Slimfast and new here

I started using slimfast and tracking my calories last week and I am really disheartened because instead of losing any weight I have gained. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I am 100% sticking to it but it's a real kick in the teeth.

Replies

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,122 Member
    Not a lot of love for Slimfast in these parts.

    It's normal for your weight to fluctuate up as well as down yes, it doesn't necessarily mean you're not losing fat.

    If you are logging accurately (correct items from the database, weighing instead of guesstimating portion sizes, accounting for everything that you eat and drink) and consistently sticking to your calorie goal (i.e. not splurging on one or two days and wiping out your deficit for the entire week) then you are most likely retaining water, this could be from a day with more sodium or carbs than you might normally eat, new or more intense exercise and hormonal shifts amongst other things.

  • jennacole12
    jennacole12 Posts: 1,167 Member
    How did you choose your calorie target? Did you have any cheat meals? What was your activity like? Don’t be discouraged, fat loss is like an equation and it takes a bit of readjusting some numbers here and there to to get it just right! Honestly, for the first week knowing you tracked everything is a big win, that’s a hard adjustment for most.
  • How did you choose your calorie target? Did you have any cheat meals? What was your activity like? Don’t be discouraged, fat loss is like an equation and it takes a bit of readjusting some numbers here and there to to get it just right! Honestly, for the first week knowing you tracked everything is a big win, that’s a hard adjustment for most.

    I stuck to 1200 calories all week chosen by MFP did the slimfast 2 meal replacement and 3 snacks a day and 2 litre of water diet. I'm not very active as I am shielding as I have health conditions, I also have lipodema which doesn't help either.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    I started using slimfast and tracking my calories last week and I am really disheartened because instead of losing any weight I have gained. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I am 100% sticking to it but it's a real kick in the teeth.

    Dunno - are weight fluctuations normal for you? (They are for me, several pounds a day isn't unusual.)

    A bit like the poster above I did Slimfast once then read the ingredients and realised the nutrition was rather worse than a glass of milk an apple and a multi-vitamin.
    Not that I would recommend that route either!

    Losing weight is just the first part of losing and then maintaining weight long term and I'm not convinced meal replacements help you with the long term part.

    You should give your new calorie goal at least a month to try to see what the trend is rather than chase fluctuations. If you don't get the results expected then making your diary public helps enormously spot common mistakes such as using the wrong tools or database entries for tracking intake.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    How did you choose your calorie target? Did you have any cheat meals? What was your activity like? Don’t be discouraged, fat loss is like an equation and it takes a bit of readjusting some numbers here and there to to get it just right! Honestly, for the first week knowing you tracked everything is a big win, that’s a hard adjustment for most.

    I stuck to 1200 calories all week chosen by MFP did the slimfast 2 meal replacement and 3 snacks a day and 2 litre of water diet. I'm not very active as I am shielding as I have health conditions, I also have lipodema which doesn't help either.

    1200 is a default minimum, so it is sometimes suspect. You mentioned you are inactive, are your fairly short also?

    Your weekly weight loss goal also contributes to your daily calorie goal. Sometimes people choose something that's a little too aggressive. Is your weekly goal less than or equal to 1% of your current body weight?
  • jennacole12
    jennacole12 Posts: 1,167 Member
    How did you choose your calorie target? Did you have any cheat meals? What was your activity like? Don’t be discouraged, fat loss is like an equation and it takes a bit of readjusting some numbers here and there to to get it just right! Honestly, for the first week knowing you tracked everything is a big win, that’s a hard adjustment for most.

    I stuck to 1200 calories all week chosen by MFP did the slimfast 2 meal replacement and 3 snacks a day and 2 litre of water diet. I'm not very active as I am shielding as I have health conditions, I also have lipodema which doesn't help either.

    1200 seems low and that diet sounds very unsatisfying. I won’t critique it too harshly because if you like it and it works for you than awesome. If you want to message me your weight I can try to help you figure out what to change or modify this week. Either way don’t be discouraged, sticking to that diet for a week is a big step and I’d predict a big loss week 2.
  • chantellezxc
    chantellezxc Posts: 55 Member
    I did try a diet based on slim fast(but with an organic protein shake) i also put glucomannan fiber in it to make it more filling. I didn’t love it but I lost about 5lbs in a few weeks I didn’t eat all the snacks I found it hard to stick too.
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
    No offense to the OP but just looked up the ingredients of Slimfast....the ingredients are just the worst! It's sad that it remains popular(?)/sold everywhere and people use it thinking they are following a solid plan.
  • rterm
    rterm Posts: 13 Member
    I've never done any organized "weight loss system," but I did participate in a weight loss study at Harvard U. many years ago, and it has stood me in good stead.
    When I started the study I was 200 lbs. on a 5' 11" frame. Within 3 months I was down to 172 lbs.
    During this pandemic, I ate more and exercised less, and I went up again to 186 lbs.
    I then resumed the practices I had learned during the study. I got onto MFP to check my daily calorie consumption. I started a daily exercise regimen, and I weighed myself every morning before going into the shower.
    I am now down to 177 lbs., and hope to level off at 174 or so.
    I will try to maintain this, but it does take a bit of will power, and there are days when I go "off the reservation," and eat or drink (wine & beer) too much. But I feel better at the lower weight, and I think I can remain motivated to stay in control.
  • sijomial wrote: »
    I started using slimfast and tracking my calories last week and I am really disheartened because instead of losing any weight I have gained. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I am 100% sticking to it but it's a real kick in the teeth.

    Dunno - are weight fluctuations normal for you? (They are for me, several pounds a day isn't unusual.)

    A bit like the poster above I did Slimfast once then read the ingredients and realised the nutrition was rather worse than a glass of milk an apple and a multi-vitamin.
    Not that I would recommend that route either!

    Losing weight is just the first part of losing and then maintaining weight long term and I'm not convinced meal replacements help you with the long term part.

    You should give your new calorie goal at least a month to try to see what the trend is rather than chase fluctuations. If you don't get the results expected then making your diary public helps enormously spot common mistakes such as using the wrong tools or database entries for tracking intake.

    I've opened my diary please feel free to have a look and suggest any changes. I will give slimfast a bit longer as change takes time. Thank you for your reply.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,454 Member
    STOP using Slimfast. When you go on a liquid diet, REALIZE that once you start to eat solid foods your weight will likely GO UP. Sorry but that's not uncommon after liquid dieting. How are you going to handle that? Stay on a liquid diet your whole life?
    It's BETTER to start now on how to count FOOD calories accurately. USE A FOOD SCALE. If you do it right, you'll still be in deficit and still lose weight the CORRECT WAY.

    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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  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    Many people enjoy protein powders as a supplement. Most are created in a lab and manufactured in a plant and heated UP to such a high temp so that nothing grows in those cans. It's all about safety so they can sit on shelves in warehouses for months and months at a time. Most protein powders are made out of denatured proteins.

    Dieting with protein powders never lasts. Your brain will eventually take over and drive, drive, drive you to the scene of every food you have ever enjoyed. You will fall right back into your old behaviors and eating patterns when you conduct some brutally strict liquid diet right out the chute.

    Whatever you do to lose the weight is the knowledge you are going to carry forward to keep the weight off. What do you learn from a liquid diet? It is the All or Nothing Approach to food and you get mostly nothin' from it in the end because you didn't learn anything.

    We can learn to moderate ourselves with food. So track your data points and eat the foods you enjoy right now.
    You're going right back to them when all of the liquid dieting is over. If it were not so there would be no such thing as the need to ever start over and over again.

    You would conduct the liquid diet and all of the weight problems would be fixed. One diet. One time. No rebound weight gain with friends but we all know that it doesn't work that way. Our bodies are bent on survival and they
    enjoy food most of all. Don't cage yourself in with food protocols that won't last.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    I started using slimfast and tracking my calories last week and I am really disheartened because instead of losing any weight I have gained. Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced this? I am 100% sticking to it but it's a real kick in the teeth.

    Dunno - are weight fluctuations normal for you? (They are for me, several pounds a day isn't unusual.)

    A bit like the poster above I did Slimfast once then read the ingredients and realised the nutrition was rather worse than a glass of milk an apple and a multi-vitamin.
    Not that I would recommend that route either!

    Losing weight is just the first part of losing and then maintaining weight long term and I'm not convinced meal replacements help you with the long term part.

    You should give your new calorie goal at least a month to try to see what the trend is rather than chase fluctuations. If you don't get the results expected then making your diary public helps enormously spot common mistakes such as using the wrong tools or database entries for tracking intake.

    I've opened my diary please feel free to have a look and suggest any changes. I will give slimfast a bit longer as change takes time. Thank you for your reply.

    Good luck but you are going to have to learn to eat all over again when/if you get to goal.

    My S-I-L is an incredibly determined person and stuck to a "Horrible Life" ;) eating plan to lose a lot of weight eating mostly supplements and meal replacements.
    Looked like a baggy sack of poop when she got to goal and as soon as she returned to eating normal food regained all she had lost as she had learned nothing about portion control.

    I would urge you to look far into the future.