Scales haven't moved for 5 days
amrwills
Posts: 13 Member
Hi guys. I know I shouldn't weigh every day, and I also know I don't need to stress if the loss isn't steady. I'm just curious because I absolutely, 100% am weighing my food and logging correctly, eating 1200 calories a day but for the last 5 days the scales have gone up 0.10kg or stayed the same.
This is my second week of cutting calories, the first week weight was falling off rapidly (which is why I was monitoring weight every day, to see when the rapid loss would stop and I'd have my true weight.)
I've used MFP before and lost 30lbs so I thought I knew what I was doing but now I feel very confused.
Any help appreciated. Thank you!
This is my second week of cutting calories, the first week weight was falling off rapidly (which is why I was monitoring weight every day, to see when the rapid loss would stop and I'd have my true weight.)
I've used MFP before and lost 30lbs so I thought I knew what I was doing but now I feel very confused.
Any help appreciated. Thank you!
1
Replies
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Weightloss isn't linear. You have to be patient. Heaps of things are in play - sodium, hormones, your body being bloody stubborn. Stick with it. As long as you're in a calorie deficit, the weight will come off, but it tends to go in bigger chunks rather than a few grams every day. I recently had a two month plateau, where I was vigilant with my calorie deficit, and had no weight loss, then bam, 1kg gone overnight.6
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Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number4
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In your first week you made substantial change to the food you were eating. The evidence indicates that you changed your sodium intake to some dramatically lower value, and for one week your body shed water. That's always fun. Now in the second week, your weight is slowly wobbling upward on a Thursday.
Stay on the program. You're doing it right. I have learned to anticipate a weekend weight loss when I observe a work-week trend up. If this happens to you the way it happens to me, your Monday or Tuesday weight each week is the lowest of the week, and lower than the prior week.2 -
I do everything right. I regularly go 3 weeks with no loss. I've lost 87lbs. You'll make yourself crazy if you worry about weight loss from day to day.6
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I agree with the above comments. Be patient and continue to trust your program. You got this!0
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You want to look at your weight loss trend over time. If you have a general downward trend over a few months then what you are doing is working. Here's a recent trend for me where I consumed at or below my calorie goal every day:
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This is my last month at 1200 calories per day. Sometimes the scale shoots up 1-3 pounds, sometimes it stays the same for a couple days, and sometimes it drops 2-4 lbs but in the end I've lost 10 pounds in the last month. That's progress even if I don't see a loss everyday
Trust the numbers and keep in mind several factors besides fat can show up on the scale as weight like water retention3 -
^ Screenshot of my weight progress over the last three months. Black dots are daily scale readings, red line is the overall trend. Weight loss is not linear or consistent, nor does it happen overnight.
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Thanks for your replies everyone, and thank you for the screen shots of your progress, those are particularly encouraging!3
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It's frustrating when the math doesn't pan out, but we are biological systems with countless variables in play every second of every minute of every day. Your hormones could be shifting, your sodium intake could have shifted, etc. resulting in increased cellular uptake and higher than normal water weight. Be patient - keep to your routine and this will all work out. Review your logs and activity - think like a detective/scientist, but with your behavior as the subject. If after a few weeks you haven't seen progress, dig deeper - open up your diary and have some of the veterans here review and get their insight.
My water weight alone fluctuates ~5lbs throughout the day and I've been running 3 lbs heavier this week compared to my last weigh in despite eating at a deficit. Experience has taught me that this will even out over time.2 -
Grab a measuring tape and start to take some measurements. the days/weeks your not loosing weight you could be loosing inches.3
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I had years of starvation in my teens and would weigh myself multiple times a day. It's amazing how depressing it is when you haven't lost any weight or (much worse) seem to have gained. I wouldn't recommend daily weighing as it quickly becomes obsessive and can really knock your mood down. Since I started losing weight recently, I've been weighing about every week although sometimes I leave it an extra day. One time I seemed to have gained two pounds which I knew wasn't right, so I weighed myself again the next day and it had disappeared. The thing is, all your levels will fluctuate constantly and many of these affect your weight, so I don't think it's ever going to be 100% accurate. I've also found that on day 5 (having tried this myself) I haven't lost anything, but by day 7 I might have. I'd recommend only weighing yourself once a week or even leaving it a bit longer.
What I've discovered from my years of eating disorders is that having an obsession about weight/food is all-consuming (no pun intended). What I'm trying to do is make it less of a big deal in my life, instead of thinking about it all the time. It's a much better way to live, and stressing about weight loss can actually get in the way of it happening.1 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.0 -
livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.
Couldn't agree more. If you're weighing every day, it becomes obsessive and your whole day can depend on what the scales say. Not worth the anxiety and mood swings it causes.1 -
Hi guys. I know I shouldn't weigh every day, and I also know I don't need to stress if the loss isn't steady. I'm just curious because I absolutely, 100% am weighing my food and logging correctly, eating 1200 calories a day but for the last 5 days the scales have gone up 0.10kg or stayed the same.
This is my second week of cutting calories, the first week weight was falling off rapidly (which is why I was monitoring weight every day, to see when the rapid loss would stop and I'd have my true weight.)
I've used MFP before and lost 30lbs so I thought I knew what I was doing but now I feel very confused.
Any help appreciated. Thank you!
I weigh every day. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
I started this effort on Feb 10. I lost 4 pounds in the first 4 days, then sat at the same weight for 2 weeks. You are just in your 2nd week. You'll need to be more patient.0 -
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GirlPanda03 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.
Couldn't agree more. If you're weighing every day, it becomes obsessive and your whole day can depend on what the scales say. Not worth the anxiety and mood swings it causes.
It becomes obsessive for some but not everyone. I stress less about weight than I did when I was weighing weekly because I just do it as part of my morning routine rather than getting worked up about it. Today's weight is just a data point on the trend line that I'm collecting data to build. I might end up weighing on a high day if I just weighed weekly but I can see all the ups and downs when I weigh daily.
The important thing is to remember that weight is just a measurement, not a judgement.4 -
@seska442 Exactly my feelings!
For me its usually an indicator if I need to drink more, or TOMs around the corner.
I do it first thing in the morning but I dont worry about it as I never really stalled longer than a week before a fe grams moved.
Then again I also took a 8month break to maintain and not count or weigh which really got me motivated again to get the rest off!2 -
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Fixed it for you. n=1 is not the same as n=all.GirlPanda03 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.
Couldn't agree more. If you're weighing every day, it becomes can become obsessive for some people and your whole day can depend on what the scales say. Not worth the anxiety and mood swings it causes in people who don't understand the fact that weight is constantly fluctuating and weight loss is not a linear process.
Many of us weigh daily and have no problems whatsoever with it because we understand that weight fluctuates and we understand why it fluctuates. We look at the daily scale readings only as data points in a bigger picture, that being the overall trend over time.
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Fixed it for you. n=1 is not the same as n=all.GirlPanda03 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.
Couldn't agree more. If you're weighing every day, it becomes can become obsessive for some people and your whole day can depend on what the scales say. Not worth the anxiety and mood swings it causes in people who don't understand the fact that weight is constantly fluctuating and weight loss is not a linear process.
Many of us weigh daily and have no problems whatsoever with it because we understand that weight fluctuates and we understand why it fluctuates. We look at the daily scale readings only as data points in a bigger picture, that being the overall trend over time.
It's not about 'understanding that weight fluctuates' - many people know this but using the scales, particularly on a daily basis, still becomes obsessive for them. Of course not everyone experiences this, but to say it's simply about understanding basic information is wrong.0 -
GirlPanda03 wrote: »
Fixed it for you. n=1 is not the same as n=all.GirlPanda03 wrote: »livingleanlivingclean wrote: »Why shouldn't you weigh every day? I think it's a good idea to weigh every day, and use a weight trend app to see how you're progressing - loss isn't linear, so trends over time can be helpful rather than focusing on the daily number
For many people weighing everyday isn't detrimental physically, but psychologically. Many people have a hard time not "focusing on the daily number." If you can understand that today's number is just a number then weighing every day is fine. But, if you internalize every weigh in you might feel like it's hopeless.
Couldn't agree more. If you're weighing every day, it becomes can become obsessive for some people and your whole day can depend on what the scales say. Not worth the anxiety and mood swings it causes in people who don't understand the fact that weight is constantly fluctuating and weight loss is not a linear process.
Many of us weigh daily and have no problems whatsoever with it because we understand that weight fluctuates and we understand why it fluctuates. We look at the daily scale readings only as data points in a bigger picture, that being the overall trend over time.
It's not about 'understanding that weight fluctuates' - many people know this but using the scales, particularly on a daily basis, still becomes obsessive for them. Of course not everyone experiences this, but to say it's simply about understanding basic information is wrong.
My point exactly. Thank you for clarifying the meaning of your post.1 -
I have to be very careful not to become obsessed with the scale. I have to keep reminding myself that my new way of eating is the reason my stomach doesn't hurt anymore. I know by logging my food every day that I'm within my calories and nutrient goals, and I'm moving more, I'm not hungry, or feeling deprived.0
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I weigh everyday and if my weight starts to creep up after a week or so, I'm back to logging my intake. If I weighed every week, I may not notice the uptake on the scale and would write it off as a natural fluctuation. It's easier to lose five pounds of fat then 10.0
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The typical bathroom scale isn't accurate enough to show daily weight changes. Some will show a weight in tenths of a pound but won't change for less than 0.2 or 0.4 lbs.0
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