3 weeks - not lost 1 pound

lizzywxoxo
lizzywxoxo Posts: 3 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi all

I'm looking for some advice please.
I've been eating approximately 1500 calories for the past 3 weeks calculated by the serving sizes on the packets.

I've been doing 40-50 minutes of cardio using the exercise bike 6 days a week.

I weigh myself once a week and the scales are showing exactly the same. I'm trying to lose 1 stone.

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, shall I be reducing my calories even further?

Thanks so much

Replies

  • LJRS2019
    LJRS2019 Posts: 66 Member
    Are you sure you are tracking your calories correctly? You said approximately?
  • lizzywxoxo
    lizzywxoxo Posts: 3 Member
    Yeah, it's always between 1300-1500. I'm tracking them by checking the calories on packets
  • ktekc
    ktekc Posts: 879 Member
    are you weighing things though? my bagel in the morning the other day said one bagel 270 but when i weighed it it came to more like 325. it adds up.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    edited April 2020
    Weigh your food, nutritional facts on packages are rarely spot on. What are your MFP settings? Also, make sure to drink plenty of water a day and watch your sodium intake. Your body may be holding onto extra water. Drinking plenty of water actually helps your body release stored water.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,261 Member
    And, on top of the smart things other people said:

    If the exercise is new, your body can hold some extra water weight for increased muscle repair, and that can hide fat lose on the scale. (If your scale does body fat estimates, those scales aren't accurate enough to measure this in a short number of weeks.)

    If you're a pre-menopausal woman, most women have water weight fluctuations during each monthly cycle, sometimes several pounds worth, at individually varying times during their cycles. Until you have a month or two of data, you won't know your personal cycle issues, if you're in this demographic. This water weight can also mask fat loss on the scale.

    On top of this, the first couple of weeks of weight loss can involve random variations in water weight (and average digestive system contents), until our bodies adjust to a new routine.

    Bottom line: Realistically, until you have 4-6 weeks of data, maybe more, you won't know what your average loss rate is. Hang in there, patiently, and see where you end up. Then you can consider adjusting calories.

    Meanwhile, this is a good read:

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
  • lizzywxoxo
    lizzywxoxo Posts: 3 Member
    This is all really helpful, thank you everyone. I'll give it a couple more weeks as I'm new to dieting/exercise. I'll also check the weight of things by measuring them to make sure the packaging is correct. I currently drink 3L of water a day, and weigh myself first thing in the morning

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