Only lost 1/4 of a pound :(
Mandy72M
Posts: 20 Member
Feel totally demotivated and bloody angry 
I Currently have 12 pounds to lose and without really thinking about it I've lost 4lbs since Christmas. Anyway started off tracking everything last week, totally committed, exercising, eating less but healthy and I've only lost a quarter of a pound. I was expecting more. I've set my calories at 1450. I have a sedentary job, I do exercise at high intensity and do bodypump classes also. I've not changed they way I exercise as I have always exercised.
I'm 5ft 2, currently 124lbs looking to get to 112. Is 1450 calories too high?
I Currently have 12 pounds to lose and without really thinking about it I've lost 4lbs since Christmas. Anyway started off tracking everything last week, totally committed, exercising, eating less but healthy and I've only lost a quarter of a pound. I was expecting more. I've set my calories at 1450. I have a sedentary job, I do exercise at high intensity and do bodypump classes also. I've not changed they way I exercise as I have always exercised.I'm 5ft 2, currently 124lbs looking to get to 112. Is 1450 calories too high?
3
Replies
-
12lbs is going to come off slowly. Everyone hits that period when they get to 20lbs or less. Also consider you've only started tracking and exercising a week ago, you just don't have enough weight to lose to see huge weight losses. Stick to it and give it time.17
-
If you just started exercising, then you could be retaining some water, as this is common when first starting exercising. Also, one week is probably not enough time to tell.7
-
Congratulations on the 1/4 pound, could be a gain. Don't get discouraged. I have had up, downs and plateaus. But I don't stop exercising, eating right and may never get to my target weight, but I assume you are a lot younger with a lot less medical issues (medication can affected outcome also). I will be 71 in a couple of months and have logged in for 391 days. Don't quit and stay on course.17
-
Don't feel bad. I loss only 1/2 pound and walked 20,000 steps yesterday and stuck to my calorie deficit. At least we lost something. I am happy about it, as long as the scale goes down.3
-
1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.37 -
You're near the middle of your healthy weight range and looking to get closer to the bottom.
You really should read up on normal weight fluctuations, on understanding your weight trend over time, and you should really temper your expectations cuz none of this should or will happen fast!
18 -
Petite females in your height/weight range should except slower losses. You are at a healthy weight currently trying to get even leaner and this takes precision in your logging efforts and consistency with your exercise. The good news is its moving downward, so you are doing things right.
Do you weigh daily? If so maybe look into getting a weight trending app like Libra, etc. its very helpful tool that will weed out fluctuations. Always give your changes you make to calories and exercise a full menstral cycle (4+ weeks). The trending app will help you see weight trending downward.
Being angry doesn't do anything to help but adjusting your expectations will.14 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
um, how much muscle mass exactly do you think she gained in the last week doing bodypump??14 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
Even if it were remotely plausible that the OP had built a bunch of muscle from a single body pump session, she would still have had to build it out of something. So the gain in muscle mass would be balanced by the loss of whatever she built it out of.
Either that, or I should give up on eating, lift heavy, and just wait for those bulging biceps...13 -
1/4 lb in any given week is possible. With only 12 lbs to lose you should target only 0.5 per week. Your loss won't be exactly the same every week, especially due to your monthly cycle. You've lost 4 lbs in 2 months, so it seems that you're right on track. Keep up the good work!9
-
Heh, I’m the same weight as you with the same goal, though I’m 5’4.
I eat at 1,200 during the week and 1,400-1,600 during the weekends and I’m still losing ridiculously slow. It’s just an inevitability, really. I’m getting pretty bored of it to be honest, but I’ve just started a new lifting program so I’m focusing my energy into that and forgetting about the weightloss for awhile. I’m sure we’ll both meet our goals, but I’ve decided to stop stressing about it in the meantime.3 -
You are at a healthy weight as it is so 0.5lb/week is a perfect amount to lose and you were just a smidgen off that.
And no, 1450 does not sound too much, I'm same height and I lose eating 1750-1800 being lightly active.
You're doing fine so take heart
2 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
16 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.9 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
It doesn’t matter how much you stimulate a muscle, you still need material to build it out of. You don’t seem to understand basic conservation of mass. If you are in a calorie deficit then building muscle will not prevent you losing weight; how do you even think that would work?3 -
I think about a quarter of a pound and picture a 4 ounce glass of water and wonder why the obsession with that level of accuracy. OP: keep up what you are doing, but relax a little. You can't hurry this weight loss process, that will only keep feeding your frustration when you don't see the results you expect.1
-
It's been a week, just keep going and see where your at in a few more weeks
I lost 200g this week and I weigh a lot more than you (same height) but I know I'm heading towards that time of the month so my work will show after my cycle3 -
Feel totally demotivated and bloody angry I Currently have 12 pounds to lose and without really thinking about it I've lost 4lbs since Christmas. Anyway started off tracking everything last week, totally committed, exercising, eating less but healthy and I've only lost a quarter of a pound. I was expecting more. I've set my calories at 1450. I have a sedentary job, I do exercise at high intensity and do bodypump classes also. I've not changed they way I exercise as I have always exercised.
I'm 5ft 2, currently 124lbs looking to get to 112. Is 1450 calories too high?
If you think about it you lost 4lb since Christmas, that's in about 7-8 weeks, so that's around 1/2 lb a week, so you didn't lose that much more before tracking and since you don't know how many calories you ate or burned when not tracking you can't really make a comparison. Be thankful you lost rather than gained and move on, keep tracking and see what happens in the next few weeks.6 -
Detritus_1965 wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.
So, what exactly is the benefit of Body Pump class 2-3 times a week while eating at a deficit? Does fat not turn to muscle?
-confused7 -
CaliMomTeach wrote: »You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.
So, what exactly is the benefit of Body Pump class 2-3 times a week while eating at a deficit? Does fat not turn to muscle?
-confused
Fat largely does not turn to muscle. It’s almost impossible to build muscle in a calorie deficit, unless you’re starting out extremely fat with low strength.
HOWEVER what you can do is reduce the amount of muscle you would normally lose while dieting. Muscle is expensive to maintain, so when resources are limited your body would rather burn that expensive muscle than fat. But if you keep using your muscle, it’ll largely burn the fat instead.
Plus, y’know, exercise is good for you 7 -
CaliMomTeach wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.
So, what exactly is the benefit of Body Pump class 2-3 times a week while eating at a deficit? Does fat not turn to muscle?
-confused
No, fat and muscle are two different things. One cant turn into the other just like the fat on your steak cant turn into meat. When you lose weight, you lose some fat and some muscle. In order to protect your muscle and lose as little as possible, you want to strength train and eat enough protein. That way, you basically prioritize your muscle by using it and give your body the protein it needs to keep repairing the muscles you do have. And exercise has lots of benefits outside of muscle building!
Many people who lose weight think they have gained muscle because as they lose the fat, it reveals the muscle that was already there.
There are certain specific instances where a person can gain muscle while in a deficit. Regardless, building muscle is difficult and slow, and more so for a woman. A woman eating in a surplus, on a strict workout schedule lifting heavy, with her nutrition and recovery on point, may gain about 1 lb of muscle per month. That's the best case scenario.12 -
CaliMomTeach wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.
So, what exactly is the benefit of Body Pump class 2-3 times a week while eating at a deficit? Does fat not turn to muscle?
-confused
Nope, on a caloric deficit, the best scenario is maintaining your muscles....at worse you lose muscles that's why bulking and cutting is common in the lifting world. You bulk (eating at a surplus) to build muscles and you cut (aka fat loss phase) to reveal the work you did on your bulk. The other way is to do a recomp (basically eating near maintenance), but the process is much slower than the bulk and cutting method. You also need resistance training, when your on a cut, you want to hit weights heavy, I doubt Body Pump does that and if it's like anything at my gym, it's more for cardio than lifting heavy, I could be wrong, because I never went to that class, I am only basing it on what I saw the people do in the class.3 -
Thanks for responses on Body Pump everyone!4
-
CaliMomTeach wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »Detritus_1965 wrote: »1/4 of a pound whilst doing "High Intensity Bodypump"?
I'd say this is a great achievment.
The "lacking" loss can most likely be blamed on muscle-growth.
Carry on, you are on a great way.
And muscle just magically appears from thin air, does it?
???
Probably I got something horribly wrong ...
Reading the OP I found that she was doing Bodypump classes (Please note the use of plural!) and "Exercises at High Intensity" (Yet another plural). I assumed that this would pass as "Muscle stimulation" for just about anyone, obviously I was wrong.
The intention was to express respect for losing weight whilst doing sports. Not more, not less.
22 "Woos" speak a clear language. Obviously my post was widely understood to express the opposite of my original intention.
I'm sorry for this.
You don't build muscles while in a calorie deficit. And especially not as a woman. Lifting very heavy weights (not doing a cardio class such as body pump) and eating at a surplus builds muscles.
So, what exactly is the benefit of Body Pump class 2-3 times a week while eating at a deficit? Does fat not turn to muscle?
-confused
It's exercise...exercise is good for your overall health and well being. Fat doesn't turn into muscle...that doesn't even make sense.
If you are in a calorie deficit, you are catabolic...building muscles is anabolic...you can't be both anabolic and catabolic at the same time. You can build a very small amount of muscle in a deficit if you're new to lifting...but this is generally limited to very overweight/obese individuals and also a good lifting program. Body pump is great exercise, but it is largely cardio with some resistance...it will help maintain muscle mass, but it's not a mass building program.
If you lost 4 Lbs since Christmas, you were losing slowly then as well as now...you're already in a healthy weight range, so it's going to be slow. Only actual fat people lose weight quickly...and even then, it's only in the initial stages.6 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
It's exercise...exercise is good for your overall health and well being. Fat doesn't turn into muscle...that doesn't even make sense.
If you are in a calorie deficit, you are catabolic...building muscles is anabolic...you can't be both anabolic and catabolic at the same time. You can build a very small amount of muscle in a deficit if you're new to lifting...but this is generally limited to very overweight/obese individuals and also a good lifting program. Body pump is great exercise, but it is largely cardio with some resistance...it will help maintain muscle mass, but it's not a mass building program.
If you lost 4 Lbs since Christmas, you were losing slowly then as well as now...you're already in a healthy weight range, so it's going to be slow. Only actual fat people lose weight quickly...and even then, it's only in the initial stages.
Well said cwolfman. I think there ought to be sticky about this (maybe there is), because it's such a common misconception. If I had taken my initial misconceptions and never learned form them, it would be driving me crazy trying to do this with unrealistic expectations. Expectations that are only made more unrealistic by the diet industry making promises that are wildly misleading, like "lose 7-10 pounds your first week". They of course, omit the fact that no way no how do you lose 10 pounds of fat in the first week.
Lift heavy in a deficit - muscle preservation, fat loss.
Lift heavy at maintenance - very slow muscle build or maintenance, very slow fat loss or maintenance.
Lift heavy in a surplus - muscle gain, body fat gain
There are some exceptions - particularly for those who are untrained.
Cardio in a deficit (without lifting) - fat loss, muscle loss, aerobic fitness and endurance increase
Cardio at maintenance (without lifting) - aerobic fitness and endurance increase
Cardio in a surplus (without lifting) - aerobic fitness and endurance increase, weight and fat gain.
4 -
Hi everyone, really appreciate the insight here - need it as after 2 weeks I too have only lost just a bit more than a 1/4 pound in TWO weeks. I have 22 pounds to lose to get to the middle ideal weight range or 13 to get into a healthy weight range. I am 169cm. I've been going to the gym each day, calorie class has burnt upwards of 350, strength classes (which I've done more of due to scheduling issues) burn around 150. I haven't been tracking my calories, but I have cut out all processed foods, and don't binge eat after dinner. Is my case normal? Should I step it up? Would really appreciate any help/insights you have on this. Thank you x1
-
Amyislosingweight wrote: »Hi everyone, really appreciate the insight here - need it as after 2 weeks I too have only lost just a bit more than a 1/4 pound in TWO weeks. I have 22 pounds to lose to get to the middle ideal weight range or 13 to get into a healthy weight range. I am 169cm. I've been going to the gym each day, calorie class has burnt upwards of 350, strength classes (which I've done more of due to scheduling issues) burn around 150. I haven't been tracking my calories, but I have cut out all processed foods, and don't binge eat after dinner. Is my case normal? Should I step it up? Would really appreciate any help/insights you have on this. Thank you x
if you are not counting calories you have no idea how much your intake is - start there. you are fortunate to be losing without even counting - a lot of us got to the point of needing to lose weight by not counting!7 -
Any loss is a good thing. Remember, this is for the rest of your life. There's no need to be in a rush.2
-
Amyislosingweight wrote: »Hi everyone, really appreciate the insight here - need it as after 2 weeks I too have only lost just a bit more than a 1/4 pound in TWO weeks. I have 22 pounds to lose to get to the middle ideal weight range or 13 to get into a healthy weight range. I am 169cm. I've been going to the gym each day, calorie class has burnt upwards of 350, strength classes (which I've done more of due to scheduling issues) burn around 150. I haven't been tracking my calories, but I have cut out all processed foods, and don't binge eat after dinner. Is my case normal? Should I step it up? Would really appreciate any help/insights you have on this. Thank you x
Did you just start going to the gym? My scale went up seven pounds when I started lifting weights again, and it did take a few weeks for that water weight to come back off.
To step it up, get a food scale and start weighing and logging every morsel. There is some initial setup time, but then all your usual foods will be in Frequent or Recent and logging is much easier.2 -
Silentpadna wrote: »cwolfman13 wrote: »
It's exercise...exercise is good for your overall health and well being. Fat doesn't turn into muscle...that doesn't even make sense.
If you are in a calorie deficit, you are catabolic...building muscles is anabolic...you can't be both anabolic and catabolic at the same time. You can build a very small amount of muscle in a deficit if you're new to lifting...but this is generally limited to very overweight/obese individuals and also a good lifting program. Body pump is great exercise, but it is largely cardio with some resistance...it will help maintain muscle mass, but it's not a mass building program.
If you lost 4 Lbs since Christmas, you were losing slowly then as well as now...you're already in a healthy weight range, so it's going to be slow. Only actual fat people lose weight quickly...and even then, it's only in the initial stages.
Well said cwolfman. I think there ought to be sticky about this (maybe there is), because it's such a common misconception. If I had taken my initial misconceptions and never learned form them, it would be driving me crazy trying to do this with unrealistic expectations. Expectations that are only made more unrealistic by the diet industry making promises that are wildly misleading, like "lose 7-10 pounds your first week". They of course, omit the fact that no way no how do you lose 10 pounds of fat in the first week.
Lift heavy in a deficit - muscle preservation, fat loss.
Lift heavy at maintenance - very slow muscle build or maintenance, very slow fat loss or maintenance.
Lift heavy in a surplus - muscle gain, body fat gain
There are some exceptions - particularly for those who are untrained.
Cardio in a deficit (without lifting) - fat loss, muscle loss, aerobic fitness and endurance increase
Cardio at maintenance (without lifting) - aerobic fitness and endurance increase
Cardio in a surplus (without lifting) - aerobic fitness and endurance increase, weight and fat gain.
Welllll . . . I'd quibble a little on the cardio side, but mostly because I hate how we use that umbrella term "cardio".
There are lots of things people consider "cardio", and some provide more muscle challenge than others. For example, people are calling Bodypump "cardio". I think there may be enough muscle challenge in most such classes for many people to maintain muscle in a sensible deficit without true progressive weight training, especially if they weren't doing much exercise beforehand. I have recomped a bit (verrrrrrry slowly) at maintenance calories while obese, from rowing, which most people would say is on the cardio side. (Lost a couple of sizes over a period of somewhere between 5 & 10 years - wasn't tracking enough to know the exact timing. Very slow!)
I'm not arguing against the idea that the best and most efficient method to retain muscle, recomp, or build muscle is true strength training, especially weight lifting with a solid, well-designed, aggressive, progressive program supported by sensible nutrition. That's clearly the most efficient.
But I think we need to be a little more nuanced than lumping everything that isn't lifting into "cardio", and saying it all has no benefit WRT muscle.
Edited: Really ugly double negative, maybe triple or quadruple, previously in paragraph before last above.3
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.3K Health and Weight Loss
- 176K Food and Nutrition
- 47.5K Recipes
- 232.6K Fitness and Exercise
- 431 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.6K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.8K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions