Haven't lost anything...

j_ess_07
j_ess_07 Posts: 5 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has that happened to anyone else? I'm in a calorie deficit, doing 3 strength training sessions a week, plus daily walks and hitting over 10,000 steps a day. I did speak with my Dr and she gave me some tips and I have a follow-up scheduled - but it's frustrating!! I feel like I'm doing all the right things and nothing to show for it. It's not really a plateau, since my weight hasn't changed at all since I started...but it has gone up a pound or 2.
Thanks all!!

Best Answer

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,827 Member
    Answer ✓
    What timescale? There's a big difference between 2 weeks and 3 months. You also don't mention anything about yourself such as current and goal weight?

    Without more info I'd say:
    - increased exercise (especially strength training) is notorious for causing water retention, masking fat loss on the scale. Taking measurements and pictures can be an added way to measure progress. (Or a non stretch item of clothing that you try on regularly)
    - it's always worthwhile checking how accurate your calorie tracking is. Are you checking the accuracy of the entries you're using? Avoiding generic entries like 'one slice of...'? Using the recipe builder or meals functionality for home-cooked meals? Weighing everything you're consuming?

    If you've not lost anything for over a month or two (or more) you may just be eating too much. If it's been only a few weeks, I'd encourage you to be more patient.

Answers

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,450 Member
    edited August 3
    If you’ve been at this long enough to schedule and see the doctor, I’m going to assume you’ve been at it in excess of six weeks, been through the ups and downs of a menstrual cycle or two, had time for DOMS pain (exercise soreness, which can add many temporary pounds of healing water weight) to disappear.

    Have you lost absolutely nothing? Or are you actually down a pound or two net but frustrated it’s not “fast”, like media and common knowledge would make us beleive is “normal”?. (Being up the two you mentioned may very easily be part of your daily weight cycle. I average 2-3 pounds less on Saturday morning than I will on Tuesday morning, like clockwork.)

    If you’re actually holding or up (on a consistent basis), I’m going to chalk it up to several things.

    What’s your activity level set at? You may have it set at active or highly active and are allowing yourself too many calories. Again, common tittle tattle says 10,000 s a lot of activity. I get nearly 1,000 just making breakfast for me and the critters. 10,000 is awesome but it’s pretty moderate.

    What burn are you “earning”’for weights? I don’t count gym sessions towards my calories. I don’t even record them on my watch. . I find that my tracker awards me waaay too many calories for weights- simply because rest between sets, time to change plates etc.

    But I’m betting the main culprit is logging. Tighten up. Are you weighing everything? Logging it? Verified you’re using accurate entries? (MFP is crowd sourced- so many bad and sloppy and outright cheating entries. How many times have I seen “chocolate cake 15 calories”? .)

    Consider changing from Imperial to Metric measurements. Metric is surprisingly easy to use and LOTS more accurate. The classic example here is a serving of calorie dense butter. Weighed in metric, you know exactly how much you’ve eaten. Scooped out, even with a measuring spoon you may get as much as 50% more. That’s 100 calories- enough to derail you. Ditto for a cup of flour. Depending on how you pack it in to a measuring cup, you may get far more than 120 grams. Ditto cereal, cheese etc.

    It’s easy once you learn a tablespoon is 14-15gr, And an ounce is 28. Pop it on the scale and voila! You’re golden. (Plus get much better results cooking, and baking, in particular. I have to admit. I came to metric kicking and screaming. Now I get aggravated when a recipe doesn’t include metric.)

    Do you drink? For some reason, people fail to count alcohol calories, as well as juices etc.

    Are you a fancy takeout coffee fan? I nearly lost it when I realized the calories at Starbucks. Now I make my own sugar free concoctions which, frankly, are better and cheaper anyway.

    I used to have the foolish idea that drinks of any kind shouldn’t count. I honestly thought liquids get wee’d out so they shouldn’t count, right? 🤦🏻‍♀️. Man the crazy *kitten* stuff we can convince ourselves of!!!!

    If you really want to lose, you’re going to have to buckle down and tighten up. Eyeballing, guesstimating will get you nowhere. Trust me, I can - and have - eyeball serving of tortilla chips into an entire bag.

    Lazy habits (not saying you have any!) lead to lazy results.

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,984 Member
    How long? A week? If it's been 2 weeks or less it's absolutely normal NOT to lose weight if you took on exercise after a long layoff due to the water you retain for muscle recovery and glycogen storage.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,450 Member
    edited August 3
    Also, be sure to check out the NSV (non scale victories) thread over on success Stories. You may be “winning” already and not yet have even noticed.

    Hang in there. It doesn’t come off fast. It didn’t come ON fast for most of us either. But the end results are worth it- confidence but especially the pride and power of accomplishment. I never thought I’d be “here”, but 97 pounds later “here” I am. I’m not a unicorn. If fat, lazy, chocoholic me can do this at a comparatively late age, YOU can do it, too! I’m not special, except to the 14 other legs that live within these four walls.
  • j_ess_07
    j_ess_07 Posts: 5 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    What timescale? There's a big difference between 2 weeks and 3 months. You also don't mention anything about yourself such as current and goal weight?

    Without more info I'd say:
    - increased exercise (especially strength training) is notorious for causing water retention, masking fat loss on the scale. Taking measurements and pictures can be an added way to measure progress. (Or a non stretch item of clothing that you try on regularly)
    - it's always worthwhile checking how accurate your calorie tracking is. Are you checking the accuracy of the entries you're using? Avoiding generic entries like 'one slice of...'? Using the recipe builder or meals functionality for home-cooked meals? Weighing everything you're consuming?

    If you've not lost anything for over a month or two (or more) you may just be eating too much. If it's been only a few weeks, I'd encourage you to be more patient.

    Thanks for the response - I realize I was a bit vague when I posted and more information would have helped. I'm currently at 182. Highest I have ever been was 190+, and lowest was 157. My goal is 160. I've done just about everything you can think of to help with the weight - weight watchers, noom, Keto diets, juice "cleanse", fasting, etc. I started keto-light as I called it back in May, and started my new workout routine of personal trainer/strength classes in June and have gone at least 2 times a week.

    Hopefully the extra information helps! I do appreciate the response.
  • j_ess_07
    j_ess_07 Posts: 5 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    If you’ve been at this long enough to schedule and see the doctor, I’m going to assume you’ve been at it in excess of six weeks, been through the ups and downs of a menstrual cycle or two, had time for DOMS pain (exercise soreness, which can add many temporary pounds of healing water weight) to disappear.

    Have you lost absolutely nothing? Or are you actually down a pound or two net but frustrated it’s not “fast”, like media and common knowledge would make us beleive is “normal”?. (Being up the two you mentioned may very easily be part of your daily weight cycle. I average 2-3 pounds less on Saturday morning than I will on Tuesday morning, like clockwork.)

    If you’re actually holding or up (on a consistent basis), I’m going to chalk it up to several things.

    What’s your activity level set at? You may have it set at active or highly active and are allowing yourself too many calories. Again, common tittle tattle says 10,000 s a lot of activity. I get nearly 1,000 just making breakfast for me and the critters. 10,000 is awesome but it’s pretty moderate.

    What burn are you “earning”’for weights? I don’t count gym sessions towards my calories. I don’t even record them on my watch. . I find that my tracker awards me waaay too many calories for weights- simply because rest between sets, time to change plates etc.

    But I’m betting the main culprit is logging. Tighten up. Are you weighing everything? Logging it? Verified you’re using accurate entries? (MFP is crowd sourced- so many bad and sloppy and outright cheating entries. How many times have I seen “chocolate cake 15 calories”? .)

    Consider changing from Imperial to Metric measurements. Metric is surprisingly easy to use and LOTS more accurate. The classic example here is a serving of calorie dense butter. Weighed in metric, you know exactly how much you’ve eaten. Scooped out, even with a measuring spoon you may get as much as 50% more. That’s 100 calories- enough to derail you. Ditto for a cup of flour. Depending on how you pack it in to a measuring cup, you may get far more than 120 grams. Ditto cereal, cheese etc.

    It’s easy once you learn a tablespoon is 14-15gr, And an ounce is 28. Pop it on the scale and voila! You’re golden. (Plus get much better results cooking, and baking, in particular. I have to admit. I came to metric kicking and screaming. Now I get aggravated when a recipe doesn’t include metric.)

    Do you drink? For some reason, people fail to count alcohol calories, as well as juices etc.

    Are you a fancy takeout coffee fan? I nearly lost it when I realized the calories at Starbucks. Now I make my own sugar free concoctions which, frankly, are better and cheaper anyway.

    I used to have the foolish idea that drinks of any kind shouldn’t count. I honestly thought liquids get wee’d out so they shouldn’t count, right? 🤦🏻‍♀️. Man the crazy *kitten* stuff we can convince ourselves of!!!!

    If you really want to lose, you’re going to have to buckle down and tighten up. Eyeballing, guesstimating will get you nowhere. Trust me, I can - and have - eyeball serving of tortilla chips into an entire bag.

    Lazy habits (not saying you have any!) lead to lazy results.

    Thanks for the response - I realize I was a bit vague when I posted and more information would have helped. I'm currently at 182. Highest I have ever been was 190+, and lowest was 157. My goal is 160. I've done just about everything you can think of to help with the weight - weight watchers, noom, Keto diets, juice "cleanse", fasting, etc. I started keto-light as I called it back in May, and started my new workout routine of personal trainer/strength classes in June and have gone at least 2 times a week. For the 10,000 plus steps it does include my daily walking, but for a few weeks I was going on daily family walks and walking around 3 miles in our neighborhood - so hills, flat, etc. I've included weights in my exercise, but try not to eat those calories.

    I do get that fast weight loss isn't manageable or realistic, and there is no quick fix. It's just really frustrating sometimes. Thanks!
  • j_ess_07
    j_ess_07 Posts: 5 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    How long? A week? If it's been 2 weeks or less it's absolutely normal NOT to lose weight if you took on exercise after a long layoff due to the water you retain for muscle recovery and glycogen storage.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 40 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    Thanks for the response - I realize I was a bit vague when I posted and more information would have helped. I started keto-light as I called it back in May, and started my new workout routine of personal trainer/strength classes in June and have gone at least 2 times a week. I have always been mindful of calories and was using Carbmaster for tracking before switching to myfitnesspal at the beginning of July.
  • j_ess_07
    j_ess_07 Posts: 5 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    Also, be sure to check out the NSV (non scale victories) thread over on success Stories. You may be “winning” already and not yet have even noticed.

    Hang in there. It doesn’t come off fast. It didn’t come ON fast for most of us either. But the end results are worth it- confidence but especially the pride and power of accomplishment. I never thought I’d be “here”, but 97 pounds later “here” I am. I’m not a unicorn. If fat, lazy, chocoholic me can do this at a comparatively late age, YOU can do it, too! I’m not special, except to the 14 other legs that live within these four walls.

    Thanks! I'll go check that out. I'm trying to find the NSV where I can, but even that seems hard - like I don't feel like clothing fits better, my stamina is maybe a little better, but maybe I should try taking pictures as a measurement. My trainer was even a little surprised that their fancy scales weren't showing any difference and that everything went up a little.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,827 Member
    You mention trying all sports of things like fasting, cleanses, Noom, WW,... and currently doing 'keto light'.

    Calories are the determining factor for weight-loss, however you get there. Carbs aren't evil for example, although a number of people like eating low carb because they feel more satiated (I've also heard echoes that it is helpful for women with PCOS).

    Considering the time-line, I would look at your calorie goal and/or logging accuracy: sounds like you're not really in a deficit, either because you're consuming more calories than you think or perhaps your metabolism isn't average so the calorie goal is too high for you.
  • crb426
    crb426 Posts: 661 Member
    I recommend focusing in on your calorie intake by getting a food scale and logging everything you eat. All of those "magic diets" you named mean nothing more than different ways to limit calories. But that doesn't sound as sexy, lol.

    I have been paying attention to how naturally thin people eat. (And yes, they do pay attention too.) It's very interesting to watch YouTube videos about what Japanese people eat in a day, since the majority of them are thin and have a longer life expectancy.

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