1000 calorie deficit, still not losing weight

[shurst05]

I've been logging my food meticulously, getting 10K - 15K steps per day, tracking sleep, and adhering to a 1000 calorie per day deficit.  My weight is yo-yoing back and forth by about 4 pounds.  Two weeks into this, I am currently at my starting weight.  Calories are coming from proteins, fruits, veggies, and lean meats.  I have no known health issues...thyroid function is normal. 

This is so frustrating.  A friend is doing weight watchers, eating way more food than I am, and she has lost 10 pounds in two weeks.  Is the fitbit's process of tracking your calorie burn truly accurate?

[Melissa68]

Yes, I did! 🙂

[GrapeJelly]

having a baby doesn't count

[Melissa68]

I didn't have a baby.

[Liz_J]

17 pounds seems an awful lot in 2 weeks. Most I've ever lost is 1 lb each week. But I'm only 52 kg.

[Heybales]

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@Liz_J wrote:
17 pounds seems an awful lot in 2 weeks. Most I've ever lost is 1 lb each week. But I'm only 52 kg.

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Well, remember starting a diet you lose water weight from watching sodium, so that can be huge if you were high sodium, and then stored carbs in muscles always get depleted to some extent, and the faster someone jumps in to intense exercise the more so, especially if eating lower carb and lower calories in general.

Everyone loses big water weight first couple weeks.

It's after the first big carb meal and big water weight gain comes back that the discouragement starts.

Also, for folks jumping in to intense cardio and big deficit, it is very easy to accidentally burn off muscle mass, that obviously bites later.

And 22 inches may be assumed to be say just 1 measurement, but likely it's a whole group of measurements and that's the total, and muscles with less stored water are smaller, besides potentially a couple pounds of fat lost is good volume too.

[DCD843]

I understand your frustration.  Make sure the 1000 calories you are cutting out of your diet are not REQUIRED calories.  Remember your body is going to want X amount of calories a day, even when you are loosing weight.  If you short your body then you will not loose weight because when you eat your body is going to store the food right away.  You need to make sure you find that happy medium between calorie count and exersise and I promise the weight will just fall off, except when you get down to the last 15lbs or so LOL.  Hope this helped.

[debbiedell]

definitely want to reiterate that it actually, really, totally, and completely is all about water!! quite literally you cannot burn fat without an adequate amount of water (which for the average person is about 6-8 cups/day), and the more water you drink, the easier it is to burn fat and lose weight! if you don't drink enough water, you can't lose weight, unless the weight loss is from muscle loss. 

[Liz_J]

You will lose nothing if what goes in is more than you burn. Simple. Water is essential but it's how you move , the intensity and the muscle which burns more when resting. I've always found its best to stop the DIET. Eat simply and don't snack. Don't sit watching telly. Move around. Do several walks with some high intensity. Some people have sluggish systems. Try Metamucil before bed.

[Heybales]

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@debbiedell wrote:

definitely want to reiterate that it actually, really, totally, and completely is all about water!! quite literally you cannot burn fat without an adequate amount of water (which for the average person is about 6-8 cups/day), and the more water you drink, the easier it is to burn fat and lose weight! if you don't drink enough water, you can't lose weight, unless the weight loss is from muscle loss. 

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Where did you here about that theory?

Metabolising fat produces water, and CO2.

For your level of hydration to be so low that it interfered with using fat as energy - you'd be having brain and heart problems long before that - and losing fat would be so far down the list of priorities below surviving.

Besides which, you even seen the case studies of people lost at sea for extended times and only able to drink small if any water. They usually have to get all their vital stats to know exactly how to refeed them correctly - and they have burned off fat just fine.

And don't say being surrounded by water is just as useful. 😉

[StefK]

While I agree that water intake is important, I think the bigger issue is calories in versus out.

It is extremely easy to under-estimate calorie intake and over-estimate calorie burn. If you eat under your daily calorie expenditure and you are not sick, you should/ will lose weight.

Try logging your food and weighing it. Do not forget to log stuff such as drinks, sauces, the occasional innocent looking cookie, in fact just log everything you put into your mouth and if in doubt over-estimate the intake. Start weighing your food, again...I tended to under-estimate cup sizes.

I do not believe that breakfasts are important. I know there is research saying that it is, but there is an equal amount of research that says it isn't. It is the same about 6 small meals a day versus three...some say little more often, others say, three times is safer as you usually eat too much when you eat six times a day, because we under-estimate intakes.

Adding tons of exercise has helped me a lot not only for health reasons, but also it allows me to eat SOME of those calories back, which makes calorie restriction more tolerable.

Best of luck
Stef.

[Liz_J]

I have maintained the same weight as I was when married. 52kg. I've been married 26 years. Breakfast IS important as since dinner most people have gone 10-12 hours and if you didn't eat too much dinner your stomach should be telling you it's time to eat. Doesn't have to be a huge breakfast but certainly something low GI so it sustains you till lunch. If you DONT eat your metabolism slows and continuing to do this means more stored and less burned. I never count calories. Simple food. Meat should be no bigger than a deck of cards. Limit potato and bread at night. Lots of veggies or salad. We all know what to do. Snack on fruit or yoghurt but watch the sugar content. I still eat chocolate and lollies. It's all about portions. If the temptation so to eat too much of something then don't buy it. Lucky for me I dont like soft drink or ice cream.

[Heybales]

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@Liz_J wrote:
Breakfast IS important as since dinner most people have gone 10-12 hours and if you didn't eat too much dinner your stomach should be telling you it's time to eat. Doesn't have to be a huge breakfast but certainly something low GI so it sustains you till lunch. If you DONT eat your metabolism slows and continuing to do this means more stored and less burned. 

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Your metabolism isn't going to slow skipping one meal, even if it has been 10-12 hrs since your last meal.

That kind of thinking is what leads to the silly myths that go along with the starvation mode issue. While the mode is true, the myths that go along with it are not. Like it happens after one skipped meal.

Purely personal preference - if skipping breakfast makes you so hungry that you overdue lunch because you barely made it - then might be better to have breakfast.

If you have no breakfast and sit desk job all morning, making it to lunch may be no issue at all - and you'd rather the have calories for a bigger dinner or tread at night.

Besides, studies actually show opposite of your statement, going in to an actual fast increases your metablolism. But you'd need about 16 hrs and longer to get it.

Several studies referenced in here regarding that fact.

wordpress.kylegrieve.com/wp/2011/04/28/the-myth-of-starvation-mode-2/

[Liz_J]

Where in my reply did I say that happens after skipping one meal?

[dawnie]

I was in the same boat.  My thyroid is working fine, but I have slowly putting on weight.  I tried weight watchers, low carb and several others as well.  I finally went to a dietian.  She explained that as I have been getting older, the changes in my metabolism have allowed me to gain the weight.  I am sticking to a 1200 calories a day diet now.  It is a balance of carbs and protien.  Since I started last Tuesday, I have lost 4.8 lbs.  Mind you, I have also upped my exercise.  I have just signed up for the Premium and it helping me to ensure that I get enough exercise. 

[fatjail]

I am 47, I've lost weight in a variety of ways over the last 30 years. Losing weight at my age is not easy, it is flat frustrting. I started walking an extra mile or two a day and watching what I ate in April. I did the math, I technically should have been losing weight - but the scale? Oh no, the scale just went UP, and UP, and UP. I wanted to scream - I mean 6 pounds up.This is the part of the story where I woudl usually say, "I would be better off if I didn't even try." Ok - I said that a few times, but .... then I said "I don't care if I lose weight, I am going to be one fit fat woman."

Then one day - I was down 11 pounds (5 from where I started). Yes, in one day.

I am keeping at it - sometiems the scale bounces up a bit, but I know it isn't because "real weight".

To keep from getting discouraged, I take my waist and hip measurements as an alternative way to keep track of my progress.

[Heybales]

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@Liz_J wrote:
Where in my reply did I say that happens after skipping one meal?

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I quoted exactly the part that applied.

You were talking about breakfast, how important. If you don't eat metabolism slows down.

Sorry if I read those 3 sentences together but you intended them as separate thoughts. That what it looked like to me, considering it is a commonly repeated myth, wasn't surprised to see it.

[Liz_J]

Unfortunately after 50 and especially after menopause many women will struggle. Simply because hormones start to work against you. After having two children my weight went up briefly and I also went to a dietician. What we worked out was a plan that was common sense, easy to stick to. I eat the same breakfast , muesli - all bran- skim milk. Same lunch , tuna , fruit because it's it's easy to grab on way out the door. Dinner is meat and veg. As I said before , I found if I stopped having potato and bread the weight came off. But. I didn't really notice anything significant till about the sixth week. I DONT STAND ON THE SCALES. I hate weighing myself. That would make things worse. I go by how my clothes fit and I don't buy larger sizes to wear. I'm a size 8 and if my jeans are tight that's the sign. Every change in lifestyle has an effect. Ie: school holidays I'm less active than when at work. Running round after little kids vs kids grown up. Driving more than walking. Walking too little. Sitting on lounge reading.

[Liz_J]

I still believe breakfast is important. I've had enough years experience to experiment with all the variants. Women are different to men. Our bodies are slower and react differently to changing hormones.
When I was 20 I could eat a custard tart and a chocolate sustagen everyday for breakfast. But I was young , working full time and running 10 km a day. I eat better now but as you get older, especially after 50 you do have to work at it. Some are very lucky and have fast metabolisms

[Meffus]

Hi there! If you are in a calorie deficit you will lose weight but don't get too hung up or disheartened by what the scales say. Make sure you are in a routine and you weigh yourself the same time of the day each time you weigh. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day by a few pounds so try and keep this constant. Also try and bare in mind that if you are doing exercise and adding muscle but burning fat you have to account for this fact and you may not necessarily be losing any weight but you will see visual changes to your body. I find a much more accurate way to keep track of my progress is by measuring myself and looking at the physical changes to my body. You can keep a track of the physical changes to your body by keeping a photo album because it can be difficult to see changes to yourself but looking back at photos will help a lot. Most importantly is that you stick at it, log your foods accurately every day and don't get discouraged by what the scales are saying, they don't tell the whole story! All the best and good luck!

[ac7ss]

I was losing pretty well, then I started excersizing and now I am maintaining 800-1000 kcal defecit (Approx 2000 kcal/day) and my weight is going UP. I figure it is building muscle mass. I hope it will assist in losing weight later...
My blood sugar is at it's lowest point in years!