why am i not losing more weight.. - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

ajlee33 · 03-03-2013, 04:26 PM

I know this sounds like a silly question.. but i am two weeks into my diet and i have only lost about 4 pounds.. and dont get me wrong.. i am more than happy about that.. but i heard the first two weeks you should lose a lot more than normal because its alot of water weight you will be losing.. why am i not losing as much as others in their first two weeks.. i work out everyday 20mins - 1 hour a day.. and i cut down on how much soda, chocolate, and fried foods i am intaking.. I just wanted to know why am i not losing that much water weight.. i am 222.4 right now i started at 226 and i am 5'10 ish

danzingurl77 · 03-03-2013, 04:37 PM

The hardest thing about dieting is that everyone is SO different. While many people lose a lot of weight at the beginning of the diet, some people don't. You may see a "whoosh" of weight loss in a few weeks. You could also still be retaining water if you are near your TOM- adding exercise also causes some people to retain water so it may take your body extra time to get used to the activity.

2 lbs/ week is actually really great- It sounds like what you are doing is working so far and you should keep on keepin' on.

are you on a specific eating plan?

ajlee33 · 03-03-2013, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danzingurl77

The hardest thing about dieting is that everyone is SO different. While many people lose a lot of weight at the beginning of the diet, some people don't. You may see a "whoosh" of weight loss in a few weeks. You could also still be retaining water if you are near your TOM- adding exercise also causes some people to retain water so it may take your body extra time to get used to the activity.

2 lbs/ week is actually really great- It sounds like what you are doing is working so far and you should keep on keepin' on.

are you on a specific eating plan?

no specific eating plan.. just no eating after 730pm and just drink as much water as possible.. no soda, or fried food except once or twice a week. i should be at TOM within the next week so maybe that is why.. hmmm lol

bubblybarrister · 03-03-2013, 05:47 PM

How is your sodium intake? If it's high, you may be hanging on to some extra water weight you would have lost otherwise. And as Danzingurl said, TOM definitely screws up the numbers on the scale. Bloating is the worst!

April Snow · 03-03-2013, 06:44 PM

cutting back fried foods, soda, etc. is great but even if it's healthy food, you can still eat too much of it and not lose weight.

In your case, you are losing weight, and 2 lbs a week is a very good amount. It's motivating to have that first week whoosh but the first week is just the first week. If you've got something that is working for you, sticking with that is what will get you where you want to be, not how much you happened to lose the first week.

Lolo70 · 03-03-2013, 07:19 PM

If you are exercising intensely, you are also building muscle, which is denser than fat. I actually gained weight when I started doing it, but lost inches. You should journal your weight loss on the scale and by taking measurements. Two weeks is also not enough time. Plus, 2lbs a week is a reasonable average. You only loose water weight if you do not exercise and if you loose glycogen stores, which happens generally on a low carb diet.

Doomkitty · 03-03-2013, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by April Snow

cutting back fried foods, soda, etc. is great but even if it's healthy food, you can still eat too much of it and not lose weight.

In your case, you are losing weight, and 2 lbs a week is a very good amount. It's motivating to have that first week whoosh but the first week is just the first week. If you've got something that is working for you, sticking with that is what will get you where you want to be, not how much you happened to lose the first week.

As April said, two pounds a week is good but I was wondering the same thing - how many calories are you taking in? Even though you are eating healthier, it's still possible that you are eating a bit more than you need to be.

ajlee33 · 03-03-2013, 08:34 PM

bubblybarrister - i have no idea what my sodium intake is.. lol!

April Snow - i only eat about 3 times a day.. and i do not snack.. i do not have enough time to snack since i am a teacher lol. i drink lots of water.. usually breakfast is 2 eggs boiled.. or a bowl of cereal.. or 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.. lunch is whatever school serves.. but they are now serving healthy food and we haveto grab one veggie and one fruit or 2 veggies.. so every lunch i have some veggies.. and dinner varys.. from chicken to beef to spaghetti to pizza to salads to soup.. so dinner is usually my most unhealthy meal.. but not like VERY healthy with tons of carbs lol.. oh and lunch meals do not have salt and school does not serve salt. also all the bread i eat is whole wheat no white bread

Lolo70 - thanks!! i will buy a tape to measure myself! sounds good!

lovedancelive - like i said above "i only eat about 3 times a day.. and i do not snack.. i do not have enough time to snack since i am a teacher lol. i drink lots of water.. usually breakfast is 2 eggs boiled.. or a bowl of cereal.. or 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter.. lunch is whatever school serves.. but they are now serving healthy food and we haveto grab one veggie and one fruit or 2 veggies.. so every lunch i have some veggies.. and dinner varys.. from chicken to beef to spaghetti to pizza to salads to soup.. so dinner is usually my most unhealthy meal.. but not like VERY healthy with tons of carbs lol " i do not snack or eat chips or chocolate if i do happen to have it.. i will have a small handful of chips just to satisfy the craving.

Doomkitty · 03-03-2013, 08:44 PM

I still think it would be a good start to at least try to estimate what you're intaking. You might find a problem spot, maybe that pizza or pasta for instance. Any time you eat, try inputting that data into MyFitnessPal or something. You might be surprised at the calorie content of your food. Or maybe something else will catch you off-guard and make you go, "Aha!" Or really, maybe, this is just your pace and if that turns out to be true, that's still a good pace. 2 pounds a week is usually the healthy max.

ajlee33 · 03-03-2013, 08:47 PM

Thanks so much.. i have no trouble counting calories for breakfast and dinner.. its just lunch is difficult since i eat school lunch.. but when i get extra money i will bring my own lunch (job currently gives me free lunch because of my financial situation)

April Snow · 03-03-2013, 09:41 PM

what you are eating is only part of it - you still have to pay attention to portion sizes to know how many calories you are taking in.

But again, to emphasize, 2 lbs a week is a very good rate of loss. If you were able to maintain that rate, you'd be at your goal in just a few months!! (but it's also important to know that weight loss isn't usually that straightforward and most people have times where they don't lose, even when they aren't eating more than they should. So you still have to just keep going and eventually, the scale catches up)

Doomkitty · 03-03-2013, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ajlee33

Thanks so much.. i have no trouble counting calories for breakfast and dinner.. its just lunch is difficult since i eat school lunch.. but when i get extra money i will bring my own lunch (job currently gives me free lunch because of my financial situation)

I know what you mean. I kinda just guess if I'm not sure. So if I'm not sure, I go on MFP and just search for a generic entry for whatever I ate. For example, my roommate had me sit through some cooking seminar and they gave us food. It was chicken, broccoli, carrots, and two small slices of cake. I just looked up each item, picked which entry looked best, and used that. You kinda gotta use common sense at times with it. Like, at first, MFP was saying each slice of cake I had was like 400+ calories each. I was like um...no. There was no icing and they were small slices, just no way. I Googled, "How many calories are there in a small slice of chocolate cake with no icing" (seriously

) and came up with a figure of about 200 per slice. Sounded more reasonable so I used that one, haha.

beachluvr79 · 03-03-2013, 09:51 PM

Every time I have ever started a weight loss journey I would lose 3-4 lbs the first week and then less than 2 every week after that. So yeah, I would say you are doing great. My advice is to concentrate on 1lb at a time. Just 1. Before you know it, you will be at goal.

bubblybarrister · 03-04-2013, 12:44 PM

Every time I've used a calorie counting app, it tells me that 2lbs/week is the max weight loss as far as safe weight loss is concerned. I think it is a really good rate, and you're definitely on the right track!

I suspect if you're eating school lunches, they probably contain a lot of hidden sodium (they definitely do at the school my fiance teaches at) to try to improve upon the flavor of cheaper ingredients. That may be why you're holding onto some water! I don't say that to make you feel like you need to stop eating school lunches, but maybe just be aware of the meals that you make yourself and try to keep those lower sodium.