newbies such as myself. Thank you ☺️

    It is going to take awhile as you are already small. Set your goal to .5 lb a week. If you lose that every week you should get to 118 in about 4 months.
    A plateau is no change in your weight for 3+ weeks.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    OP, you also might want to get a weight-trending app like Happy Scale (iPhone) or Libra (Android). The apps look at the big picture of your weight and over time, show the direction in which it's headed. You'll understand the fluctuations better and not freak out the weeks where you don't lose or "gain."

    Be aware of water weight--hormones, sodium, food, can affect weight. But it's not fat and will shift. Lots of women freak out when the scale shows a couple of pounds increase when they've been consistent. It happens to everyone. The human body is complicated. As another poster said, "weight-loss isn't linear."
  • oberledj
    oberledj Posts: 4 Member
    Im finding lately its not just the number of calories I consume, but whats making up the calories. I can consume only 1455 calories in a day, but if a bunch of that intake was from processed or sugar infused foods, or alchohol, i still add weight.

    Not sure if this will help you or not.
  • Alyssa_Is_LosingIt
    Alyssa_Is_LosingIt Posts: 4,696 Member
    oberledj wrote: »
    Im finding lately its not just the number of calories I consume, but whats making up the calories. I can consume only 1455 calories in a day, but if a bunch of that intake was from processed or sugar infused foods, or alchohol, i still add weight.

    Not sure if this will help you or not.

    This is physically impossible.

    CICO. It is science.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    232good wrote: »
    Hey All,

    I have been doing this eating healthy, logging, working out consistently for about 20 days now :) woohoo! I started at 132 and am now 126 which is fabulous! I want to get to 118 then down to 110-112 and the weight drop is slowing down a ton!! The first 6lb came off really fast. What is a normal expectation for weight loss to reach my first goal of 118? I'm so lost. I eat around 1200 calories a day and workout about 5x/week. Am I plateauing already? Hmm. I hope not! I really don't want to cut my calories more. I just need some insight from non newbies such as myself. Thank you ☺️

    Set your goals to lost .5 pounds a week and find ways to ensure that you are staying in your calorie goals. I suggest weighing food and keeping track because your margin or error is very small.

    Your goal weight is within normal limits, though 110 is close to being underweight. Just don't expect it to come off quickly because of how small you already are.

    Slow and steady wins the race.

    And, no, what you describe is not a plateau, it's impatience. :D
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    oberledj wrote: »
    Im finding lately its not just the number of calories I consume, but whats making up the calories. I can consume only 1455 calories in a day, but if a bunch of that intake was from processed or sugar infused foods, or alchohol, i still add weight.

    Not sure if this will help you or not.

    Nah....not possible. Weight loss is all about calories in/calories out, not food type.

    You gain weight because you are most assuredly eating more than you realize. ;)

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