No visible progress in 3 weeks... is that normal?

swegjones69
swegjones69 Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started my healthy lifestyle 3 weeks ago. Instead of fad diets, I just want to live a healthy sustainable lifestyle and lose weight/get toned the healthy way. Exactly 3 weeks ago today i took my first photos. I also started going to the gym exactly 3 weeks ago. I’ve been working out 4 times a week : One day of 30 min legs and a 10-15 min hiit cardio, day two day upper body and hiit cardio, day three 20-30 mins of just cardio, day 4 legs and 10-15 mins hiit cardio. I’ve been eating healthier too, and consuming less calories. I’m also an 18 year old girl who is 5’0 and 140lbs, my goal is 125lbs eventually. I went from around 1,800 or 1,900 on average to closer to 1,400-1,600 on some days 1,700. I try to eat healtier and stay away from unnecessary calories, but if its in my
calorie budget I do allow myself to enjoy the pizza, enjoy the icecream. Because in my opinion that’s sustainable. Anyway, I took photos today to see if there was any progress, and I feel like I look exactly the same!!!! I dont know how that’s possible, I NEVER used to workout!! Is 3 weeks not enough to see any progress?? Am I doing something wrong? Pls help

Replies

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited July 2018
    Are you measuring and weighing the food and logging it all? everything that you consume (other than clear water)?

    Did you put your stats in MFP and did it recommend 1400-1600 calories? How many is "some days" at 1700 if you have at it only 3 weeks?

    1700 at 5'0 sounds high for weight loss unless you are working out a ton daily. While I am quite a bit older, at 5'1 I don't even think my maintenance is above 1500-1600 (though haven't tested that yet).

    are you eating back all your exercise calories?

    Lastly - measure yourself VS just looking. I find it can be pretty hard to see incremental changes "by eye" and it took a long time and almost 20lbs (and mannny months) before my clothes size changed.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I didn't look at my Before pictures for about 6 months.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited July 2018
    3 weeks is not enough time. You may see a little progress in 3 months and there is nothing you can do to really speed that up.

    You have some good ideas about sustainability but the one part you may be missing is that it is not a good idea to put your progress on a clock. You don't have much to lose which means weight loss will take time to do it right and you have never worked out before so toning will take time too.

    You will get there in time. Try and be patient and if you are not already try to work on enjoying your new lifestyle because that is a place you can make progress faster.
  • KaleiAlanaSmith
    KaleiAlanaSmith Posts: 133 Member
    Give it some time :) I didn't 'see' progress for about 3 months! I'm now 6 months into working out and I've DRASTICALLY changed!!! Not only do i look different but i feel so healthy and LOVE being active!!
  • rianneonamission
    rianneonamission Posts: 854 Member
    In a picture an inch isn't going to show very much. I took my first after picture after 4.5 months. Be patient, your body physically cannot change overnight.
  • 1houndgal
    1houndgal Posts: 558 Member
    edited July 2018
    You probably dont see any progress "lookswise"
    because you have only been making changes for three weeks. Very short amount of time.

    You likely will see your progress with the scale first.

    Now if the scale hasn't budged yet you have several possibilities of why that could be happening:

    1. Your food intake:(what and how much), (too much sodium),(your activity level settings being too low causing your target to be too high).

    2. Activity: overestimate of calories burned, too much activity for your target amount of calories eaten (increases cortisol in your body which causes fluid retention), too little activity for your calories eaten and workout activities (you may want to work up to an hour a day minimum).

    3. There are many other reasons that could lead to an apparent lack of progress on the scale.

    For instance, medical issues like constipation, heart issues, kidney issues etc.

    There are plenty of other reasons weight loss is slow or halted.
    And many reasons for weight gains. Too much to cover here.

    Hopefully someone posts you the chart that is more comprehensive than I can express here.
  • stfpa
    stfpa Posts: 62 Member
    It’s definitely normal not to see a difference that soon. You’re eating at a really small deficit so because of that, you’ll take longer to see progress
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    Visual progress will be different for everyone. Depending on how close you are to goal and what kind of results you are after, it can go either way. When I am far from goal it can take months. If I am 10lbs or less as soon as I enter a deficit I will start to see progress within weeks. But then I stop seeing progress again as I get more lean.

    Give it time. Progress can take weeks, months even years in some cases.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    Taking measurements would be a more objective way to see progress over the short term. I usually record waist, hips, and bust monthly. I'm not sure I could see a difference in pics, but the tape don't lie :smile:
  • SueSueDio
    SueSueDio Posts: 4,796 Member
    1houndgal wrote: »
    Hopefully someone posts you the chart that is more comprehensive than I can express here.

    This one? :)


    ve94z399ikys.jpg


    But yes, OP, you need to practice patience I'm afraid. If you're truly in a deficit then you will see results in time, but it can take a while.

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