So, this is kinda odd in my opinion. I havnt lost anything since Sunday. Im actually up .2 despite my low cal intake. Can anyone tell me what the problem could be? Im.on track this week to lose nothing. Very depressing. Have I already hit a plateau? Im eating around 1000-1100 calories a day.
There are a lot of things that can prevent weight from going down that are perfectly normal. The usual culprit is water retention. Weight loss is definitely not linear though (as many on these forums have pointed out to me and others). You'll have days, or even weeks, where the scale number doesn't go down, or maybe you even gain a bit. Sometimes if people are eating too little it can actually stall or slow loss too.
I will say that if seeing the number fluctuate on your scale day to day is an issue, and having a negative effect on your mood, consider only weighing once a week. You could also get rid of the scale entirely and just go by measurements.
3 days is definitely not enough time to say you've hit a plateau, so I don't think you need to worry about that just yet.
How I lose weight is to plateau for a while, sometimes even gain a pound or two despite continued restriction, then a whoosh, several pounds gone overnight. When you are at this long enough you will start to understand your body and how it works. Sometimes it is discouraging even now, when a plateau lasts for a couple of weeks, even though I understand my body enough that this is normal for me.
I am having the same exact problem. I have only seen a .4 loss on the scale in the past week and a half. Totally unacceptable to my mental state.
I don't exercise much (if at all) and my calorie intake is the same as yours. I might do a couple days a week at 1200 calories. I also drink a TON of water every single day.
Many people have told me that my calorie intake is too low for my height and weight and I have been reading up on that a little bit. I am starting to believe that it is! So I am going to try and calorie cycle more through out the week to see if that helps. For example, 1200-1000-1500-1300-1000-1100-1500-1200. You get the idea. Maybe this will help you as well?
I do think my metabolism has slowed down and I need to kick start it again.
Once, many years ago when I was younger AND had a healthy metabolism, as an experiment I tracked my calories religiously and weighed daily. I resolved to trust the amount of calories I was eating and not allow scale fluctuations to influence me for at least a month.
Guess what. If you eat the right number of calories so that your overall TREND is down, you will have see spikes lasting usually for a few days, just before you drop a half or so pound. So it's like a step backward, step and a half forward. If that makes sense.
Oh, and hormones can cause fluctuations in both the end and middle of your cycle, and that can be anywhere from 2 to 4 (or more) pounds.
Weight loss is about trends, weekly/monthly, not daily. Daily can drive you nuts.
BTW, at your height and assuming the weight on your sidebar is up to date, you're taking in about 400 calories below your BMR.
Don't weigh yourself every day, you will drive yourself absolutely insane. Set your schedule for a certain day and time and leave it at that (for example, Monday morning at 8am before breakfast and naked). Trust that if you are eating the right things and doing your exercise, you will lose weight.
We women have so much going on in our bodies, there is no linear way to measure a loss day by day.
The first time I joined 3fc a couple of years ago, I lost 150lbs. Some weeks I lost 2lbs, some weeks 1 and some weeks I had a gain. But in the end, the weight fell off. I only weighed in at my doctor's office on Monday morning and that was it. And now I'm glad it was that way as now I know to trust my eating and exercise.
Good luck.
p.s. There is NO way you are at a plateau right now. That's not how any of this works.
Guess what. If you eat the right number of calories so that your overall TREND is down, you will have see spikes lasting usually for a few days, just before you drop a half or so pound. So it's like a step backward, step and a half forward. If that makes sense.
This is exactly what's evident in my signature graph.
Sometimes I weigh more than I did a month before. But it's no biggie. I'm trending downwards.
ShanIam, I just started this on Jan 11, so about a week and half now. I really do aim for 1200 calories, I just don't always make it there. Its typically closer to 1000 or 1100. I could very well be retaining water. I do take in more salt than I probly should. I don't have monthly cycles currently so it cant be hormones. I don't drink alot of water either. I try to but Ive never been a big water drinker and I'm having to force myself to drink water. I am able to drink some but usually only one bottle while I'm at work and then I drink iced tea at home. It used to be soda all the time so this is at least better than what it was. I will also try upping my calories a little. Maybe I'll aim for 1350, I'm just afraid that wont give me a 1lb a week loss. I'm not quite ready to incorporate exercise yet, so I know this will be slower because of that but I don't want to slow it down more than it has to be. Anyway, thanks for all the replies. I appreciate you all trying to help
Don't change a thing. Record your weight tomorrow morning, then record your weight a month later. If you eat 1,000 to 1,100 calories a day for the next month, I'll bet my last dollar that you'll have lost 4 pounds or more.
I agree with some of the others, don't weigh yourself everyday. I know this is tough and I have fallen victim of this (sometimes twice a day). Instead weight yourself once a week and take measurements once a week. The measurements alone will be what you will want to focus on. Good luck! I am right there with you!
3 days with no weight loss
