3 weeks, only lost 1 lb, heart broken
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Hello, the first thing I want to say is that you have lost weight, which means you are absolutely heading in the right direction. Google a visual aid for what a single pound of fat looks like -- it's actually quite a lot of material, and you should be proud! The second thing I would say as others have already pointed out is to focus on accurate logging. For me, it's vital that I am 100% honest about calories in and calories burned during exercise. My second piece of advice is to PACK YOUR LUNCH! This has been so, so helpful to me. If I commit to eating nothing but what it is in my lunch box throughout the work day, then I know that basically for about 10 hours a day I am doing an excellent job eating clean and sticking to my allotted calorie intake. I hope that you are able to adjust your routine to start seeing the results you want. Don't give up, please!!! Try and get inspired. Create that motivation. I know you can do it, I am rooting for you.
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I've been eating 1200 calories for 3 weeks, working out 4x per week...only lost 1 lb. About to completely quit my diet.... Any idea whu this could be happening?
Slow loss is the best loss. I meant this in the kindest way, but quit looking for a shortcut. Embrace that this is going to take a while, and enjoy the process instead of wanting instant gratification.2 -
Without knowing your height and weight no one can give anything more than general advice. You may be 7lbs from target for all we know, in which case a lb a month is pretty good! I have just done a mega session lifting heavy interspersed with hiit for 90 minutes and my burn was under 300. And I'm a heavy girl! 200 burn for yoga is not right.0
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How much are you aiming to shed?
also "It just seems like I'm making a lot of sacrifices for this, not going out with friends, not enjoying dinners at restaurants and all for nothing." - you are not making sacrifices for "this", but for a "healthier you" - this does not mean having to stop living - the key-word is moderation, you can still go out, still eat what you like, but maybe not as often/much.
"About to completely quit my diet...." - this is not really a diet, more a change of lifestyle, but the only one who can make this work for you is you0 -
StarvingDiva wrote: »nina_schumann wrote: »I had similar experience...3 weeks out sailing, 1200/day and only 4 pounds lost. Overall I have lost 14 pounds in 56 days, but this week I'm up and down by half a pound. When I gain half a pound I panic and have to weigh myself the next day. I think twice a week is probably more than enough. What helped me this week was putting on a pair of shorts that didn't fit 3 months ago. I've been wearing them for 3 days
Don't sweat the scale too much I can "gain" on the scale almost 5 lbs the week before shark week
I second this. I was feeling a bit down today as the scale hasn't moved in a month...but then I remembered that I'm supposed to start Shark week this week and I've lost an inch around my waist already. Measurements are just as important as the scale.1 -
Some of the posters have already given some great advice. I want to say a few things that have nothing to do with food, exercise, intake, or output.
You've already been trying for three weeks and you're asking for help. This is great. If nothing else, developing your attitude and your willpower is great for your mental and overall health. We develop that by exercising it.
Health is a commitment to the people we care about and to ourselves, our capabilities both physical and emotional, the ability to tolerate stress. If we need to lift a heavier object, it takes commitment to exercise and build the strength and endurance to move it.
Motivation has cycles and it will, from time to time, fail you. And that's why we need discipline, to face that scale after three weeks and understand the reasons we got started are the same to keep going.
Go out and see your friends, but use discipline when you chose what to order. Effort likes allies, or at least someone you can talk to. Try hard and believe in yourself. Be honest. Do good.6 -
eskimodeb2 wrote: »You may be eating too little....so your body is trying to protect you from starving. I think you need to be eating more calories.
No. This is utterly false.1 -
Everyone loses weight differently. Some lose consistently week to week but most lose it in stops and starts. Some lose a lot in the very beginning and then it slows down. Others lose nothing in the first few weeks and then start the decline.
Just keep with it. It's hard when you aren't seeing results, but they are coming. New exercise routines, extra sodium and hormones can cause added pounds from water retention. Drink plenty of water and keep at it.
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Regarding weighing things in front of coworkers, I do it all the time; in fact, they have to hear me cursing if I leave my tiny little pocket scale at home! In general, I have found that my larger coworkers are either actively losing weight or know that they need to lose weight; and my smaller coworkers know how slim the margins are to maintain their teeny-tininess. No one has ever made a comment, but even if they did, I have a fairly thick skin and would probably just laugh it off. It's just part of managing people and relationships, and is very helpful in keeping me to one serving (or two!!) rather than the whole bag if I buy a large Turtle Chex Mix at our company shop.
If you think you have coworkers who would be nasty about, for example being the "crabs in the pot" who want to pull you down, then you might want to avoid it (and not mention your weight loss at all) or bring it out once you've lost a nice chunk and have some weight loss street cred. Be prepared with a response like "This is just how I do it and I've had excellent results; different people have different ways of handling things, and that is okay." Or you could just bore their ears off by showing them page after page of your MFP logging and explain your protein goals and other "interesting" features, LOL! I love to talk about my 800-g-a-day fruit and veg goal, but it is not something that other people want to listen to, so I wield it strategically against anyone who might question my having a doughnut, for example. (Regrettably this hasn't happened in real life).
Good luck on your weight loss journey; you have seen movement on the scale, and that is a wonderful thing, especially since so many things can mask weight loss, from time of month to water weight, as noted above. I personally am a "whoosh" loser, and it can be frustrating, but it all adds up and evens out over time; just stick with it and get to know your body over a period of several months. Don't get frustrated, and keep it up!1 -
Guys, nobody on this forum has their body protecting them from weight loss - it's bad advice to keep suggesting it as an explanation. Starvation mode literally requires starving yourself for an extended period before your metabolism cuts down. Starving people still lose fat/muscle weight. You also don't add muscle weight out of thin air, if you are in calorie deficit, you will lose body weight (ignoring water retention)
Her possible explanations are very simple
- she's retaining water
- she's under-counting her actual calories in
- she's over-counting her exercise burn7 -
Just 1 lb lost in 3 weeks, which falls within the normal weight fluctuation without changing anything, would make me suspect that while you have made changes, these changes did not result in calorie reduction. You can eat more healthy food, or not eat at restaurants or quit soda etc, and still eat more than you should to lose weight.0
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Food prep! Make your own meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack) all weighed and measured appropriately.
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It just seems like I'm making a lot of sacrifices for this, not going out with friends, not enjoying dinners at restaurants and all for nothing. But thanks for the encouraging words...maybe I need to give it time. I did increase my workout by a lot...
Go out with friends anyway and make better food choices. Most places offer delicious, filling salads that don't break the calorie bank if you ask for the dressing on the side. Drinks can be soda water with a splash of juice for flavour. Log everything even if it puts you over your "daily limit" so you can see how many calories things "cost".
Eating well and living healthfully doesn't have to destroy your life, you just need to adjust your attitude toward happiness with how amazing you will feel 0 -
I highly recommend looking into the Whole30 program. www.whole30.com
it's a restrictive change for 30 days but it's interesting how much your body does not really need.
I lost 12 lbs in one month and I've kept it off.
No added sugar, no carbs, no grains, no dairy.... but plenty of meats, veggies and fruit! And I was never hungry.1 -
It's possible that OP is overestimating the calories burned from yoga, but I would like to point out that there are many types of yoga, and for some types of yoga a 200 calorie burn per hour does not seem that crazy to me at all. Vinyasa is pretty tough, a lot of movement, so it would have a higher burn than - say - a yin yoga class. http://www.livestrong.com/article/115621-calories-burned-during-yoga/
edited bc spelling2 -
If you bring your lunch, you can weigh it in your house beforehand. I think part of the problem may be eating back exercise calories. I think 200 calories is probably an overestimate for a yoga class even if it's intense, though maybe someone more knowledgeable about yoga than me can correct me. Elliptical trainers are also notoriously bad for overestimating calories, so if you're eating back the number on the machine, you are probably chipping away at your deficit.
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Consider yourself corrected.
Vinyasa is a very cardio style of yoga that provides a great workout.
Of course, we don't know the OP's height and weight - if she's short with not much weight to lose, then 200 calories might indeed be inflated.0 -
Without knowing your height and weight no one can give anything more than general advice. You may be 7lbs from target for all we know, in which case a lb a month is pretty good! I have just done a mega session lifting heavy interspersed with hiit for 90 minutes and my burn was under 300. And I'm a heavy girl! 200 burn for yoga is not right.
What's your height and weight and have you ever done Vinyasa yoga?
This is not Vinyasa but a good example of how difficult yoga can be. Don't try this without a teacher! (And work up to it.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loszrEZvS_k 0 -
I've been eating 1200 calories for 3 weeks, working out 4x per week...only lost 1 lb. About to completely quit my diet.... Any idea whu this could be happening?
I have found that below a certain number of calories, I stop losing weight, I have less energy, my workouts aren't powerful, and I have a really slow progress. Sometimes the calculator is too low. I tend to workout 5-7 days a week, am active, bike or walk everywhere, in spite of my desk job. So the 1200 calorie goal was WAY too low and I wasn't losing weight. But every time I ate a few hundred more (1600 calories), I lost weight! So I've said FORGET THIS. My body reacts how my body is made to react. I track as precisely as I can, I eat SUPER healthy, only good food, no empty calories (juice, alcohol, etc), and see results when I eat slightly more than the program suggests.
If you track properly and leave the calories at your "maintain weight" goal or 200 calories less each day, but keep up the exercise, I know you'll see a difference long term. It takes time, but it happens. ALSO: Take measurements of your body - photos and scales and measurements are all different. Muscle gain can happen while you lose weight, and it will show on a tape measure, but not on the scale, and it will, over time, show on a photo too, but it's really hard to see these things objectively in the short term. The measuring tape helps loads with this!
hang in there!1 -
I've been eating 1200 calories for 3 weeks, working out 4x per week...only lost 1 lb. About to completely quit my diet.... Any idea whu this could be happening?
Another vote for hanging in there!
Do you feel better? Are your jeans looser? Where are you in your menstrual cycle? You might have some ovulatory or premenstrual water retention that is masking fat loss.
Also, if the exercise is new you could have water retention from that as well.0 -
Weight loss is 85% food, 15% exercise. Take a long, hard look at your portions and serving sizes. Are you drinking anything with calories? Don't give up! Celebrate your 1 pound - keep going!0
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Weight loss is 85% food, 15% exercise. Take a long, hard look at your portions and serving sizes. Are you drinking anything with calories? Don't give up! Celebrate your 1 pound - keep going!
Did you know 87% of statistics are made up on the spot? lol but nah hes right just find the numbers funny. Weight loss is all about diet exercise just is for health and to eat more which goes back to diet0 -
Did I miss something or has OP not posted her stats? That information would be truly helpful.2
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Guys, nobody on this forum has their body protecting them from weight loss - it's bad advice to keep suggesting it as an explanation. Starvation mode literally requires starving yourself for an extended period before your metabolism cuts down. Starving people still lose fat/muscle weight. You also don't add muscle weight out of thin air, if you are in calorie deficit, you will lose body weight (ignoring water retention)
Her possible explanations are very simple
- she's retaining water
- she's under-counting her actual calories in
- she's over-counting her exercise burn
This bears repeating. Over and over. It makes me wonder if anyone reads beyond the OP....
Also, unless one is lifting (overweight/noob), there will be no (or very very little) muscle gain in a deficit, especially not in a short amount of time...1 -
If you started your diet and started working out at the same time, you probably aren't seeing weight loss results because you are gaining muscle - and muscle weighs more than fat.
Are your pants looser?0 -
TrekkieJenee wrote: »If you started your diet and started working out at the same time, you probably aren't seeing weight loss results because you are gaining muscle - and muscle weighs more than fat.
Are your pants looser?
*sigh*
No. Muscle gain takes a lot of work and a calorie surplus, and is even harder for women. A little muscle gain is possible for overweight lifting newbies though...Muscle gain will not happen with yoga and a calorie deficit... just ask the many lifting ladies here trying to gain muscle. It. Is. Not. That. Easy.
OP most likely is:- she's retaining water
- she's under-counting her actual calories in
- she's over-counting her exercise burn
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TrekkieJenee wrote: »If you started your diet and started working out at the same time, you probably aren't seeing weight loss results because you are gaining muscle - and muscle weighs more than fat.
Are your pants looser?
I'm not trying to be a witch but muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound of muscle weighs the exact same as a pound of fat, it takes up less space that is for sure, but I cringe every time I read the "muscle weighs more than fat statement" as a reason for not losing on the scale and she wouldn't be gaining muscle at that rapid of a pace. And if she is, please I want to know her secret.1 -
keep track of measurements (thigh, hips, waist, arm)... perhaps you are losing inches before losing weight. This is how I was at the beginning. 0
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Apologies if I missed this, but how much do you plan to lose? People lose weight at various rates depending on several variables, a major one being your current body fat %. If you have less than 20 lbs to lose then this is a reasonable rate.
As several other posters have mentioned you are probably underestimating your intake. Many professionals do this and overestimate by 300 kcals and they have been trained and using scales, so don't get disheartened. Labeling carries an inherent 20% margin of error, so to be careful weight everything and enter 1.2 on calorie dense products.
The key to this is implementing changes that you see yourself doing for a lifetime, so no crazy calorie restrictions or eliminating "bad" foods. It's all good, just in moderation.
Bottom line you are trending in the right direction. Don't sacrifice, but make adjustments. Is it so crazy to go out with friends with a low calorie option or a club soda and lime in hand? The important point is socializing, not what you are drinking/eating.0 -
cerise_noir wrote: »TrekkieJenee wrote: »If you started your diet and started working out at the same time, you probably aren't seeing weight loss results because you are gaining muscle - and muscle weighs more than fat.
Are your pants looser?
*sigh*
No. Muscle gain takes a lot of work and a calorie surplus, and is even harder for women. A little muscle gain is possible for overweight lifting newbies though...Muscle gain will not happen with yoga and a calorie deficit... just ask the many lifting ladies here trying to gain muscle. It. Is. Not. That. Easy.
OP most likely is:- she's retaining water
- she's under-counting her actual calories in
- she's over-counting her exercise burn
Possibly. Depends on how old she is and what sort of exercise. I've only *just* started watching what I eat, but in the past, I've started walking and swimming but not curbing what I eat. Never lost a pound, but dropped several pant sizes. :shrug: YMMV0 -
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