A plateau this early?

beth0277
beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been counting calories and exercising (light cardio so not building real muscle) for about 50 days now. I've lost, but it's slowed way down. I have around a 700-1,000 calorie deficit most days (I eat 1,500 and my resting burn is around 1970 plus all my normal activities/exercising). I weigh everything and don't eat any exercise calories back. I'm satisfied and don't feel hungry. I've been drinking more water. I assume I'm just at a plateau but any ideas to break through it? I had found before that I was losing more on days I didn't work out, I'm assuming because of the water retention when I did work out, but even now if I take a few days off, I'm not seeing much in the way of losses. Current weight is 193, I'm a 5'4" female and have lost about 11 pounds since starting.
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Replies

  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    How long has it been since you've lost weight?
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    I'm losing but it seems slower than the basic CICO math seems it should. I would say I've lost maybe .5 pounds over the last week. So not a true plateau but I was losing more and for the last two weeks, it has slowed way down.
  • MrsSeager
    MrsSeager Posts: 82 Member
    beth0277 wrote: »
    I have been counting calories and exercising (light cardio so not building real muscle) for about 50 days now. I've lost, but it's slowed way down. I have around a 700-1,000 calorie deficit most days (I eat 1,500 and my resting burn is around 1970 plus all my normal activities/exercising). I weigh everything and don't eat any exercise calories back. I'm satisfied and don't feel hungry. I've been drinking more water. I assume I'm just at a plateau but any ideas to break through it? I had found before that I was losing more on days I didn't work out, I'm assuming because of the water retention when I did work out, but even now if I take a few days off, I'm not seeing much in the way of losses. Current weight is 193, I'm a 5'4" female and have lost about 11 pounds since starting.

    How old are you if you don't mind me asking?
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    I'm 32.
  • MrsSeager
    MrsSeager Posts: 82 Member
    You may be overestimating your RMR, I calculated it at 1645. That shouldn't matter though, when you enter your stats into MFP it will calculate it for you. So you shouldn't be counting your RMR as part as your deficit, MFP does it for you when it gives you your daily calories. Absolutely count your exercise calories. Like everyone says, make sure you weigh everything instead of measure to ensure accuracy. I plateaued after losing 8 pounds, so I adjusted the amount I wanted to lose weekly, increasing my calories, and I've actually started to lose again, not sure if it's metabolism confusion (if that's a thing!) but it worked!
  • getupforchange
    getupforchange Posts: 86 Member
    Sounds like a pretty good loss still. I would say just keep on going.
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    you lost half a pound in a week...where exactly is the plateau ?

    I clarified in another post that it's not technically a plateau but seems to not be accurate with my daily/weekly deficit.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    If you're losing weight (and you are), it isn't a plateau. If you are concerned because you are losing slower than you think you should, consider double-checking the database entries you're using to make sure that you aren't accidentally eating more than you think you are. But I agree with the people above who recommend just paying attention to the trend over time.
  • MrsSeager
    MrsSeager Posts: 82 Member
    seska422 wrote: »
    Weight loss isn't linear. You need to look at your trend over weeks and months.

    Here's a recent trend for me when I was at or below my calorie goal every day:

    bgj5avpdzxqe.jpg

    Love this chart!
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    MrsSeager wrote: »
    You may be overestimating your RMR, I calculated it at 1645. That shouldn't matter though, when you enter your stats into MFP it will calculate it for you. So you shouldn't be counting your RMR as part as your deficit, MFP does it for you when it gives you your daily calories. Absolutely count your exercise calories. Like everyone says, make sure you weigh everything instead of measure to ensure accuracy. I plateaued after losing 8 pounds, so I adjusted the amount I wanted to lose weekly, increasing my calories, and I've actually started to lose again, not sure if it's metabolism confusion (if that's a thing!) but it worked!

    You're right, I used the wrong terminology. The 1970 isn't my resting burn, more my daily burn with no real extra activity, so like a lazy day but still walking around to the bathroom, cooking dinner, little things like that. Most days I am closer to 2200-2500 but that is with walking the dog, and the 2500 is adding exercise.
  • not_a_runner
    not_a_runner Posts: 1,343 Member
    As mentioned, weight loss is not linear, and it's only been a week. Some weeks you will lose more, other weeks less.
    My weight will hold steady for 5-6 days (as in no change at all, or even increase) and then I will usually see a large drop, and then the cycle repeats the next week. It's frustrating some days, but you've been making great progress so far. I would just wait it out a while. Perhaps look into a trend app like Happy Scale, if you haven't already.
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    The only problem here is unrealistic expectations. Thread closed. I get it its slowed down, But your still losing, And its only been a few slowed weeks (1 of those weeks you lost half a pound during) Do yourself a favor stop sweating the small stuff and get on with it. Stress is counterproductive. Especially when its somethign so small, I mean your still losing right.

    I'm not really stressed about it - just trying to learn. We see so much about CICO on MFP and I'm just trying to understand the science behind it. If my weekly deficit is 7,000 calories, of course different variables would cause different losses and I don't expect it to be exactly 2 pounds for the 7,000 calories, but when you have two weeks with a 7,000 calorie deficit and lose .5-1 pound, I'm just trying to understand, that's all.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited May 2017
    If your being acccurate id expect a whoosh, My body is infuriating when i started, No weight loss for ages but over time i found my pattern, I wont lose for 1 month 3 days ill have a few weight sways but always stay at the nearest 5-10 and then 1 month 3 days passed and i whoosh down 5 pounds and stay there- repeat forever. We cant tell you about your own body, Just monitor and see what happens long term. Its kind of cool once you figure your body out
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    beth0277 wrote: »
    JaydedMiss wrote: »
    The only problem here is unrealistic expectations. Thread closed. I get it its slowed down, But your still losing, And its only been a few slowed weeks (1 of those weeks you lost half a pound during) Do yourself a favor stop sweating the small stuff and get on with it. Stress is counterproductive. Especially when its somethign so small, I mean your still losing right.

    I'm not really stressed about it - just trying to learn. We see so much about CICO on MFP and I'm just trying to understand the science behind it. If my weekly deficit is 7,000 calories, of course different variables would cause different losses and I don't expect it to be exactly 2 pounds for the 7,000 calories, but when you have two weeks with a 7,000 calorie deficit and lose .5-1 pound, I'm just trying to understand, that's all.

    The thing is that our calories in and calories out are always going to be estimates. We can do things to make our estimates much better (weighing food, double-checking database entries, tracking calorie burns with a HRM for certain activities, etc), but it's generally impossible to be 100% accurate. Plus we have systems that add in confounding factors -- our muscles retain water when we exercise hard, sodium can cause temporary water weight gain, people who have periods will gain weight during certain times of the month, there is always a varying amount of food hanging out in our digestive system . . . all these things can "confuse" what we see on the scale.

    So if you have a prolonged period of time when you are losing slower than you expect, you can begin to figure out if you are either under-estimating what you are eating or under-estimating what you are burning and adjust your goals accordingly.

    But I wouldn't lose sight of the fact that you are losing weight and making progress -- that's a great thing!
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
    11 pounds in 50 days equates to 770 calories per day. You are actually right on track.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    You have lost 11 lbs. your calorie needs drop as you get lighter.
    This is normal.
    Go into your goals and re adjust your goal using your current weight. Do this every 10 lbs to keep your weight loss closer to your goal.

    Cheers, h.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    Do you weigh all foods/ingredients that aren't liquids? Can you open your food diary for us?
  • jdb3388
    jdb3388 Posts: 239 Member
    Some of you guys are flipping out saying that .5 loss in a week isn't a plateau and I'm over here trying to figure out how you can even track such a small change to begin with. I fluctuate 5-10 lbs just depending on the time of day. If my "actual" weight (however that works) were to change by a half a pound, there'd be literally no way to calculate it. So as far as I'm concerned anything within a 5 lb margin over the course of a couple weeks is a plateau.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    jdb3388 wrote: »
    Some of you guys are flipping out saying that .5 loss in a week isn't a plateau and I'm over here trying to figure out how you can even track such a small change to begin with. I fluctuate 5-10 lbs just depending on the time of day. If my "actual" weight (however that works) were to change by a half a pound, there'd be literally no way to calculate it. So as far as I'm concerned anything within a 5 lb margin over the course of a couple weeks is a plateau.

    A daily weight trending app (Happy Scale for iPhone, Libra for Android) can help with stuff like that.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,086 Member
    I am surprised no one has mentioned this, but we're talking about a two-week slow-down in a 32 year old female. OP, are you aware that water retention in women is typically affected by where they are in their menstrual cycle?
  • kq1981
    kq1981 Posts: 1,098 Member
    I put on weight last week, 0.5kg (1.2lb) after loosing steadily for 12 weeks. After reflection it was because I didn't log tightly enough, water weight maybe, TOM, injury, tiredness. So many variables but I'm not going to let it deter me and I hope you keep going, good luck :-)
  • beth0277
    beth0277 Posts: 217 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    I am surprised no one has mentioned this, but we're talking about a two-week slow-down in a 32 year old female. OP, are you aware that water retention in women is typically affected by where they are in their menstrual cycle?

    I was curious about this. I should be starting my cycle next week or so.

    I am pretty meticulous about my food weighing. I use a digital scale for absolutely everything that isn't liquid or extremely straight forward (like 1 slice of bread is 120 cals, etc.)
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited May 2017
    beth0277 wrote: »
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    I am surprised no one has mentioned this, but we're talking about a two-week slow-down in a 32 year old female. OP, are you aware that water retention in women is typically affected by where they are in their menstrual cycle?

    I was curious about this. I should be starting my cycle next week or so.

    I am pretty meticulous about my food weighing. I use a digital scale for absolutely everything that isn't liquid or extremely straight forward (like 1 slice of bread is 120 cals, etc.)

    A slice of bread isn't as straightforward as you would think. Slices vary in size. The nutritional info should say something like a serving is 1 slice (58 g). If you weight a slice, it might actually be 67 grams. A slice from a different loaf or even a different part of the same loaf may have a different weight.

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