No progress - opinions?

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evelynmarie89
evelynmarie89 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello all -

I started my journey in on 2/27/2017 at 295 - 5'2" or higher. I really jumped hard in cutting to 1200 cals and joining a cross training program. During my first week I dropped 8.6 lbs to 286.4 and I have yet to get this number to move since 3/6/17. I've been so deligent and could understand if I had fallen off the train once but I have not. I use another app to scan all the foods I eat to ensure quality and their nutrition grade. I'm going to keep going despite no scale victories hopefully this will change soon. Anyone else at a larger weight experience this? I would expect it at a smaller size lifting weights, I just have so much to lose.

Replies

  • KatieBaack
    KatieBaack Posts: 97 Member
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    More than likely you're retaining water from your new workout regime. Also, make sure you're double checking the entries that are popping up when you scan them - there are a LOT of entries that are not correct. How are you measuring your food? Estimating? Weighing solids & only using measuring cups for liquids? If you're not weighing it's possible that you're eating more than you think - measuring cups are not very accurate to use for solid foods.

    If you haven't already, make sure you're taking progress photos & measurements! Sometimes you need those to notice a difference, even if the scale isn't necessarily moving. :smiley: Keep working hard and you will get there! Feel free to add me if you'd like!
  • fitoverfortymom
    fitoverfortymom Posts: 3,452 Member
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    How are you measuring your calories each day? Are you using a digital food scale to weigh all of your solids?

    A week really isn't enough time to be overly concerned about it, but making sure how you are measuring your calories each day is key.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    edited March 2017
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    8 days without a scale change is too soon to panic. You could be retaining water for muscle repair due to your workouts, or from TOM/hormones, sodium intake, stress, etc.

    It never hurts to make sure you're accurate in your food log, but if you are 280+ you have a clear deficit even if your 1200 logged is off by 20-30%. Just need patience.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    You did not lose 8.6 lbs of fat in your first week, but dropped a fair bit of water weight. Your body has replenished that (I'm surprised you didn't gain on the scale).

    Anyway, you've been at this for 2 weeks. Lot's of things impact your scale reading in a short time span. TOM, extra sodium etc. all lead to water retention. You need to just keep at it for the longer term to see real results. It's going to be slower than you want. At your size you can lose more than 2 lbs per week but that is the MFP upper limit for a reason. Losing too fast is detrimental to your long-term health so plan to lose it slower. I lost ~3.5 per week for ~ 3 months when I started and that is a really aggressive number (~15 lb per month) and I probably shouldn't have.

    Keep going for 2-3 more weeks and see what the results are.

    And do take a picture of yourself now. I didn't and now regret it. I'm down ~ 75 lbs and have had to search hard to find a before picture.
  • Blitzia
    Blitzia Posts: 205 Member
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    If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you've only been at the same weight for 8 days? There's nothing too out of the ordinary about that. Your big drop in the first week likely contained some water weight loss, and now the number on the scale is "catching up" to more accurately reflect how much of that weight loss was real. If you're really eating 1200 calories and exercising, you are absolutely losing weight, but it takes time to see that on the scale.

    But as a side note, I'd definitely recommend that you be a little more cautious with your expectations. It sounds like you're really trying to drop weight fast, and while it's great to be motivated, don't set yourself up for failure. Starting everything at once with a pretty low calorie goal and a high exercise goal can be hard to maintain. (If you stick to it, great, I don't want to discourage you. I'm just saying if you're struggling to meet the goals you've set for yourself, there's nothing wrong with starting with some baby steps first.) For me, I lost ~20 pounds before I joined MFP starting with small steps like cutting down on fast food and switching to water instead of sodas. Once I joined MFP, I had a 1200 calorie goal like yourself, but it was easier to stick with because I had already been eating better for 2 or 3 months. Just my two cents.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    its only been a couple of weeks, be more patient.
  • TheCupcakeCounter
    TheCupcakeCounter Posts: 606 Member
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    Start weighing monthly and take measurements since anyone (but especially females) can have very significant swings depending on salt intake, hormone levels, and muscle repair retention.
    For the calorie piece you may need to tweak that. 1200 is very low if you are also doing an intense exercise class. On those days you need to make sure you eat back your calories and maybe even adjust your calorie goal up a bit.
  • Rogstar
    Rogstar Posts: 216 Member
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    It's very common to have a huge drop the first week or two when you're starting out, especially at a higher weight. When you have that large drop, sometimes the next week or two the body will seem to hold steady. Do not stop what you are doing! The body is just trying to replenish it's glycogen stores, and you may still be losing fat but the scale won't reflect it.

    To use myself as an example: two weeks ago Tuesday I was at 206.4. Last week Tuesday I was 202.6. Today, I'm at 205.2.

    I didn't really lose or gain that weight in fat. Over the two weeks, my low was the 202.6, but my high was actually this past Saturday at 207.6 since I treated myself to delicious Movie Theater popcorn the night before. I'm still dropping the water retention from this weekend of birthday celebrations and trying out a new exercise class. I know I was a little over my allotted calories as I was eating around 2200cals each day, but not enough to completely wipe away my weekly deficit so I know this gain wasn't fat. By the end of this week, I'll probably be at or even below the low number.

    Just keep at what you're doing, don't give up! You've lost over 4lbs a week for the last two weeks, and that's amazing!
  • fatblatta
    fatblatta Posts: 333 Member
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    How long did it take you to get heavy? Take your time. Find a way to lose a pound or two a week and let the time pass. In 2 years or so you'll be a skinny mini. Whatever you do it has to be sustainable and enjoyable for a lifetime.

    Good Luck!
  • evelynmarie89
    evelynmarie89 Posts: 3 Member
    edited March 2017
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    Thanks everyone. I understand it takes time and I'm not trying to see 8.4 lbs a week but I do expect 1-2 a week for what I am doing and my size. Thanks for your concerns and me sticking to my plan, I have done this before and had great results this time around seems to be much more difficult.

    I have 2 food scales, one a home and one that I leave in my car when I go other places. I do not eat foods that do not have nutrition labels or that I have made from scraps so I know exactly what's in it. I have pictures :) for my progress. I was just curious of other experiences. Also by no means do I want to be "skinny" I hate that word. I want to be "healthy".

    Again, thank you to everyone and the positive advice. We should all be encouraging each other.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    evelynmarie89 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. I understand it takes time and I'm not trying to see 8.4 lbs a week but I do expect 1-2 a week for what I am doing and my size. Thanks for your concerns and me sticking to my plan, I have done this before and had great results this time around seems to be much more difficult.

    I have 2 food scales, one a home and one that I leave in my car when I go other places. I do not eat foods that do not have nutrition labels or that I have made from scraps so I know exactly what's in it. I have pictures :) for my progress. I was just curious of other experiences. Also by no means do I want to be "skinny" I hate that word. I want to be "healthy".

    Again, thank you to everyone and the positive advice. We should all be encouraging each other.

    Over time, sticking to your plan, you will likely see an average of 1-2 pounds of loss per week, but that won't happen every week. Think about it this way...in the last 2 weeks, you've lost an average of 4.3 pounds per week, so you're way ahead of the game.

    You mentioned that this time is more difficult than last time. Think about this...what's different this time around? (Is it the exercise?) And...why didn't last time stick? If it didn't last, maybe trying something different this time around isn't a bad thing.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    Blitzia wrote: »
    If I read your post correctly, it sounds like you've only been at the same weight for 8 days? There's nothing too out of the ordinary about that. Your big drop in the first week likely contained some water weight loss, and now the number on the scale is "catching up" to more accurately reflect how much of that weight loss was real. If you're really eating 1200 calories and exercising, you are absolutely losing weight, but it takes time to see that on the scale.

    That. This is probably the #1 most frustrating thing for people when they start. You just have to be patient.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    AliceDark wrote: »
    evelynmarie89 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone. I understand it takes time and I'm not trying to see 8.4 lbs a week but I do expect 1-2 a week for what I am doing and my size. Thanks for your concerns and me sticking to my plan, I have done this before and had great results this time around seems to be much more difficult.

    I have 2 food scales, one a home and one that I leave in my car when I go other places. I do not eat foods that do not have nutrition labels or that I have made from scraps so I know exactly what's in it. I have pictures :) for my progress. I was just curious of other experiences. Also by no means do I want to be "skinny" I hate that word. I want to be "healthy".

    Again, thank you to everyone and the positive advice. We should all be encouraging each other.

    Over time, sticking to your plan, you will likely see an average of 1-2 pounds of loss per week, but that won't happen every week. Think about it this way...in the last 2 weeks, you've lost an average of 4.3 pounds per week, so you're way ahead of the game.

    You mentioned that this time is more difficult than last time. Think about this...what's different this time around? (Is it the exercise?) And...why didn't last time stick? If it didn't last, maybe trying something different this time around isn't a bad thing.

    The part in bold is extremely important to understand. The long term trend is what will get you to your goal, not what happens in one or two weeks.
  • CasperNaegle
    CasperNaegle Posts: 936 Member
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    One you have not been at it long enough. Two is seems from your weight you are eating far too little. Three be sure you are weighing all your food to be sure your accurate on your intake.
  • evelynmarie89
    evelynmarie89 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks everyone! Time will tell :smile: I will follow up 4/1 with any progress.

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