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htarasuik15
htarasuik15 Posts: 8
in Introduce Yourself
Hello...I just finished my third week and have lost 14 lbs. But this last week I did 2 kickboxing classes and was below my calorie intake every day and only lost 0.6 lbs. What is the deal? I thought you should be rewarded for working out, but that did not relfect in the scale. Any ideas or is this normal after 3 weeks for the weight loss to slow down?
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  • KellyEdwards85
    KellyEdwards85 Posts: 35 Member
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    Hey, its possible you could be gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat . Take your measurements every week that way you will know if you're losing inches :)
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    If you don't normally workout at that intensity, my understanding is that your muscles might hold onto some water for recovery or something to that effect. When I started doing more than just walking on the treadmill (30 day shred), my weight went up for several days before it came back down lower than it was before. A lot of people seem to experience an odd fluctuation like that when they are upping the intensity of their exercise.

    Also, it is my understanding that even if you do build a little bit of muscle from your new workout, you'd still be burning off fat since you're eating at a deficit so the scale would still go down if there is not something else like water retention making it stay higher. Building muscle should not make you gain pounds on the scale unless you are eating more than your maintenance calories.

    Also, a lot of women notice weightgain around TOM due to water retention. Just another exciting factor to consider. LOL
  • kissoffools
    kissoffools Posts: 108
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    When I first started losing weight, I remember I lost EIGHT POUNDS in my first two weeks... and then one in the next two. It was frustrating, absolutely, but the weight never comes off quickly. Half a pound a week is definitely not a bad thing! Hey, it could have gone up, right? :P Stick with it - it's worth it, I promise.
  • HopeHahn
    HopeHahn Posts: 2
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    14 lbs in the 3 weeks is amazing!! You will most likely start to see a decrease in the amount you're losing, but you're right to think that you're gaining muscle. The GREAT thing about that is you'll STILL feel and see the difference in your body and clothing. Keep rockin' the boxin', Heidi!!
  • htarasuik15
    htarasuik15 Posts: 8
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    Thank you all! I am trying to stay positive. @ CMmrsFloyd, I definitely went from just walking a couple times a week to a super intense kickboxing class, so i am hoping that my muscles are still trying to recover from all those darn push-ups we had to do!
  • erinlundgren
    erinlundgren Posts: 1
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    You may be gaining muscle and muscle does way more than fat. Also many people plateau after a period of time. The key is to keep going, alternate your routine and visualize the body you want. Maybe ignore the scale and focus on how you feel and how your clothes feel on you :)
  • echandle12
    echandle12 Posts: 82
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    I know the feeling, my first 3 weeks of dieting I lost 15 pounds and then it slowed down. I attribute it to not eating as much sodium therefore the first few weeks was a lot of losing water weight and things. I am not pretty consistant with 2 pounds a week. Which some people say it still to high, but 1-2 pounds a week is what it should be so you can be healthy and keep the weight off.
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    Thank you all! I am trying to stay positive. @ CMmrsFloyd, I definitely went from just walking a couple times a week to a super intense kickboxing class, so i am hoping that my muscles are still trying to recover from all those darn push-ups we had to do!

    Try taking measurements at various points on your body (first thing in the morning) and when you're having an off-week on the scale, take new measurements and compare. Sometimes you can see results in your measurements getting smaller that might not show up right away as pounds lost on the scale. :-)
  • WallyGirl358
    WallyGirl358 Posts: 69
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    Don't forget you do NOT want to eat less on the days of intense workouts. You actually should eat 100 more of protein. Working out with high intensity and eating less will put the body in starvation mode.
  • jlr_12
    jlr_12 Posts: 170 Member
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    Don't forget you do NOT want to eat less on the days of intense workouts. You actually should eat 100 more of protein. Working out with high intensity and eating less will put the body in starvation mode.

    This is what I was thinking too. You said you are under your calorie goal every day. How far under? Do you eat enough to fill the extra deficit you create when you exercise?
  • htarasuik15
    htarasuik15 Posts: 8
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    Yesterday I had negative net calories....is that bad? I thought that is how you lose weight, putting more calories out than in.
  • aims78
    aims78 Posts: 75 Member
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    Don't worry so much about what the pounds on the scale say.. your body is changing, you could be gaining muscle etc. Try not to let it both you too much!.... :)
  • emily2975
    emily2975 Posts: 45 Member
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    That's technically the way it works, but I totally agree with the others - muscle weighs more than fat and it is also very common for weight to come off more quickly at the beginning. We need to feed our muscles (especially after we work out!) and keep our metabolisms high!
  • CMmrsfloyd
    CMmrsfloyd Posts: 2,383 Member
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    Yesterday I had negative net calories....is that bad? I thought that is how you lose weight, putting more calories out than in.

    If you told MFP you want to lose weight when you set up your profile/goals, then the net calorie goal that MFP gave you is already designed to help you lose weight even if you don't exercise at all. Going a little over or a little under every now and then won't hurt, it averages out over time. But some people find that consistently going too far over or under may cause them problems. It's kind of trial and error and everyone has an opinion. ;-). But your body burns a certain number of calories every day even if you were to just lay in bed (base metabolic rate), MFP uses that estimation and then an estimation of your total daily energy expenditure (what you burn during a day of normal activities, I.e. your activity level) when it calculates your net calorie goal for weightloss.
  • kissoffools
    kissoffools Posts: 108
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    Yesterday I had negative net calories....is that bad? I thought that is how you lose weight, putting more calories out than in.

    Do you mean that you ate less net calories than were recommended for you? (ie MFP recommends you eat 1400 cals and you only eat 1200?) Or do you mean that on your home page, your net cals was literally a negative number?

    If it's the former, it's not a big deal. If it's the latter, though, then your body likely isn't getting enough food to sustain itself and is holding onto every little bit it does get. It isn't a huge deal if it happens once, but I wouldn't let it become a regular thing. You don't want to starve yourself!

    Is your food diary unlocked? That might help people see how things are going and offer suggestions.
  • SeanIsMyHomeboy
    SeanIsMyHomeboy Posts: 107 Member
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    A good rule of thumb for me, personally, is to always try to balance out to where, even with exercise, your net calories are above 1200. It seems to be the general concensus that under 1200 calories can essentially put your bod in starvation mode, causing you to lose much more slowly. But you've done a great job for only 3 weeks in! Keep that chin up!
  • htarasuik15
    htarasuik15 Posts: 8
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    thanks again...i am still a little confused about the net calorie thing. For instance, my calorie goal was 1500 cal, i consumed 1150 and then my exercise was 1198, so i was negative for my net calories. are you saying that even after you exercise you should have an average of 1200 net calories? I understand that your body needs food to survive and going under 1200 cal isn't good. I just want to find that balance where I eat the food I need to in order to continue to lose weight. Thank you all for your input, it is very helpful!
  • jlr_12
    jlr_12 Posts: 170 Member
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    On days that you're not exercising, you should MEET the goal MFP has given you. They gave you that goal for a reason...because that's the amount of calories you need to healthily lose 1-2 lbs a week (whatever you chose). When you exercise you need to eat more, because MFP didn't account for exercise when making your goal. So if you burn 500 calories working out, that could make your deficit TOO big if you don't eat some of, or all of that back. If your deficit is too big, your body will think it's not getting enough fuel (because it's not..) and so it will try to hold on to whatever it can...and your weight loss will slow down.
  • jlr_12
    jlr_12 Posts: 170 Member
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    thanks again...i am still a little confused about the net calorie thing. For instance, my calorie goal was 1500 cal, i consumed 1150 and then my exercise was 1198, so i was negative for my net calories. are you saying that even after you exercise you should have an average of 1200 net calories? I understand that your body needs food to survive and going under 1200 cal isn't good. I just want to find that balance where I eat the food I need to in order to continue to lose weight. Thank you all for your input, it is very helpful!

    You are burning more than you eat? That is definitely bad....that means essentially your body got NO fuel that day. NONE. More than none! Please eat more and you're weight loss will improve!
  • RyanDanielle5101
    RyanDanielle5101 Posts: 533
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    Hey, its possible you could be gaining muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat . Take your measurements every week that way you will know if you're losing inches :)

    Just to clarify muscle does not weigh more than fat. While 5lbs of muscle is smaller in volume than 5lbs of fat, 5lbs of muscle = 5lbs of fat.

    Example
    jpc3ts.jpg

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