At a loss

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andastra
andastra Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

I've been changing my diet for the last 2 months. About 3 ish weeks ago I started logging here on MFP. When I initially set up my information it gave me a 2200 cal amount but I reduced it to 1700.

Long story short, I've been weighing myself. I started at 330 and I'm currently at 314.4 however about a week-ish ago I was sitting around 308. I've been logging and counting but from 308-314 seems like such a huge jump in such a short period of time and honestly its making me feel slightly defeated.

I've been tracking everything that I can, over the last few days I have gone for my calories by 200-300 but surely that isn't causing this issue?

Should I just keep pushing and tracking my weight? Maybe it's just my hormones or something? I've been trying to find a reason as to why this is happening without giving up on my calorie counting. I don't watch my macros, maybe I need to focus on that?

Urgh....

I could use some advice / positive re-enforcements.
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Replies

  • LynnSally
    LynnSally Posts: 1 Member
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    Keep going! You may hit a plateau for several months. This is for a lifetime not just a few weeks or months. Don't feel defeated you are doing great!
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
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    Six pounds lost in 3 weeks was likely at least partly water as that is very common when people start dieting. The jump in weight was also likely water. After a while it balances out. If you recently started doing more exercise, your body may be holding on to water to repair muscles or because you got somewhat dehydrated. Hormones can also make a difference. I know it is frustrating, but it is all a part of the process. As long as you know you are eating in a deficit, then trust that you will lose weight. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,111 Member
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    How regularly have you been weighing yourself? Do you have a menstrual cycle?
    Many women have an increase in water weight around their period and/or their ovulation. If you track your weight daily for a few months, it can help to see what your personal patterns are.

    Other reasons for water retention: stress, heat, higher salt intake, higher carb intake, new or more intense exercise, air travel...
    Constipation can also cause temporary weight gain.

    You've lost 15lbs in 2 months, that's a great thing, please don't turn it into a 'failure' because you're experiencing normal weight fluctuations 🙂 why would you even contemplate giving up? That's the only strategy that is sure to result in actual failure!

    I would also recommend using a weight trending app like Libra or Happyscale, it can make it easier to see your actual weight trend through the fluctuations.
    Fluctuations are a fact of life, it's the long-term trend (1 or 2 months/menstrual cycles at least) that shows whether or not you're losing fat.
  • Opalescent_Topaz
    Opalescent_Topaz Posts: 130 Member
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    My first thoughts were similar to those of @Lietchi . Menstruation or constipation. Maybe both? I've also been ever so slightly sick before and gained 6 pounds. Don't let it get you down. Weight loss is not linear.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,085 Member
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    I endorse what spiriteagle and leitchi said.

    Missing your calorie goal by 200-300 for a few days will not trigger 6 pounds of fat gain. That means the scale change is something else, probably a shift in water retention or extra digestive contents (that will eventually become waste) from the extra food. (To gain 6 pounds, you'd have to eat about 21,000 calories above your maintenance calories (not just above your weight loss calorie goal), or move that much less. If you'd done that, you'd notice, I'll bet.)

    To learn more about weight fluctuations and how/why they happen, read this highly recommended thread, especially the article linked in the first post:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    If you're anything like me, you should find it reassuring.

    Don't give up. Losing a meaningful total amount of weight is a long game. Even fast weight loss will take multiple months, maybe even a small number of years. That puts a premium on finding an approach that is sustainable for you personally.

    In that sense, it worries me that you decided to cut hundreds from your recommended calorie goal right up front, and it now sounds like you may be having trouble sticking with it (that extra 200-300 calories thing). Losing weight at a sustainable slow and steady rate can sometimes get us to goal weight in less calendar time than a more extreme "fast loss" goal that results in compensatory over-eating, breaks in the action, or maybe even giving up entirely.

    Hang in there. Log, eat a reasonable number of calories, stick with it through the ups and downs. It will work. Real-life weight loss is a series of daily ups and downs on the scale, with a downward trend over multiple weeks to months. Understanding that helps.

    Best wishes for success!

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