In a calorie deficit but not losing weight
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leah9985
Posts: 66 Member
Hey everyone! I’m looking for a bit of advice. I started my diet on 1st Jan. Both diet and exercise. Working out around 4 times a week with a mix of cardio and weights. I am consuming 1200-1300 calories a day (never over 1300 calories), and eating a clean diet.
In the 13 days I have been doing this diet I have not lost any weight at all. Pictures have shown my shape has changed and I’ve lost 3.5inches off my waist, 1inch off my arms and 2 inches off my legs but no weight loss.
How can this be? Before people jump and say I’m probably not in a deficit. I 100% am. I weigh all of my food, even down to if I have a light salad dressing. I am not consuming more calories than I think, I am very strict.
I am 5ft 2inch tall and I weigh 61.2kg. My goal weight is 54kg.
Any ideas or advice would really help. Thank you x
In the 13 days I have been doing this diet I have not lost any weight at all. Pictures have shown my shape has changed and I’ve lost 3.5inches off my waist, 1inch off my arms and 2 inches off my legs but no weight loss.
How can this be? Before people jump and say I’m probably not in a deficit. I 100% am. I weigh all of my food, even down to if I have a light salad dressing. I am not consuming more calories than I think, I am very strict.
I am 5ft 2inch tall and I weigh 61.2kg. My goal weight is 54kg.
Any ideas or advice would really help. Thank you x
4
Replies
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I'm guessing the exercise is new? A new exercise regime, especially including weights, can lead to water retention, masking fat loss on the scale.
You're clearly seeing progress (losing inches), so just be patient. 13 days is nothing, evaluating your weight trend is best done over 4 to 8 weeks (at least one full mentrual cycle, since those can also cause water weight fluctuations).9 -
That’s very helpful thank you. Also, can I drink too much water? I am trying to drink 2 litres a day, should I reduce this? Patience is key, I know this, it’s just hard as the scales can become obsessive but actually, I feel I look better, which is why the weight not dropping is becoming frustrating x1
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That’s very helpful thank you. Also, can I drink too much water? I am trying to drink 2 litres a day, should I reduce this? Patience is key, I know this, it’s just hard as the scales can become obsessive but actually, I feel I look better, which is why the weight not dropping is becoming frustrating x
There's no benefit to drinking too much water or aiming for being more than adequately hydrated.
That hydration doesn't just come from water either.
2 litres doesn't sound a lot to me but personal needs are very varied which is why checking the colour of your urine is a better guide than aiming for set amounts.
Be happy you can see progress in such a short timescale, very smart of you to use more than one metric to judge progress.5 -
5.2 at 61.2 kg, I am no expert at female measurement but this seems to be ok, you are certainly not fat or obese. Why lose weight? If unhappy with shape and you want a better body that makes sense but you have progress so I wouldn't really worry to much about weight loss. I just think I could be wrong here, if the body feels it is at its ideal weight, it really doesn't want to lose any weight at all, it kind of recognises what is good, healthy and what is not. In your case the metabolism is probably slowed down by your own body to defend itself against unreasonable weight loss. If you are in calorie deficit there is no way not lose weight, excluding the impossible.1
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yes, all what litchi said. Patience, leah, patience. It's just been 2 weeks, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things. I take it you don't have too much to lose? Then the weight loss in two weeks will be very small anyway, maybe 2lbs, which can easily be masked by water weight. But congratulations to your change, and for using a scale4
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You're only two weeks into this, it takes time for these changes to pay off.5
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Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply and pass on your advice, it’s greatly appreciated. I have taken all your comments on board and appreciate that patience is key. It’s easy to feel deflated when the numbers on the scales aren’t budging, but what’s important is I feel great. I feel fitter, healthier and stronger and maybe it’s time to not worry about the scales so much. I will persevere, I know I’m in a deficit (when at weekend) so I will continue on this path and hopefully it will pay off 🤞🏼5
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I want to lose a stone in total. Maybe that’s not realistic but we will see0
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You'll get there! Really, you seem to be doing everything correctly. With only a stone to lose (about 14lbs?) then 0.5lbs per week might be the most appropriate rate of loss. If mfp has given you 1200 then it means you've chosen a too high rate of loss as 1200 is the smallest you'll get for health reasons. So you might have lost 1-2lbs, but it's hidden in a bit of water weight. Yep, needs patience3
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2 things: If you started with adding exercise, first your body will retain more water because it needs it for muscle repair AND 2nd when the body senses physical use of muscle, glycogen conversion rate is higher. Glycogen requires water to be stored in the cell.
So water will be stored at a higher rate than when you were more sedentary. This can last 2-3 weeks initially. Just keep up with the program. It'll all catch up.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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It might help to consider why you want to lose weight. What is it about a less heavy you that will please you? It's easy to get fixated about the number on the scale (as you are discovering) but I don't know of anyone who only cares that the scale says X. They think that's the case but often they will reach X and discover they don't look or feel how they thought they would.
You say you feel fitter, healthier and stronger and you have made some impressive inch losses already. The loss on the scale is bound to follow given the information you have provided, but it's probably only validation of the results you already have. The process is hard enough, so I'd suggest you celebrate the wins along the way1 -
That’s great thank you all so much! It’s so good to get what I would say is an expert opinion. You all sound like experts!
I will of course stick with it, I had no intention of quitting as I feel great and I will celebrate the change regardless of whether the number on the scales moves.
Just one other thing, I’m not sure if anyone knows, but is cream cheese (such as phillidelphia), acceptable on a clean eating diet? I know cheese seems to be a big no no (especially cheddar), but I’m not sure where I stand with soft cheeses. I am thinking of lunchtime choices and wondered if eating ryvita and cream cheese is an option. I want to be as lean as possible so don’t want to risk eating a food that could prevent that. Thanks in advance xx0 -
What does clean mean to you since it really doesn't have meaning?
Why would cheese be a no no in general?
And it's the calories that matter, not a certain type of food.
Misunderstanding there it appears.
Certain foods may allow you to sustain your eating goal easier, or recover from a workout, ect.
But calories is what matters to leanness if that means losing fat weight.12 -
Your entire diet could come from cheddar and as long as you are still in a calorie deficit you would still lose body fat. Your body fat is an energy store, without an excess of energy (calories) you aren't going to be adding to it, a calorie deficit with whatever diet will result in a loss of bodyfat.
Don't understand why you would consider cheese as being not "clean" - perhaps you can explain?10 -
Aww ok, so I thought a clean diet meant only eating whole foods, nothing processed?
I am worried that if I don’t eat only whole foods...vegetables, fruit, fish, meat etc then I won’t get the results that I am looking for.
I eat all of the above daily, but sometimes I don’t feel like chicken/ fish and veg/salad for lunch so looking for an alternative.
I feel so lost when it comes to foods. I understand that being in a deficit means that I will lose weight, but why do so many fitness fanatics live off chicken and veg for pretty much their whole diet? It must have some benefit? Or am I wrong.
I have whey protein daily to up my protein intake as well as sourcing it from normal foods but feel like I shouldn’t touch anything processed if I want the results I am after.
Sorry for the long reply! Feeling so confused.2 -
the reason fitness fantatics live off basically protein and fiber is protein helps you build muscle and increases satiety (ie: you don't get hungry as soon) and veg is high fiber, which is high volume, which means you get to eat a lot and, again, not feel hungry.
There are micronutrients and protein is sure necessary for healthy functioning, but that doesn't make the other food 'bad' or mean there is an inherent health benefit to living on fish/chicken/veg. Just that those things will allow you to eat more food and feel full longer for fewer calories.
Also 'processing' food - like milk to cheese, or whey to powder - is... not really inherently adding anything. If there are certain additives you want to avoid, cool, you do you, but cheese in particular is milk, bacteria cultures for cheese making (or rennet), and salt, so. Changing the form the milk is in changes the calorie and fat density per ounce, but it does not inherently change it from 'good' (natural) to 'bad' (highly processed with a ton of preservatives).
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That’s very helpful wunderkindking, thank you so much! I want to be realistic about it all. I want to exercise, eat well but also not deprive myself of some of the foods I like. It’s ridiculous that I am even classing ryvita and soft cheese as ‘bad’, but it’s hard when living in a world full of salmon and asparagus posts!! 🤦🏻♀️3
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Aww ok, so I thought a clean diet meant only eating whole foods, nothing processed?
I am worried that if I don’t eat only whole foods...vegetables, fruit, fish, meat etc then I won’t get the results that I am looking for.
I eat all of the above daily, but sometimes I don’t feel like chicken/ fish and veg/salad for lunch so looking for an alternative.
I feel so lost when it comes to foods. I understand that being in a deficit means that I will lose weight, but why do so many fitness fanatics live off chicken and veg for pretty much their whole diet? It must have some benefit? Or am I wrong.
I have whey protein daily to up my protein intake as well as sourcing it from normal foods but feel like I shouldn’t touch anything processed if I want the results I am after.
Sorry for the long reply! Feeling so confused.
Usain Bolt was famous for his enjoyment of chicken nuggets! He did quite well.....
Ever seen what a Tour de France winner eats including loads of carb gels?
How can you regard whey protein as being clean but cheese is not when whey powder is far more processed than the cheese as whey powder is a highly processed by-product of cheese making? I could (sort of) see the argument turned round the other way..... (Other whey? )
Where does processing definition start and stop? Frozen, canned, packaged - even if those items might be highly nutritious single ingredient items?
Cooked? That's processing too.
Can see you are confused but you are making this very restrictive and complex for no good reason - neither of those things is helpful for success.14 -
Sijomial - I don’t actually know why to be honest. I think because when I see these diet plans from a lot of personal trainers etc, there isn’t a slice of cheese in site. If there is then it’s protein cheese (which I recently found out was a thing!). I guess I’m scared to eat anything other than non processed foods. The worst thing in my diet at the moment is a little bit of salad cream or Mayo on my salad 🤦🏻♀️2
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Sijomial - I don’t actually know why to be honest. I think because when I see these diet plans from a lot of personal trainers etc, there isn’t a slice of cheese in site. If there is then it’s protein cheese (which I recently found out was a thing!). I guess I’m scared to eat anything other than non processed foods. The worst thing in my diet at the moment is a little bit of salad cream or Mayo on my salad 🤦🏻♀️
There is an ED called orthorexia (focused around 'healthy/clean eating) that can be a major, major problem for some people. If you can prevent yourself from going down that road... do.
These personal trainers and body builders are often doing 'cutting' to get to temporarily very low levels of body fat that THEY do not sustain, on a temporary basis, for the purpose of a show. Most competitive body builders cut for a show and then LET SOME BODY FAT COME BACK because your body needs it to function.
Also please remember there are fat soluable vitamins. If your diet is truly 'salmon and asparagus' (or chicken and broccoli) low all the time, indefinitely, you are going to have problems
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