Slow start...opinions please

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aimos87
aimos87 Posts: 55 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I've been following my calories and exercise for 5-6 weeks and haven't really noticed any changes. The scales have been up and down but hovering around starting weight and I've cut out all the crap and almost white carbs. Could it be my body is holding onto fat before it starts dropping it? My clothes feel a little looser and I definitely feel fitter but scales are not budging!

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  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Holiday on to water possibly - not holding on to fat if you really are in a deficit.
  • Mrs_Hewi
    Mrs_Hewi Posts: 77 Member
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    Could it be water retention?
  • janetennet
    janetennet Posts: 143 Member
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    How are you tracking your calorie intake?
    Are you weighing your foods using a food scale?
    Are you new to exercise or have you upped your exercise days?
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    From your wording of "cutting out crap and white carbs" you make no indication if you are actually weighing and tracking your intake. You can eat all that "crap" whilst losing weight. It just requires a calorie deficit!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Do you know 100% that you are in a calorie deficit every day to lose weight? In short, on point with logging efforts vs the food you actually consume, and on point with not eating back to many exercise calories?

    If you can answer no to either of these questions, start there.. If you are not using a food scale, perhaps consider getting one. If the answer is yes, keep going with what you are doing..

    Side note, white carbs and cutting crap does not mean a whole lot, cause you can still eat these, its about the calorie deficit at the end of the day. Consider weight fluctuations on the scale, your times of the month (ovulation, week leading up to and day of TOM), any dietary changes (hydration and lack there of, sodium intake, carb intake), muscle repair, etc.. will show on the scale in one form or another each day.
  • jo_nz
    jo_nz Posts: 548 Member
    edited November 2016
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    How much do you need to lose and how much per week have your set your weight loss goal at?

    I am quite short and not very overweight (actually just moved into normal BMI range as of today!!) so my deficit is small and my loss is/has been sloooooow.
    I can look back over my diary and see a few areas I could have been tighter on, but it's important to me to still live my life as I plan to keep living it, so I'm happy with slow progress as long as it's progress.

    Maybe look at an app like Trendweight so you can see if those fluctuations are heading the right direction.

    Be patient! Little improvements to your logging and eating do add up over time
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    I love "white crap", check out my diary. It's full of it. I have been maintaining my weight for a year. Calorie deficit, FTW!
  • CMNVA
    CMNVA Posts: 733 Member
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    5-6 weeks is a long time not to see a good, solid pound or two. I've gone one weight loss stints as you described (not to say that what you described is exactly what you are doing). I figured if I cut the soda, nightly desserts, and crap, it would just fall off. It didn't. Apparently I was still eating too much good stuff. Make sure you are in a calorie deficit, no matter WHAT it is you're eating. Sure, cutting jump and calorically dense foods will allow you to eat more of the good stuff, but bottom line is that you really need to make sure you're eating less. Your diary isn't open so we have no idea what you're really doing.
  • veggie16mfp
    veggie16mfp Posts: 114 Member
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    Cutting out the crap didn't work for me either. I did that for about a month before returning to MFP and only when I started to log did I see a change. I became more aware of all the calories I was intending to eat and cut according to my daily allowance. I still use some of my calories for crap most days (wine!), but at least for now I am mostly sticking to daily allowance and I am seeing progress.
  • aimos87
    aimos87 Posts: 55 Member
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    Thanks for your responses. Yes I'm at a deficit...yesterday I had just over 500 cals deficit according to MFP vs Fitbit calories out. I'm consuming 1700 cals as my BMR is 1656 and I've been told u should never eat under BMR as it puts body into starvation mode. 1200 cals is just too low for me.

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