Doing everything I’m ‘supposed to’ but I’m not seeing weight loss
josha1105
Posts: 4 Member
Hi friends! Wondering if anyone is or has gone through the same situation I currently am ... if so, looking for advice.
I started my diet on 2/8/21 at 167lbs with a goal to get down to 145 (I’m 5’7”). It’s been a little over 8 weeks now and I’m down to 156. But, I’ve been at this weight for almost 3 weeks now. I’m doing nothing different and even kicked up my exercise (cardio and weight) to 4-5 days/week. I’m eating 1200 calories, no more than 30-35g carbs, and macros are in line with what I should be matching. I feel like I’m doing everything I should be doing but I just don’t see the weight coming off. (I’m also 53 and peri-menopausal in case that factors in). Help! Thanks in advance to all for your advice.
I started my diet on 2/8/21 at 167lbs with a goal to get down to 145 (I’m 5’7”). It’s been a little over 8 weeks now and I’m down to 156. But, I’ve been at this weight for almost 3 weeks now. I’m doing nothing different and even kicked up my exercise (cardio and weight) to 4-5 days/week. I’m eating 1200 calories, no more than 30-35g carbs, and macros are in line with what I should be matching. I feel like I’m doing everything I should be doing but I just don’t see the weight coming off. (I’m also 53 and peri-menopausal in case that factors in). Help! Thanks in advance to all for your advice.
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Replies
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start here
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Thank you! I went through it and unfortunately it doesn’t give me any answers. I am tracking everything I put into my mouth daily and go to the Dr annually for physicals and went as recent as 4 mos ago and am 100% healthy.1
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Would you be willing to share your food diary?0
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Hi friends! Wondering if anyone is or has gone through the same situation I currently am ... if so, looking for advice.
I started my diet on 2/8/21 at 167lbs with a goal to get down to 145 (I’m 5’7”). It’s been a little over 8 weeks now and I’m down to 156. But, I’ve been at this weight for almost 3 weeks now. I’m doing nothing different and even kicked up my exercise (cardio and weight) to 4-5 days/week. I’m eating 1200 calories, no more than 30-35g carbs, and macros are in line with what I should be matching. I feel like I’m doing everything I should be doing but I just don’t see the weight coming off. (I’m also 53 and peri-menopausal in case that factors in). Help! Thanks in advance to all for your advice.
11 pounds in 8 weeks is on the aggressive, but maybe just *barely* OK speed for your current size, IMO. Since you've not lost in 3 weeks, I assume you're saying you actually lost 11 pounds in 5 weeks, then stalled? That would be very aggressive.
I think you're seeing water retention from the stress of fast loss, plus maybe some contribution from the hormone fluctuations of peri-menopause, and should just wait it out. If you kicked up exercise, that can also increase water retention. Are you eating back exercise calories? If so, how do you estimate them (and what specifically are you doing)?
With the exercise, your all day calorie burn should be something close to 2000, at least, which suggests an 800 calorie deficit or more if you're not eating back the exercise.15 -
I track everything too but I use a food scale to weigh everything I eat.5
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without making your diary public, the most we can say is that you are most likely eating more than you realize.
11 pounds in 2 months is a GREAT rate of loss. your expectations may not be realistic. 11 pounds in 5 weeks is too severe of a deficit.
3 weeks is not a plateau.
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You’ve actually seen plenty of results because you’ve already lost 11 lbs. What I’m worried about is how little you’re eating. You should be aiming for 0.5 lbs a week because you don’t have much to lose and as AnnPT suggested, if you’re maintenance calories are 2000 calories then aiming for 1700 calories instead. You want to make this as sustainable as possible. Remember, the faster you lose the weight, the easier it is for you to regain it.7
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I started my diet on Jan. 8, 2021 at 170.6 pounds with a goal of getting to 145 (I'm 5'10). Today I weighed in at 161.4, my lowest weight was 160.3 last week. My weight tends to go up and down for 10 - 14 days before I see a new low and it's not uncommon for my weight to fluctuate up 2 - 3 pounds. I have found that with so little to lose, the scale can be very frustrating but I have a good estimate on my calorie intake (weigh and measure, as appropriate) and appear to have a pretty good estimate of calories out using my FitBit. I average about 2300 calories in a day and while it is slow, I am losing weight and it is relatively painless. So many things affect your weight on the scale, if you are doing things right, trust the process and stay the course. With that being said, maybe be a little kinder to yourself and slow down your rate of loss. Fast loss showing on the scale definitely appears more rewarding, but I have personally found slow loss to be so much easier and has helped me to really learn how I want and can eat for the future to maintain success.7
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You're 5'7" and 156...and you're working out.most days of the week, so why are you eating so little?9
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Not enough food!4
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Doing everything you're supposed to includes not overdoing things13
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You are very likely eating more cals than you’re logging. Sorry to tell you this. Logging inaccuracies are really common but IMO you don’t have to ‘Tighten up on your logging’ as long as you are consistent in the way you log.
You just need to eat less. So work out for you how best to do that.
For me when I plateau I cut out calorific drinks and that is enough to get the scale moving. Or you could eat one less snack a day. Or use less cooking oil.0 -
As I see it, you've had a great loss so far. You started out with around 20 lbs to lose and now around 10. The last 10 will be slow going--even if you do everything "right". As said, make sure you're logging is on point and just keep going. If after another month you haven't lost anything then re-evaluate. This will take time and patience with lots of tweaking on the way. You can do it. Good luck.6
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cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »You are very likely eating more cals than you’re logging. Sorry to tell you this. Logging inaccuracies are really common but IMO you don’t have to ‘Tighten up on your logging’ as long as you are consistent in the way you log.
You just need to eat less. So work out for you how best to do that.
For me when I plateau I cut out calorific drinks and that is enough to get the scale moving. Or you could eat one less snack a day. Or use less cooking oil.
Normally I would be on board with this statement, but in this case I'm respectfully disagreeing. If OP has been at this for 8 weeks total, lost 11 lbs, and has been stalled for 3 weeks...unless I'm misunderstanding the OP, that means she's lost 11 lbs in 5 weeks, which is over 2 lbs a week and way too aggressive for her current height and weight. With that in mind, I can't imagine she's eating too much. I'm more inclined to agree with AnnPT77's assessment.10 -
Some people struggle because they don't know how to measure calorie intake -- others 'struggle' because they don't know how to measure weight loss. I think you are in the second group. Given that you had success losing weight at a fast rate means you were definitely eating far less than you burn per day.
The most likely scenario is your actual fat loss is masked by water weight due to either the recent increase in exercise (which you mentioned) or some other factor. I think the only thing you need to do is exercise patience.
If you want a math breakdown, you can read what follows:
Given your stats, here are some estimates for how many calories you would burn at different activity levels
Basal Metabolic Rate 1,345 calories per day
Sedentary 1,614 calories per day
Light Exercise 1,850 calories per day
Moderate Exercise 2,085 calories per day
Heavy Exercise 2,321 calories per day
Athlete 2,556 calories per day
11 lbs in 8 weeks @ 1200 calories intake means you were likely burning around 1900 calories per day - somewhere between light and moderate exercise. This seems to be close to the activity level you described. You may have been closer to light in the beginning and now have increased to moderate.
To me, all the theoretical numbers actually match your weight loss, so I don't think you need to change anything -- other than exercise patience.
As others have suggested, you actually have room to increase your calorie intake and still lose weight. You can do this and I agree it would be a good idea. It isn't the reason you have temporarily stalled, but is a better choice long term.10 -
OP, by my standards, you have had really good success. As others have said, losing 1 lb/week ON AVERAGE is a great rate of loss. It won't be the same every week -- some weeks more than average, some weeks nothing. For many women, what they see on the scale correlates predictably to their monthly cycle. E.g. for years, when I was in a deficit (rate of loss much slower than you), I would only see scale movement following ovulation. But the math would average over the whole month exactly as expected.
Here's another phenomenon to consider. https://bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat I also experienced this not infrequently. Doing "everything right," no loss for 3 weeks, then *whoosh* 3 weeks worth of loss in a day or 2. Not uncommon.
Stick with it and be patient. The math always works, but not always on exactly the time line we want it to.3 -
dragon_girl26 wrote: »cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »You are very likely eating more cals than you’re logging. Sorry to tell you this. Logging inaccuracies are really common but IMO you don’t have to ‘Tighten up on your logging’ as long as you are consistent in the way you log.
You just need to eat less. So work out for you how best to do that.
For me when I plateau I cut out calorific drinks and that is enough to get the scale moving. Or you could eat one less snack a day. Or use less cooking oil.
Normally I would be on board with this statement, but in this case I'm respectfully disagreeing. If OP has been at this for 8 weeks total, lost 11 lbs, and has been stalled for 3 weeks...unless I'm misunderstanding the OP, that means she's lost 11 lbs in 5 weeks, which is over 2 lbs a week and way too aggressive for her current height and weight. With that in mind, I can't imagine she's eating too much. I'm more inclined to agree with AnnPT77's assessment.
Ah ok my bad. Didn’t read the original post properly. OP maybe you can wait a few weeks longer before changing anything else.6 -
It's the old water retention and 'weight loss isn't linear' thing. Eat a bit more and calm down. Weight loss is for life, and is better taken at a steady pace. What is 3 weeks in the grand scheme of things? Nothing, that's what!5
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Most recent visit April 9th, I'm wondering the same...2 -
Hi friends! Wondering if anyone is or has gone through the same situation I currently am ... if so, looking for advice.
I started my diet on 2/8/21 at 167lbs with a goal to get down to 145 (I’m 5’7”). It’s been a little over 8 weeks now and I’m down to 156. But, I’ve been at this weight for almost 3 weeks now. I’m doing nothing different and even kicked up my exercise (cardio and weight) to 4-5 days/week. I’m eating 1200 calories, no more than 30-35g carbs, and macros are in line with what I should be matching. I feel like I’m doing everything I should be doing but I just don’t see the weight coming off. (I’m also 53 and peri-menopausal in case that factors in). Help! Thanks in advance to all for your advice.
Here is a slightly different view of things assuming that all of your measurements of CICO are correct:
First- It is possible for your body to need a period of 'rest' to play 'catch up' and see the resulting loss later (as long as six weeks later is not unheard of). This is part of the reason for not using the scale alone to judge how you are progressing on your weight loss journey. And as we get closer to our 'ideal weight', weight loss slows anyway.
Second- Have you considered that with also doing weights and cardio, that you may also be building muscle and it is making your loss appear stalled? 'Muscle weighs more than fat' is not exactly true-after all, a pound is a pound. However, it is more dense and a pound of muscle takes up less 'space'. Another reason for not using scale alone to measure weight loss. Are you seeing a loss in size?
Third- due to the differences in body composition-larger bones, more dense bones, more muscle mass-what we think is our 'ideal' based on insurance charts may NOT be OUR ideal. Where you are now-156- is inside of the 'ideal range' for women your height (127-159). What IS important, is 'how much of that weight is fat?' BMI measurements are not perfect, but a good starting place to know how much fat we have and how much is 'average' for our height and age. When we reach OUR body's 'happy' weight (different than a 'plateau'), it becomes very hard to reduce beneath that and maintain it.
Fourth- What is your fiber intake? Water? Is your 'outgo' of each appropriate for your food intake?
and Fifth-scales are not perfect and may need re-calibration. Compare yours to your physician's scale. Replace batteries if needed.
All of that said, Scales are just a start for checking our weight loss: BMI, tape measure, clothing fit, mirror check are all very useful tools for tracking our progress towards our goals. Bottom line-when we work on 'getting healthy'-eating, not dieting and staying active-it is whatever size and weight you are healthy and happy with
Best wishes and keep us posted!
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But you are losing weight......you won’t lose the same amount every week.....2
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Hi friends! Wondering if anyone is or has gone through the same situation I currently am ... if so, looking for advice.
I started my diet on 2/8/21 at 167lbs with a goal to get down to 145 (I’m 5’7”). It’s been a little over 8 weeks now and I’m down to 156. But, I’ve been at this weight for almost 3 weeks now. I’m doing nothing different and even kicked up my exercise (cardio and weight) to 4-5 days/week. I’m eating 1200 calories, no more than 30-35g carbs, and macros are in line with what I should be matching. I feel like I’m doing everything I should be doing but I just don’t see the weight coming off. (I’m also 53 and peri-menopausal in case that factors in). Help! Thanks in advance to all for your advice.
Here is a slightly different view of things assuming that all of your measurements of CICO are correct:
First- It is possible for your body to need a period of 'rest' to play 'catch up' and see the resulting loss later (as long as six weeks later is not unheard of). This is part of the reason for not using the scale alone to judge how you are progressing on your weight loss journey. And as we get closer to our 'ideal weight', weight loss slows anyway.
Second- Have you considered that with also doing weights and cardio, that you may also be building muscle and it is making your loss appear stalled? 'Muscle weighs more than fat' is not exactly true-after all, a pound is a pound. However, it is more dense and a pound of muscle takes up less 'space'. Another reason for not using scale alone to measure weight loss. Are you seeing a loss in size?
Third- due to the differences in body composition-larger bones, more dense bones, more muscle mass-what we think is our 'ideal' based on insurance charts may NOT be OUR ideal. Where you are now-156- is inside of the 'ideal range' for women your height (127-159). What IS important, is 'how much of that weight is fat?' BMI measurements are not perfect, but a good starting place to know how much fat we have and how much is 'average' for our height and age. When we reach OUR body's 'happy' weight (different than a 'plateau'), it becomes very hard to reduce beneath that and maintain it.
Fourth- What is your fiber intake? Water? Is your 'outgo' of each appropriate for your food intake?
and Fifth-scales are not perfect and may need re-calibration. Compare yours to your physician's scale. Replace batteries if needed.
All of that said, Scales are just a start for checking our weight loss: BMI, tape measure, clothing fit, mirror check are all very useful tools for tracking our progress towards our goals. Bottom line-when we work on 'getting healthy'-eating, not dieting and staying active-it is whatever size and weight you are healthy and happy with
Best wishes and keep us posted!
This is great overall advice, but I do have one sad quibble.
Under excellent conditions, a really good result for a woman would be to gain about a quarter pound of new muscle mass per week, on average (for a man, maybe twice that). Excellent conditions include relative youth, good genetic potential, a well-designed progressive strength training program faithfully performed, excellent nutrition (especially but not exclusively adequate protein), being relatively new to strength training, and a calorie surplus.
OP says she's 53, and eating 1200 calories (which is probably an aggressive deficit for someone her size, more so if not eating back exercise calories). Those are not ideal conditions. I'm not saying she can't have gained muscle, just that any gain will likely have been less than a quarter pound per week.
On the flip side, half a pound of fat loss weekly is about the slowest normally observable average rate of fat loss, and even that can take multiple weeks to show up on the scale, amongst normal water weight fluctuations of a pound or few daily. Sadly, the implication is that pretty much no realistic rate of muscle mass gain is going to outpace a satisfyingly rapid rate of fat loss, to the point of misleading results on the scale as a consequence. I wish it were different, but I think that's the reality.
It's not super unusual to see people believing they've gained muscle mass quickly, when they experience quick, satisfying strength gain, perhaps alongside an improvement in the appearance of muscle definition. Early strength gain is likely to be predominantly from neuromuscular adaptation, basically recruiting and using existing muscle fibers more efficiently. The water retention that comes with increased exercise, for muscle repair, potentially can lead to a bit more defined appearance. That appearance change is especially likely if there's been some loss of overlying subcutaneous fat over the same timespan, letting the muscle structure show a bit more than previously. The strength gains and appearance improvements are great stuff, but not a sure sign of mass gain (i.e., addition of new muscle fibers).
I wish that muscle mass were easier and quicker to gain, especially for women (like me), and especially for older women (also me). It's a thing that requires work and patience. As a rough rule of thumb, in the context of a basically fairly consistent eating/exercise routine, quick scale changes within a couple/few days are likely to be about water weight; sensible-rate fat changes show up over multiple weeks to small numbers of months; and muscle-mass changes are more likely to affect scale weight over many weeks to many months, even years. 🤷♀️
I still think OP is seeing a water weight effect, and that patience will result in the scale moving (but it would be better to target a slower loss rate, health-risk-wise, despite frustration with slowness).
I'm completely on board with your other points - good stuff! 🙂4 -
Thank you everyone for all your advice. I’ve read all your comments and will heed your advice - and more importantly, be patient. I didn’t realize that more then 1lb/week was ‘aggressive’ so I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished to date. I do think perhaps I’ll up my daily calories as I am now exercising approx 5 days/week and am hungry! New to this so I’m learning. I thank you all for your advice - it’s super helpful!!12
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It is - just busy with life so couldn’t reply sooner.4 -
To Ann's post above.... some of the apparent muscle gain is increased glycogen near the muscles that are being used and water retention due to tissue repair.....so truly not net new muscle fibers....yet they do FEEL like newer bigger muscles and they perform as such due to neuromuscular adaptation even if their net muscle fibers number hasn't changed.. so are they? 🤷🏻♂️
[hides now]2 -
To Ann's post above.... some of the apparent muscle gain is increased glycogen near the muscles that are being used and water retention due to tissue repair.....so truly not net new muscle fibers....yet they do FEEL like newer bigger muscles and they perform as such due to neuromuscular adaptation even if their net muscle fibers number hasn't changed.. so are they? 🤷🏻♂️
[hides now]
Yes, PAV, bigger geometrically, that's possible . . . but the weight hiding fat loss on the scale is still (sigh) water, not added muscle. That's the point . . . the sad, sad, point.
I can't even begin to tell you how much I wish that muscle gain were fast and easy, because (like so many others) I'd love to get me some of that, without doing much work, or taking much time. 💪💪💪🎉
Ain't gonna happen. 😢1 -
But I WANT free muscles!🤷🏻♂️🥺.
So the pump, right? 😉
Sigh: this water weight category is too broad!!!!0
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