Tips on weight loss!

rosannajm2017
rosannajm2017 Posts: 5 Member
edited December 22 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi, I am relatively new to fitness pal. I started off very well and lost 5 pounds in a couple of weeks! However in the last two weeks I have stayed exactly the same weight without changing my method...anyone else had this problem?

Anyone know why this happens and do I need to eat even less calories to achieve the same weight loss again?

Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,986 Member
    edited July 2019
    Hello Rosanna, and welcome here.

    Can you give us some more information? How heavy and you and how tall? What's your target and what rate of loss did you chose? Are you using a food scale and check that database entries are correct?

    Finally, your account is new. Weight loss takes time. Sometimes the weight will go down, sometimes up a bit or stay the same. One of the big issues we encounter over and over again is that people don't track accurately. But water weight is a *kitten* as well, especially for us women: our bodies tend to fluctuate quite a bit from stored water: near ovulation or menstruation, when it's hot, when we're stressed, travel, eat more salt, or anything else really. And finally, there's always some waste in our intestines. Sometimes it's a bit more, sometimes a bit less. This also causes fluctuations on the scale. The best thing is to always weight at the same time of the day, possibly in the morning, naked or always the same clothes, after the bathroom. A weight trending up might also help to see the trend in the data clutter.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    weight loss is not linear. you won't lose at an exact rate daily. there are natural daily, weekly and monthly fluctuations in weight (much do to water, and just where things are in transit in the body).

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    Based on the photo there you have little to lose and seem to already be in your healthy weight range? if so it's recommended to go for a rate of loss of 0.5lb/week which is often hidden by water fluctuations day to day and week to week.

    The initial weight loss was likely lots of water flushing out of your system and eating "less" food.

  • rosannajm2017
    rosannajm2017 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Yirara thank you for your reply!

    My weight does seem to fluctuate a lot, but I haven’t been weighing myself at the same time each week or even regularly which may have contributed to the situation! I am 5”3 and weigh 11 stone 6 at the moment, but my long term goal is to be 10 stone. I have been doing regular exercise including swimming and the gym 2/3 times a week, as well as walking to uni which takes 40 mins.

    Thank you for explaining those other factors I didn’t realise your weight could fluctuate so much in one month which makes me feel I am still going in the right direction!
  • rosannajm2017
    rosannajm2017 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Panini911!

    I feel that I could do with losing a stone or so, but other than that I would like to tone up and be more healthy. I am aiming to lose around 1 or 2 pounds a week, and my daily calorie allowance is 1200 which is very hard to stick to!!

    However I fallen into a bit of a rut and keep reaching for the things I know I shouldn’t have like chocolate or ice cream, not sure how to combat these cravings which are sometimes overpowering 😂
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    The best first way of dealing with cravings is eating enough calories each day. If you have less than 2st to lose and toning up is your goal you should really plan on only lose .5 pound per week. Certainly not 2 pounds per week. That would create a heavy calorie deficit that you do not have enough fat stores to handle and it would likely send you into a massive overfeed situation.

    The second, if you can control your portions, is just to deal with cravings by eating the food. Almost all food has nutrients so classifying food as healthy or unhealthy is not helpful. Non-satiating calorie dense food needs to be treated like a treat and moderated. That's it.

    If you can't control yourself on portions it gets more complicated but start with eating enough calories and trying to handle cravings before they grow out of control.
  • rosannajm2017
    rosannajm2017 Posts: 5 Member
    Thank you so much for your replies, I did think that 1200 seemed a bit drastic so I might look into changing it, although I wanted initially wanted fast results! I am managing on it okay usually but sometimes I simply feel hungry all the time.

    I’m a bit weary of weight lifting because I don’t know the first thing how to do it without hurting myself so I usually just do cardio!
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
    Also, take measurements of your body. My weight has actually gone up the past two weeks a tiny bit...but my measurements are smaller. Take photos too so you can see your tone as well. These are helpful and avoid becoming discouraged when the scale numbers don’t change.

    I’d much rather be 10 pounds heavier and toned Bc I look so much better and fit my clothing better.
  • rosannajm2017
    rosannajm2017 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi Ig103, that’s a good idea, I guess you can put on weight by building muscle! I think my goal is definitely to tone up and be healthy rather than to just lose weight 🙂
  • lg013
    lg013 Posts: 215 Member
    rosannajm2017 wrote: »
    Hi Ig103, that’s a good idea, I guess you can put on weight by building muscle! I think my goal is definitely to tone up and be healthy rather than to just lose weight 🙂

    Yes, fluctuations can be frustrating—and we tend to assume a cause and effect relationship from the previous day instead of thinking that it’s natural to have weight that fluctuates...it’s really helpful to be able to say...”I’m up 2 pounds, but I lost an inch off my waist” and see it as a victory
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 989 Member
    I also agree you should reduce your loss rate - that'll give you a few more calories. Make sure you track your exercise as well and eat the exercise calories that MFP gives you, on top of the 1200 a day.

    I've lost 2 stone - and I eat chocolate or a biscuit several times a week. I just have to factor it in to my calories. Like many people, I pre-log what I'm going to eat that day. The exact weight of my chicken, veg etc may not be 100% accurate until I'm actually preparing the meal, but I'll have a pretty good idea. That allows me to see how many calories I have spare and whether I can have an M&S triple chocolate cookie or whether my snack needs to be something with fewer calories! Failing that, I spend longer on the cross-trainer in the gym.

    Although I seemingly haven't lost any weight for about a month, I've had multiple people comment on my weight loss in the last two weeks. In answer to the question about how I did it, my stock answer is to say that I ate less. If anyone mentions healthy eating, I tell them that I'm eating pretty much the same as before (including chocolate at times), but less of it than I would have eaten before. I intend to eat this way for life, so I'm not going to deprive myself.
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