WTF??? Week 2 let down...

I know it is hard, but you have to be patient if you want to get to your goal. If you do this in the healthy way, it's going to take time. I wouldn't change what you are doing for awhile and see what happens.

Week 2 is notorious for being a let-down. You see it on Biggest Loser every season.

I am working with a doctor (and a nutritionist) and have just started my weightless journey. My first week I was down 8 lbs (yeah!) but the second week I was actually UP 1.5 lbs (boo!). I had been just as careful and stuck to my calories so I was pretty frustrated... but my doctor explained it to me.

The glycogen cells that store our energy are made up of a lot of water. When we are not eating well, that tank of glycogen is pretty full. After a week of eating better the tank emptied and I lost all of that water weight. In fact, I had lost about 2.5 lbs of fat and the rest was water. (That explained all of the peeing.)

The second week my bodied figured out this is the new normal and the tank levelled off at about half full. I still lost 2 - 2.5 lb s of fat, but with that extra water back, you could not see it on the scale.

According to my doctor, fat loss is pretty linear. If you stick to your calories you should continue to lose fat. But the scale will not always reflect that.

Hope that helps.

GOD BLESS YOU for writing this!!! I have been so discouraged about how slow my weight loss has been lately after such a great start. Thank you and thank you again for letting us in on the information you received from your doctor. You've helped and encouraged many today.

To the OP- I feel your pain! It's been almost two months and I lost a lot at first. I've been up and down since the first three weeks. We'll just have to keep at it. I will NOT give up! Don't you give up either! Keep going!

Thanks alikrorp225. YOU made my day.

the first week was probably mostly water. Week two reality sets in and 1.5 down is good, you will not be able to maintain higher. :bigsmile:

I just have to give voice to my thoughts for a second. I've been following an approx 1200 cal diet for 2 weeks. First week and half I lost 7.5 lbs. This week only 1.5. urrgghh.

Ok, so I know that first week weight loss is always higher than normal, and I know that often week 2 is less than normal. I also know that 1.5 is nothing to turn your nose up at. I guess it's just a matter of living up to the expectations I had in my head. I keep telling myself that 2lbs a week is my goal, but secretly I was hoping for more. On the plus side, I do actually feel like I've lost weight. I fit into a pair of pants yesterday that I haven't worn in a year and I feel like my face is thinning a bit.

I've wondered if I should up my calories as well, but I honestly feel good on 1200-ish. I don't feel like I'm starving.. I really don't feel like I've made that many changes to my diet except I've just cut out sugery junk and soda and the result is an approx 1200 cal day. I often actually eat closer to 1500, but I walk my dogs for about an hour a night, so I've figured about 250 in exercise calories back in to that.

Any words of wisdom?

Something that has helped me to keep going, even when I haven't lost as much weight as I would have liked, is to completely change my mentality about the process. My primary goal is not to lose weight. My primary goal is to create healthy habits that I will carry through the rest of my life. Weight loss is just a positive side effect of a healthy lifestyle. Keep doing what you're doing. The weight will come off eventually, but more importantly there are good changes taking place in your body that the scale does not measure. I would suggest taking some before measurements and photos. Also, if you can, have your bodyfat % measured with calipers by a health/fitness professional. If you haven't had a physical recently, I would also do that so you can see improvements in cholesterol and lipid levels. I have taken to weighing only once per month, and I remeasure bodyfat and inches every six to eight weeks. I took my first "after" photos at the thirty pound mark and will take some more at the fifty pound mark (I'm only three pounds away from that). Whatever you do, don't measure your success based solely on what the scale says. It doesn't tell the whole truth.

do be upset....1.5lbs is not something you should get upset about you should be HAPPY.....if you loose too much too fast you are more likely to gain everything back....plus some....i know it happened to me....before i started getting on this lifestyle change i gained a lot of weight after loosing 20lbs in a months time...i was sitting at about 140-145ish a few years ago...i went through some major stress and i dropped to 126lbs in less than a month....i gained it all back plus another 20lbs and i was then sitting at 162lbs...and i did nothing differently than i did when i was 140lbs before the stress....

You are training your body to be a fat burning machine and it takes time. Once you build up your momentum you will see more consistent numbers on the scale. You need to re-train your metabolism by eating healthy fat burning foods, building lean muscle and doing things like H.I.I.T. workouts. And the only way getting in shape can really happen is by being consistent with these things. Also, the best way to judge your progress is not by measurements or weight, it's your body fat percentage.