It's not always water weight. Some times it seems that every pound gained, (or not lost) is blamed on water. You gave us your estimated deficit, but just out of curiosity, how many calories are you eating a day? Words like "decent" and "estimate" makes me wonder about your actual calories in.
I have a sister-in-law who exercises "like crazy" (gym/personal trainer) and every time I see her (about every 5 months) she seems bigger. Her version of decent food choices and my version of decent food choices are VERY different.
I don't have a daily target for how many calories to eat, I just keep an eye on how many I'm burning and try to eat 1,000 calories less. This has worked great for me up until the last 3 weeks. Here's my numbers for May, you can see there were two days (including yesterday) where I ate more than I burned.
Also, I've learned from the last 4 months (and 25lbs) that my food estimates can be off by an average of 180 calories a day, which I'm trying to be better about catching... but even if I'm off in my tracking by a bit, I still don't think that would explain this plateau, I've been very consistent and thorough with my food tracking since day 1. Even when I overeat (like yesterday), I still count every bite, as honestly as I can with the information available.
I said this before, but will ask again, how are you estimating calories burned? Estimates are notoriously off!
From above:
Quote:
Second, do you really know how many calories you've burned? If you're estimating calories burned in exercise, you should know that many estimates are VERY high. For example, the elliptical at my gym might tell me I've burned 400 calories, but my heart rate monitor (which knows better how hard I've worked) always has a much lower number -- usually 60-70% of the elliptical number!
I wear a GoWear Fit armband 24/7, it uses motion, sweat, and temperature data to calculate my calories burned throughout the day. I've found it to be very reliable!
Okay, well, me feeling grumpy and PO'ed just isn't going to work, so here's my plan: to mix things up this week, I'm going to use The Daily Plate's recommended calorie intake, 1398 calories a day. It'll be a different goal to focus on, anyhow, might be a fun change of pace.
Also, I just took my measurements, and I have lost a few inches in the last month, so that makes me feel better. I celebrated by buying this dress from MyShape.com: http://www.myshape.com/shop/productv...ishlist=181304
I just don't know how accurate ANY calories burned calculators are. They're just not dependable. Since there is no way to know 100% what you're burning, I don't stress/follow/track/monitor it.
I personally, keep my calories BURNED, totally and completely SEPARATE from my calories CONSUMED. One has nothing to do with the other in my book. I consume what I consume. I burn what I burn. One is not reliant on the other.
Any calories lost (burned) through exercise, intentional or otherwise is simply a bonus to me in the deficit department.
I understand your frustration. I am so close to being under 200. I was losing at 2 1/2 - 3 pounds a week for the last 3 months. And what happens? I get within earshot of onderland and I have lost NOTHING for a week and a half. I have even gained a small bit every other day or so. Not that I wish this frustration on others, it does help reading that others experience these things and to hear the encouragement from others that it will eventually correct itself. My weight this morning is back to where it was about 2 weeks ago so at least the gain has stopped and MAYBE the loss will start again.
Hang in there. I know your weight loss will soon appear on your scale.
Okay, for the last 4 days I've been laser-focused on avoiding sodium, drinking water, and not eating out or eating a lot of prepackaged food. And I'm down 1.4 pounds from Monday! Still not where I think I should be based on the calories I've been burning, but I'll take it. I'd like to try to stretch this super-focused thing out for one more week if I can, see if I can get rid of the rest of what I think is water retention, but we'll see. It's not easy for me to do long-term. I do love salt.
Thanks Shannon, it's really helpful getting your feedback. Every day I wake up now hoping this'll be the day those 4 pounds just go away, but every day I see the same darn number. When you were losing and had the 8 pound water retention, did you see the water retention drop off suddenly, or was it a permanent plateau in your loss?
I didn't make it back here the last few days and just saw that you asked me a question. Sorry.
A little of both - some weeks I saw a plateau for a couple of weeks with a sudden drop, some I saw little changes coming down every day. Now I typically see little changes more often than the big whoosh.
Not a very clear answer, I know.
ETA - I used to love salt too, but now that I've trimmed it almost out for the better part of a year I find adding salt to prepared food intolerable, and can taste it if I use too much in a recipe. Weird! I used to salt everything! My grandmother used to give us salted ice cubes in the summer when we had been playing outside for a while, even!
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 05-29-2009 at 03:35 PM.
