No weight loss this weekend.
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faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.4 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
Also- sorry If I'm being annoying and that I'm asking a lot of questions2 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.3 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
3 -
Water retention and stool accumulation will create a variable in body weight that it typically 4 pounds or so. It will vary for everyone depending on a lot of factors having nothing to do with weight loss. For you it might be 2 pounds or it might be 6.
When you weigh in, think of that scale weight as a point in a range of weights that has parameters of about 4 pounds. So, if I weigh in at 169.2 today, as I did, I know that that weight is really somewhere between 165 and 174. More specifically to me, since my weight has never been below 169.0 I am pretty confident that my real weight is in the upper range. 169.2 to 174. So I can lose weight and still get on the scale and have it read more than 169.2 depending on my diet and my bathroom events.
Hence losing weight but weighing the same. Or more.
1 -
Didn't read everything but don't count what is on the scale unless you are weighing at the exact same time under the exact same circumstances. Otherwise, the data won't be comparable. For me it's always first thing in the morning after the bathroom. Clothes matter, bodily functions matter, everything has weight to it.
Also, as someone who has struggled with my weight, I find an occasional cheat day within moderation does your body good. Your body gets too used to eating soo little and needs to be shocked occasionally. Doing this, I have found keeps my weight loss going. Two key words there are MODERATION AND OCCASIONAL!!
That being said, I think you are eating too few calories.0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings. ( I drained the can so I think that could be why)0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.0 -
@faithdwind absolute props to you for still being here and for asking questions.
From personal experience, I asked a lot of what I thought were surely dumb questions, only to see the number of “reads”, and realize for every person who asks, a hundred others are too embarrassed to.
You’re doing the community a service. 😉
It’s those of us who floundered, but asked questions, that have been successful. I predict success for you! Hang in there. It does get easier- second nature, in fact.
4 -
springlering62 wrote: »@faithdwind absolute props to you for still being here and for asking questions.
From personal experience, I asked a lot of what I thought were surely dumb questions, only to see the number of “reads”, and realize for every person who asks, a hundred others are too embarrassed to.
You’re doing the community a service. 😉
It’s those of us who floundered, but asked questions, that have been successful. I predict success for you! Hang in there. It does get easier- second nature, in fact.
Thank you!!:)2 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g. Was it because I drained the can? Should I add another 100kcal to my diary since I ate the whole can? The whole can should be around 390g with the water, but I drained it all, causing the whole can to be 247, someone on reddit said I should add 150kcal to it since I ate the whole can.1 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g. Was it because I drained the can? Should I add another 100kcal to my diary since I ate the whole can? The whole can should be around 390g with the water, but I drained it all, causing the whole can to be 247, someone on reddit said I should add 150kcal to it since I ate the whole can.
0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g.
Someone else will do a better job than I can, of answering this. I'm not only pretty old (66) so have worked on my habits/thoughts for decades, but I'm also not as inclined to those kind of thought patterns by personality as some of my friends are.
I think that what may apply is some of the techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are good ways of retraining our thought-patterns, and we can use them without a therapist. (There are self-help books, for example. I don't know that it covers this specific thing, but one I've seen others here recommend as specific to weight management is The Beck Diet Solution. I have not read it.)
For me, when I have unwanted thoughts or worries, I usually do one of two things:
1. Remind myself of the facts, no matter what they are. That could be "I already ate and logged the beans, and I can't change history, so I'll let it go." or reminding "the maximum discrepancy is truly 10 calories, and that makes no real difference in a day of XYZ calories, so I'll let it go".
2. Distract. When I'm focusing on unhelpful things - things I literally can't change or influence - or negative feelings that don't improve the situation at all - I try to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just something like taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on how breathing feels. Sometimes it's by doing something else that requires mental concentration - home chore, hobby, whatever. Sometimes it might be doing something physical and focusing on that, like a short walk, or putting a fun song on play and dancing around a little. It could be a little indulgence, like some nice-smelling lotion. When I was doing chemotherapy, and inclined to low moods, I would watch comedy movies to distract me. Anything that redirects my thoughts can work. (If I were a religious person, prayer would be an option, too.)
For me, letting myself run with the undesired thoughts unchecked is not helpful. (You might differ.) Giving in to those impulses seems to make it more likely that I'll repeat them. I feel like if there are certain thought-patterns I let my brain travel in routinely, it kind of creates ruts in that unpleasant road that are easier to drive in next time, harder to drive out of.
There are quite a few sites on the web that talk about CBT techniques for "rumination" (one of the terms for thoughts overfocusing on something that isn't productive.) I don't know a lot about them, and it's important to avoid scam sites (those that are trying to sell something, for example). That said, this is a blog post from a therapy group in Los Angeles that talks about CBT techniques for managing rumination. They seem reasonably sensible to me (though obviously, not every single thing will work for every single person).
https://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/stop-ruminating-and-end-depression#
P.S. Your description of the scale makes me think you may not have figured out one of the tricks yet, assuming you have a fairly typical modern electronic food scale. Does it have a "tare" button/function? If so, put your bowl on the scale, and press "tare". That should zero the display. Then, put the amount of beans you want to eat into the bowl. The scale will give you the weight of the beans. No arithmetic!
You can even do this with multiple ingredients. Imagine making a sandwich. Put the plate on the scale, tare. Put the bread on the plate, note the weight. Tare. Spread the mayo or butter or mustard on the bread, note, tare. Put a slice of cheese on the bread, note, tare. Put meat on the bread . . . etc. Easy, no extra plates. Can be done when making a multi-ingredient thing in a pan or bowl, too.
Another tip is to put (say) an open peanut butter jar on the scale. Tare. Take the knife or spoon you're going to use for the next step, and scoop out the amount of peanut butter you want. Most scales will display a negative number. That's the amount you took out, so note and log that (as a positive number, of course!). Easy, no extra dishes. I do this with things like cutting a hunk off a block of cheese, too - put the cheese on the scale, cut off what I want, read the negative. If your scale has a "stay on" feature that lasts a short time like mine does, you can even put the cheese block in your hand and cut off a bit, then put it back on the scale and read the negative.
When chopping something like (say) onions to put into something, I'll cut up the onion on my cutting board, put the board on the scale, tare, dump the chopped onions from the board into the dish I'm making, put the board back, and read the negative to know how much the onions I used weighed.3 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g.
Someone else will do a better job than I can, of answering this. I'm not only pretty old (66) so have worked on my habits/thoughts for decades, but I'm also not as inclined to those kind of thought patterns by personality as some of my friends are.
I think that what may apply is some of the techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are good ways of retraining our thought-patterns, and we can use them without a therapist. (There are self-help books, for example. I don't know that it covers this specific thing, but one I've seen others here recommend as specific to weight management is The Beck Diet Solution. I have not read it.)
For me, when I have unwanted thoughts or worries, I usually do one of two things:
1. Remind myself of the facts, no matter what they are. That could be "I already ate and logged the beans, and I can't change history, so I'll let it go." or reminding "the maximum discrepancy is truly 10 calories, and that makes no real difference in a day of XYZ calories, so I'll let it go".
2. Distract. When I'm focusing on unhelpful things - things I literally can't change or influence - or negative feelings that don't improve the situation at all - I try to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just something like taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on how breathing feels. Sometimes it's by doing something else that requires mental concentration - home chore, hobby, whatever. Sometimes it might be doing something physical and focusing on that, like a short walk, or putting a fun song on play and dancing around a little. It could be a little indulgence, like some nice-smelling lotion. When I was doing chemotherapy, and inclined to low moods, I would watch comedy movies to distract me. Anything that redirects my thoughts can work. (If I were a religious person, prayer would be an option, too.)
For me, letting myself run with the undesired thoughts unchecked is not helpful. (You might differ.) Giving in to those impulses seems to make it more likely that I'll repeat them. I feel like if there are certain thought-patterns I let my brain travel in routinely, it kind of creates ruts in that unpleasant road that are easier to drive in next time, harder to drive out of.
There are quite a few sites on the web that talk about CBT techniques for "rumination" (one of the terms for thoughts overfocusing on something that isn't productive.) I don't know a lot about them, and it's important to avoid scam sites (those that are trying to sell something, for example). That said, this is a blog post from a therapy group in Los Angeles that talks about CBT techniques for managing rumination. They seem reasonably sensible to me (though obviously, not every single thing will work for every single person).
https://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/stop-ruminating-and-end-depression#
P.S. Your description of the scale makes me think you may not have figured out one of the tricks yet, assuming you have a fairly typical modern electronic food scale. Does it have a "tare" button/function? If so, put your bowl on the scale, and press "tare". That should zero the display. Then, put the amount of beans you want to eat into the bowl. The scale will give you the weight of the beans. No arithmetic!
You can even do this with multiple ingredients. Imagine making a sandwich. Put the plate on the scale, tare. Put the bread on the plate, note the weight. Tare. Spread the mayo or butter or mustard on the bread, note, tare. Put a slice of cheese on the bread, note, tare. Put meat on the bread . . . etc. Easy, no extra plates. Can be done when making a multi-ingredient thing in a pan or bowl, too.
Another tip is to put (say) an open peanut butter jar on the scale. Tare. Take the knife or spoon you're going to use for the next step, and scoop out the amount of peanut butter you want. Most scales will display a negative number. That's the amount you took out, so note and log that (as a positive number, of course!). Easy, no extra dishes. I do this with things like cutting a hunk off a block of cheese, too - put the cheese on the scale, cut off what I want, read the negative. If your scale has a "stay on" feature that lasts a short time like mine does, you can even put the cheese block in your hand and cut off a bit, then put it back on the scale and read the negative.
When chopping something like (say) onions to put into something, I'll cut up the onion on my cutting board, put the board on the scale, tare, dump the chopped onions from the board into the dish I'm making, put the board back, and read the negative to know how much the onions I used weighed.
Thank you. Also- someone on reddit said I should add the can of beans as 350kcal instead of 200 since I ate the whole can, drained. Should I switch it back to 200 calories or keep it as 350 calories, since they said 130g includes the liquid, but they said that water doesn't have any calories, so I should log it in as 350kcal. But my brother says that I should just log the beans weight after I have drained them. Which one should I listen to, should I switch it back to 200 calories or keep it as 350?
I'm sorry if this is confusing.0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g.
Someone else will do a better job than I can, of answering this. I'm not only pretty old (66) so have worked on my habits/thoughts for decades, but I'm also not as inclined to those kind of thought patterns by personality as some of my friends are.
I think that what may apply is some of the techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are good ways of retraining our thought-patterns, and we can use them without a therapist. (There are self-help books, for example. I don't know that it covers this specific thing, but one I've seen others here recommend as specific to weight management is The Beck Diet Solution. I have not read it.)
For me, when I have unwanted thoughts or worries, I usually do one of two things:
1. Remind myself of the facts, no matter what they are. That could be "I already ate and logged the beans, and I can't change history, so I'll let it go." or reminding "the maximum discrepancy is truly 10 calories, and that makes no real difference in a day of XYZ calories, so I'll let it go".
2. Distract. When I'm focusing on unhelpful things - things I literally can't change or influence - or negative feelings that don't improve the situation at all - I try to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just something like taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on how breathing feels. Sometimes it's by doing something else that requires mental concentration - home chore, hobby, whatever. Sometimes it might be doing something physical and focusing on that, like a short walk, or putting a fun song on play and dancing around a little. It could be a little indulgence, like some nice-smelling lotion. When I was doing chemotherapy, and inclined to low moods, I would watch comedy movies to distract me. Anything that redirects my thoughts can work. (If I were a religious person, prayer would be an option, too.)
For me, letting myself run with the undesired thoughts unchecked is not helpful. (You might differ.) Giving in to those impulses seems to make it more likely that I'll repeat them. I feel like if there are certain thought-patterns I let my brain travel in routinely, it kind of creates ruts in that unpleasant road that are easier to drive in next time, harder to drive out of.
There are quite a few sites on the web that talk about CBT techniques for "rumination" (one of the terms for thoughts overfocusing on something that isn't productive.) I don't know a lot about them, and it's important to avoid scam sites (those that are trying to sell something, for example). That said, this is a blog post from a therapy group in Los Angeles that talks about CBT techniques for managing rumination. They seem reasonably sensible to me (though obviously, not every single thing will work for every single person).
https://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/stop-ruminating-and-end-depression#
P.S. Your description of the scale makes me think you may not have figured out one of the tricks yet, assuming you have a fairly typical modern electronic food scale. Does it have a "tare" button/function? If so, put your bowl on the scale, and press "tare". That should zero the display. Then, put the amount of beans you want to eat into the bowl. The scale will give you the weight of the beans. No arithmetic!
You can even do this with multiple ingredients. Imagine making a sandwich. Put the plate on the scale, tare. Put the bread on the plate, note the weight. Tare. Spread the mayo or butter or mustard on the bread, note, tare. Put a slice of cheese on the bread, note, tare. Put meat on the bread . . . etc. Easy, no extra plates. Can be done when making a multi-ingredient thing in a pan or bowl, too.
Another tip is to put (say) an open peanut butter jar on the scale. Tare. Take the knife or spoon you're going to use for the next step, and scoop out the amount of peanut butter you want. Most scales will display a negative number. That's the amount you took out, so note and log that (as a positive number, of course!). Easy, no extra dishes. I do this with things like cutting a hunk off a block of cheese, too - put the cheese on the scale, cut off what I want, read the negative. If your scale has a "stay on" feature that lasts a short time like mine does, you can even put the cheese block in your hand and cut off a bit, then put it back on the scale and read the negative.
When chopping something like (say) onions to put into something, I'll cut up the onion on my cutting board, put the board on the scale, tare, dump the chopped onions from the board into the dish I'm making, put the board back, and read the negative to know how much the onions I used weighed.
Thank you. Also- someone on reddit said I should add the can of beans as 350kcal instead of 200 since I ate the whole can, drained. Should I switch it back to 200 calories or keep it as 350 calories, since they said 130g includes the liquid, but they said that water doesn't have any calories, so I should log it in as 350kcal.
I'm sorry if this is confusing.
You're not confusing, though I get that you're confused (and/or worried). It's all OK.
Go up a few posts. Assuming they are plain beans, what I would do is drain the beans, and weigh the part I will eat. Then I use the USDA entries in the MFP database to log them by weight. There are entries for nearly all common types of beans (lentils, black beans, red beans, navy beans. . . ). They look like this (maybe with more words after what I listed):
Beans - Black, cooked, boiled
Beans - Kidney, Cooked, Boiled
Beans - Pinto, cooked, boiled
Lentils - Cooked, boiled
. . . etc.
So, I would search in the food database for "beans BEANTYPE cooked boiled" (replacing BEANTYPE with whatever bean I'm looking for. The good entries will usually be green-checked. Usually, the default quantity (the one that shows on the search results) is 1 cup. But if I select that entry, the drop-down on serving size options will show 1g or 100g, and I use those.
There is no material difference between plain black beans (or any given type of bean) between one brand and another. For plain beans, the above works fine. (It's worked fine for me for nearly 7 years, and I eat beans often.)
If the beans had some kind of sauce on them, brand may matter. I don't buy canned beans with sauce generally - I prefer to add my own, have more control over both flavor and calories. On the rare occasion when I did, I'd probably weigh the entire contents of the can (all the sauce), and log that total number of grams, even if I drained some of the sauce. If the sauce was something I thought might be high-calorie, and I drained off a fair amount of it, I might make a wild guess at subtracting a few calories. For example, if it were beans in a sweetened tomato sauce, and I drained off a couple of tablespoons of sauce, I'd consider whether it was worth my time to look up 2T of regular sweetened ketchup (a similar sweetened tomato sauce) and subtract those calories from what I logged. (I probably wouldn't bother, if it was an infrequent food, might if it was frequent and the guessed amount to subtract was pretty high - like 5% or my daily calories or something.)
If I did that, I'd log that same thing the same way the next time, and not fret about how far off my guess was. It can't be super far off, and consistency in logging is more important (IMO) than obsessive perfectionism . . . and I'm pretty precise in my weighing/logging (compared to some other successful folks here) when I say that.
For me, I need to keep this in a "scientific" "arithmetic" context: When I was losing weight, a lot of the time I was eating 1600 calories plus exercise. If something could be 20 calories off one way or the other, and it was fussy/effortful to be more precise than that, I'd just log it and go on with life. It's a waste of my time and energy - time and energy that could be better spent - to worry about it. I make a decision about how to handle a particular type of thing, then I do that going forward, and let worrying about it go. Life is too short, there are too many other productive things to do (worry is rarely productive, for me).
Some level of imprecision is built in: One apple is sweeter than the next, even if both weigh X grams, y'know? If my practices are consistent, reasonably (not obsessively) careful, it'll work out OK. And it has. For almost 7 year, first weight loss for a bit under a year, then 6+ years of maintaining a healthy weight since.
2 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g.
Someone else will do a better job than I can, of answering this. I'm not only pretty old (66) so have worked on my habits/thoughts for decades, but I'm also not as inclined to those kind of thought patterns by personality as some of my friends are.
I think that what may apply is some of the techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are good ways of retraining our thought-patterns, and we can use them without a therapist. (There are self-help books, for example. I don't know that it covers this specific thing, but one I've seen others here recommend as specific to weight management is The Beck Diet Solution. I have not read it.)
For me, when I have unwanted thoughts or worries, I usually do one of two things:
1. Remind myself of the facts, no matter what they are. That could be "I already ate and logged the beans, and I can't change history, so I'll let it go." or reminding "the maximum discrepancy is truly 10 calories, and that makes no real difference in a day of XYZ calories, so I'll let it go".
2. Distract. When I'm focusing on unhelpful things - things I literally can't change or influence - or negative feelings that don't improve the situation at all - I try to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just something like taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on how breathing feels. Sometimes it's by doing something else that requires mental concentration - home chore, hobby, whatever. Sometimes it might be doing something physical and focusing on that, like a short walk, or putting a fun song on play and dancing around a little. It could be a little indulgence, like some nice-smelling lotion. When I was doing chemotherapy, and inclined to low moods, I would watch comedy movies to distract me. Anything that redirects my thoughts can work. (If I were a religious person, prayer would be an option, too.)
For me, letting myself run with the undesired thoughts unchecked is not helpful. (You might differ.) Giving in to those impulses seems to make it more likely that I'll repeat them. I feel like if there are certain thought-patterns I let my brain travel in routinely, it kind of creates ruts in that unpleasant road that are easier to drive in next time, harder to drive out of.
There are quite a few sites on the web that talk about CBT techniques for "rumination" (one of the terms for thoughts overfocusing on something that isn't productive.) I don't know a lot about them, and it's important to avoid scam sites (those that are trying to sell something, for example). That said, this is a blog post from a therapy group in Los Angeles that talks about CBT techniques for managing rumination. They seem reasonably sensible to me (though obviously, not every single thing will work for every single person).
https://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/stop-ruminating-and-end-depression#
P.S. Your description of the scale makes me think you may not have figured out one of the tricks yet, assuming you have a fairly typical modern electronic food scale. Does it have a "tare" button/function? If so, put your bowl on the scale, and press "tare". That should zero the display. Then, put the amount of beans you want to eat into the bowl. The scale will give you the weight of the beans. No arithmetic!
You can even do this with multiple ingredients. Imagine making a sandwich. Put the plate on the scale, tare. Put the bread on the plate, note the weight. Tare. Spread the mayo or butter or mustard on the bread, note, tare. Put a slice of cheese on the bread, note, tare. Put meat on the bread . . . etc. Easy, no extra plates. Can be done when making a multi-ingredient thing in a pan or bowl, too.
Another tip is to put (say) an open peanut butter jar on the scale. Tare. Take the knife or spoon you're going to use for the next step, and scoop out the amount of peanut butter you want. Most scales will display a negative number. That's the amount you took out, so note and log that (as a positive number, of course!). Easy, no extra dishes. I do this with things like cutting a hunk off a block of cheese, too - put the cheese on the scale, cut off what I want, read the negative. If your scale has a "stay on" feature that lasts a short time like mine does, you can even put the cheese block in your hand and cut off a bit, then put it back on the scale and read the negative.
When chopping something like (say) onions to put into something, I'll cut up the onion on my cutting board, put the board on the scale, tare, dump the chopped onions from the board into the dish I'm making, put the board back, and read the negative to know how much the onions I used weighed.
Thank you. Also- someone on reddit said I should add the can of beans as 350kcal instead of 200 since I ate the whole can, drained. Should I switch it back to 200 calories or keep it as 350 calories, since they said 130g includes the liquid, but they said that water doesn't have any calories, so I should log it in as 350kcal.
I'm sorry if this is confusing.
You're not confusing, though I get that you're confused (and/or worried). It's all OK.
Go up a few posts. Assuming they are plain beans, what I would do is drain the beans, and weigh the part I will eat. Then I use the USDA entries in the MFP database to log them by weight. There are entries for nearly all common types of beans (lentils, black beans, red beans, navy beans. . . ). They look like this (maybe with more words after what I listed):
Beans - Black, cooked, boiled
Beans - Kidney, Cooked, Boiled
Beans - Pinto, cooked, boiled
Lentils - Cooked, boiled
. . . etc.
So, I would search in the food database for "beans BEANTYPE cooked boiled" (replacing BEANTYPE with whatever bean I'm looking for. The good entries will usually be green-checked. Usually, the default quantity (the one that shows on the search results) is 1 cup. But if I select that entry, the drop-down on serving size options will show 1g or 100g, and I use those.
There is no material difference between plain black beans (or any given type of bean) between one brand and another. For plain beans, the above works fine. (It's worked fine for me for nearly 7 years, and I eat beans often.)
If the beans had some kind of sauce on them, brand may matter. I don't buy canned beans with sauce generally - I prefer to add my own, have more control over both flavor and calories. On the rare occasion when I did, I'd probably weigh the entire contents of the can (all the sauce), and log that total number of grams, even if I drained some of the sauce. If the sauce was something I thought might be high-calorie, and I drained off a fair amount of it, I might make a wild guess at subtracting a few calories. For example, if it were beans in a sweetened tomato sauce, and I drained off a couple of tablespoons of sauce, I'd consider whether it was worth my time to look up 2T of regular sweetened ketchup (a similar sweetened tomato sauce) and subtract those calories from what I logged. (I probably wouldn't bother, if it was an infrequent food, might if it was frequent and the guessed amount to subtract was pretty high - like 5% or my daily calories or something.)
If I did that, I'd log that same thing the same way the next time, and not fret about how far off my guess was. It can't be super far off, and consistency in logging is more important (IMO) than obsessive perfectionism . . . and I'm pretty precise in my weighing/logging (compared to some other successful folks here) when I say that.
For me, I need to keep this in a "scientific" "arithmetic" context: When I was losing weight, a lot of the time I was eating 1600 calories plus exercise. If something could be 20 calories off one way or the other, and it was fussy/effortful to be more precise than that, I'd just log it and go on with life. It's a waste of my time and energy - time and energy that could be better spent - to worry about it. I make a decision about how to handle a particular type of thing, then I do that going forward, and let worrying about it go. Life is too short, there are too many other productive things to do (worry is rarely productive, for me).
Some level of imprecision is built in: One apple is sweeter than the next, even if both weigh X grams, y'know? If my practices are consistent, reasonably (not obsessively) careful, it'll work out OK. And it has. For almost 7 year, first weight loss for a bit under a year, then 6+ years of maintaining a healthy weight since.
So, can I log it in as 200kcal instead of 350kcal for 247g, even though it was drained, and all the beans together was 247g, causing me to eat the entire can?0 -
faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
What's your alternative? Giving up? yes, eat 1300 calories, and make sure you're weighing your food carefully.
Okay, thanks!
BTW, when I weigh my food, It would exactly be at the serving I'm getting. But when I come back/shift it on the scale to make sure It is exactly the amount I'm getting, It shifts like 1-2 grams over or 1-3 grams under. Does it matter, If it does that? Can I still eat it or would you make sure its EXACTLY on (for example) 40g instead of 41-42g .
It's not going to be that big a deal. Adopt a rule for yourself: Either read the first number and believe it, or do the shifting thing and always use the highest or lowest or most frequent number you see. Just use the same rule every time, for consistency. (There's a long statistical-thinking justification for my saying that, but I'm not going to belabor it.) Personally, I'd pick the easiest (least fussy) one, which I think is "believe the first number", but it's up to you. Use one method.
After you use an overall consistent way of logging and tracking you can see if you lose as expected averaged over many weeks and ideally whole menstrual cycles (same day in each cycle).faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Yes, that might be the reason the scale didn't drop. As yirara said, you probably were losing fat - the thing we want to lose, right? - but adding a little water weight before your period, and the water gain hid the fat loss for a while. After you do this routine of eating/logging/weighing for a few months, you'll begin to understand some of the water-retention patterns your personal body usually goes through. Every woman is different.faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »faithdwind wrote: »
What if you don't "what if"? 😉 (This may not be true for you, but one of the things I learned during cancer treatment was that if I worried about things that might not happen, beyond minimal plans for handling them, I was just increasing my anxiety unnecessarily, and making myself unhappier than I needed to be.)
You say you'd seen an increment of loss on the scale, then there was a sudden jump. Those of us with experience are telling you that that sudden jump is almost certainly water weight or digestive contents, not fat gain, as long as your eating and activity levels have stayed consistent and there was nothing in there (moving much less, eating much more) to account for that much fat (re-)gain.
I'm curious, though: You say you only ate 1300 calories during the weekend. Is that 1300 calories, total, including both days, or 1300 calories per day? And what did you do, how many calories did you eat, during the week, between the weekends? Your results in two weeks (or any longer length of time) will depend on the average of what you do over all the days in the time period, not just the weekends.
I meant for the whole week(per day)! Sorry If I confused you. This will be my third week eating 1300 calories. I know that I said What if I didn't loose any weight in two weeks, but if I don't check until my 6th week, and no result, should I raise my calories?
Good, that makes sense, as a routine.
But I still don't like the negative "what if". I feel like that's encouraging anxiety, creating stress. Y'know what? Stress is one possible thing that can increase water retention, and water retention can hide fat loss on the scale. It's fat loss we care about, isn't it?
There exists an actual physical-psychological syndrome where people (usually women, unfortunately) become stressed about weight loss being slow, add water weight from stress, panic about not losing (maybe even gaining) when it's just about water retention (not fat), cut harder, create more stress, hold onto more water weight . . . on repeat. That is not a good thing. Implicitly, without wanting to be all alarmist about something that - yes - may not happen to you, we're trying to guide you away from the thought patterns that can lead in that direction.
https://bodyrecomposition.com/research/dietary-restraint-cortisol-levels
If you're adult, female but not in menopause yet, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles - for example, last day of menstruation in each cycle. The third cycle might even provide better insight.
If you are not over-stressed by daily weighing, do that - first thing in the morning, after bathroom, same state of (un)dress, before eating/drinking is ideal. Record that weight. A free weight trending app would be a useful place to record. (Happy Scale for Apple iOS, Libra for Android, Trendweight with a free Fitbit account (don't need a device), Weightgrapher, others). The day to day weight fluctuations (water, digestive contents mostly) can be misleading. A trending app isn't magically insightful, but it can be a help, in sorting out progress from random stuff.
I'd suggest that you also tape-measure some key points, maybe once a month (same point in cycle!). The first time, make it a point to think how you can best be sure you're putting the tape at the exact same place, and level, every time. If you can, take some photos: Front, side, back, slim-fit but not compressive clothing or something like a bathing suit. (Don't do undies. Trust me, you'll want to be proudly showing off your "before" once you reach that "after". MFP has a "no undies in photos" rule.)
Sometimes one thing will show progress, when another doesn't.
If you literally have seen no new low-point weight** in 6 weeks (or 1-2 full menstrual cycles), I'd urge you to come back here, provide details, ideally open up your diary so the MFP old hands can take a look, and answer questions folks might have. Depending on details, it may make sense to increase calories, decrease calories, do some of the estimates differently, or something else.
** You will be asked what "no loss" means to you, if it comes to that. Sometimes people show up here, post "I'm not losing", and it turns out that they lost slower than expected, maybe even a pound a week, but that felt like "no loss" to them because they were trying really hard . . . so we tend to ask. 😉
The Community folks (me included) can sometimes be confused, repetitive, misunderstand, communicate unclearly in writing, and generally be fallibly human. Still, please know that many people here would truly like to see you succeed, want to help you, because weight management success has been so very powerful in their own lives. That's absolutely true for me. We will do our (imperfect) best to help you.
Really: Trust the process, follow the process, try to be calm, see what happens. If you don't get the results you reasonably hope for, we will try to help you figure it out, try a variation, see how that works for you. If you keep going, keep experimenting, adjust based on results, you can succeed at this.
Best wishes!
I didn't loose any weight this weekend.
Yesterday, I was 190, and today i'm 191.4.
BUT, sometimes when I come home, (last weekend) I weighed 191 in the morning and then weighed 189, in the afternoon. Am I in a plateu? What should I do?
Nope, not likely a plateau. You're just experiencing normal fluctuations.
Since around mid-month March, I've been anything from 125.8 pounds to 130.8 pounds, and that's just weigh-ins first thing in the morning under consistent conditions, for someone who's maintaining weight, not trying to lose or gain. It wasn't one extreme at the start, and the other at the end, either, those are just the high and low points randomly mixed in there somewhere.
This is the stuff that healthy bodies do. It's no big deal. It's not fat changes, it's water and digestive contents, primarily.
My swings would be even more extreme if I weighed at other times of day. Think about it: A pint of water - 2 cups - weighs roughly a pound, and it weighs that much whether it's in glass or in my stomach/bladder. When it's in my body, it's part of my scale weight. When I urinate or sweat it out, it's not part of my scale weight anymore. Ditto for food. That stuff changes by multiple pounds throughout Every. Single. Day.
Did you read this article yet? If not, please do!
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
What should you do? Hang in there, stick to a reasonable routine, see what happens over multiple weeks, whole menstrual cycles. Try to avoid stressing about it . . . stress can increase water retention, and it feels icky, besides.
It's going to be fine. Stick this out until you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different menstrual cycles, or 4-6 weeks if you don't have cycles. Then, if there's no change, you might need to change something. Until then, try not to stress about it.
Okay, thank you! I'm thinking about just zig zagging diet for a week or two- I'm getting tired of staying in the same calorie deficit- I ate 1530 calories yesterday. Also- I just gotten my period today. Could that be a reason I didn't loose on 1300 calories?
Hun, I know you desperately want to lose weight. But please, Please read what AnnP has been writing to you, and then read it again, and then the link she posted. Yes, it's likely you would have gained water weight from getting your menstruation. Most women do. And yes, water has a weight, the amount of food in your digestive tract has a weight. And neither is bodyfat. But both influence the weight on the scale thought and might mask fat loss.
So, should I try eating 1300 calories for a few more weeks?
That's what I'd do, in your situation, if you're finding the 1300 calories practical in other ways.
Okay. Thank you! Do you know when the water weight from my menstruation?
No, I don't know. It varies from one woman to the next. Some women only see a new low weight once a month. Some see a couple of peak weight days during each cycle, maybe at ovulation and right before the flow starts, but it could happy any time during the cycle. Or there could be more than two peaks, or only one, or it could last a day or a week or, like I said, most of the month. It can be individual.
Keep track of your own data, you'll learn about your patterns. Your patterns are the ones that are important for you, not stuff about other people. Even once you know your pattern, you may have a weird month once in a while that's different. Rarely, some women's pattern is that there's not a predictable pattern.
It really doesn't matter, ultimately. If you're losing fat, eventually it will show up on the scale. Water retention doesn't keep increasing and increasing forever, in a healthy person. It goes up and down. If your eating and activity are at consistent calories, fat loss is gradual and fairly steady in the background. Eventually, it'll show on the scale.
Thank you again, I got one more question. My foodscale have2 MLS, and this morning I weighed milk in a measuring cup and the measuring cup in one ML weighed 615 and the other 597. I went with the one with 615MLso I added 240 to the 615 and poured the milk until it reached 855ML. But when I was done, the other ML weighed 837. And in grams It weighed 855g. Which ML Should I use? Am I using the correct one?
I fell like you may be making this more complicated than it needs to be?
Weigh the milk in grams**, not ML. Then, find an entry in the MFP database that has a grams quantity for the type of milk you're using. It may take a little longer to find one the first time, but after you do, it will stay in your recent/frequent foods and be quick to find, as long as you use milk reasonably frequently. You may need to use the serving size drop-down on some database entries to find one with grams, for milk, but they're there.
** Grams are a weight measurement. ML are a volume (size) measurement. For water, 1 ml weighs 1 gram. For other liquids that are not water, some are lighter per ml, others are heavier per ml.
This is an example of what I mean (screen grab below). This is from the web browser version of MFP, but it will work the same on a phone/tablet app version of MFP, just maybe a little different screen. I searched, then used the drop down to look at what serving options were available, found one with grams. (The red arrow is to show which entry I chose.)
This takes more time on the first use, but it's more accurate and you don't need to worry about those tiny differences in ml between different measures.
If it were me, I wouldn't worry much anyway: Milk is not all that calorie dense. Get close in ml, the calories will be close enough. Yes, sometimes you'll be a little over on calories that way, but other times you'll be a little under. The difference won't be huge (in context of your all-day calories), and the overs/unders will average out, over time.
It's good to be accurate, but it's not good to be so worried about accuracy that you're becoming anxious about numerically small details. It'll be OK.
Hi- Sorry if I'm annoying you, but I have a question. So, the can of black beans I ate said 130g for 100kcal so I decided to get two servings, which is 260g and on the back of the can it said "about 3.5 servings" and it was only about 2? Should I still have eaten 200kcal if I gotten 260g? I just felt like I ate the 3 servings.
I find canned beans confusing, too - especially since some brands seen to have more liquid than others.
I drain them, weigh, and use the USDA syntax entry in the MFP database.
Those are the ones that look like "Beans, black, mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt" - description only a bureaucrat could love.
Usually they have an accurate 100g quantity in the serving size drop-down list (though the default is often cups). So, if I weigh out 137g beans to eat, I'd log 1.37 servings of 100g.
Close enough.
The same thing happened again today- the bowl I weighed the beans in was 58g and the whole can was 247 grams causing the bowl itself and the beans to be 305g on the scale, it was suppose to be 318. I still ate it anyways, only difference was that it was 10 calories off, but my brain doesn't let me think that- instead it makes me worry that it was 300kcal instead of 200kcal. I don't really know what my question is, but is there any way to calm down about it? I know it wasn't over 318g but it just keeps lingering in my mind making me think it was wayyy over 318g.
Someone else will do a better job than I can, of answering this. I'm not only pretty old (66) so have worked on my habits/thoughts for decades, but I'm also not as inclined to those kind of thought patterns by personality as some of my friends are.
I think that what may apply is some of the techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which are good ways of retraining our thought-patterns, and we can use them without a therapist. (There are self-help books, for example. I don't know that it covers this specific thing, but one I've seen others here recommend as specific to weight management is The Beck Diet Solution. I have not read it.)
For me, when I have unwanted thoughts or worries, I usually do one of two things:
1. Remind myself of the facts, no matter what they are. That could be "I already ate and logged the beans, and I can't change history, so I'll let it go." or reminding "the maximum discrepancy is truly 10 calories, and that makes no real difference in a day of XYZ calories, so I'll let it go".
2. Distract. When I'm focusing on unhelpful things - things I literally can't change or influence - or negative feelings that don't improve the situation at all - I try to redirect my thoughts elsewhere. Sometimes, that's just something like taking slow, deep breaths while focusing on how breathing feels. Sometimes it's by doing something else that requires mental concentration - home chore, hobby, whatever. Sometimes it might be doing something physical and focusing on that, like a short walk, or putting a fun song on play and dancing around a little. It could be a little indulgence, like some nice-smelling lotion. When I was doing chemotherapy, and inclined to low moods, I would watch comedy movies to distract me. Anything that redirects my thoughts can work. (If I were a religious person, prayer would be an option, too.)
For me, letting myself run with the undesired thoughts unchecked is not helpful. (You might differ.) Giving in to those impulses seems to make it more likely that I'll repeat them. I feel like if there are certain thought-patterns I let my brain travel in routinely, it kind of creates ruts in that unpleasant road that are easier to drive in next time, harder to drive out of.
There are quite a few sites on the web that talk about CBT techniques for "rumination" (one of the terms for thoughts overfocusing on something that isn't productive.) I don't know a lot about them, and it's important to avoid scam sites (those that are trying to sell something, for example). That said, this is a blog post from a therapy group in Los Angeles that talks about CBT techniques for managing rumination. They seem reasonably sensible to me (though obviously, not every single thing will work for every single person).
https://cogbtherapy.com/cbt-blog/stop-ruminating-and-end-depression#
P.S. Your description of the scale makes me think you may not have figured out one of the tricks yet, assuming you have a fairly typical modern electronic food scale. Does it have a "tare" button/function? If so, put your bowl on the scale, and press "tare". That should zero the display. Then, put the amount of beans you want to eat into the bowl. The scale will give you the weight of the beans. No arithmetic!
You can even do this with multiple ingredients. Imagine making a sandwich. Put the plate on the scale, tare. Put the bread on the plate, note the weight. Tare. Spread the mayo or butter or mustard on the bread, note, tare. Put a slice of cheese on the bread, note, tare. Put meat on the bread . . . etc. Easy, no extra plates. Can be done when making a multi-ingredient thing in a pan or bowl, too.
Another tip is to put (say) an open peanut butter jar on the scale. Tare. Take the knife or spoon you're going to use for the next step, and scoop out the amount of peanut butter you want. Most scales will display a negative number. That's the amount you took out, so note and log that (as a positive number, of course!). Easy, no extra dishes. I do this with things like cutting a hunk off a block of cheese, too - put the cheese on the scale, cut off what I want, read the negative. If your scale has a "stay on" feature that lasts a short time like mine does, you can even put the cheese block in your hand and cut off a bit, then put it back on the scale and read the negative.
When chopping something like (say) onions to put into something, I'll cut up the onion on my cutting board, put the board on the scale, tare, dump the chopped onions from the board into the dish I'm making, put the board back, and read the negative to know how much the onions I used weighed.
Thank you. Also- someone on reddit said I should add the can of beans as 350kcal instead of 200 since I ate the whole can, drained. Should I switch it back to 200 calories or keep it as 350 calories, since they said 130g includes the liquid, but they said that water doesn't have any calories, so I should log it in as 350kcal.
I'm sorry if this is confusing.
You're not confusing, though I get that you're confused (and/or worried). It's all OK.
Go up a few posts. Assuming they are plain beans, what I would do is drain the beans, and weigh the part I will eat. Then I use the USDA entries in the MFP database to log them by weight. There are entries for nearly all common types of beans (lentils, black beans, red beans, navy beans. . . ). They look like this (maybe with more words after what I listed):
Beans - Black, cooked, boiled
Beans - Kidney, Cooked, Boiled
Beans - Pinto, cooked, boiled
Lentils - Cooked, boiled
. . . etc.
So, I would search in the food database for "beans BEANTYPE cooked boiled" (replacing BEANTYPE with whatever bean I'm looking for. The good entries will usually be green-checked. Usually, the default quantity (the one that shows on the search results) is 1 cup. But if I select that entry, the drop-down on serving size options will show 1g or 100g, and I use those.
There is no material difference between plain black beans (or any given type of bean) between one brand and another. For plain beans, the above works fine. (It's worked fine for me for nearly 7 years, and I eat beans often.)
If the beans had some kind of sauce on them, brand may matter. I don't buy canned beans with sauce generally - I prefer to add my own, have more control over both flavor and calories. On the rare occasion when I did, I'd probably weigh the entire contents of the can (all the sauce), and log that total number of grams, even if I drained some of the sauce. If the sauce was something I thought might be high-calorie, and I drained off a fair amount of it, I might make a wild guess at subtracting a few calories. For example, if it were beans in a sweetened tomato sauce, and I drained off a couple of tablespoons of sauce, I'd consider whether it was worth my time to look up 2T of regular sweetened ketchup (a similar sweetened tomato sauce) and subtract those calories from what I logged. (I probably wouldn't bother, if it was an infrequent food, might if it was frequent and the guessed amount to subtract was pretty high - like 5% or my daily calories or something.)
If I did that, I'd log that same thing the same way the next time, and not fret about how far off my guess was. It can't be super far off, and consistency in logging is more important (IMO) than obsessive perfectionism . . . and I'm pretty precise in my weighing/logging (compared to some other successful folks here) when I say that.
For me, I need to keep this in a "scientific" "arithmetic" context: When I was losing weight, a lot of the time I was eating 1600 calories plus exercise. If something could be 20 calories off one way or the other, and it was fussy/effortful to be more precise than that, I'd just log it and go on with life. It's a waste of my time and energy - time and energy that could be better spent - to worry about it. I make a decision about how to handle a particular type of thing, then I do that going forward, and let worrying about it go. Life is too short, there are too many other productive things to do (worry is rarely productive, for me).
Some level of imprecision is built in: One apple is sweeter than the next, even if both weigh X grams, y'know? If my practices are consistent, reasonably (not obsessively) careful, it'll work out OK. And it has. For almost 7 year, first weight loss for a bit under a year, then 6+ years of maintaining a healthy weight since.
So, can I log it in as 200kcal instead of 350kcal for 247g, even though it was drained, and all the beans together was 247g, causing me to eat the entire can?
Can you post a pic or link to the can of beans you ate? Maybe visuals will help.
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