1 month in, ready to give up. 3lb off, 2lb on.
theledger5
Posts: 63 Member
I literally cried this morning. A whole month has passed with calorie counting and exercising 4 x a week- mixture of cardio and boxing. Plus my 10k steps a day. I was so pleased last week to have lost 3lb but on the scales this morning it's gone back up by 2lb meaning in a whole month of being in calorie deficit I have only lost 1lb. I'm so upset. I am carefully logging my food and being honest about what I eat. My TDEE gives me 1800 cals to lose weight at 1lb a week and I have reduced that down to 1600 and I am still regularly under that. Fitbit says I burn on average 2200-2500 a day. I am thinking something is wrong. Have I to cut down further? Even my hubby comments on how little I eat at my evening meal, I have no carbs at all other than at breakfast. I see my friends on slimming world with food piled high on plates and losing weight at 2-3lb a week and I can't even manage that in a month. I've never been so active as I am right now. Seriously depressed. I am 40, 5'8" and 192lbs, want to get down to 150 but that looks impossible. I have no thyroid gland but medicated properly.
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Replies
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the best news about being a woman is that your period will affect your weight loss, yaaaay!
keep at it, the scale will drop again.
that being said, scale weight shouldn't be your only indicator of progress.. are your clothes fitting better, are you lifting heavier, running farther (or whatever your workouts lend themselves to progress in)....?9 -
Oh darling, if u think weight loss is linear and that your body will do as you wish, prepare to shed some more tears, more like an ocean.
What caused the 2 lbs jump? Is it that time of the month? Did you eat something salty previous days? Did you push extra hard in the gym knowing weigh-in day was coming up? I mean any of these, plus a plethora of other factors can play a role with the numbers on the scale.Do you always weigh ur self in the morning before any food, do you always weigh ur self in the same place? I can keep going - but the ULTIMATE thing here is that if u did not over eat by 7000 calories, u did not gain 2 lbs of fat. So what you need to do is dust your self off, and continue eating at a deficit from your TDEE on your Fitbit at about 500 cals... you do not have to stay away from carbs (unless you're doing it for medical reasons) u just have to keep on keeping on. Eat in defict, commit to yourself and not the number on the scale, because once you commit to yourself, all else follows. Best of luck.20 -
Hi
am confused, I am way way heavier than you, shorter admittedly but my calories are under 1500 which I feel is too low for someone of my weight, worried when I get nearer weight I shall be on something like 800 to lose on this system Only wondering if you eating sufficient protein? fats?
whats a typical day like?
thyroid does cause a problem but, if medicated well and controlled shouldnt totally prevent Have you considered joining your friends, I suspect you are not eating enough
xoxox0 -
VictoriousBeauty wrote: »Hi
am confused, I am way way heavier than you, shorter admittedly but my calories are under 1500 which I feel is too low for someone of my weight, worried when I get nearer weight I shall be on something like 800 to lose on this system Only wondering if you eating sufficient protein? fats?
whats a typical day like?
thyroid does cause a problem but, if medicated well and controlled shouldnt totally prevent Have you considered joining your friends, I suspect you are not eating enough
xoxox
people don't not lose weight because they aren't eating enough.12 -
Keep plugging away. It sucks, really, when you try so hard but no movement. I personally would not cut your calories further, that may cause you to lose out on important macros and micros. Maybe you can try different nutrition breakdowns...increasing your healthy carbohydrates? Sometimes if I'm in a slump, adding a serving of carbohydrates seems to help (also helps my mood!). It'll come, I promise, just keep trying! We're here for you!!2
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4 weeks ago you started a thread saying you'd gained weight.
A women's cycle is roughly 4 weeks.
Track your weight ups and downs and you'll know it's going to happen before it does.23 -
I can feel your pain but instead of being sad be happy that you lost that one pound forever! I recently started weighing daily and keeping it in my journal just to get a better idea of my body's monthly fluctuations. I know not seeing the results you want instantly is disappointing when you are trying so hard, but keep your head up and keep going! You will see the results you are looking for soon. I hope you don't get discouraged and feel a bit happier!3
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Maybe try putting the bathroom scale away for a few months and just focus on the food scale and how your clothes feel?
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Down 140lbs: My story.15 -
It's not my time of month. Last week when I weighed and had lost it was just as my period had ended. It's just so disheartening. I know it's not linear but I have waited for a full month and was hoping that more than 1lb would be lost. It hardly seems to the effort when I factor in my efforts at exercise which I have been doing since January. Last week I burned 18500 cals and ate only 11500. I've looked back on all my meal planning and made sure I weigh food and usually over estimate on some things just to be on safe side. I feel hungry a lot of the time so not seeing the results is feeling frustrating.1
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I don't think you should focus on the scales.. try taking a before and after picture i think that works best I hardly weigh myself i can see my body's changing it just takes time .. maybe try changing what you eat and have healthy carbs like brown rice, sweet potatoe etc.. Do you go to the gym?2
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Please start using a trending weight application.
If you are solely going to focus on scale weight then stop exercising.
Exercising is good for your health.
But exercising makes it harder to see scale changes because it introduces another variable, one that can cause scale changes because of water retention and changes to lean mass.
Not exercising when you can and are willing to do so is... silly, by the way.
Losing lean mass you don't have to lose is also not particularly bright, in my personal opinion.
And so is solely fixating on scale weight.7 -
I do use happy scale to trend the loss. I love my exercise and it's really been the catalyst in changing my mood and helping with joint pain so I don't want to give it up. But I don't see the changes either in the mirror, clothes or on the scales. I am however stronger and fitter so I guess the changes are internal.0
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theledger5 wrote: »I do use happy scale to trend the loss. I love my exercise and it's really been the catalyst in changing my mood and helping with joint pain so I don't want to give it up. But I don't see the changes either in the mirror, clothes or on the scales. I am however stronger and fitter so I guess the changes are internal.
can you open your diary?
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I think you need to focus on a different scale - do you have a food scale? As others have said, no need to avoid any specific food (although too much salt can cause water retention) but you do need to be accurate with your portions. Also be honest with the amount of energy you are expending - for example, if you walked for an hour and logged "4mph very brisk walking" do you know you walked 4 miles in that hour (using a tracker or walking a known route), or are you just puffed out because you walked further/faster than usual?3
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honestly it just sounds like water weight. It happens to me all the time. I am going thru my longest period with water weight as we speak. I eat too much sodium and it makes me retain water. I dont get upset about it, it happens all the time with me. I will get a whoosh and it will come off after a while. That s just how weight loss work s for me.1
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I don't know if this would make sense, but I am going to say it If you feel hungry all the time, maybe you haven't yet "fired" metabolic chain for weight loss, i.e. melting fat for energy. When I start loosing weight, I usually don't feel hungry, I guess because my body makes energy from fat.
Maybe you can try to play with your macros, i.e. reduce/increase carbs/proteins/fats..
Maybe slow down exercise pace for a while and see what happens?
I understand that it's very frustrating, but don't loose motivation only because your first month has been disappointing. Everyone looses weight at different pace, someone struggles with first few pounds, someone with 20th pounds...Forbid your brain to make any false generalizations!
You're not zombie, you're human, and humans do loose weight when in calorie deficit long enough.
Otherwise we would not need any food nor agriculture1 -
It's only been a month. Keep going. Women especially will go through minimal weight gain when their cycle approaches, but they will lose it if they stick with their health routines.1
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1 month is not nearly enough time to assume something is wrong, all kinds of things cause weight to fluctuate - sodium, alcohol, new or more intense exercise, hormones, changes in macros amongst others. Instead of focusing on the fact that you've put 2lb back on, focus on the fact you're a 1lb down since you started. Unless you ate 7000 calories above your maintenance level, you haven't gained fat.
As an example this is my current weight graph. I can gain upwards of 2kg (almost 4.5lb) around my period or when I drink/eat higher sodium food. Giving up won't make you lose the weight, so pick a number and stick to it, give it another 4-6 weeks and then see how you're getting on.
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OP, I think you need to understand how fluctuations work. Both their magnitude and their frequency. And the fact that you can control some, but not all of them.
The problem with fluctuations is that most of us do not know exactly when we are at the peak of them or the valley when we step on the scale. (Frequency). As far as magnitude (and I post on this a lot), your fluctuation range can easily be larger in one day than your target loss in a week. When I use myself as an example, I've seen a 4 pound swing inside of a single day - several times. Curiously enough, I've weighed 4 pounds less halfway through a day, after eating 2/3 of my calorie budget. Did I lose 4 pounds of fat in a day? Obviously not.
Bottom line - in order to really see the trend, you need a large enough magnitude of fat loss to overcome the magnitude of fluctuations. At 2 pounds per week goal, you probably need 6-8 weeks minimum to really know. If your goal was smaller, it would take even longer.
If your process is correct, this will work, but time is your friend. You must have it in order to really see the trend. No need to give up. After another month, you can decide you need to tweak something, but don't make a bad decision now based on your feelings or incomplete data.
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I'm no expert, but I'd say that if this is your first month of calorie counting and you've lost 1 pound the entire month, something is wrong. Either you have fed some bad info in to MFP regarding your weight and activity level, or you are misjudging your portions, or... something. Perhaps your body just has an abnormally slow metabolism and you need to adjust. Tweak something and try again. Maybe your bathroom scale is nuts. Maybe you need to tell MFP that you're sedentary. Those things affect your target calories per day. Are you getting enough sleep? Drinking enough water?
On the other hand, you say you've never been as active as you are right now. That could also cause you to lose more slowly in the short term, as you are likely building muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, and you could be slimming without the scale detecting it. Are you also using a tape measure to track progress? Granted, that's a bit trickier to measure accurately, but the scale is only a single datapoint and not the whole story. Oh, and if you log exercise into MFP, don't make the mistake of eating all those calories back (they automatically add your exercise calories to your daily goal).1 -
I am eating lowish fat but good fats and a reasonable amount of carbs. Averaging 1600-1700 cals a day. Slow loss of 114 kg to 105-106 kg in 4 months which included 5 weeks off diet due to holidays etc. Minimal exercise due to dodgy hip....it can be done! I am the same height as the OP and also older.... my chart is similar to the one shown earlier in that it is not linear.... it can be frustrating so hang on in there!0
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I see two options. You can either give up and be fat or you can continue for another month and even if it is exactly like this month you will be two pounds lighter than you started. But more than likely, the weight gain is just a normal weight fluctuation and next month you'll be several pounds lighter.10
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I'm no expert, but I'd say that if this is your first month of calorie counting and you've lost 1 pound the entire month, something is wrong. Either you have fed some bad info in to MFP regarding your weight and activity level, or you are misjudging your portions, or... something. Perhaps your body just has an abnormally slow metabolism and you need to adjust. Tweak something and try again. Maybe your bathroom scale is nuts. Maybe you need to tell MFP that you're sedentary. Those things affect your target calories per day. Are you getting enough sleep? Drinking enough water?
OP didn't just lose 1lb, she has fluctuated between losing 3lb and 1lb, this doesn't indicate that anything is wrong, it's quite a normal fluctuation for a woman.On the other hand, you say you've never been as active as you are right now. That could also cause you to lose more slowly in the short term, as you are likely building muscle. Muscle is more dense than fat, and you could be slimming without the scale detecting it. Are you also using a tape measure to track progress? Granted, that's a bit trickier to measure accurately, but the scale is only a single datapoint and not the whole story. Oh, and if you log exercise into MFP, don't make the mistake of eating all those calories back (they automatically add your exercise calories to your daily goal).
To the bolded bit - nope - highly unlikely that you would be building muscle eating in a 600-900 calorie deficit, OP has already stated that she is regularly under her calorie goal.3 -
theledger5 wrote: »It's not my time of month. Last week when I weighed and had lost it was just as my period had ended. It's just so disheartening. I know it's not linear but I have waited for a full month and was hoping that more than 1lb would be lost. It hardly seems to the effort when I factor in my efforts at exercise which I have been doing since January. Last week I burned 18500 cals and ate only 11500. I've looked back on all my meal planning and made sure I weigh food and usually over estimate on some things just to be on safe side. I feel hungry a lot of the time so not seeing the results is feeling frustrating.
It doesn't need to be TOM to happen.
My ovulation is 2 weeks before and that is when I gain.
Your gain times in 29 days to your last gain you posted about. If your using trend weight and can see that then I don't under stand why your worrying.
We are never one weight, we are a weight range within 4-5 lbs. A change of 2lbs is normal fluctuation.6 -
Don't let what the scale says dictate how you feel. If you know you have stuck to a calorie deficit, logged food accurately and tracked your exercise then you will have lost fat.
Water weight fluctuates and masks true weight loss.5 -
2 lbs could literally be that you haven't pooped today or that you had a bit too much sodium yesterday. It doesn't mean anything.trigden1991 wrote: »Don't let what the scale says dictate how you feel. If you know you have stuck to a calorie deficit, logged food accurately and tracked your exercise then you will have lost fat.
Water weight fluctuates and masks true weight loss.
This. Trust the science (as long as you're logging properly).5 -
Thanks for all the advice. I have opened up my diary so feel free to have a look and offer any more advice. I genuinely feel I need to cut calories even more as I'm not convinced the Fitbit is accurate with the figures. I'm aiming for 1000 a day deficit and feel I am doing this but it's just not showing. In the past I have done slimming world and feel I've eaten lots more food and over a month I would have lost 1/2 stone. I don't want to go back to the SW trap as I know long term it doesn't work but at the same time I get annoyed at seeing friends lose massive amounts over shorter time and I barely lose a couple of lbs in a month. Grrrrr!1
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I have had a thyroidectomy as well are you positive you are medicated correctly and have optimized free t3 levels? Also how's your vitamin D and ferritin levels? They tend to be deficient with hypothyroidism. Do you have any other medical issues and are on meds? Are you in perimenopause? I started at 40. Any other meds and health issues can stall weight loss for some people.0
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As my pt told me get off the scales. She would get hysterical texts about how my weight went up and down. And i too at times would cry. Use a tape measure. I actually weigh more now as I do weights but losing inches. Having said that im in my early fifties. Got girlie guns. Skinny legs. But the pooch is going down so slowly. 16 months. 4 pt sessions a week. 60km on the bike a week. Swimming. I was training for my first triathlon. Never lost a thing. So annoying. But I just keep on going. Nothing processed. Only fresh food. No sweeties. I cant be trusted so dont touch them. Protein is very important too for weight loss. I dont think of it as a diet but a life change.2
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