One week in, high deficit, no weight loss

pawel3535
pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hey guys, I'm not too worried about my weight loss right now as I have just started so my answer can be as simple as water fluctuations however I'm a little confused as to why no weight has come off with the deficit that I'm at.

I have my app set to losing 1kg per week and usually end the day with about 600 calories left before the daily deficit goal (I don't starve my self, have plenty of energy from the food I eat) however if I did the maths correctly, I created a deficit of about 8500-9000 calories in the last seven days with my weight still being in the same spot or like .1kg lower.

Is this something that is regular for beginners?

Oh and in case your wondering how I'm getting this high of a deficit in (if it is high, I'm not too sure really), I'm currently at 146kg so I can comfortably cut my intake by up to 1500-2000 calories and still feel good.

Thanks guys
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Replies

  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    A 9000 calorie deficit is pretty insane unless you are 200+ lbs, extremely active and starving yourself.

    Generally, weight loss is not linear and you need to patient.
  • nicholerohrer
    nicholerohrer Posts: 40 Member
    Despite the large deficit, I think you'll still need more time to start seeing anything. Like you said, fluctuations, bowel movements, water retention, etc... trust the process! :)
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    Despite the large deficit, I think you'll still need more time to start seeing anything. Like you said, fluctuations, bowel movements, water retention, etc... trust the process! :)

    I'll keep on grinding, thank you for the response

  • medic2038
    medic2038 Posts: 434 Member
    Yeah it can certainly take a while to see results. Generally I'm pretty "spurty" in that I'll stay the same general weight for a while, then suddenly drop.

    Keep on doing what you're doing! Eventually you'll have a day where you're in the bathroom more than usual, and your next weigh in will be quite surprising!
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    ahamm002 wrote: »
    One theory is that fat cells get filled with water once the fat inside them is burned. The water eventually filters out, but it delays results on the scale.

    I assume the rate of that starts to drop after a few weeks and the fat starts coming of regularly (granted that I continue doing what I'm doing now) where I'll see steady results for a good bit of time until my deficit no longer gets the job done right?
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    medic2038 wrote: »
    Yeah it can certainly take a while to see results. Generally I'm pretty "spurty" in that I'll stay the same general weight for a while, then suddenly drop.

    Keep on doing what you're doing! Eventually you'll have a day where you're in the bathroom more than usual, and your next weigh in will be quite surprising!

    I look forward to that, it can be a real bummer to feel how hard you are working on something and not seeing the weight come of, the time will come!
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Keep going. The weight loss game involves a learning curve.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    allyphoe wrote: »
    A 9000 calorie deficit is pretty insane unless you are 200+ lbs, extremely active and starving yourself.

    OP is 321 pounds. 9,000 calories per week of deficit would result in a 0.8% of body weight per week rate of loss.

    I didn't mention anything about how much weight the OP would lose.

  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    pawel3535 wrote: »
    ahamm002 wrote: »
    One theory is that fat cells get filled with water once the fat inside them is burned. The water eventually filters out, but it delays results on the scale.

    I assume the rate of that starts to drop after a few weeks and the fat starts coming of regularly (granted that I continue doing what I'm doing now) where I'll see steady results for a good bit of time until my deficit no longer gets the job done right?

    I've found that even though the process is steady, the results can be far from it, and far from predictable, unless you look at long-term trend. The water fluctuation alone is an impossible process to fully regulate. It's just part of the process. So be prepared not to assume anything in the short term - and to not make rash decisions in the short-term either.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    ahamm002 wrote: »
    One theory is that fat cells get filled with water once the fat inside them is burned. The water eventually filters out, but it delays results on the scale.

    That's interesting... I remember that the first couple of weeks of The New Regime, when I was on an insane deficit (I skirted anorexic thinking; definitely not advised), I was really, really thirsty the whole time. Definitely not hungry, definitely thirsty. I wonder whether that was something to do with that replacement?
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    ahamm002 wrote: »
    One theory is that fat cells get filled with water once the fat inside them is burned. The water eventually filters out, but it delays results on the scale.

    This actually doesn't happen. There was a thread on this a few months back, but in short fat cells don't have the capacity to hold extra water.

    Having said that, whatever the mechanism is, it does seem to work that way. I'll be 2 weeks bouncing around one weight and then drop 3-4 pound over a couple of days. I'm ~240 right now and, despite targeting 1.5 lb per week loss, I won't see it for at least another week.

    I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised the OP has this happening now. When I was plus 300 the weight poured off almost daily
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    ahamm002 wrote: »
    One theory is that fat cells get filled with water once the fat inside them is burned. The water eventually filters out, but it delays results on the scale.

    This actually doesn't happen. There was a thread on this a few months back, but in short fat cells don't have the capacity to hold extra water.

    Having said that, whatever the mechanism is, it does seem to work that way. I'll be 2 weeks bouncing around one weight and then drop 3-4 pound over a couple of days. I'm ~240 right now and, despite targeting 1.5 lb per week loss, I won't see it for at least another week.

    I'll admit that I'm a bit surprised the OP has this happening now. When I was plus 300 the weight poured off almost daily

    I've done this weight loss thing once before (I was 300 dead on) and the weight came off very easily starting with the first week which is why I was confused why it hasn't happened this time.

    I guess it's punishment for slacking off and going back up to 300+ in the space of like 6 months.

    I'll keep you guys posted with when it starts to drop, one thing that most certainly isn't helping is my horrible bowel movements (can't complete in one session, need to space out 3 across the space of about 2 hours but that's an issue that I've had for ages now).
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    Little update, I've created a 17000 calorie deficit since first writing this post.
    Sadly still no lost weight however I'll give it another week or two for the 3 week/ 1 month mark and I'll see whether I start burning through.
    After that I'll start doing what I did last year to first lose weight (run my *kitten* off on a treadmill for 6 days per week).
  • ugofatcat
    ugofatcat Posts: 385 Member
    Would you be willing to open your food journal?

    How are you determining portion sizes. Are you using a food scale? Do you log as you eat or do you wait until the end of the day and try to remember? Are you logging every single day?
  • njitaliana
    njitaliana Posts: 814 Member
    How many calories does MFP allow you to have each day? How many calories are you actually eating each day?
  • Tq43
    Tq43 Posts: 85 Member
    edited May 2017
    Are you drinking 2-3 litres of water a day?. That might curb the hunger and help flush out toxins etc .
    Can you get a bit more active?. Im no expert but I think exercise combined with the diet may speed things up a bit.
    Have you had your thyroid levels checked ? An underactive makes it more difficult ( not impossible ) to lose weight as it slows your metabolism down.
    Good luck , don't give up , you did it before so you can do it again.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    pawel3535 wrote: »
    Hey guys, I'm not too worried about my weight loss right now as I have just started so my answer can be as simple as water fluctuations however I'm a little confused as to why no weight has come off with the deficit that I'm at.

    I have my app set to losing 1kg per week and usually end the day with about 600 calories left before the daily deficit goal (I don't starve my self, have plenty of energy from the food I eat) however if I did the maths correctly, I created a deficit of about 8500-9000 calories in the last seven days with my weight still being in the same spot or like .1kg lower.

    Is this something that is regular for beginners?

    Oh and in case your wondering how I'm getting this high of a deficit in (if it is high, I'm not too sure really), I'm currently at 146kg so I can comfortably cut my intake by up to 1500-2000 calories and still feel good.

    Thanks guys

    It can take awhile for some people to see much of a loss. If you do not see a loss in 3-4 weeks make adjustments.
    If you have started new exercise you could be retaining water. There are other things that can cause water retention.
    I would just keep on with what you are doing for a couple of weeks.

    First thing to look at if you ars not losing would be the accuracy of your logging. Use a food scale instead of measuring cups and spoons. Make sure you log everything and that the entries you choose are correct.
  • Unknown
    edited May 2017
    This content has been removed.
  • TxTiffani
    TxTiffani Posts: 799 Member
    I have bounced around 2-3lbs over what my weight was before starting some lifting exercise 2 was ago that is new for me so if you started exercising it definitely could mask any loss with water retained for muscle repairs:^)
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    ugofatcat wrote: »
    Would you be willing to open your food journal?

    How are you determining portion sizes. Are you using a food scale? Do you log as you eat or do you wait until the end of the day and try to remember? Are you logging every single day?

    I scale all the foods that I eat and cook from home, sometimes I log as I eat other times I log at the end of the day however my meals are planned out so it's easy to remember
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    njitaliana wrote: »
    How many calories does MFP allow you to have each day? How many calories are you actually eating each day?
    Allows 2000 per day for a 1kg per week loss, I usually end up with about 400-600 calories left and lots of energy at the end of the day
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member

    Tq43 wrote: »
    Are you drinking 2-3 litres of water a day?. That might curb the hunger and help flush out toxins etc .
    Can you get a bit more active?. Im no expert but I think exercise combined with the diet may speed things up a bit.
    Have you had your thyroid levels checked ? An underactive makes it more difficult ( not impossible ) to lose weight as it slows your metabolism down.
    Good luck , don't give up , you did it before so you can do it again.

    I'm usually at 2.5 litres per day, I had a rather large blood test a month ago that checked me out for a lot of stuff including diabetes and my thyroid levels...sadly (in this case when it comes to thyroids), everything is as it should be in a healthy person.
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    pawel3535 wrote: »
    Little update, I've created a 17000 calorie deficit since first writing this post.
    Sadly still no lost weight however I'll give it another week or two for the 3 week/ 1 month mark and I'll see whether I start burning through.
    After that I'll start doing what I did last year to first lose weight (run my *kitten* off on a treadmill for 6 days per week).

    17000. ....thats burning 2500 calories a day after you take your food into account.....are you eating at all?

    I can confirm that I'm not starving my self and always have the energy to go to the gym or continue on doing other stuff after work
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    pawel3535 wrote: »
    Little update, I've created a 17000 calorie deficit since first writing this post.
    Sadly still no lost weight however I'll give it another week or two for the 3 week/ 1 month mark and I'll see whether I start burning through.
    After that I'll start doing what I did last year to first lose weight (run my *kitten* off on a treadmill for 6 days per week).

    17000. ....thats burning 2500 calories a day after you take your food into account.....are you eating at all?

    I did have a few days recently where I didn't eat much because of incredibly busy days which probably contributed to like 3000 of those calories however even then I didn't feel out of energy or hungry.
  • pawel3535
    pawel3535 Posts: 20 Member
    ugofatcat wrote: »
    Would you be willing to open your food journal?

    How are you determining portion sizes. Are you using a food scale? Do you log as you eat or do you wait until the end of the day and try to remember? Are you logging every single day?

    Just opened the diary, you'll find that some days I've allowed my self a sub or some wedges but I keep it within all my daily macro goals.
    Some days won't have anything other than breakfast put in simply because I was very busy however I've still been eating the stuff I logged previously on those days
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