Wk2 no weight loss

[Sarah14093]

I am very over weight.  I decided to lose some weight and get fitter because I was fed up of suffering with back pain.  When I started my scales said error which is over 24stone when I got on them. Really upset me.  After first week I lost nearly 14lbs.  I was so happy that my hard work paid off.  I have gone from doing only 700 steps a day to now hitting between 5000-7000 a day.  I’m feeling better and today I could do an old bra up without struggling.  I got on the scales today for my weekly weight check and I’ve lost nothing.  I write everything I eat down so I know I’ve been good.  I eat between 1500-1700 a day which is under what I should have.  What am I doing wrong? 

[Dominique]

Quite often weight loss is not linear. Also, two weeks is still a very short period of time. Your loss of 14 lbs during week 1 was unusually high. You should look at averages over time: 14 lbs in two weeks is 7 lbs / week, which is more than respectable. Even if you didn’t lose anything during week 3 and 4, you would still have an average weekly loss of 3.5 lbs. Few people are able to achieve that. If you know you are doing the right things in terms of eating and exercising, just trust the process and continue what you are doing. You can make adjustments if necessary after a few more weeks. 

[bikerhiker]

@Sarah14093 

Weight loss I think is more of an art than science and that is usually attributed to how your body reacts to a caloric deficit.  The human body does not really like to lose weight and that's because everyone has their own personal body fat setpoint.  This setpoint is set by your body to ensure you have enough body fat to keep you alive in case of famine or you are in survival mode.  So if you're without food, then the body will use predominantly your body fat and your lean muscle mass to extract energy to make sure your internal organs and your brain function as long as possible until you resume normal food consumption.  So it is this body fat setpoint that regulates how fast we can lose weight and how well can we maintain it.  Otherwise, there's no point in losing weight with a high body fat set point, because as soon as you start eating regularly again your weight will begin to rise to your original body fat set point or at least close to it.  You will see this in people's weight chart where you see an up and down movement of oscillation (lose then gain then lose then gain) rather than the expected normal lose, then plateau (almost flat line) and lose again until you reach a healthy weight and then that weight will plateau (almost flat line).  And the key to your new body fat set point change is to challenge your body by eating normally until you're full without needing to keep an eye on what you eat and how much you should eat.  If the weight maintains at the new weight and hovers slightly up and down but always at that same range, then congrats you have reset to the new body fat setpoint.  Look at my trendweight and compare it to others and you will see the difference.

What you are experiencing is your body finding a new equilibrium.  As soon as your body realizes that it is not in survival mode (just because you reduce your caloric intake and increasing your foot steps), then the body will allow you to lose more weight.  When your body is in survival mode, it releases a hormone called Cortisol and when this hormone exist in your body, no fat burning is possible.  So the trick is to convince your body that you are not in survival mode.  Which means, continue what you are doing but do not stress or be angry about your lack of progress.  Again, stress and anger also releases the hormone Cortisol.  

You can not rush weight loss.  Rushing weight loss might yield some immediate success in the beginning, but it usually ends up with most people gaining all that loss weight back and then some even after years of trying to lose weight.  The key to success is patience and persistence and just let the body do what it must.  

[Bill_k]

Possibly the first 14 pounds was water weight which is the easier part if you cut back your sodium input from junk food etc.

Water weight can change day to day amazingly quickly.

You might have to increase your caloric deficit further to keep losing or when you get fitter increase your exercise  level to increase caloric output.

[Gimpycat]

When you're losing 14lbs in a week, you're not losing 14lbs of fat. You're also losing water, glycogen, and possibly muscle. You can't expect results like that every week.

Also, even though you're in a calorie deficit, if you're eating too frequently or eating the wrong foods, this could be a problem. For me, intermittent fasting was a more effective approach, and it allowed me to eat until full when I did eat. There are many good books and articles on fasting, if you decide this is something you want to try.