Doesn't make sense!
Replies
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Why are you complaining? How much per week do you want to average? Approx 1lb per week is fine. Try hanging 1lb butter, by a string from the end of your nosemaryprillwitz wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »maryprillwitz wrote: »When a new workout is started especially when it is intense, the muscles can swell while they undergo repair. This settles down in a few weeks as your body gets used to the new routine.
I suggest you simply stick with it for a few more weeks.
I'm in my 3rd month of exercising/counting calories. Is that still considered new?!
And you've lost 0.4lbs in 3 months?
No. I've lost .4lbs in one month. My total weight loss is 13.6lbs since August 29th.
and you will realise how heavy it is!
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If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.7 -
Silentpadna wrote: »I have found that adding exercise in the mix makes my weight loss a lot less linear. Calorie counting alone I have always seen a pretty predictable loss of weight. This time around I have started going to the gym daily and training pretty aggressively and my weight has been dropping in stages. I would lose .25 lb a week for a few weeks then lose 4 lbs in one hit. This is week I have lost 8lbs after only losing 1lb the rest of the month. No idea what is going on and I have lost (and regained) weight many times and never had it happen like this before.
If you are accurate with your logging (picking the correct entries) and don't over estimate your calorie burn, stick with it and it will eventually come off. In the mean time it helped me to take measurements as I could see the cms were coming off even though the scale wasn't moving. Though I was ready to throw my scale out the window every morning! If you still aren't losing cms or weight in a few weeks you may need to have another look at your logging.
Btw TMI but my large loss this week come after a high fat meal, though still within my calories. I believe it helped eliminate some waste! So I have increased my fiber, fat and water intake to help keep things moving along.
Edited to add that after all this my weight loss over the last 8 weeks averages out exactly what mfp is set for me to lose. I eat around 75% of my exercise calories back.
This is a great example of fluid retention/release or variation. When you say you lost 8 pounds this week, you have really lost 8 pounds, but you have NOT lost 8 pounds of fat (I think you know this). The fluid retention variation most likely masked fat loss in other weeks, while releasing some of it exaggerated it this week.
When I recommended to the OP not to make adjustments on windows smaller than about 6 weeks, it's exactly this type of example that came to mind.
Exercise helps retain water for two reasons (depending on the activity): 1 - muscles use water for repair (a good thing) and 2 - Stress hormones also cause the body to retain water. Retaining water isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just a thing.
Yep knew about the muscle repair causing fluid retention and have been learning a bit about the stress hormones. Coincidentally the big loss this week also coincides with not having really sore muscles anymore every single day. Going from absolutely no exercise for years to doing an hour of weights or cardio every day took the old body a couple of months to get used to!
It's really hard to trust the process though when you don't see the scale going down even though you know/suspect why. For a couple of weeks my instinct was to cut calories, but thought I would stick with what I was doing and see what happened.
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If your period is due, you might just be retaining water too.3
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I have found that adding exercise in the mix makes my weight loss a lot less linear. Calorie counting alone I have always seen a pretty predictable loss of weight. This time around I have started going to the gym daily and training pretty aggressively and my weight has been dropping in stages. I would lose .25 lb a week for a few weeks then lose 4 lbs in one hit. This is week I have lost 8lbs after only losing 1lb the rest of the month. No idea what is going on and I have lost (and regained) weight many times and never had it happen like this before.
If you are accurate with your logging (picking the correct entries) and don't over estimate your calorie burn, stick with it and it will eventually come off. In the mean time it helped me to take measurements as I could see the cms were coming off even though the scale wasn't moving. Though I was ready to throw my scale out the window every morning! If you still aren't losing cms or weight in a few weeks you may need to have another look at your logging.
Btw TMI but my large loss this week come after a high fat meal, though still within my calories. I believe it helped eliminate some waste! So I have increased my fiber, fat and water intake to help keep things moving along.
Edited to add that after all this my weight loss over the last 8 weeks averages out exactly what mfp is set for me to lose. I eat around 75% of my exercise calories back.
Wow! Thank you for this! It really helps to have someone with experience in what I'm going through! Thanks so much for the encouragement!0 -
charlieandcarol wrote: »maryprillwitz wrote: »ladyhusker39 wrote: »This is a total guess. There's not a lot of info here and you don't seem to want to open your diary so people can give you more specific feedback.
But based on the little bit you've said, it seems you lost about 13 lbs in 5 weeks and have since stalled. That's suggests you changed your diet and likely dropped some water weight and probably cleaned out your system. I don't mean a cleanse, I just mean your digestive system likely cleared out during that time
Since then you'v not lost much perceptible weight which suggests that you're currently eating at maintenance. In other words, you're taking in more calories than you realize. It's the most likely culprit.
It could be something else, maybe related to your exercise. You're certainly not building muscle, but could have started retaining water again for muscle repair that's masked some additional weight loss in the last few weeks.
Again, these are purely guesses but things to consider.
I have no idea what you mean by opening my diary, but thank you for the thoughts and ideas!
If you change the settings on your diary to public, members can see your diary and maybe help if there are any issues with your logging technique
Oh! I had no idea! Thanks!0 -
smithmssycatsmithiris30 wrote: »
Why are you complaining? How much per week do you want to average? Approx 1lb per week is fine. Try hanging 1lb butter, by a string from the end of your nosemaryprillwitz wrote: »TavistockToad wrote: »maryprillwitz wrote: »When a new workout is started especially when it is intense, the muscles can swell while they undergo repair. This settles down in a few weeks as your body gets used to the new routine.
I suggest you simply stick with it for a few more weeks.
I'm in my 3rd month of exercising/counting calories. Is that still considered new?!
And you've lost 0.4lbs in 3 months?
No. I've lost .4lbs in one month. My total weight loss is 13.6lbs since August 29th. and you will realise how heavy it is!
I want to average 2 lbs per week, as I have A LOT of weight to lose. And I wasn't trying to complain. I was honestly concerned, because with my exercise and eating, you'd think there would be a bigger change than .4lbs in 4 weeks!0 -
If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.3 -
Silentpadna wrote: »I have found that adding exercise in the mix makes my weight loss a lot less linear. Calorie counting alone I have always seen a pretty predictable loss of weight. This time around I have started going to the gym daily and training pretty aggressively and my weight has been dropping in stages. I would lose .25 lb a week for a few weeks then lose 4 lbs in one hit. This is week I have lost 8lbs after only losing 1lb the rest of the month. No idea what is going on and I have lost (and regained) weight many times and never had it happen like this before.
If you are accurate with your logging (picking the correct entries) and don't over estimate your calorie burn, stick with it and it will eventually come off. In the mean time it helped me to take measurements as I could see the cms were coming off even though the scale wasn't moving. Though I was ready to throw my scale out the window every morning! If you still aren't losing cms or weight in a few weeks you may need to have another look at your logging.
Btw TMI but my large loss this week come after a high fat meal, though still within my calories. I believe it helped eliminate some waste! So I have increased my fiber, fat and water intake to help keep things moving along.
Edited to add that after all this my weight loss over the last 8 weeks averages out exactly what mfp is set for me to lose. I eat around 75% of my exercise calories back.
This is a great example of fluid retention/release or variation. When you say you lost 8 pounds this week, you have really lost 8 pounds, but you have NOT lost 8 pounds of fat (I think you know this). The fluid retention variation most likely masked fat loss in other weeks, while releasing some of it exaggerated it this week.
When I recommended to the OP not to make adjustments on windows smaller than about 6 weeks, it's exactly this type of example that came to mind.
Exercise helps retain water for two reasons (depending on the activity): 1 - muscles use water for repair (a good thing) and 2 - Stress hormones also cause the body to retain water. Retaining water isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just a thing.
Yep knew about the muscle repair causing fluid retention and have been learning a bit about the stress hormones. Coincidentally the big loss this week also coincides with not having really sore muscles anymore every single day. Going from absolutely no exercise for years to doing an hour of weights or cardio every day took the old body a couple of months to get used to!
It's really hard to trust the process though when you don't see the scale going down even though you know/suspect why. For a couple of weeks my instinct was to cut calories, but thought I would stick with what I was doing and see what happened.
YES! So hard to trust the process when you're not seeing results! Thank you so much for understanding!0 -
maryprillwitz wrote: »If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.
They can make a huge difference! They're only around $20 on Amazon and you'll make fewer dirty dishes with measuring cups and spoons. I really love mine!4 -
maryprillwitz wrote: »If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.
They can make a huge difference! They're only around $20 on Amazon and you'll make fewer dirty dishes with measuring cups and spoons. I really love mine!
Thank you! I feel a little intimidated about using one, since I never have, but apparently I need to.1 -
I HIGHLY recommend a food scale! I got mine for $12 at target. I had no idea the portions I thought were correct were actually way larger than the suggested serving size. I was essentially eating a couple hundred extra calories that I didn't even realize about. Make sure you're accounting for cooking oils/butters as well since they have sneaky high calories in them. I was barely losing any weight until I started weighing my food properly and then my weight loss really jump started! Don't get discouraged. You're so early in the weight loss journey it's better to fix things right away so you can be successful in the long run!5
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maryprillwitz wrote: »maryprillwitz wrote: »If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.
They can make a huge difference! They're only around $20 on Amazon and you'll make fewer dirty dishes with measuring cups and spoons. I really love mine!
Thank you! I feel a little intimidated about using one, since I never have, but apparently I need to.
I found it an invaluable tool when I was losing and still do even in maintenance.
only thing I will say is make sure it weighs in grams and has a tare button (zeros out the weight)
for example today at lunch I put my plate on mine and turned it on.
it displayed 0...I put my chicken on it...146 grams...hit tare button (scale went to 0) added my cheese 20 grams...hit my tare button scale went to 0 added my veggies...
makes life very easy....less dirty dishes and more accuracy.6 -
maura_tasi wrote: »I HIGHLY recommend a food scale! I got mine for $12 at target. I had no idea the portions I thought were correct were actually way larger than the suggested serving size. I was essentially eating a couple hundred extra calories that I didn't even realize about. Make sure you're accounting for cooking oils/butters as well since they have sneaky high calories in them. I was barely losing any weight until I started weighing my food properly and then my weight loss really jump started! Don't get discouraged. You're so early in the weight loss journey it's better to fix things right away so you can be successful in the long run!
Thanks so much! I am really grateful for the encouragement!0 -
maryprillwitz wrote: »maryprillwitz wrote: »If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.
They can make a huge difference! They're only around $20 on Amazon and you'll make fewer dirty dishes with measuring cups and spoons. I really love mine!
Thank you! I feel a little intimidated about using one, since I never have, but apparently I need to.
I found it an invaluable tool when I was losing and still do even in maintenance.
only thing I will say is make sure it weighs in grams and has a tare button (zeros out the weight)
for example today at lunch I put my plate on mine and turned it on.
it displayed 0...I put my chicken on it...146 grams...hit tare button (scale went to 0) added my cheese 20 grams...hit my tare button scale went to 0 added my veggies...
makes life very easy....less dirty dishes and more accuracy.
Wow! Awesome! Thank you for the tips! Super helpful!0 -
I mean honestly it sounds like you lost a lot of weight quickly, which was mostly water weight, and now your body weight is just catching up. Just stay the course, and if it keeps happening start with making sure your diary is accurate by logging everything you eat, and weighing all solids, and measuring all liquids.2
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I mean honestly it sounds like you lost a lot of weight quickly, which was mostly water weight, and now your body weight is just catching up. Just stay the course, and if it keeps happening start with making sure your diary is accurate by logging everything you eat, and weighing all solids, and measuring all liquids.
Thank you!0 -
Honestly 1 month isn't enough to expect consistent trackable weight loss...even weight loss of 5 pounds can be lost in the noise of water retention. Trust in your system, continue for longer. If you haven't lost weight in 3 months then I'd be concerned.
The "trick" as it were is to make sure you are accurately logging your intake and past that to just trust that it isn't possible to eat that little and not lose weight and therefore you just need to be consistent and wait. If you knee-jerk change what you are doing everytime the scale doesn't move in the way you'd like on the time scale of weeks you are just going to shoot yourself in the foot and cause yourself more stress than is necessary.6 -
I found that adding exercise temporarily stalled my weight loss, even if I ate the same. Within a few weeks it started dropping again.
I also found out by daily weighing that I lost all my weight within one week in a month, and that the timing was related to my TOM. If I ate consistently then the weight would come off....all at once.
Having a LOT to lose is fine. Getting it off FASTER won't necessarily help you. A month a week is sustainable and you should see significant results in a few months. Really.
What the exercise will get you is greater flexibility, endurance, confidence, and strength. Exercise is my favourite part of getting my life under control.1 -
Everyone on here is giving you AWESOME advice, definitely take it, especially regarding the food scale.
One other tip is to recalibrate your calories every ten pounds lost or so. That's been my rule of thumb. I was losing on 1,800 calories when I started, I'm down to almost 1,200 if I want to lose 2lbs/week. As you lose, your TDEE changes. What was a deficit can become maintenance, especially if you're not weighing your food.
Stalls are fairly common. I was stalled out for about 6 weeks in August-September. Gained and lost the same two pounds over and over again, then lost 8 pounds in one week. You just have to be REALLY patient and not give up. It can become a discouraging process, but getting a trending app can really help too.
Keep in mind that at the beginning of the year, you'd have KILLED to be under 300. And now you are!! Keep at it!!3 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly 1 month isn't enough to expect consistent trackable weight loss...even weight loss of 5 pounds can be lost in the noise of water retention. Trust in your system, continue for longer. If you haven't lost weight in 3 months then I'd be concerned.
The "trick" as it were is to make sure you are accurately logging your intake and past that to just trust that it isn't possible to eat that little and not lose weight and therefore you just need to be consistent and wait. If you knee-jerk change what you are doing everytime the scale doesn't move in the way you'd like on the time scale of weeks you are just going to shoot yourself in the foot and cause yourself more stress than is necessary.
Interesting. Thanks!0 -
I found that adding exercise temporarily stalled my weight loss, even if I ate the same. Within a few weeks it started dropping again.
I also found out by daily weighing that I lost all my weight within one week in a month, and that the timing was related to my TOM. If I ate consistently then the weight would come off....all at once.
Having a LOT to lose is fine. Getting it off FASTER won't necessarily help you. A month a week is sustainable and you should see significant results in a few months. Really.
What the exercise will get you is greater flexibility, endurance, confidence, and strength. Exercise is my favourite part of getting my life under control.
Thank you! I hope to get to that point of exercising being my favorite part...ha ha!0 -
Everyone on here is giving you AWESOME advice, definitely take it, especially regarding the food scale.
One other tip is to recalibrate your calories every ten pounds lost or so. That's been my rule of thumb. I was losing on 1,800 calories when I started, I'm down to almost 1,200 if I want to lose 2lbs/week. As you lose, your TDEE changes. What was a deficit can become maintenance, especially if you're not weighing your food.
Stalls are fairly common. I was stalled out for about 6 weeks in August-September. Gained and lost the same two pounds over and over again, then lost 8 pounds in one week. You just have to be REALLY patient and not give up. It can become a discouraging process, but getting a trending app can really help too.
Keep in mind that at the beginning of the year, you'd have KILLED to be under 300. And now you are!! Keep at it!!
Thank you! I love what you had to say! I'm really grateful for the encouragement!1 -
If you want to know how much your water retention, u simply avoid all carbs for 2-3 days. Also do not use any salt. For 2-3days you not gonna kill yourself, but it gives u real picture6
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maryprillwitz wrote: »If it's been a month I would double check my diary.
If you aren't using a food scale chances are you are eating more than you think.
All these posts about be grateful or cortisol are muddying the waters.
Are you using a food scale to weight your food and logging that food by weight?
If not there is your issue.
and to be honest even if your PT is looking at your diary they aren't there when you eat the food.
No, I am not using a food scale. I didn't realize it was necessary. Thanks for your input.
This is really important. If you are using a scale to weigh and measure then you can be pretty confident about the diet side of things. I weigh everything that goes in my mouth when I eat at home, which is most of the time. I use the recipe builder when I am cooking to work out fairly precisely what is in the meals I cook. It's a bit tedious at first but now it only takes a few minutes. The only time I don't weigh is if it is pre packaged yoghurt or muesli bar or something like that so there is room for error there but the weight loss seems to be averaging out 2lbs week as set in my goals so I don't think it makes much difference.
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Just keep at it. I've had my share of frustrations over the 2 years since I decided to change my food habits and started logging my food, but I've lost quite a lot of weight though I've not hit my goal yet. All the best. You can do it. Don't stress yourself out.1
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My weight can fluctuate 5lbs in a day from not drinking enough water. Just stick with your diet and exercise and like others suggested a food scale cause you would be very surprised on what a SERVING really is on labels.1
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If you're eating or drinking anything before you weigh, that can make a difference too. I'm like a camel with drinking water. Once I weighed, and that damned scale had me like 6 pounds heavier just two days after the previous weigh-in.
I always weigh with the same clothes, and I was like, great my clothes are getting fat now. That or I'd managed to pick up some extra gravity on the way to the scale because I know I've been watching my caloric intake like a hawk and that couldn't have been the problem.
Normally I do my scale surfing closer to the beginning of the day before I eat or drink anything. The time the six extra pounds appeared, I'd weighed after dinner and drinking water and coffee. I usually down 38 oz cups of h2O and 22 oz cups of joe at a time.
I consulted my log to see how much the water and coffee weighed, plus the weight of dinner. It turned out that's where the extra weight came from.
The next day I checked again before eating or drinking, and it was back where it should have been.
There are so many different things that could be throwing you off a bit right now, just go down the list of things you've seen ppl say here and try crossing em off one by one.1
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