I really can't tell if I'm losing weight...discouraged
Okay so I have really been at this hardcore for about 2 weeks now: calorie counting and exercising and my weight is driving me insane! I think it's partially my crappy scale; one day I can step on it and be 248 lbs. and then the next day 244 and then the next day 246 (these are real examples), so I am never really sure how much I weigh. Secondly, I see so many starters on here who say in their first week they lost 15 lbs and 10 lbs and 8 lbs, I lost maybe 3 lbs (I didn't count the other few because it was just TOM water weight coming off) and now I just can't tell if anything is changing: my clothes don't feel any looser, my face is still as round, I still feel super fat (I'm just being honest here) but I refuse to give up! I will keep working out and watching what I eat. I guess I'm just discouraged because I'm off to a slow start and I am working my a** off. Like I cried when I got on the scale this morning because last Saturday (my official weigh-in) I weighed around 243 lbs. and this morning I weighed in at 246. I just don't know what else I could be doing.
Sorry for the pity party, I just don't understand where to go from here.
Well, I think you need to get an accurate scale if that is going to be the way you measure your weight loss. You can't expect to have consistant results if you don't have a consistant way to measure.
Next, you cannot compare yourself to other people. You don't know what they're doing or not doing, or what they're telling or not telling you.
Also, for somebody to have lost 15 pounds in one week (which I honestly doubt) some of it had to be water weight, so if they can count their water weight as weight lost, why can't you? If you don't, you're comparing apples and oranges.
You're doing everything you need to do, but are not measuring your progress correctly. Do not give up, get a new scale and don't worry about what everyone else may or may not be doing.
I can see why it would be discouraging. I like to weigh everyday. But maybe if you only weight once a week for awhile it may help? I agree you need a new scale. But if you cant get one right away, do you have a gym memebership? you could weigh there? Keep up the good work! You are doing wonderful things for your body. Even if it comes off slowly, just think where you could be in three months, or six months or even a year! It seems a long time to wait, but in a year it will be well worth it!
I understand how you feel. I see some posts here where people lost 20 pounds in their first month, 16 pounds in their second month, and so on and I just want to rip my hair out.
BUT...
Your body is different from everyone else's body and we can't force them to behave exactly the same. Maybe someone else will lose faster, but I'm going to lose permanently...even if it isn't as fast as I would like.
You don't really know how much you've lost because 1) your scale isn't consistent and 2) your first weigh-in was near TOM which can show really crazy results
Adding heavy exercise coincided with my 2 weeks weight loss stall. I've since stopped the heavy exercise and am walking and jumping on my rebounder and the weight loss has picked up.
You just have to grin and bear it. Get yourself a scale that isn't wonky, record a "new" starting weight and go from there. The key is to keep going regardless of what that scale says. You may have to make changes along the way, but the scale will move.
Weight fluctuations naturally day to day, those numbers don't sound like a problem with your scale, but with naturally changing body weight and this has nothing to do with actual fat loss. You can weigh daily if you want to, but keep in mind that each day you will be retaining more or less water and have different stores of glycogen in your muscles (which also change body weight).
Two weeks is not very long at all. Please stick to your program and you will see changes. Plot the long term changes in body weight and try not to worry about day to day fluctuations. You can easily have up to a 5 pound gain over night that has nothing to do with fat loss. Plus, you need to weigh yourself at the same time each day (preferably right in the morning after going to the bathroom).
You are doing great! Please don't get discouraged. You will see very positive changes.
Thanks you guys, I told myself not to be a daily weigher in the beginning, but I can't help it! And I know I need a new scale.
thewronggirl, are you saying that pushing hard in exercise actually stalled your weight loss? One of the reasons I want to lose weight is so I can run a marathon and I actually am starting to love exercise; I would hate to find out that it's actually hindering my process.
Sorry about the pity party guys, I guess I am just feeling a bit down. Thanks for the encouragement!
I feel the same way. Stress has a lot to do with it. My scale said I gained 4 lbs in one day. I am trying not to let it bother me and I keep going. AM yoga, walk during the day, and PM yoga. I hope consistency helps. I also do not drink enough water so I am trying to add more hoping that helps flush out more weight. Keep at it and check back to let us know how the next few weeks work.
If you weigh yourself daily, you have to learn it's normal to bounce around by a few lbs. I lost 2.5 lbs after my pee this morning. I weigh myself daily so I can understand what kind of things make me retain water and bloat me up, then I stay away from them. My weight is much more stable due to that, I know what foods to cut out.
And it's only been two weeks! It's taken me a year just to get this far, some people just take longer. You need to keep at it. Our bodies retain water after good work outs too, making you weigh in initially higher.
I wouldn't get discouraged unless your weight stayed the same for over a month.
I've been weighing daily as well, and it is sooo discouraging! I think thats why people reccomend weekly weigh ins. But as someone else mentioned the daily weigh ins really give us a sense of what makes the number fluctuate. You sound very determined though! And that is good, Id say by the end of the month you will see a change. I hope I will as well, I just started October 1st. Best of luck on your weight loss journey, you can do it!!
I don't think exercise is going to stall weight loss long-term. I'm sure it was temporary for me and my weight would've dropped on its own after it got over the shock of the hard exercise, but life got in the way of my boot camp exercise DVDs so I quit and started walking at lunch and rebounding while watching TV @ night and then the weight started moving down again. I'm sure it just had something to do with muscles retaining fluid. So if you plan to run a marathon and love exercising then do it! The scale will eventually move so you just have to push through those frustrating times...even if they are weeks and months!
ETA: I'm a daily weigher and I find it to be very liberating to be able to follow my patterns and fluctuations and not be holding my breath at the end of the week or month just hoping for a big number.
Last edited by thewronggirl; 10-13-2010 at 01:53 PM.
I don't recommend weighing in daily...I have found it to be discouraging.
Are you journaling your daily calorie intake and exercise? I too had the experience when I first started to drop my baby weight that I was working out too hard and then eating too much, but didn't see it until I started journaling again. I wasn't losing any weight until I started journaling.
Give your body some time, it usually takes my body a few weeks before it lets any weight drop. Hang in there, it will come off as long as you are burning more calories than you are eating!
Mind posting a daily menu? How many calories are you eating? What are you doing for exercise? Are you drinking enough water?
I always say weight loss is about learning what works for you and tweaking things. You might just need some minor tweaks like more protein or water or heck you may even be eating too little calories At your weight and because you are working out I'd say you should probably be eating around 1800 calories.
Oh my gosh- I always have the same problem. My first couple of weeks on a diet, no matter how hard I work or how little I eat, the weight just does not come off. It's like my body is rebelling against diet and exercise. Or, I'll lose 5-6 lbs, and it will all come back the next day. It's so incredibly frustrating and discouraging. But, I promise, it will pay off. Just stick it out.
When I started this last calorie-counting diet, it took nearly 3 weeks to see any improvement at all. Then, all of a sudden, I dropped about 5 lbs (that stayed off) over the course of 3 days. When I do FINALLY lose a few lbs, it takes an additional 2 (or so) weeks to see any difference on my body. All in all, no matter what I do, it takes about a month before my clothes become any looser. It sucks.
It is hard, especially when some people can start a new program and lose 10lbs a week. I blame genetics.
Nope I do not eat 1800 calories a day; I'm a CC-er and I operate off the deficit theory: more out than in. I don't know if I should be eating more and frankly, I'm afraid to. I don't starve myself, but I try to keep it around 1200-1500 calories a day and I drink anywhere between 64-128 oz of water daily. I know there is a science behind uping the calories and seeing more weight loss, but I am so early in my journey, I can't even imagine eating more calories and still losing weight, ya know?
This is what makes weight loss so difficult to me, there is all this conflicting information out there and when you think it's as simple as cutting calories, then you find that you may be cutting too many calories or you're working out too hard or whatever! It's frustrating!
I'm doing pretty much the same thing as you Fit4Lyfe. My goal is 1200 calories per day but I usually end up around 1400 and I try to drink over 100 oz. of water per day. I think you're following a good plan and if you get a new scale I think you'll find things are going to move in the right direction. :-)
I really can't tell if I'm losing weight...discouraged
