Losing only .5 lbs a week is so discouraging.
Polo265
Posts: 287 Member
Hi all - Although I set my MFP to lose 2 lbs per week, it still sets my calories at 1200 daily. I am synced to my Fitbit and accordingly, it says I should lose .7 lbs a week. I am eating back many of my exercise calories and believe I am weighing, measuring and logging accurately. Today is Day 6 and I've only lost 6 ounces. I realize, given my age (I will be 68 soon) that I probably need to lose slowly to avoid muscle loss. Nonetheless it's discouraging. Hopefully by tomorrow my scale will reflect another 5 or 6 ounces lost. Anyway, it looks like this week I won't even lose .5 lbs, though MFP says I should be losing .7. I may have to do some tweaking somewhere. 
Heavy sigh!
Heavy sigh! 1
Replies
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It's been six days! Weight loss is not linear
Be patient.30 -
How much do you have to lose total? 2lbs may not be an appropriate goal. .5 a week when you have a smaller amount to lose is excellent. And as mentioned above 6 days is too soon to start panicking.7
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It's taken me a YEAR to lose five pounds. But that's still better than the alternative. Patience.19
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »How much do you have to lose total? 2lbs may not be an appropriate goal. .5 a week when you have a smaller amount to lose is excellent. And as mentioned above 6 days is too soon to start panicking.
This. And as you realized that you won't get a goal under 1200 calories, it's going to be too aggressive. Especially given your age.4 -
When I was in a weight loss program, they put a half pound into perspective: take 2 sticks of butter and really eyeball it. That is what you lost at .5 pounds. That is quite normal! If you rush it, long term you will be disappointed with plateaus and mistakes. You sound like you are doing just right! Keep on your journey.11
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It's better than seeing it go up.5
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I'm 66 and at 1200 calories + some exercise calories I lost 30 lbs last year all in less than .5 ounce increments. For me it was a sustainable way to lose the weight and keep it off. Give it some time and look at your weight loss in terms of months, not weeks or days. The hardest part is starting - congratulations, you've accomplished that
What you're doing is working, so stick with it, you'll be glad you did this time next year. I wish you the very best of luck! 11 -
You didn't gain 2 lbs in a week did you? I know its frustrating, some weeks I lose nothing and some I'll lose 2 lbs that's why I stopped weighing myself weekly and only do it every other week so I see some progress that is mentally satisfying.4
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Ready2Rock206 wrote: »How much do you have to lose total? 2lbs may not be an appropriate goal. .5 a week when you have a smaller amount to lose is excellent. And as mentioned above 6 days is too soon to start panicking.
I gained 30-35 lbs in 10 months. I hurt my shoulder in September and could not participate in usual activities (golf, swimming, pickleball (like tennis for old people), I had rotator cuff surgery in January and couldn't even walk for exercise because my gait was off with the sling. I couldn't even ride a bicycle until recently because it hurt to put pressure on the handlebars. Inactivity was a huge problem, but that led to depression, overeating and drinking.0 -
No matter what some people may believe, it IS harder to lose when you are older. It took me 2 years to lose 30 pounds. Some weeks I'd lose a pound and some weeks nothing, but it came off eventually and I was having fun working at it. Now I'm fluctuating up and down the same 2-3 pounds for the past 6 months, but I still want to drop another 10. I'm patient and having a good time.
I had to tweak a few things to make it work for me (57 yr old female). I increased my calories to around 1400 a day, which was my TDEE less around 20%. That enabled me to have more energy for workouts. I exercise 5-6 days a week and normally eat back about 50% of my exercise calories, but not always. When I don't I see a weight loss, so I know it's those extra exercise calories (plus alcohol) that has me in a stall.
You'll figure it out. Just don't get discouraged by a small loss right away.
Do you have a swimming pool nearby? I go to aquasize class and it is really easy on the joints. We have many older people in the class and a few with recent hip or knee replacements. The class I go to is geared towards strength and balance, so it's perfect for "mature" folks!3 -
If you've only got 30 -35 pounds to lose a pound a week is really what you should be looking at (probably the same time frame you put it on) and as others said you really don't get an idea of your rate of loss until you're a few weeks in anyway since the change of diet and definitely if there's a change in activity level will mean your water retention is all over the place and will give false readings on the scales. 6 days is not long enough to assess, give it time. x4
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Something is always better than nothing.4
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Early days! And honestly, I think .5 a week is a great goal. Making big changes may lead to faster loss, but slow changes are more likely to stick!0
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It has taken me 2 years to loose 45 pounds. Averaged out, that equals less than 2 pounds a month. However.... I've lost and KEPT OFF 45 pounds. All without feeling really deprived or constantly hangry.
1/2 a pound a week might seem slow -- have patience. It is better to loose slow and keep it off then go on a miserable crash quick weight loss thing (and then gain it all back in a year).9 -
I'm 66 and am in the fresh flush of pounds falling away BUT those have been the pounds between the 280s and the 260s. I know this pace will not continue. When I'm down working on the 180s to the 160s, the pace will seem glacial. But the important thing is developing the healthy habit of eating so that weight is decreasing toward a healthy level not beating a hasty retreat back up to the 280s.4
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Omg you should be so proud of your self, 5lb is amazing, I would love to loose that amount in a week. You keep the good work up4
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Maxematics wrote: »It's been six days! Weight loss is not linear
Be patient.
This^^
Patience is your best friend in this process. There are some people when they first start, who don't see a loss on the scale for 2-3 weeks. You're seeing something, at least! You did not gain all of your weight in a week, it won't come off in a week, either.
These days when I try to lose weight, it's about 2 lbs a month, and the scale drops only about once a month. It's annoying, but definitely better than going up!3 -
You need to give this more time. It will take time to see a trend, and only then can you judge how fast you are losing. One weigh in is just a single number and there are many things that can affect that number, not just fat loss.
I know it is frustrating, but you need to keep going consistently and be patient. If you stay consistent and accurate, you will see results.1 -
Half a pound a week is good. Keep going.2
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Be patient!!! It's taken me 7 months to lose 20 pounds but it's better than gaining 20 in 7 months. You can't tell much of anything in 6 days. Give it 6 weeks and then see how it's going! Good luck!!2
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Speaking just for me, when I start tracking, it takes me a couple of weeks to see ANY loss. (Not that I've done it that often, but the few times that I have... ) It's like my body likes the pounds that it has, and it takes a while before it realizes that I'm not going to quit so it may as well give in and drop some fat. Once the weight starts dropping though, it goes pretty steadily at the 1-2 pound per week rate.
If you don't want to lose muscle, start strength training. No matter how old you are (I'm 58) a trainer or a Silver Sneakers program can set you up with something appropriate.1 -
Slow and steady wins the race
2 -
Be patient and change your mindset. Instead of saying "darn I only lost .5 pounds", say "wow!!! I'm .5 pounds less than I was last week!"4
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You have to be patient and in it for the long haul. I lost 35 pounds the first year, 5 the second, and 12 the third. I've got another 5? 25? somewhere in between? to go, and then maintenance is forever, so patience and a long-term outlook are useful.2
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RaeBeeBaby wrote: »No matter what some people may believe, it IS harder to lose when you are older. It took me 2 years to lose 30 pounds. Some weeks I'd lose a pound and some weeks nothing, but it came off eventually and I was having fun working at it. Now I'm fluctuating up and down the same 2-3 pounds for the past 6 months, but I still want to drop another 10. I'm patient and having a good time.
I had to tweak a few things to make it work for me (57 yr old female). I increased my calories to around 1400 a day, which was my TDEE less around 20%. That enabled me to have more energy for workouts. I exercise 5-6 days a week and normally eat back about 50% of my exercise calories, but not always. When I don't I see a weight loss, so I know it's those extra exercise calories (plus alcohol) that has me in a stall.
You'll figure it out. Just don't get discouraged by a small loss right away.
Do you have a swimming pool nearby? I go to aquasize class and it is really easy on the joints. We have many older people in the class and a few with recent hip or knee replacements. The class I go to is geared towards strength and balance, so it's perfect for "mature" folks!
@RaeBeeBaby your tdee accounts for exercise, so you don't eat any additional calories. Eating exercise calories is when using mfp's method.
To the op, every one has covered it. Patience. Weigh food. Track accurately. If you weigh daily use a trend app.6 -
Six days. Multiply that by about 8, maybe 10. Keep doing what you're doing for at least that long and then assess. The number on the scale can fluctuate wildly from day to day and that can really mask fat loss that's happening. I currently weight 2.6 pounds more than I did 6 days ago (and 5 more than yesterday). I'm losing just as I should be (down 10-12 from 3 months ago). Deep breaths and time.2
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RaeBeeBaby wrote: »No matter what some people may believe, it IS harder to lose when you are older. It took me 2 years to lose 30 pounds. Some weeks I'd lose a pound and some weeks nothing, but it came off eventually and I was having fun working at it. Now I'm fluctuating up and down the same 2-3 pounds for the past 6 months, but I still want to drop another 10. I'm patient and having a good time.
I had to tweak a few things to make it work for me (57 yr old female). I increased my calories to around 1400 a day, which was my TDEE less around 20%. That enabled me to have more energy for workouts. I exercise 5-6 days a week and normally eat back about 50% of my exercise calories, but not always. When I don't I see a weight loss, so I know it's those extra exercise calories (plus alcohol) that has me in a stall.
You'll figure it out. Just don't get discouraged by a small loss right away.
Do you have a swimming pool nearby? I go to aquasize class and it is really easy on the joints. We have many older people in the class and a few with recent hip or knee replacements. The class I go to is geared towards strength and balance, so it's perfect for "mature" folks!
@RaeBeeBaby your tdee accounts for exercise, so you don't eat any additional calories. Eating exercise calories is when using mfp's method.
To the op, every one has covered it. Patience. Weigh food. Track accurately. If you weigh daily use a trend app.
Well, I might not be doing it exactly right (or maybe I used the wrong words) but my point was that you need to figure out what works for you and the MFP defaults don't work for everyone.2 -
Hi all - Although I set my MFP to lose 2 lbs per week, it still sets my calories at 1200 daily. I am synced to my Fitbit and accordingly, it says I should lose .7 lbs a week. I am eating back many of my exercise calories and believe I am weighing, measuring and logging accurately. Today is Day 6 and I've only lost 6 ounces. I realize, given my age (I will be 68 soon) that I probably need to lose slowly to avoid muscle loss. Nonetheless it's discouraging. Hopefully by tomorrow my scale will reflect another 5 or 6 ounces lost. Anyway, it looks like this week I won't even lose .5 lbs, though MFP says I should be losing .7. I may have to do some tweaking somewhere. Heavy sigh!
Your scale may show 5 or 6 ounces more (or maybe quite a bit more). Time to reset expectations. Losing at the rate of 1/2 pound per week does not mean that you will 1/2 pound each and every week. It just doesn't work like that. If the process is accurate, i.e. if you are accurate, you will lose fat at that rate. Weight has more components than fat, however. And those components, like water fluctuate much more rapidly and with much bigger magnitude than the fat in the short term. Over time, and with an eye on the trend, you'll see it. But you have to have the time to see it and the trend. Day-to-day and even week-to-week fluctuations based on the scale can and will fool you.
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It's only discouraging if you let it discourage you. I lost weight about .5 lbs per month! And this was during perimenopause so many weeks showed a significant gain because of water bloat. But I didn't let it discourage me. I eventually met my goal and because I'd lost slowly very few changes were needed to switch to maintenance. And I've been able to maintain it for 1.5 years so far.
Slow is the best way IMO.4 -
RaeBeeBaby wrote: »RaeBeeBaby wrote: »No matter what some people may believe, it IS harder to lose when you are older. It took me 2 years to lose 30 pounds. Some weeks I'd lose a pound and some weeks nothing, but it came off eventually and I was having fun working at it. Now I'm fluctuating up and down the same 2-3 pounds for the past 6 months, but I still want to drop another 10. I'm patient and having a good time.
I had to tweak a few things to make it work for me (57 yr old female). I increased my calories to around 1400 a day, which was my TDEE less around 20%. That enabled me to have more energy for workouts. I exercise 5-6 days a week and normally eat back about 50% of my exercise calories, but not always. When I don't I see a weight loss, so I know it's those extra exercise calories (plus alcohol) that has me in a stall.
You'll figure it out. Just don't get discouraged by a small loss right away.
Do you have a swimming pool nearby? I go to aquasize class and it is really easy on the joints. We have many older people in the class and a few with recent hip or knee replacements. The class I go to is geared towards strength and balance, so it's perfect for "mature" folks!
@RaeBeeBaby your tdee accounts for exercise, so you don't eat any additional calories. Eating exercise calories is when using mfp's method.
To the op, every one has covered it. Patience. Weigh food. Track accurately. If you weigh daily use a trend app.
Well, I might not be doing it exactly right (or maybe I used the wrong words) but my point was that you need to figure out what works for you and the MFP defaults don't work for everyone.
The OP has given it only 6 days- which is absolutely not enough time to see any results, especially with such a small calorie deficit. OP needs to give it about 6 weeks to see if it's working.3
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