Nothing happening - frustration

[Telly2]

I have now been tracking my diet, weight and measurements for just over 2 weeks.  I lost 0.5kg in the first week and since then my weight has jumped up and around that mark (Sorry, it's all in kg, I can't convert this many numbers but you'll get the picture):

Start: 79 kg

End Week 1: 78.5

Mid Week 2: 79.7 (although was that time of the month so assumed this wild fluctuation to do with that)

End Week 2: 79

Day Later: 78.5

Today: 79kg

I am only weighing myself daily to see what is going on.  I am working on a 500 calorie deficit but most days (according to my tracker and zone) I am under.  I have it set to personalised (so maybe setting to sedentary???).  I do my exercise after work so late in the day.

The confusing thing is even though it says I am under everyday last week, two of those days (Friday and Sunday) have a red plate and say I exceeded my calories if I go to the specific page for that day.

I am logging all my food via MFP and being honest and even overestimating so I am sure I am not eating too much.  I am also trying hard to drink lots of water (2700ml a day).  My one indulgence is wine at the weekend but I accounted for the calories in this in my plan.

I do strength training at least 4 times a week (which I've been doing for the past 4-6 weeks), do a 1 hour walk/run at least once a week and hit 10,000-12,000 steps most working days.

I can't believe that I'm that far out with my calculations if I'm having a deficit each day.  I am trying hard not to be frustrated and to stick to my plan as I have a 10-week goal to make some changes and fit my ski clothes in July (Southern Hemisphere!).  It would be nice to see some of my hard work reflected in the scales though.  

I am trying to keep things balanced so that I stay both mentally and physically healthy.  Last time I was my goal weight, I crashed and had to have 5 weeks off work so this time I want to ensure I stay all round healthy.  I am on medication but from what I've researched, it shouldn't be inhibiting weight loss.  (I am due to see my Dr soon so will discuss this with him if there's no change still by then).

Any suggestions/advice or reassurance?  Thanks

[WilliamAnderson]

Read this. https://journal.thriveglobal.com/how-to-break-through-weight-loss-plateaus-abff7c8465eb

After you've read that, and the following sentence, let me know if you want more info. It's better to try to create habits that you can live with, creating eating habits that will cause you to lose weight with your everyday activity habits, than to try to figure the right deficit and balance every day the rest of your life. You can ask anything here and I'll do my best to steer you in the right direction.

[Mukluk4]

1.  What tracker are you using for calorie burn counting?

2.  How much sodium is in your diet?

3.  How are you measuring your caloric intake?  Scale or eyeball?

[Telly2]

@WilliamAndersonThat's a very helpful read and it does make me feel better in a way.   The problem is I could overlook the scales if my clothes were starting to fit better. I am looking at other things such as measuring and clothes.   I know I have been eating a lot less as I have a decent deficit each day - on top of the included deficit.  I have only been doing this for 2 and a bit weeks so I can't understand why there seems to be a plateau so soon.  I am consciously giving myself 10 weeks to see a real difference but it is hard when there doesn't feel to be progress.  

[A_Lurker]

@Telly2 - one other question - male or female?  If you're female your monthly cycle can influence your weight as well. 

[Telly2]

@Mukluk4

I have a Charge HR ( original replaced last year when strap broke).

Sodium is on average 1600-2000 mg a day - showing as under the daily goal of 2300mg

I am using measuring cups and digital scales as much as possible for portion sizes.  I am estimating, then confirming with things like cheese to get a gauge on what certain weights look like visually.  I try to overestimate a little to account for things I can't measure.

[Telly2]

@A_Lurker

Female.  I accepted the monthly fluctuation but it still seems to be there a couple of days after the fact.  I guess I would need to keep notes each month to see how much effect it has.  Perhaps the hormonal fluctuations take longer to get out of the system than I think.

[WilliamAnderson]

@Telly2 - Keep going. Keep your intake well below the Mifflin-St. Jeor maintenance by 500-1000. Trust the science. It will not fail you.

[Mukluk4]

First thing:  You aren't gaining but maintaining.  Which means you are close.  It's also been only a couple weeks. 

I would make subtle changes each week to see how your body responds. Trying to do everything at once can be overwhelming and lead to giving up.  Start with the easiest change for you so you can see the success.

As an example:  Drop the wine for a weekend.  Increase activity duration or intensity.  Be aware of bloating (from food, swelling from activity, other causes).  Also look at what your dietary changes are doing to your body (are you still regular?).

[A_Lurker]

@Telly2 - I would suggest signing up for a free trendweight.com account.  Women can (I'm past that point, but I remember) experience huge shifts leading up to and following.  Myself, I used to find I would gain the week leading up (almost 5 lbs) then it would start dropping off about day 3.

[Mukluk4]

Sorry, one more question.

When you say strength training, are you working with a personal trainer to identify a good routine or are you just tossing stuff around and hoping it works?

[Esya]

There is a lot going on in this post, so maybe a summary will help you.

1. As @Mukluk4 was so nice to point out, you are not gaining weight, but maintaining. Still frustrating if you are trying to lose, but atleast it is not getting worse. Also it has only been two weeks so far and it is going to take time. The closer you are to your goal the more slow it typically gets.

2. As @A_Lurker suggested get a free account at trendweight.com. It rather shows the trend of your weight so the fluctuations become easier to ignore.

Do what you are doing for some time to get a starting point. If you are going to change things around quickly one after the other it might get hard to figure out where you need to be. When you have 4 weeks of data you can then see how many calories in you had on average, how large your deficit is on average and how much your weight changed. Then you can change something, either eat less or become a bit more active if needed.

You can also use this online calculator to see if there is a difference for your BMR compared to what FitBit calculated for you and to check if there are other obvious large differences.

[Telly2]

@Mukluk4 - a trainer wrote me a program specifically for weight loss.  I am doing it just as she has written it.  I have 2 programmes and alternate between them for variety.  Then I do a walk/run once a week - also on her instructions.  I am wondering if I need to throw in a more intense cardio somewhere in then, however, she was pretty adamant about staying in the fat burning zone.

[Telly2]

Thank you for the summary.  Lots to think about.  I did use the calculator initially when setting up my plan.  I have just had the thought that should I have put in my target weight when I did it or the weight I am now.  I am tending towards my calculations being out/fitbit has given me too many calories and I am actually pretty much maintaining my current weight.  I have made two tweaks: changed personalised to sedentary and also have increased the calorie deficit to 750 to allow for whatever error is there.  I'll give it another couple of weeks and see what happens before changing anything else.

Thank you all for your responses and ideas.  Much appreciated.

[Mukluk4]

---

@Telly2 wrote:

@Mukluk4 - a trainer wrote me a program specifically for weight loss.  I am doing it just as she has written it.  I have 2 programmes and alternate between them for variety.  Then I do a walk/run once a week - also on her instructions.  I am wondering if I need to throw in a more intense cardio somewhere in then, however, she was pretty adamant about staying in the fat burning zone.

---

I would say "do what feels right to you" or consult with your trainer and see how that fits with your goals.

Personally, my week consists of 3-4x Crossfit (depending on work schedule), 2x Strength training, 3x heavy cardio (sports), and 3-4x lighter cardio (2+ mile run with the dog on whatever days are not jammed with the heavy cardio), and 20-30 minute walk during my morning break at work..  

My goal is isn't necessarily to lose weight, but to improve sport performance.  

[SunsetRunner]

Strength training doesn't read well on the fitbit. You may actually be burning more calories than it says on your fitbit. Because you are strength training, it is possible you are losing fat and water while gaining muscle. Assuming your calorie intake log is correct and taking in to consideration of your strength training, I would concentrate more on measurements of your body rather than the number on the scale. If it is hormonal, I would recommend taking maca root. Maca is known to help with hormonal balances among other benefits. Honestly, if you are able to, I would do your exercises during the day before your metabolism starts winding down. It's definitely, possible to achieve your goal by working out at night, but you may benefit more by doing it during the day. You may not have known this, but alcohol slows down your metabolism. I enjoy the occasional drinking too, but I have to work much harder to work it off the next day. The last thing is, watch your sodium intake. I believe the recommended daily intake for sodium is something like 2000mg a day, but that's on the high end. If you are not eating processed foods, that number should be closer to 1000mg per day. Too much sodium can cause water retention so the lower that number is, the better. When you have had a low sodium diet for a while and then eat something high in sodium, you can feel the difference.

[Dominique]

@Telly2: my first reaction would be that two weeks is a very short period to draw any meaningful conclusions, especially since you’re a woman (impact of hormonal cycle) and since you went for a moderate deficit. You seem to be doing all the right things, so you need to keep faith in the process and continue for long enough before the first tangible results show up. It’s possible your Charge HR overestinates your energy expenditure and your real deficit isn’t 500 calories, but somewhat lower. If you notice it’s the case (after 5-6 weeks of monitoring), you can make adjustments (e.g. increase your exercising a tiny bit, or decrease your intake a tiny bit). I second the suggestion of using TrendWeight: the more historical data you’ll gather, the more accurate the trendline will be, so again, you need some patience and trust in the process.  

[Telly2]

I am keeping on doing what I'm doing but have made a couple of adjustments.  I increased my deficit to 1000 to allow for any miscalculation and still lose what I want.  I've also changed my setting to sedentary.  The scales today show a slight drop - 600g overall in 3 weeks - but I do feel clothes just starting to feel different (fingers crossed this continues).  

I did a body fat calculation today using this site as suggested someone on here h

ttp://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/metric-body-fat-calculator.php

I had a 26.8% calculation on 4/25 and today it's 25.3%.  Is this a good amount to have gone down in this time?  Does it suggest I am actually on track despite the scales or is it on the low side?  

[Baltoscott]

@Telly2 -- increasing your deficit to 1000 should ensure that you really are in a caloric deficit.  As a point of reference, I've been losing weight since the beginning of the year at about a 1.5 - 2 lb/week rate.  Over the past four weeks, according to fitbit and my fitness pal (where I log my food) my daily caloric deficit has been between 1500 and 2300 calories/day!  (I bike commute and walk a lot giving me about 20K steps/day.  I also lift weights 3 or 4x/week).  Based on my deficits, fitbit predicts that I should be losing 3 or more pounds/week.  I suspect the difference between actual results and predicted results is a combination of underestimating caloric intake on my part (either because I'm guessing portions wrong or I don't know all the ingredients that are in something I ate, OR because the caloric value in the food database is wrong) and fitbit overestimating the caloric burn from my exercise.  It doesn't really matter, why though.  The solution is the same.  Track what you are doing for a while, and if you are getting results keep doing it, and if you are not getting results, exercise more and eat a little less.  

Regarding the fat calculator you found.  The decrease is promising, but remember, you are just 3 weeks into this and there is a lot of opportunity for measurement error at this point.  It is never clear to me, for example, where my "hip" measurement is supposed to be, so I just try to make sure I do it the same every time.  Also, there may a tendency to pull the tape a bit when you measure because you are trying so hard lose.  Please give this process some time.  You are on the right track.

[WilliamAnderson]

@Telly2 - Good work! Don't trust the scale! It is a Devil! It will go up when you are doing well, just to vex you! If you eat something salty or spicy, you'll retain water for a while, and if you interpret that wrongly, it will needlessly discourage you. Instead, keep track of the calories you ingest, and know that every day you are under your burn rate, you are fine. Any day you are under it by 1000 calories, you just burned off the equivalent of a stick of butter! That day! The science is irrefutably reliable. As dependable as the law of gravity. Do this, and you cannot fail. Trust the science.