Not seeing much weight loss

[LizB72]

I started using my Fitbit One on April 6. After the first couple weeks I was able to get down 5 pounds, but since then I just keep going up and down the same 1.5 pounds and can't get below my 5 pound loss. 

I switched to a Fitbit Alta HR about 10 days ago, so I'm afraid the steps counted are more than what the One was recording, since it's a wrist tracker. Even though most of my reports at the end of the day show that I am under budget on my eating, I'm still not seeing a loss.

Does anyone have some tips for me? Can I trust the calorie burn that my app is providing? Not sure what to do, and I feel stuck.

[DanielleinDC]

Depending on how much exercise you get (and what type), you may be losing fat and gaining muscle. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat, so if you are building muscle, you may not notice the scale moving much. 

A better way of determining weight loss is whether or not your clothes are looser on you. If they are, that's a good sign.

[Esya]

The Alta HR tends to overestimate calories burned. My advice would be to do what you are doing for 4 weeks, if there is no loss, increase the deficit a little (maybe by 250 calories to the next plan) and try again for 4 weeks. Keep repeating until you start seeing a weight loss. By trying for 4 weeks you exclude (hormonal) fluctuations and you can actually tell if you started to lose weight or not. You can get a free account with trendweight.com that you can link to your FitBit account if you log your weight there. It shows the trend of your weight, which makes it easier to ignore the fluctuations. It might take some time to find what works for you, but it is worth to take that time in my opinion.

You can also check for your calories burned using this calculator. But remember, both the tracker and that calculator are estimations and it might be slightly different for everyone, why I suggest the approach I described above.

[LizB72]

Thank you for your suggestions. I used that calculator to get a calorie number to shoot for. It's unfortunate that the Alta HR overestimates calories. I have a sedentary lifestyle due to chronic headaches and dizziness I deal with every day. That's why I wanted to use the Fitbit to at least help me get moving more, but maybe the one I have isn't going to meet my needs. 😞

[Esya]

Any tracker is going to be off by a bit. They use the algorithms found by those clever scientists and our heart rate and all the correct input, but in the end they can only estimate it as every person is different. It is going to be close, but it might just be off enough to block successful weight loss for you. If you keep using it over a period of time, you can see how much weight change relates to the calories deficit given by FitBit and work with that. Then you can still use the burned calories number for that day given by FitBit, but you know how much you need to stay below that for a certain weight loss for it to work for you.

Also take into account that your body needs a bit of time to start realising you are doing this. It can take a few weeks before you start seeing a change. That is also why I suggested to atleast do what you do for 4 weeks.

[Baltoscott]

@LizB72 -- I second @Esya's comments.  With respect to the AltaHR overestimating calorie burn, it may or may not be doing that.  It depends in part on how close your metabolism is to the average woman of your size and weight.  Some folks will tell you that the scale "lies" but it is really is the easiest to use feedback loop you have available to see whether whatever you are doing is making you smaller over time.  However, in addition to hormonal fluctuation, your body is processing probably 5 - 10 lbs of water and food every day, so if you weigh in daily (like I do) seeing the scale go up and down is normal.  The better measure is change over weeks.   I suggest linking your fitbit account with TrendWeight as suggested by @Esya.  It helps you sort out the daily weight changes from real change.  

Since you are not seeing a change with the calorie deficit you are shooting for now, it is probably time to increase the deficit.  Eating fewer calories is probably the easiest approach, but increasing your daily activity may help with your headaches and dizziness so I encourage you to do that too.  You Alta will definitely tell you if your activity is increasing, even if it underestimates the calorie burn.

You don't mention how you keep track of your calorie input.  I've been logging contemporaneously what I eat since early January.  Before I eat it, I log it.  It is a HUGE pain in the ass to do that, but if you are not currently making progress I suggest doing so until you are making progress and are absolutely sure you've captured everything you put into your body.  Logging at the end of the day is much less accurate.  It has helped me lose 25+ lbs so far this year.  It also helps identify higher calorie/lower nutritional value foods that I eat on a regular basis so that I can focus on eating those thing less often.  (For example, one rule I incorporated this year was to only drink alcohol (wine/beer) on odd numbered days.  The rule is totally arbitrary, but it has the effect reducing my calorie intake without me completely giving up something I like or having to make daily decisions about whether I can "afford" the calorie cost of a beer or two).  Although I am pretty close to my goal weight right now, I plan to keep logging through 2017 and maybe a bit beyond so I have good records of what I did to make all of this happen, as well as to keep it stable over 6 months or more.

[JenniferinFL]

I also recommend using Trendweight. Additionally, whenever I run into someone who is not successfully losing weight, it is usually someone who is not logging. Data is your friend. It feels like a ridiculous waste of time to log that one piece of laffy taffy or 5 M&M's. But, I log them. I really feel like my brain works against me during weight loss. It conveniently 'forgets' what I've eaten. My mom complains that she isn't losing weight, but, I spend enough time with her to know that she definitely is not eating the 800 calories a day she thinks she is eating. She doesn't log, she just remembers what she ate for meals but forgets the little snacks in between. My brain WANTS to forget that I had another cup of coffee with 4 tbsp of half n half. That way, it can have another.. lol  

With daily weigh in's at the same time everyday and careful food logging, Trendweight can be an excellent tool to tweak your intake a bit more.

Here is a screenshot from my Trendweight:

The plotted dots on the chart are my actual weights at my morning weigh in. The red line is generated by trendweight to show an overall trend. The most helpful information to me though is that very last bit under statistics. The part where it says I am burning 601 calories per day more than I eat. Now, I am eating at a 1000 calorie deficit according to my very careful logging and input from my Blaze. However, I am borderline hypothyroid but not low enough to treat. My 1000 calorie deficit is really only a 600 calorie deficit. I would have to eat less than fitbit tells me to have an actual 1000 calorie deficit. I might at some point, but, for now this is really easy to stick with and the weight is moving in the right direction, so good enough.

Trendweight, weigh everyday, log everything. With that data in hand, you can make changes that can actually help you out. But, I would stick to the same plan for at least a month. Since I knew I was hypothyroid, I went with the 1000 calorie deficit knowing it would be less than that for me. If you're at the 500 calorie deficit, possibly switch to the 750, but, then stick with it for at least a month to get good data. 🙂  

[LizB72]

I am logging my food as I eat it, and I weigh every morning to keep an eye on my numbers. It keeps me motivated, although I know daily weighing isn't beneficial to everyone.

[Mukluk4]

---

@LizB72 wrote:

I am logging my food as I eat it, and I weigh every morning to keep an eye on my numbers. It keeps me motivated, although I know daily weighing isn't beneficial to everyone.

---

Keep in mind that food loggers and activity trackers are at best relatively close estimates of actuals and should be treated more as a guideline (don't eat more than) for weight loss rather than a bible (I can eat this much).  

[beth411]

I have the same problem.. Im very active person.. I dont eat snack or drink pop but I do like a glass of red wine over dinner..I cant seems to lose weight no matter what I do..

[DonnaR57]

Having yo-yo'd with weight for most of my 50+ years, I have experience with weight loss and weight gain. I find that logging my food is *essential* to the weight loss and maintenance. When I stop logging, I start gaining, because I am no longer seeing how many calories and carbs I am putting into my body.  It doesn't matter whether I log on paper, or use an electronic food log on my phone or online someplace.  If I write it down and start adding it up, it makes me think.  I have recently taken off 34 lbs. Logging was the key.  So was staying out of the staff room at work (where goodies always call out to me) and asking my husband to keep his sweets in a not-so-obvious place. Another thing that helped was measuring or weighing any food that entered my mouth. It's easy to say "oh, this is a cup of mashed potatoes", then find out it was more like 1-1/2 cups.  A food scale was useful. For eating out, I learned to estimate -- 3 oz of meat is about the size of a deck of cards, a cup of something is about as big as a woman's fist. 

Those 34 lbs took about 6 months to come off -- around a pound per week. Sometimes I'd drop 4 lbs all at once and then wouldn't lose any for another 3 weeks, making me wonder what it was I was forgetting to log.  So I'd "step up" the exercise, and lo and behold, I'd log another pound or two lost.

If it helps to know, I'm hypothyroid as well as diabetic.  

Donna 

[Dominique]

@beth411: you can’t reduce your diet to a glass of wine, black coffee and no snacking: all the rest matters too. I’m also very active:

but if I eat all the calories I expend, I don’t lose weight either.

[LizB72]

I started logging my food in MyFitnessPal, and my activity level is set at sedentary. I always leave some calories uneaten I've earned from steps, and now my weight is going down. This is apparently a better way to do it for me.   

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[Esya]

@LizB72

Good to read you found a way that works for you.

[NickTheViking]

The weight going up and down can just be you putting on some muscle. And if you dont weigh yourself at the same conditions each time the weight may change. The best time to weigh yourself is in the morning and be sure to use the toilet first.

Personaly i can say that 1hour weight lifting combined with low intens cardio such as walking is the best way to loose weight.

I went from 105kg to 77kg in 9 months by doing this. But i have to say that i also ate very clean and was in a 500 caloric deficit. 

But if i was you i would not worry to much about the weight and instead just focus on how you feel on a day to day basis. 

The best advise i can give is to live a healthy lifestyle and the weight will go the way it needs to go.

[LizB72]

I can't do anything with weights or workout because I have a chronic sensation of imbalance that flares up worse when I use my shoulders. It's a daily thing I deal with. So I'm completely relying on food and my steps to lose. I have always had to go by my scale to see progress, or I will not stay focused. If I stop looking at the scale every morning, I will justify eating junk, and it will quickly become a habit. 
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[NickTheViking]

If you focus only on the weight, then how do you feel if you go up 1-2
punds one day. I was very focused on my weight and only that when i started
my weight loss, and when i one day went up 0,5-1kg it ruined my day. When i
instead just focused on how i mentaly felt each day and how i looking it
was much better to stay happy and motivated for a longer period of time.

[LizB72]

Watching the scale is what works for me. It's not for everybody. The number does not ruin my day. It's not like this is the first time I've worked on losing weight. I've done  it many times over the past 22 years. I'm just trying to learn how to use Fitbit stats to help me this time. 
If truth be told, I got to a weight I was happy with over a year ago and stopped weighing myself for months. But there came a point where I started letting my food choices get out of control, and I didn't bother looking at the scale. By the time I had, I was up 10 pounds then 15, and eventually 20. 

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android