I’m so down. ( Please Help)
mtiatono
Posts: 6 Member
Hi Guys. So I’m on 1500 calorie plan. I burn about 300 - 400 calories with my cardio. I exercise at least 3 times a week. I’ve been losing weight for the past months. My starting weight in the beginning was about 195. I’m currently at 167 lbs. But the problem is that my weight has stayed the same for the past three weeks. I always weigh myself at Publix. (Don’t know how accurate their scales are. Anyways today I used a fancy new scale that I purchased. Has body fat percentage and everything. All the reviews online says it’s very accurate. It’s on a tile floor as well. So I went to weigh myself tonight. I know it’s always good to do it the morning. But I was itching to know my weight, and it said 167. I did it real quick. I had my shoes on plus clothes. I ate as well. But even so. I don’t think it would add so much weight? How much would it add on? With clothes, shoes, and eating? At this rate I should have lost 6 lbs and been at 161 lbs with the plan I’m on. I always follow it, plus cardio. I look slimmer in the mirror. But at the same weight. Is my body in starvation mode? I don’t understand at all why I’m not losing anything. I’m at a plateau. I never eat more than what I’m supposed to eat on my plan. I’m sorry if the post sounds super whiny, I’m just super sad and discouraged right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.
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Replies
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Different scales are going to give different readings. Once you start using this one consistently (same time of day, same amount of clothing on) you’ll start to see the trend. In the meantime, make sure you’re logging everything you eat as accurately as possible (using a food scale for all solids, correct entries, recipe builder over generic items, etc.).15
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Try not to get discouraged. A new scale will take some getting used to and it will not be the same as a public scale. You also said you wore clothes, shoes AND that you had eaten. Personally, I don't ever weigh with clothes on because clothes and shoes can weigh a lot and vary in weight depending on what it is. For example, jeans weigh a lot more than leggings. Clogs weigh a lot more than flip-flops.
I normally weigh once a week, first thing in the morning and without any clothes. That way I have the same "factors" and will show true loss or gain.
Since you've lost nearly 30 pounds you might be getting closer to your goal weight. Weight loss will slow down and you might have to tighten up your logging or increase your exercise if you want to continue losing. Weight loss doesn't always happen in a downward trend and you will have plateaus and stalls. Just don't give up!8 -
Holly **kittens** MFPeop. Chill-ax! Seriously. You're heading for an aneurysm here!
There are several threads and such on weight variations, not to mention that everything you ate, drunk, or are wearing was also part of your weight in tonight.
Also: Seriously? 6lbs expected loss between weigh-ins? Sorry. This is not how this works. Somewhere in there you have some very un-realistic expectations and exceptionally harsh goals.
And no: the base 1500 for a male is NET CALORIES, not calories before you burn some off by exercising.
Look. You can do a lot of silly things without a large effect on your health when you have a LOT of fat available to lose (think obese person levels of fat). The less fat you have available to lose the more of an effect huge deficits are going to have.
Both your physical and mental well being will be affected and some of the effects are of long duration and difficult to reverse.
re-evaluate your deficit goals... please.
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What should be my deficit goals? Cause clearly then I’m doing super wrong. Thanks2
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Breathe, my friend. You may not be doing anything wrong. As @malibu927 said, you can't compare numbers from different scales at different times of day with different clothes on.
My rule of thumb is to go back to basics when in doubt. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Use that information in MFP to set your daily calorie goal. Eat those calories tracking accurately using a food scale. When you exercise, you can choose to eat back those calories, too. Most folks here recommend eating back about 50% of exercise calories as those are challenging to get accurate.
Use the same scale at the same time of day with the same clothing and over time it will tell you if you need to adjust your calorie goals.
You say you look slimmer. That's a good thing! Don't let the numbers on the scale derail you.5 -
mkyoungdds wrote: »Breathe, my friend. You may not be doing anything wrong. As @malibu927 said, you can't compare numbers from different scales at different times of day with different clothes on.
My rule of thumb is to go back to basics when in doubt. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning. Use that information in MFP to set your daily calorie goal. Eat those calories tracking accurately using a food scale. When you exercise, you can choose to eat back those calories, too. Most folks here recommend eating back about 50% of exercise calories as those are challenging to get accurate.
Use the same scale at the same time of day with the same clothing and over time it will tell you if you need to adjust your calorie goals.
You say you look slimmer. That's a good thing! Don't let the numbers on the scale derail you.
Thanks. I really appreciate it. When I saw the scale my heart sank. I was so proud of myself, looking in the mirror. But I always get super anxious, when I go to use to scale. So after three weeks I decided to use my brand new scale. IHealth Brand compared to the one I usually use at Publix. I purchased my own scale to get over the fear of having to weigh myself, and when I saw that, as I said my heart dropped into my stomach lol. I’m guessing clothes plus shoes must add on about 3 pounds maybe? Plus water weight. Don’t think I’ll weigh myself at night again. But even then didn’t think i was gonna be at the weight I was at, from three weeks ago. Even with the circumstances (clothes, shoes, nighttime weighing.) Trying to get my mind at ease.0 -
What kind of cardio do you do?
Can you bump your cardio excercise to at least one hour 5 days a week?7 -
Deficit = UP TO 20% of your TDEE (up to 25% of your TDEE while your fat levels are such that you would be correctly classified as obese)
If your total daily calories burned including base calories for living + activity level + exercise = 2500 a deficit that would strike the balance between fast weight loss and least amount of potentially counter productive side effects would be about 500 Cal per day.
6lbs envisions a deficit of approximately 21,000 calories. So it would be expected to take anywhere from 40 to 50 days if you were to create a fairly consistent 500 Cal a day deficit.
A general overview of various pros and cons of various goal settings can be read here: https://completehumanperformance.com/2013/10/15/fat-loss-deficit/
This doesn't mean I agree with everything said in the article, or that I think that all options are as equal as presented, or even that all the issues I am considering (such as the potential for ED ideation in previously unaffected individuals that can be generated by a large deficit) are covered. But it is a not a terrible overview of the various options.
You could also read the "sticky" threads that are detailed in the first posts in each forum section.6 -
By the way, it sounds like your goal is 2lbs a week which does exceed a conservative 0.5% to 1% of bodyweight a week.
While at 195lbs 2lbs a week wasn't too far off 1%... at 165lbs it has become more distant.
An obese person might lose up to 1.5% of bodyweight without as large of an effect on lean mass. At 165lbs it is very unlikely that you are obese and quite likely that you are at or just above normal weight. Thus a more conservative goal might be appropriate.5 -
RaeBeeBaby wrote: »Try not to get discouraged. A new scale will take some getting used to and it will not be the same as a public scale. You also said you wore clothes, shoes AND that you had eaten. Personally, I don't ever weigh with clothes on because clothes and shoes can weigh a lot and vary in weight depending on what it is. For example, jeans weigh a lot more than leggings. Clogs weigh a lot more than flip-flops.
I normally weigh once a week, first thing in the morning and without any clothes. That way I have the same "factors" and will show true loss or gain.
Since you've lost nearly 30 pounds you might be getting closer to your goal weight. Weight loss will slow down and you might have to tighten up your logging or increase your exercise if you want to continue losing. Weight loss doesn't always happen in a downward trend and you will have plateaus and stalls. Just don't give up!
❤️❤️❤️0 -
Tomorrow morning, weigh yourself, just out of bed, post wee and pre shower. Weigh all your food and track your calories. Have faith, it will happen - perhaps slowly - but surely.
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My pajamas alone weigh 1.4 lbs. It adds up quick.3
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People already talked about the different scale and weight of clothing, and I was going to mention that too, so I won't repeat it.
What I can say is that I've been experiencing the same thing. I spent 3 weeks going up and down a lb daily, even though my calorie intake was still on track and I was still exercising 6x a week. Then over the past few days, the scale started moving downward again. The things that were different the day before the scale started moving: 1) I've been sleeping a bit longer, the 8 hours that I should. It's been tough over the past month getting to 8 hours, due to a new baby in the family. and 2) I had a family get together for a birthday the day before the scale moved, and the meal that was prepared at this party was not healthy friendly. It would have been rude for me to bring my own food, so I just dealt with it for 1 meal. It put me over my calorie goal for the day by 250, and it screwed up my macros for the day. Maybe my body just needed that jolt? I don't know.
The point is, don't stress if your scale isn't moving. Stress won't help the situation, so just stick to what you're doing and maybe make some minor changes, 1 at a time and give it a few days and see if there is any movement.2 -
You're not doing anything wrong, and congrats on your weight loss so far. My advice is to step away from the scale. Keep doing what your doing, continue to weigh and log your portions, and accept that they'll be weeks when you just won't lose. Sometimes you'll only lose an ounce or two, sometimes you'll stay the same, it's all good. Keep going, you can do this! 1
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You've done great. Now that you have your own scale, weigh yourself at the same time (usually in the morning after you've gone to the bathroom) without any clothes. No one has one true weight, so it might be a little weird to have a "fake backslide" just because you have a new scale. We all fluctuate and all scales are different.
Some people find it helpful to weigh daily and log it in an app like Libra (Android) or Happy Scale (iPhone). That way, you can see the overall trend of weight loss.
I weigh daily and throughout the week my weight goes +/- within a few pounds anyway. Seeing the long-term trend helps me not worry because I see the pattern is always weight loss, not gain (I am in a calorie deficit after all!).
Just keep doing what you're doing.2 -
I just wanna say thank you to everyone who posted on my discussion. You all gave me such great advice. Feeling much better this week.8
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At 197 lb starting weight you must've decided to lose 2 lb per week. That was a little too aggressive at 197, being more than 1% of your body weight per week, but it would have gotten your calorie budget down to 1500. Now that you're at 167 you should adjust your mfp weight loss goals to indicate a starting weight of 167 and a weekly weight loss goal of 1.5 lb or even less, 1 or 0.5. That will give you a few more calories to work with, and be a more reasonable rate of loss. I haven't divined an activity level for you from reading your messages, so be sure you describe that accurately.
In any case, 167 is closer to a your goal than 197 was. Don't get discouraged. You've done this much and should be proud of it.4 -
First of all- thirty pounds lost is fantastic! Great job!
There has been some excellent advice, so I won’t parrot a ton. I do just want to say that I also weigh myself first thing in the morning, no clothes. It’s amazing what a difference even weighing before and after going to the bathroom is.
Your weight will also fluctuate naturally, so don’t let little bumps up get you down. I don’t mind the variation so I try to weigh daily, but if it’s bring you down you could switch to once a week.
Good luck and keep it up!0 -
i weigh 15 pounds more with my work clothes and a breakfast in me lol.1
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"I look slimmer in the mirror. But at the same weight."
Maybe you are losing fat & gaining muscle...which is a good thing.6 -
Changes are happening in your body. The closer you get to goal weight, the more the rate of loss will slow down. Don’t even get me started about the last 10 lbs. There are months I don’t lose an ounce, but I’m just happy not to be gaining. Then all of a sudden I’ll lose a 1/2 lb or a pound. Losing 30 lbs is a huge accomplishment. I don’t think you said what your TDEE is but I wouldn’t continue on 1500. Unless you think you can eat this way for life. My BMR is 1430 and my Fitbit says I burn an average of 2100 calories and I’m eating 1800 calories per day. I get grouchy on less than 1600 calories and I’m 56, 5’ 9’ and weigh 155. ***goal of 147-149. You are doing fantastic. Please, please don’t get discouraged.Hugs!!2
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Take off your shoes and clothes and weigh again. LOL, shoes on a home scale, never heard of such a thing.1
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jimbo_a_logo wrote: »"I look slimmer in the mirror. But at the same weight."
Maybe you are losing fat & gaining muscle...which is a good thing.
It doesn't work like that. Muscle gain, especially for women, is a long process under specific circumstances.3 -
jimbo_a_logo wrote: »"I look slimmer in the mirror. But at the same weight."
Maybe you are losing fat & gaining muscle...which is a good thing.
It doesn't work like that. Muscle gain, especially for women, is a long process under specific circumstances.
If only it did.......1
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