Two weeks in and have not lost weight

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Replies

  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
    edited January 2017
    Good lord.

    I made the cobbler myself. I input everything myself.

    I included "measuring" in my first post.

    It's reasonably accurate.

    I know well enough what to pack down and what to spoon into a measuring cup.


    I'm not lying about my inputs, I don't drink soda, I don't drink juice. I eat very little processed food. Especially this past week.

    I'm not scarfing down Haagen-Daaz and forgetting to add that in.
  • cathipa
    cathipa Posts: 2,991 Member
    As far as using spoons/cups to measure you may want to think again as to how accurate they are
    https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY?list=PLaMhxrERtLo8doidk3paLrSDP1GiXbgYL

  • shaekobe
    shaekobe Posts: 3 Member
    Keep going strong! Dont give up! The journey may start slow but it will pay off in the end.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
    cathipa wrote: »
    As far as using spoons/cups to measure you may want to think again as to how accurate they are
    https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY?list=PLaMhxrERtLo8doidk3paLrSDP1GiXbgYL

    The video is using terrible plastic measuring cups and spoons. I have quality kitchen items and know how to use them. I made a living baking.

    Thank you for your concern. :)
    shaekobe wrote: »
    Keep going strong! Dont give up! The journey may start slow but it will pay off in the end.

    Thanks. I'm up to 282... I need to throw away the scale. It's driving me nuts.

    I've lost weight in the past and I never focused too much on my food intake. Or even weighed myself often. I had always lost it through exercise. Hiking or going to gym classes with a friend.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »
    cathipa wrote: »
    As far as using spoons/cups to measure you may want to think again as to how accurate they are
    https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY?list=PLaMhxrERtLo8doidk3paLrSDP1GiXbgYL

    The video is using terrible plastic measuring cups and spoons. I have quality kitchen items and know how to use them. I made a living baking.

    Thank you for your concern. :)
    shaekobe wrote: »
    Keep going strong! Dont give up! The journey may start slow but it will pay off in the end.

    Thanks. I'm up to 282... I need to throw away the scale. It's driving me nuts.

    I've lost weight in the past and I never focused too much on my food intake. Or even weighed myself often. I had always lost it through exercise. Hiking or going to gym classes with a friend.

    Alot of people say this--"I've lost weight in the past, and now it's not working". This is very common. You can't count on what worked in the past. Also, I live in Europe and we weigh all our ingredients when cooking--it's the only accurate way.
  • Reaverie
    Reaverie Posts: 405 Member
    ugh.. give it one more week. Then come back and tell me if you lost or gained or stayed the same.
  • everher
    everher Posts: 909 Member
    I'm going to add another vote for being patient. :)

    Also, maybe it's time for a new scale? It could be possible the one you have is inaccurate. When you weigh yourself I assume you are weighing under the same conditions already.

    I would give it at least six weeks before I changed anything.
  • Derrickw73
    Derrickw73 Posts: 1 Member
    I would bet if you are losing inches and gaining muscle. Remember muscle weighs more than fat. I had the same thing happen to me. After a month into my new heathy lifestyle, walking three days a week and working out with weights two days a week, I weighed and had only lost 5lbs. I was disappointed. Then measured my waist and was very surprised to find that I had lost 4 inches around my waist. Always remember the scale does not tell the whole story, you are not defined by what it says. Stay the course and you will get there. Good luck. I hope that this helps.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
    I think... it might be water. I've been drinking at least a gallon of water a day. Today I (by chance) didn't drink any in the morning. Then forgot to in the afternoon. I was urinating normally... and my urine was clear. I decided to not drink and see what happened. So far I'm at about 2 glasses and my output is clear.

    I started thinking about where all the water was... how it must be stored somewhere.

    I've been gaining weight steadily since I started drinking a gallon a day.

    What's the likelihood I have 5 pounds of excess water in me?
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »
    I think... it might be water. I've been drinking at least a gallon of water a day. Today I (by chance) didn't drink any in the morning. Then forgot to in the afternoon. I was urinating normally... and my urine was clear. I decided to not drink and see what happened. So far I'm at about 2 glasses and my output is clear.

    I started thinking about where all the water was... how it must be stored somewhere.

    I've been gaining weight steadily since I started drinking a gallon a day.

    What's the likelihood I have 5 pounds of excess water in me?

    Quite possible. Between 2 and 3 liters a day is advisable, not sure how much that is in gallons.

    Always weigh yourself first thing in the morning after using the restroom and before drinking or eating for best accuracy.
  • anabelrose
    anabelrose Posts: 5 Member
    Hi, you could try taking meat or dairy out if your diet. They are bad for your body and very dense in calories. I went vegan almost two years ago and have lost around 30 pounds without exercising.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
    I've been a vegetarian and it didn't do anything for my weight.

    I don't eat many meat products as it is.
  • mangrothian
    mangrothian Posts: 1,351 Member
    edited January 2017
    anabelrose wrote: »
    Hi, you could try taking meat or dairy out if your diet. They are bad for your body and very dense in calories. I went vegan almost two years ago and have lost around 30 pounds without exercising.

    Meat is not bad for you. Dairy is not bad for you unless you are lactose intolerant or have an issue with milk proteins. And an avocado is damn calorie dense, so that's not sound reasoning to drop meat products

    OP, I may not have been a full time baker, but I used to have a small at home business making custom order cakes, cupcakes and macarons. The only thing I ever used measuring spoons for was salt and baking powder; everything else was weighed for consistency (cups of butter? I still don't know how people do that...)

    There's a reason why we say 'weigh your food'. How you pack food into your cups may be different to how it was intended when a user entered a food into the mfp database. It may not seem that much of a difference over 1 entry for 1 ingredient, but it adds up to a larger variance over time. And as you get closer to goal weight those small variances can eat up a deficit much more quickly.

    I found my biggest issue with logging discrepancy was issues with user entries. 1 cup of cooked rice varied greatly, and the nutritional labels from barcodes I scanned were different than what was on the packet. The first time you scan something, check that the serving size is the same and the nutrition matches it. For raw ingredients, use USDA verified entries (I actually use AUSNUT entries which is the Australian equivalent, and I enter them myself from the government's downloadable excel file with 100g as a serving size), rather than whatever just comes up.

    In regards to your earlier posts in the thread, at 280lbs I was eating more what you are now and losing. At 97.5kg (214lbs), I'm still eating close to 1700 (or more) per day and still losing, albeit very slowly, so just give it time. If you're doing it right, it'll happen. Because science.

    *Edited for my shoddy grammar
  • flatlndr
    flatlndr Posts: 713 Member
    edited January 2017
    I was just about to do a detailed analysis of the last 2-3 weeks of your diary, but it appears you have made it private again.

    As someone who started at 279 and watched the pounds melt off when I got serious about intake tracking, and has spoken with plenty of friends (male & female) who started in the 250-300 lb range as well (some successful, some not), based on that sample set (upwards of 100 people), my views are
    • you should see a doctor to rule out a medical condition
    • you may be taking in way more salt than you realize (water retention)
    • you are most likely taking in more calories than you think you are
    • you are most likely not getting the calorie burn you think you are

    Sorry, but for the calorie intake and the activities I saw you logging while your diary was briefly visible to the public, you should be shedding weight.

    With regards to food measurements, yes as far as baking goes, my wife does plenty, and for that she uses cups, etc, and all of her baking comes out great. As someone who hit 279, I had lots of experience testing her handiwork, trust me. As far as quantifying for weight loss, however, you'll be more accurate by weighing dry goods on a scale, rather than volume measurements.

    I do hope you figure it out and solve it early. I wish I had. Carrying around that extra weight until I hit 50 did a number on my knees!

  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
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    My maintenance intake is 2500.

    I would have to be guzzling buttermilk to have gained 7 pounds. (Mind, I dropped down to 275 a few days in.)

    I didn't include my hiking or fitness classes in the totals. (I took the advice and I'm going to be reducing the burn by 40%. But that still wasn't included....)

    At this point... I really think it's the water. I had noticed my urine hadn't looked the best before I decided to drink a gallon a day.

    I'm probably just rehydrating myself and this is the consequence.

    Another possibility is that my hormone kicked in.


    I'll stay the course regarding food and come back at the month mark with an update.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    Just keep logging your intake, it will increase your awareness and improve your decision making. Sounds like you've done a lot of recent exercise, maybe you are also building muscle. A normal weight person would be doing those 40 miles with a 100 lb backpack, to match what you are asking of your muscles.
  • julierobingarcia
    julierobingarcia Posts: 10 Member
    Don't give up. It takes more than a couple of weeks to really start showing. Besides the scale doesn't measure inches. If you feel better then that's already a bonus.
  • SierraFatToSkinny
    SierraFatToSkinny Posts: 463 Member
    Alright, so I limited myself to a little less than 4 glasses of water, I still had clear urine in the morning, (though I felt crazy thirsty.)

    I'm down 3 pounds today....

    Soooo, in upping my water intake again and not going to worry about the scale.
  • Jalexander33
    Jalexander33 Posts: 52 Member
    The best indicator is how your clothes fit on you. When I was 420 lbs everything felt to small or tight. As my weight loss began I noticed how clothing I used to accuse my wife of shrinking by drying to long seemed to fit again and not tight. The scale is a *kitten* number and honestly doesn't mean much or shouldn't mean much to you. One of the best things you can do to know your gaining or losing is to measure you body. Measure Bust, Chest, Waist, and Hips. Avoid doing this before or right after your monthly cycle. You'll want to do this about once a month no more no less. Throw that scale in the trash.

    As far as weight loss goes it's really hard to tell anyone what to do. Measuring and weighing food helps A LOT. But I can tell you my trip has been a full downhill roller coaster of losing for about 6 months. Now I'm getting to the part where things are slowing down the number on the scale stays the same for weeks. Yea I use a scale b/c I lift weights and I expect to see the number go up as I put on muscle mass.
    I ended up having to make big changes like reducing my carb intake. Found out my body is carb sensitive which was leading to some small weight gains but more over stopping weight loss. No one could tell me that b/c honestly know one knew or could know. It's these little adjustments or changes that "you'll" have to make to spark your body into getting rid the unwanted weight.
    Another thing that can help too is try to reduce your sodium intake. Stay under 2300 mg per day. If you go over one day it's not the end of the world just be sure to drink plenty of water to flush it out. Going over more than that can lead to water retention or water weight those extra pounds will show up on the scale.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,868 Member
    I've read the thread and decided to use the TDEE calculator that was posted to see how it varied from MFP. It indicated that to lose my desired weight I'd have to cut my 200 cal 4 days a week exercise calories completely out and just eat 1200 a day. Bummer. But I suspect it's more on the mark.

    OP, you might consider playing with the TDEE calculator. It took me less than a minute to plug in the numbers. How they handle exercise calories is pretty simple. I put sedentary, although I might be lightly active and have a few calories to spare. For exercise I put the number of min and how many days a week. I bike till drenched with sweat. That was a category. I have a HR monitor so track that as well. First I used a Polar chest strap and now I also have a Fitbit Blaze. The Fitbit is much less accurate, but gives me a ballpark.

    This is my third go around with losing and gaining 25 pounds and I learn something each time. Hang in there. Bottom line, it isn't easy for any of us, but it's a lifelong process and very rewarding to reclaim your energy and health (I'm 62).
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    Sounds like water then! Don't worry your body should adjust to your higher water intake and eventually you won't retain so much.
  • Theo166
    Theo166 Posts: 2,564 Member
    edited January 2017
    Wow, that's some serious inches lost, major congrats to you Sierra!

    Last week was my first one were I didn't lose weight, though I've been eating right. Think I need to also take measurements so I can look for victories there as well.
  • trayborn114442
    trayborn114442 Posts: 57 Member
    edited January 2017
    When I started to lose pounds it was slow at first. I was stuck at 150 for a good three weeks. I continued to eat the good calories and do my cardio. I then added some strength training and that is when my pounds started to drop. Now, what I can strength training isn't what true strength trainers do (I'm an amateur); however, what I did worked. I never lifted more than 65 lbs. Maybe a few sets every night. Fast forward to today, I am starting to really do the real, correct strength training (from professionals). After a total weight loss of 33 lbs, I met my goal. Currently, I am trying to perfect my squats so I can build my backside that was lost during strictly weight loss. Keep up the great work and determination. You will succeed. BTW, I am 5'8 and currently weigh 137. I was at 130 until I started to build muscle.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    SierraFatToSkinny wrote: »
    Update! If you're interested? Haha.

    So I measured myself about 10 days ago. It was at the end of the day, but then again... I had been dieting for two weeks already.

    I measured myself just now and I'm down 2 inches on my under bust, 1.5 inches off my bust, 3 inches off my hips, .75 inches off my thighs, .5 inch off calves, .5 off my arms, and 4 inches off my waist!

    FOUR off my waist!

    I'm very excited... haha. I'm at 275... so I've essentially stayed the same weight for 3 weeks.

    This is why we tell people not to give up. I'm glad you're seeing results. I keep a weekly log of my measurements. It can tell you alot over time. Also when you hit a streak of not losing, you can pull it out and see your progress. It helps keep me on track.

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