No scale loss after 3 weeks reassurance needed (started weight training early in loss journey)
kateannemeeks
Posts: 5 Member
Hi, I am a 39 year old woman, with around 30lbs to lose. (adding this in after writing this message, I do get to the point eventually i promise) I started 20 days ago, an am working out in some way 3 x a week and have only gone 'over' my calories once (a meal out for a celebration). I have lost 0.3lbs on the scales as of this morning. In the past when I have tried to lose weight I have not added exercise in until around a month or two in and have lost quite a lot in the first few weeks (admittedly this was when I had 80lbs to lose). My exercise routine at the moment is a full body weight training session of around 90 minutes (I'm blind so a bit slow around the machines and doing it alongside my husband who is also blind) and we are doing 10 mins of light cardio before the weights session to ensure some cardio fitness is there too. We were doing that Monday and Friday and on a Wednesday I was trying to swim but I'm very anxious in the pool and incredibly inefficient so was only managing four very long fought for lengths of a 25m pool and it was taking me around 30 minutes to do this. We are going to get me some adult swimming lessons I think and try again adding that in as cardio. We are changing to weights and light cardio (I'm a fan of the eliptical machine that is a bit more dynamic in motion that i cannot remember the name of) and am working at building that up in intensity (not length necessarily but even when we do add length it will be max of 15 to 20 mins as I do not get on well with cardio overall). So, from Monday it is 3 x full body weight training then after 2-4 weeks moving to a 2 or 3 way split (I am LOTS more strong on my lower half, already hack squatting 70kg without ease, compared to only able to chest press 25kg and shoulder press 10kg (I have a shoulder issue of some description and am working on rotator cuff muscles separately). My eventual end aim is to work towards powerlifting in a year or so as I am a big fan of the shape of female powerlifters in general.
My issue is that the scales are just not moving. I have lost 0.3lbs in 3 weeks. I'm drinking plenty (3L of straight water plus tea, a cup of coffee and any liquids in food etc, although I DO still feel very dry in the lips so may try adding a little more water). I'm overall under calories for the goal set in the app, am recording and weighing everything that goes in to my body etc. I DID measure myself this morning as I was so despondent about the lack of any weight shifting and I have lost an inch from my waist (doesn't feel like it), half inch from my hips (at their widest point) and half inch from the midway point between them (my fat bit on me). Everywhere else is the same. My aim at the moment is just get fat off as there is a lot of it (my BMI is 28 at the moment). Could the weight training be stopping the scales from moving at the moment? The only way I can justify it is if I was gaining muscle at the rate I was losing fat (approximately), but I have also read a) you can't gain muscle while in calorific deficit and b) you wont be acquiring lean anything whilst in the early stages anyway. I have also read that there is a newbie effect on weight training and that there would be potential gains in the first few weeks, but that doesn't really gel with the not gaining whilst in calorie deficit. I'll admit my diet could be better controlled (I eat better on rest days as I have less calories to play with but 'treat' myself on gym days when I am earning around 700 calories from my workout, I'm eating half to all of them generally.
My full body workout (this is not the order I do them just the order I can remember the machines right now lol) is (in case it matters):
Leg curl 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Leg extension 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Chest press 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Thigh Abductor 3 x 12 @ 45kg
Thigh Adductor 3 x 12 @ 45kg
Shoulder press (working towards) 3 x 12 @ 10kg
Hack Squat 2 x 12 @ 70kg 1 x 12 @ 80kg
Lat pulldown 3 x 12 @ 35kg
Arm curl 3 x 12 @ 10kg
Arm extension 3 x 12 @ 15kg
Crunch 50 @ 20kg
Hyperextension 50 @ 20kg
Deadlift (dumbell) 2 x 12 @ 28kg 1 x 12 @ 40kg
I am currently working on getting to weights that I am finding challenging - other than the shoulder press, chest press and basically anything upper body, these weights are still very easy for me with no real effort involved (they are on machine as I'm a tad scared of the freeweights at the moment but the deadlift is a free weight lift). I will be changing this full body significantly once i go over to a 2-3 way split obviously. I'm just wanting to find where I am finding challenging at the moment, where my weak spots are, and started each of these weights on their lowest and added more weight once I could do 3 x 12 rep sets. Could this kind of workout KIND of explain why I'm not really losing on the scales? I was hoping to be able to say I was sub 13 st by now as I started on 13st 2lbs, but I'm still 13st 1.7lbs which is really quite disheartening to be honest. If there is a reason and I just need to keep keeping on then I shall - I think I just need reassurance really.
Hope someone can do that.
Sorry for the long, rather detailed post.
Kate
My issue is that the scales are just not moving. I have lost 0.3lbs in 3 weeks. I'm drinking plenty (3L of straight water plus tea, a cup of coffee and any liquids in food etc, although I DO still feel very dry in the lips so may try adding a little more water). I'm overall under calories for the goal set in the app, am recording and weighing everything that goes in to my body etc. I DID measure myself this morning as I was so despondent about the lack of any weight shifting and I have lost an inch from my waist (doesn't feel like it), half inch from my hips (at their widest point) and half inch from the midway point between them (my fat bit on me). Everywhere else is the same. My aim at the moment is just get fat off as there is a lot of it (my BMI is 28 at the moment). Could the weight training be stopping the scales from moving at the moment? The only way I can justify it is if I was gaining muscle at the rate I was losing fat (approximately), but I have also read a) you can't gain muscle while in calorific deficit and b) you wont be acquiring lean anything whilst in the early stages anyway. I have also read that there is a newbie effect on weight training and that there would be potential gains in the first few weeks, but that doesn't really gel with the not gaining whilst in calorie deficit. I'll admit my diet could be better controlled (I eat better on rest days as I have less calories to play with but 'treat' myself on gym days when I am earning around 700 calories from my workout, I'm eating half to all of them generally.
My full body workout (this is not the order I do them just the order I can remember the machines right now lol) is (in case it matters):
Leg curl 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Leg extension 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Chest press 3 x 12 @ 25kg
Thigh Abductor 3 x 12 @ 45kg
Thigh Adductor 3 x 12 @ 45kg
Shoulder press (working towards) 3 x 12 @ 10kg
Hack Squat 2 x 12 @ 70kg 1 x 12 @ 80kg
Lat pulldown 3 x 12 @ 35kg
Arm curl 3 x 12 @ 10kg
Arm extension 3 x 12 @ 15kg
Crunch 50 @ 20kg
Hyperextension 50 @ 20kg
Deadlift (dumbell) 2 x 12 @ 28kg 1 x 12 @ 40kg
I am currently working on getting to weights that I am finding challenging - other than the shoulder press, chest press and basically anything upper body, these weights are still very easy for me with no real effort involved (they are on machine as I'm a tad scared of the freeweights at the moment but the deadlift is a free weight lift). I will be changing this full body significantly once i go over to a 2-3 way split obviously. I'm just wanting to find where I am finding challenging at the moment, where my weak spots are, and started each of these weights on their lowest and added more weight once I could do 3 x 12 rep sets. Could this kind of workout KIND of explain why I'm not really losing on the scales? I was hoping to be able to say I was sub 13 st by now as I started on 13st 2lbs, but I'm still 13st 1.7lbs which is really quite disheartening to be honest. If there is a reason and I just need to keep keeping on then I shall - I think I just need reassurance really.
Hope someone can do that.
Sorry for the long, rather detailed post.
Kate
2
Replies
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1 - are you using a food scale? for everything? AND carefully selecting entries?
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
2 - adding or increasing exercise can lead to muscles retaining water to repair themselves. this can mask weight loss for many weeks but flushes out witih time
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
3 - are you using a weight trending app? how often do you weigh? Do you weigh at the same time each day with similar weight clothes (or none haha)
4 - for food, as you inputting ingredients/foods (ex: using recipe builder or meals) or picking entries of meals?7 -
1 - are you using a food scale? for everything?
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1
2 - adding or increasing exercise can lead to muscles retaining water to repair themselves. this can mask weight loss for many weeks but flushes out witih time
http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/
3 - are you using a weight trending app? how often do you weigh? Do you weigh at the same time each day with similar weight clothes (or none haha)
1 - got salter kitchen scales that talk for everything that goes in my mouth. If I eat out and about I scan the barcode and put the weight in.
2 - that is reassuring if frustrating
3 - in the nude at the same time of day (around 8 am) :-) and logging my weight using Eufy scales that transfer the data to my fitbit account which then sends it off to myfitnesspal lol such a long chain!
Kate2 -
How high is your heart rate getting during your workouts? I ask because you mention that for many of the lifts you find them pretty easy. You might not actually be burning 700 calories during your workouts so when you eat those back, you are actually eating closer to maintenance.
Here is the good thing. Doing all this lifting is going to be great for you body, whether you've lost weight initially or not, so don't give up! You're so much healthier for being active, weight loss aside. Consider reassessing how many calories you actually burn in your workouts and go from there.
Also, if you are seeing some body recomposition that is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Three weeks is short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you are sticking with a diet that is sustainable long term, and then give it more time.2 -
NovemberSkye wrote: »How high is your heart rate getting during your workouts? I ask because you mention that for many of the lifts you find them pretty easy. You might not actually be burning 700 calories during your workouts so when you eat those back, you are actually eating closer to maintenance.
Here is the good thing. Doing all this lifting is going to be great for you body, whether you've lost weight initially or not, so don't give up! You're so much healthier for being active, weight loss aside. Consider reassessing how many calories you actually burn in your workouts and go from there.
Also, if you are seeing some body recomposition that is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Three weeks is short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you are sticking with a diet that is sustainable long term, and then give it more time.
Average heart rate during weight training is around 115/116 range (going up when actually lifting then recovering into the 80s and 90s moderately quickly). I may try only eating strictly no more than half of them and see how that goes? I'm using the Fitbit Versa for recording workouts if that is of any help? So myfitnesspal is adjusting the calories across everything I do for that day from how i understand it working. I have myself set as the lowest level of overall activity - I do eat my steps calories it is giving me too (just blindly going off what myfitnesspal says based on its link to my fitbit. Maybe that is my downfall lol - my heartrate peaks most with upper body work rather than lower body lifting. I am apparently weirdly strong in my lower half and a weakling in my upper!
The 700 is also with the 10 mins of cardio plus steps for the day, think it comes in at around 500 for my weight session.1 -
Just to add detail to Panini's #1... The MFP database is mostly user entered. So you do need to double check each entry before you use it to make sure it lists the accurate calories, either to the package or to USDA (or a similar org) published data for whole foods. Also try not to use recipe-style entries, like "turkey sandwich", log the turkey log the bread log the tomato log the mayo. Look for the actual brand name you are using whenever possible.
In addition to new or increased exercise contributing to water retention, your monthly cycle can cause fluctuations as well, but different times of the month affect different women differently (because seriously, nothing can be easy for us, can it?). So it's possible you had some water retention from exercise for the first couple of weeks and the third week you were retaining some water hormonally.
So basically you could have lost anywhere from 0-5 lbs of fat in the last 3 weeks and there's no way to know.
Give it another 3-4 weeks, so you get through a full cycle and start to get habituated to your workouts. If you still aren't seeing a loss then, it's possible your exercise burns are slightly more inflated than you're allowing for and you need to eat back a bit less. At that point it might be worth it for you to temporarily make your diary public and perhaps fresh eyes will spot something (usually we're best at spotting the issues we had ourselves when we started lol). But right now, you probably need to just let it all settle out and hopefully the scale catches up with your effort shortly!3 -
Thank you all by the way x1
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My own scale went up SEVEN pounds when I started working out. It took a few weeks to come off.
Water retention from ovulation or being premenstrual can also mask fat loss.
I know it is frustrating, but the good news is that you are likely due for a big weight loss Whoosh soon
Good for you for challenging yourself despite your obstacles - that is very inspiring.3 -
kateannemeeks wrote: »NovemberSkye wrote: »How high is your heart rate getting during your workouts? I ask because you mention that for many of the lifts you find them pretty easy. You might not actually be burning 700 calories during your workouts so when you eat those back, you are actually eating closer to maintenance.
Here is the good thing. Doing all this lifting is going to be great for you body, whether you've lost weight initially or not, so don't give up! You're so much healthier for being active, weight loss aside. Consider reassessing how many calories you actually burn in your workouts and go from there.
Also, if you are seeing some body recomposition that is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Three weeks is short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you are sticking with a diet that is sustainable long term, and then give it more time.
Average heart rate during weight training is around 115/116 range (going up when actually lifting then recovering into the 80s and 90s moderately quickly). I may try only eating strictly no more than half of them and see how that goes? I'm using the Fitbit Versa for recording workouts if that is of any help? So myfitnesspal is adjusting the calories across everything I do for that day from how i understand it working. I have myself set as the lowest level of overall activity - I do eat my steps calories it is giving me too (just blindly going off what myfitnesspal says based on its link to my fitbit. Maybe that is my downfall lol - my heartrate peaks most with upper body work rather than lower body lifting. I am apparently weirdly strong in my lower half and a weakling in my upper!
The 700 is also with the 10 mins of cardio plus steps for the day, think it comes in at around 500 for my weight session.
There is no way you are burning 500 cals from lifting/session. HRMs are not accurate at all for tracking cals burned from lifting. not to mention 1-1.75 cals/min you would have burned had you not worked out anyway. So a 60-minute lifting session, I would not add more than 180 cals.
Though I would probably opt for 120-150, and your 10 mins of cardio beforehand won't burn more than 80-120 depending on intensity. So in total, I would enter 200-270 for the full workout5 -
Is there a way to record (accurately) for a weight session?0
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kateannemeeks wrote: »Is there a way to record (accurately) for a weight session?
No, there isn't. Just finding a reasonable number and sticking with it long enough to get your own data; about 4-6 weeks.
FWIW, my six years of data give me about 150 calories per hour while following a power/hypertrophy program. I'm 44, 5'3" and 125.4 -
Recomposing your bodyweight might trick you into thinking you're stalling when you're actually getting a lot better, weight is not the best indicator for your progress, volume is a much better one.
I'd encourage you to use an anthropocentric measurements to track your progress rather than a scale, but skip BMI, it's a "one-size-fits-all" sort of thing that's good for nationwide statistical use but not necessarily good for an individual, a much better bet would be to use the NAVY's Body Fat Percentage formula (there're tons of free calculators online, here's one http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy).
When you've dieted repeatedly and lost a lot of weight you might have lost a lot of muscle mass and no amount of calorie restriction and weight loss will get you to a healthy body composition, what you need is to GAIN some muscle pounds, even if it is a little counter intuitive.
You're on the right the path to a healthier body: gaining muscle as you're losing fat, some weeks weight might stay the same or even increase a little, but a pound of fat takes up three times as much space as a pound of muscle, get your wins from getting thinner/healthier rather than lighter.
6 -
kateannemeeks wrote: »NovemberSkye wrote: »How high is your heart rate getting during your workouts? I ask because you mention that for many of the lifts you find them pretty easy. You might not actually be burning 700 calories during your workouts so when you eat those back, you are actually eating closer to maintenance.
Here is the good thing. Doing all this lifting is going to be great for you body, whether you've lost weight initially or not, so don't give up! You're so much healthier for being active, weight loss aside. Consider reassessing how many calories you actually burn in your workouts and go from there.
Also, if you are seeing some body recomposition that is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Three weeks is short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you are sticking with a diet that is sustainable long term, and then give it more time.
Average heart rate during weight training is around 115/116 range (going up when actually lifting then recovering into the 80s and 90s moderately quickly). I may try only eating strictly no more than half of them and see how that goes? I'm using the Fitbit Versa for recording workouts if that is of any help? So myfitnesspal is adjusting the calories across everything I do for that day from how i understand it working. I have myself set as the lowest level of overall activity - I do eat my steps calories it is giving me too (just blindly going off what myfitnesspal says based on its link to my fitbit. Maybe that is my downfall lol - my heartrate peaks most with upper body work rather than lower body lifting. I am apparently weirdly strong in my lower half and a weakling in my upper!
The 700 is also with the 10 mins of cardio plus steps for the day, think it comes in at around 500 for my weight session.
There is no way you are burning 500 cals from lifting/session. HRMs are not accurate at all for tracking cals burned from lifting. not to mention 1-1.75 cals/min you would have burned had you not worked out anyway. So a 60-minute lifting session, I would not add more than 180 cals.
Though I would probably opt for 120-150, and your 10 mins of cardio beforehand won't burn more than 80-120 depending on intensity. So in total, I would enter 200-270 for the full workout
This. Weight training is one case where the MFP exercise database is likely to be more accurate than something like a heart rate monitor. (I'm talking about the "strength training" option under "cardiovascular".) It does include an allowance for normal rests between reps/sets, but if you truly feel your blindness leads to a materially longer wall clock time to complete a workout, you might want to adjust the time entered accordingly.
Heart rate increases for many reasons. It's a proxy for calorie burn in certain circumstances, because it's sometimes correlated, but HR is not a measurement of calorie burn. With weight training in particular, the elements of stress and pressure tend to raise heart rate well beyond the level of calorie burn. This link is an oldie but goodie blog post on the subject:
https://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/hrms-cannot-count-calories-during-strength-training-17698
Current fitness tracker devices, specifically ones that ask us what type of exercise we're doing so they know it's weight training, have the potential to estimate weight training more accurately (by discounting the heart rate measurement algorithmically) . . . but I haven't seen much evidence that they take advantage of that potential. 500 calories is a really high estimate for 90 minutes of weight training. MFP gives me a 244 calorie estimate for 90 minutes of weight training. I'm possibly smaller than you are (I'm 5'5", mid-130s pounds), but that won't make a significant difference except for exercises where bodyweight is a big factor.5 -
caballero_jorge wrote: »Recomposing your bodyweight might trick you into thinking you're stalling when you're actually getting a lot better, weight is not the best indicator for your progress, volume is a much better one.
I'd encourage you to use an anthropocentric measurements to track your progress rather than a scale, but skip BMI, it's a "one-size-fits-all" sort of thing that's good for nationwide statistical use but not necessarily good for an individual, a much better bet would be to use the NAVY's Body Fat Percentage formula (there're tons of free calculators online, here's one http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy).
When you've dieted repeatedly and lost a lot of weight you might have lost a lot of muscle mass and no amount of calorie restriction and weight loss will get you to a healthy body composition, what you need is to GAIN some muscle pounds, even if it is a little counter intuitive.
You're on the right the path to a healthier body: gaining muscle as you're losing fat, some weeks weight might stay the same or even increase a little, but a pound of fat takes up three times as much space as a pound of muscle, get your wins from getting thinner/healthier rather than lighter.
OP is currently 184 lbs (if I did my math right), so getting her scale weight down is important for her. It is quite possible that she will benefit from building some muscle once she gets down into the healthy weight range, and she is clearly working to maintain her muscle mass already with her workouts, but it's far too early for her to focus on recomp IMHO.
She also didn't say anything to suggest she's lost a lot of muscle in the past.6 -
My weight's been at a standstill for a few weeks. I just keep going. 😒0
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Just a clarification, muscle isn't 3+ times heavier than fat. It's about 20%. The most dense part of the body is bone, which is made out of calcium carbonate. Pure calcium carbonate has a density of 2.71 g / cubic centimeter. That's about 3 times the density of fat.2
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I actually don’t logged calories burned from weight training because my HR doesn’t spike at all. I only log cardio. I am thinking that’s your problem right there!4
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I actually don’t logged calories burned from weight training because my HR doesn’t spike at all. I only log cardio. I am thinking that’s your problem right there!
HR does not equate ro cals burned. Even for HRMs, they use HR as a proxy for intesnity and vo2max, they only measure HR, not cals burned.5 -
I’m having similar issues as I’m trying to add weight lifting into my weight loss journey. Have you considered a body composition scale?0
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booksnbrains wrote: »I’m having similar issues as I’m trying to add weight lifting into my weight loss journey. Have you considered a body composition scale?
Sadly, they're not very accurate . . . may help visualize a long-term trend's direction, but the absolute values aren't super trustworrhy, and relative hydration can be a factor in that.4 -
Just a clarification, muscle isn't 3+ times heavier than fat. It's about 20%. The most dense part of the body is bone, which is made out of calcium carbonate. Pure calcium carbonate has a density of 2.71 g / cubic centimeter. That's about 3 times the density of fat.
True, but bone is also more porous than the average limestone, and a lot more porous than the compact 2.71g/cm^3 lime mud. I did a quick search and found numbers around 1.75g/cm^3 for bone.
Yours,
your geology sheep. baaah.
edit: note to thread opener: My avatar is a sheep for some reason. I don't know why I chose it though.3 -
kateannemeeks wrote: »NovemberSkye wrote: »How high is your heart rate getting during your workouts? I ask because you mention that for many of the lifts you find them pretty easy. You might not actually be burning 700 calories during your workouts so when you eat those back, you are actually eating closer to maintenance.
Here is the good thing. Doing all this lifting is going to be great for you body, whether you've lost weight initially or not, so don't give up! You're so much healthier for being active, weight loss aside. Consider reassessing how many calories you actually burn in your workouts and go from there.
Also, if you are seeing some body recomposition that is a sign that things are moving in the right direction. Three weeks is short in the grand scheme of things. Make sure you are sticking with a diet that is sustainable long term, and then give it more time.
Average heart rate during weight training is around 115/116 range (going up when actually lifting then recovering into the 80s and 90s moderately quickly). I may try only eating strictly no more than half of them and see how that goes? I'm using the Fitbit Versa for recording workouts if that is of any help? So myfitnesspal is adjusting the calories across everything I do for that day from how i understand it working. I have myself set as the lowest level of overall activity - I do eat my steps calories it is giving me too (just blindly going off what myfitnesspal says based on its link to my fitbit. Maybe that is my downfall lol - my heartrate peaks most with upper body work rather than lower body lifting. I am apparently weirdly strong in my lower half and a weakling in my upper!
The 700 is also with the 10 mins of cardio plus steps for the day, think it comes in at around 500 for my weight session.
There is no way you are burning 500 cals from lifting/session. HRMs are not accurate at all for tracking cals burned from lifting. not to mention 1-1.75 cals/min you would have burned had you not worked out anyway. So a 60-minute lifting session, I would not add more than 180 cals.
Though I would probably opt for 120-150, and your 10 mins of cardio beforehand won't burn more than 80-120 depending on intensity. So in total, I would enter 200-270 for the full workout
This. Besides water weight from starting a training program, your burns seem way high for weight training.
On the positive side, you have lost significant inches! So, there is fat loss that is being masked by water weight fluctuations.
There is not really accurate way to measure the burn from weight training. I'd use Erickirb's number. Maybe 300 max. Stay patient. Your are going in the right direction!6 -
You have had excellent advice already.
My mother is blind so I have some understanding of the anxieties that can bring for new situations.
Is it possible to get a trainer for at least 1 session a week, and maybe some support in the pool?
They can help with routine, proper form, how to use everything to best effect, what weight to set it at..All of which will hopefully help build confidence and a routine that will work for you.1
This discussion has been closed.
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