Weight Loss Tips

[MeghanL]

Hi All!  I got my fitbit about a month ago and have started running and working out for the first time since college.  I am also tracking my calories in the app, but my weight isn't going anywhere!  I have it set up to 1000 calorie deficit each day.  I know muscle weighs more than fat, and I am gaining muscle, but I thought I would have lost something in the month that I have been exercising!  Any tips? Insight? Encouragement to keep going...HELP!!!

[Dominique]

Hi, @MeghanL, and welcome to the community! Yes, muscle is denser than fat. However, it is very unlikely that you - as a woman dieting - would gain so much muscle in one month time the gain would offset the fat loss. The more likely explanation is your actual deficit isn’t 1000 calories. There could be several reasons for this: your Fitbit could overestimate your energy expenditure, you could underestimate your intake, or a combination of both. You may also be retaining water (for instance as a result of adding exercise to your regimen, or making drastic changes to your diet). Your metabolism may also be lower than what the standard equation used by Fitbit predicts, because of your genetics, your dieting history, a medical condition etc. One month is still a short period of time to draw any final conclusions: you must have faith in the process and keep doing the right things.

[MeghanL]

Thanks for the insight! I have definitely cut back the amount I've been eating and making better food choices and drastically increased my activity. Guess I thought I would see more change by now. Will keep chugging along though!

[SunsetRunner]

@MeghanL make sure you are measuring and logging your food. It's very easy to overestimate your daily intake and, especially in the beginning, the kitchen scale is pretty much a must. Always consider that you ate more than you think. It's just being on the safe side. To my each meal I used to add about 10% more calories than I computed. My deficit was also 1000kcal in the beginning and I was usually very under budget when I added exercise to my daily routine. It is possible that Fitbit was also overestimating my calories burnt, although in my case I see it be quite accurate and reliable. Also, do not over exercise. I know it sounds like a good idea to add lots of exercises and count that the desired effect will come quicker but it doesn't work like that. You need to give some rest to your body and let it regenerate.

That said, make sure you are preparing own meals, you're not over-exercising, you measure and log anything you eat, you avoid processed and ready made food ( the labels may be very inaccurate in such a case ) and simply take it easy 🙂

[emili]

just to echo what is already here, more often than not fat loss which is weight loss does not occur if the math is off. healthy eating isn't necessarily low calorie eating so weighing and measuring is key to your success. I am sure you yourself have worked out the baseline of what you should be taking in vs out and tweaking as you go. a months time isn't enough to make muscle gains that could result in the scale not moving. I would encourage you to check your math..