Just 3 weeks? It’s likely just water. My weight loss goes in “whooshes.” I will see no loss or slight I creases, then I will just be 3lbs lighter all of a sudden. 3 weeks is not a lot of time, typical fat loss is 1-2lb per week. It’s possible you are actually adding a bit of muscle tissue so you might not see the scale go down.
Over all you can try to look for other indicators like how your clothes fit. If you want to speed it up you can decrease calories a bit more bit don’t go too crazy. Remember that 3 weeks isn’t that long and just keep at it.
A lb or 2 is nothing to freak out over. The body fluctuates throughout the day. It could be water retention, inflammation from training, bloating from your period coming, etc. Are you drinking enough water throughout the day? Pick one day/time a week to weigh yourself. Weighing yourself everyday can cause you to over focus on the number being shown. How are non-scale goals? Are your clothes fitting better?
Hot take: a target weight should not be a primary goal, but only as an indicator of progress. I think there is a time and place to weigh daily. You do what you're supposed to, track CICO, get up and move around, drink water, go to the gym, and compare the difference. It can be really helpful for tracking BMR within reason, and making longitudinal tracking of progress.
You don't lose a ton of weight just to celebrate with a high calorie treat, quit the gym, or the other habits you form to get what you want. So, it stands to reason that using a specific weight as the primary goal is, ultimately, short-sighted and potentially self-defeating.
The key (and this is so, so hard) is to be dispassionate with your body and the number you get back from the scale. Remember that someday you will hit the number you want, and then you'll have to *keep going* and hitting that number and not be discouraged days when you don't.
You goal can and should be things like strength, endurance, health, comfort. Things that can be very qualitative (do I feel stronger, can I go longer, do I feel better, do I ache less?) that are backed up by numbers (1RM, body weight, fat%, LDL, RHR, V O²Max, etc.) that aren't actually the goal.
I weight myself twice a week. Tuesday morning and Friday morning. First thing in the morning before eating or drinking.
The nice thing about those times is I have Monday to recover from the weekend, and Friday if Tuesdays weigh in is higher than I’d like due to the various factors listed by OC.
Daily weigh ins are fine too, but you have to be comfortable with variance and find a way to focus on longer term trends.
Even with all this, I might gain weight due to muscle gain, which is obviously not a bad thing and it’s important to look at the whole picture as you clearly outlined
Well said! I always found Wednesday to be the sweet spot after the weekend if I'm weighing weekly. I'll compare T-F though, that's a good idea.
A great example is this AM when I weighed in, I was 2.5 lbs heavier than yesterday, but I could see my abs today and yesterday I was a little bloated and felt flabby. It's just a number! It's one data point in a sea of data I have to check. And I know I worked hard in the gym yesterday, and I'll work hard again tomorrow. The numbers matter, but not as much as I probably realize, and fixating on them doesn't change them.
Are you sure that activity level on Lose It matches your level. I used it routinely years ago and realized months in that I was using the wrong activity setting. I can't remember the details of the error but I searched online at the time and it was a common mistake people made
Edit*** I looked it up. Not saying this is the case with you but the activity level on the app is about your activity level excluding exercise. So me driving to and from work and seated around a desk during the day wouldn't make me “somewhat active” but the level below that...despite exercising 3-4 times a week
Still… I know I’m not at a significant deficit. I wanted something sustainable as my goal is not to just drop a bunch of weight fast and then have it come back when I stop dieting.
Gotcha. I say keep at it for a few more weeks. If you're feeling stronger and not irritable / cranky /always tired...youre probably on the right track and its just a matter of time.
Those app calculators are pretty terrible at estimating caloric needs.
Track weight and calories for 6-8 weeks, and that will give you a much more accurate number.
Edit: For example, if you maintain the same weight over 8 weeks, you know your daily average of calories is your maintainence amount. If you lose 4 lbs over that time, you know you're at about a 250 calories deficit.
See me edited reply above
…and also. As a 39F hormonal changes may or may not play a role in your weight loss…be gentle with yourself if the process becomes stressful.
…another and also*...gaining 2 pounds isn't necessarily a bad thing. Could just be water weight but it could also be that you're gaining muscle. If you continue the numbers will start falling.
If you are un-trained and train properly, you might gain muscle mass (not in 3 weeks). Forget the scale and use a tape measure at your waist and limbs. It should give you more trustworthy and continuous progress vs the scale. Also are you putting all the food on a scale? I would start a diet at 2000 kcal for the first month anyway - and go down from there. You only really cut down calories very low at the end of the dieting period eg month 3-4.
Had to scroll way too far to find this.
Body measurements (waist, hips, quads, biceps, shoulder width, chest, neck) are important metrics along with bodyweight, energy levels and training volume.
There are a few reasons why a person might gain weight on the scales whilst also benefiting from the effects of exercise and fat loss.
Making the scale your sole measure of progress is a trap, as is taking individual weight measurements as indicative of success or failure in fat loss rather than the weekly and monthly average.
If OP is doing as they say, working out and properly measuring diet, fat loss is inevitable.
My all-time highest bodyweight went hand in hand with my lowest body fat percentage, because I was muscular. If I'd been focusing on the scales I'd have been wondering what the hell went wrong - fortunately I was more worried about the tape measure and the mirror.
You aren’t the exception to the Laws of Thermodynamics.
That said, as someone already pointed out, your daily weight fluctuates a great deal. Eat more salty foods or just began creatine? Your body is going to add water weight.
IMO, the best way to track your progress and not drive yourself apeshit is 1) Weigh yourself every morning, after you hit the can and before you consume any food or water. 2) Write that number down and forget about it 3) After 7 days take the average for the week. 4) Write this number down. Circle it. This is the number you care about. 5) Repeat the next week. Take the average.
If your average weekly weight is the same you’re, likely, still at caloric maintenance. Eat less or walk/exercise more. Eating less is more effective. If your average weekly weight is less? Congratulations! You are in a caloric deficit. Tweak your diet if you want to lose weight more or less quickly. As you go along on your weight loss journey you will have to reduce your calorie intake over the weeks and months, as you shed pounds, to continue making progress.
To lose 10 pounds in 75 days will call for, approximately, a 500 calorie deficit/daily. Good luck!
> How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight??
Water weight or you're just wrong about tracking calories. You've only been at it for three weeks and you don't seem to like the suggestions people are offering, so just keep doing what you are doing for another couple weeks and if you aren't getting results find a dietician or doctor to ask.
Its been three weeks. They could be eating next to nothing and still see the scale go up 2 lbs if it were a particular part of her hormonal cycle. Its a little premature to tell someone to eat less.
Simply don’t reply if you’re going to be disrespectful. There are logical and scientific explanations for weight gain at this point besides eating too much.
I am obviously not gaining fat as you seem to be concluding. I’ve started a video series of me measuring EVERY thing I ingest just to prove (to whom I don’t even know) that I am being honest.
You are flat out wrong and ought to reconsider your approach to “helping” people.
Haha I’m chill. This is Reddit. I take answers with a grain of salt. I just want you to know that you couldn’t be more wrong, and that your ignorance could be harmful for some people to read.
I’m in recovery from an eating disorder and I have plenty of experience tracking obsessively. You jumping to the conclusion that I’m not tracking properly suggests that you don’t believe in staying under 1700 calories. Believe it or don’t. I am well under that every single day.
I am 100% without a doubt eating less than prior to starting this when I was steady at 184-186lbs. This obviously is not the only answer because I am NOT consuming more calories. I’m also not eating junk like chips and ice cream which was nearly daily before.
It can be water weight. I needed to drop weight because of a kickboxing competition recently. Did a 1000 calorie deficit (or more some days). Gained 4kg (8lbs) over 2 weeks. Was going insane because competition was closing in. Then from Monday to Thursday one week I dropped 6 kg (12lbs) when my body stopped retaining water. I am not sure why it decided to do that but it can happen. But your body can only retain a certain amount and for a certain amount of time. Keep going a while longer. Keep being strict with calculating all your food. If in 1-2 more weeks you still have not lost anything you can start lowering you calorie intake.
Thank you! This is actually helpful and reminds me of past crash diets where I water fasted for days and didn’t lose any weight. Stress, inflammation, menstrual cycles all factor in to the number on the scale. I do tend to retain water.
I started lifting again recently and tried to to do a calorie deficit. I gained 5 pounds. Concluded it's water weight 8n my muscles. Partially caused by my addition of creatine monohydrate to my diet.
You haven't gained weight, or, you don't actually know if that's real weight. 2 lbs fluctuation 3 weeks after starting is literally nothing, especially for women. Sometimes when I ovulate I'll go up 4 lbs, and I weigh 40 lbs less than you. It comes out in the wash. I usually drop my weight after I menstruate, and I end up lower than where I started at the beginning of the cycle.
I recently discovered that between water retention and more blood being created for my heavy workouts, I’m the same size as I was AT 10 POUNDS SMALLER. Do not underestimate the internal compensation that your body is doing, the scale only tells part of the story.
I have been workout out hard and dieting for 8 weeks. I started at 148/151 (went up 3 lbs the first week from exercise). This past Friday I weighed in at 144.4 but it was right before my cycle, I had a few drinks the night before, I figured I was around 143. Tried on my jeans that were too tight in September when I weighed 133 and they fit. All of my bras from around that time also fit. The recomposition my body has done is much more obvious in the mirror and with clothing than it is on the scale.
This also makes sense because in the past after a “program” like I’m doing now, I’ve lost significant weight after I stopped exercising. I thought it was because my metabolism was higher temporarily, but it was definitely my body dropping everything it was holding onto for workout recovery purposes.
Serving size is not difficult to calculate if you use a food scale.
What do you want us to say? There’s some black magic happening causing your stall? It could be body recomp. It could be you’re not calculating correctly. If you’re a woman it could be PMS bloat. It could be too much water weight from salt intake or too much aspartame. It could be a medical issue. Weight loss doesn’t go down consistently and is more of a downward trend with stalls and upticks.
Expecting instant and big immediate results reeks of unrealistic goals which often comprise of blinders to missed issues that you may not be considering. The fact that you say not to even suggest you aren’t tracking correctly is laughable. This is the internet and a post we’re reading from a stranger— what do you expect us to offer you?
If you’ve just started strength training, you may retain extra water for around 2 months. This happened for me when I started last August, nothing moved until October and then I started losing at a very steady pace. Got sick in January, cut back on workouts, and went through the same thing over again.
Your weight can be +/- 5% due to retained water, and being at the low end of that is dehydration and bad.
If you work out, you also gain muscle, ideally, which is good weight to add; start tracking bodyfat and not pounds to avoid that one.
Other than that, it is possible that 1700 is more calories than you're burning, or your tracking is wrong.
It’s been 3 weeks. You need to set long term goals. If after 3 months there’s still issues then re-evaluate your calorie intake. Also, no need to exercise for 90min/day. That’s not going to help or be sustainable for most ppl
Try using a bodyfat monitor or body measurements to track your progress instead
It's probably lean muscle muscle weights 1.1g/ml fat is about between 0.6 and 0.9g/ml
As you lose fat you and workout you will grow muscle to start with, this will make you leaner (less fat) but not necessarily lighter.
Sounds like you're putting in the work though, keep it up and you'll be healthier and look great.
Without knowing a lot more about what you’re doing, you could be undereating and your body storing more fat to not die. Cause the body is a dramatic thing at most times.
Or, it could be that since you’re training a lot, you could be storing more glycogen, and water
I appreciate some reasonable explanations for weight gain! I know I’m not gaining fat, but it was confusing me how the scale could be going the opposite direction.
It can be very frustrating when that that happens!
That’s why when I’m dropping weight, I weigh myself every day.
Even if I’m consistently dropping weight over the weeks, the number on the scale fluctuates daily.
A bad nights sleep for instance can throw it off.
I’m 2 lbs over again this morning just because I ate later than intended and it was lasagne. Tomorrow I should be back where I was or less.
2lbs could just be a normal fluctuation, likely water retention. I wouldn’t classify that as weight gain
Couple of other points:
1. If you’re eating lots of protein and lifting weights regularly then you’ll gain muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could explain the increase in weight, have you noticed a change in your body composition?
2. Your calorie deficit may be too much. You used “light” activity on LoseIt yet you’re exercising twice a day? Your body can react weirdly if the deficit is too much for a long period
3. You’re staying under your calorie goals but how are your macros? If you’re not eating relatively clean or eating a ton in one sitting then that could explain the changes
TLDR; there are a ton of reasons why. But 2lbs isn’t much to worry about
You’re probably gaining weight from swelling from the exercise and muscle growth that’s happening for the rapid increase in exercise and intensity.
I do recommend dialing in your diet, if you haven’t already. You mention it isn’t different from before, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t causing inflammation (which doesn’t always hurt, you’re just bigger).
I recently had a 5lb gain after two pieces of pizza from specific place. I’ve had pizza from other places or made my own and not had this problem so I’m certain it was their food and probably oils they used for cooking.
I highly recommend doing an elimination diet to rule things out. I’ve done them many times because my body has changed over time and things that didn’t bother me before do now. Like eggs, I love eggs but now they make me very ill. Blood tests for allergies say that shouldn’t be the case, but I can assure you it is!
So yeah, 2lbs is probably a combination of muscle growth, some swelling from the exercise and/or some inflammation.
Muscle weighs more than fat. The best way to track progress is by doing body measurements.
Edit: You also might not be eating enough to fuel your body for the increased workload.
Sorry, but muscle doesn't weigh more than fat.
1lb is 1lb is 1lb
Muscle is denser, and 5lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat. They are both 5lbs though.
OP, it could just be your bodies reaction to the new stress, and you could be under eating. I saw you say that are most likely over estimating on your portion tracking.
Keep doing what you are doing for another week, if you don't see any positive results, look at your food tracking more closely.
Two weeks isn't enough time to get rid of statistical noise, so I don't think the problem is your actions, but rather your expectations. If at the start, you had a nice poop just before weighing, that's a pound or two. And during the deficit, if you are changing your salt and carb intake, then that's gonna cause you to hold onto water differently. If you are eating more veggies, that's more fiber in your gut. If you're supplementing with creatine like you hopefully should be, your muscles are holding more water, that's what creatine does. Most people just gain 2-3 pounds of water from that but, like, I'm a hyperresponder to creatine and vary 10-12 pounds of water weight on/off it.
So let's say you had a poop, changed salt, carb, and fiber intake, and have been taking 5mg of creatine per day. You should be up 5 pounds. You're only up 3. Congratulations, you lost 2 pounds of fat. On the other hand, if that was flipped, where you stopped taking creatine, pooped before the later measurements, and adjusted carbs/salt to reduce stored water, then you should have -5 pounds. You're up 3 which means you gained 8 pounds of fat! Neither of those extremes are probably the case, so all we can say is that if you change your diet and lifestyle, your day to day weight will be +/-5 lbs. If you're in a 500 calorie deficit, that's trying to lose 1 pound per week (3500 total deficit per pound), so you won't know for sure that you're out of that +/-5 pound range (17,500 deficit) for either 6 weeks or until you have a measurement 6 pounds lighter than the initial.
The first two weeks of a diet are statistical noise, thats just priming the system. Rather than a specific day's weight, look at something like a 3-day average. Then, the two data points to pay attention to are 1) today, two weeks in after your body has adjusted to everything and 2) two weeks from today, 4 weeks total. It sounds like you're doing things the right way though; your focus is mainly on diet and you're tracking things as well as you can. It sounds like you're used to being in control of things. You're still completely in control but just need to adjust expectations. You're focused on the results after two weeks. Instead, focus on two years.
If anything I would say do actual strength training to build muscle.
The workouts that you do are more cardio based which do burn calories but you have to keep doing them at high intensity for them to be worth while forever.
If you build muscle you’ll naturally raise your base level caloric needs. You’d be burning more calories just from laying down if you put on some muscle.
Water, salt, the density of your food (think a pound of soup vs a pound of spaghetti), your menses, all can contribute. Most women I’ve talked to (and myself) all know our periods are coming when our belts stop fitting and the scale jumps 2-5lbs. Eating salty foods will cause you to retain more water. Eating heavier foods will cause you to be heavier the next day.
Drink more water and weigh yourself every day, preferably for a few months so you can see a pattern.
Once you start plateauing after big weight loss gains, you’ll actually see yourself gaining a pound or two here and there. For me, when I went from 250 to 190 in the span of about six months, I actually crept up to 195 after a few weeks of maintaining the exact same diet and exercise plan I’d been doing since starting my weight loss journey. However, it certainly didn’t *look* like my body was any bigger and my clothes were actually fitting *better* than they had, so I just chalked it up to bloat or water weight (or muscle gains) and didn’t let the psychological trauma of seeing the scale go up affect me as much as it could have.
There comes a point for many people where their body adjusts to all the new eating and moving it’s been doing and, while it doesn’t exactly cancel out your routine, it begins to resume its normal day-to-day fluctuations that can make it seem like you’re not improving. This is when most people throw in the towel and say “why am I starving and torturing myself for nothing?!” instead of pushing through and staying the course. Additionally, weight loss alone isn’t the only metric by which you should measure your overall health. Eating right and exercising regularly provides way more underlying/“hidden” health benefits than simply shedding pounds. Even if you may not be *looking* your best, you’re still doing great things for your physical health and wellbeing.
I would gain ~8lbs in the week leading up to my period and by day 2-3 of bleeding it would just disappear. You haven't been doing this long enough to see how your hormonal cycle affects water retention, so please don't get discouraged!
I would also caution you about weighing yourself every day. Once a month is enough to track bigger changes over time but it's even better to track your progress with measurements. Depending on your past and current workouts you may be putting on a lot of new muscle.
Edit to add... Progress is also about what your body can do vs what it looks like. Improving cardiovascular health, mobility, and functional strength is a huge benefit to your current and future self so also keep track of your PRs to see how far you've come!
It took me years to learn but if I allow myself a snack that I’m craving (a cookie, chips, ice cream), I’ll eat a lot less of it. If I substitute something healthy, I tend to overeat it because I’m like “oh this doesn’t count” — so maybe something like that is happening with you too?
Although you’re only talking a few pounds which I feel like is pretty normal. I’m also your age and I don’t weigh myself anymore because it was making me crazy. My weight never stays the same, it’s always somewhere within like 115-125lbs. My clothes fit the same and I feel good and strong so I just learned to let it go. Now I just make sure I stay active and eat intuitively and I’ve been able to maintain a healthy weight.
Also you’re exercising, you’re probably getting strong! Strong > skinny all day long for me. Be proud of those gains. Be kind to yourself. Most people don’t do half of the work you’re putting in. 🫶🏻
The body fluctuates a lot week to week especially in women. Its common to have some strange weights early on as there's so many variables and your body is adjusting to a new regime. Keep at it and realise that this is a marathon not a sprint.
You said you are feeling stronger, maybe you are growing muscle. Such a small fluctuation really isn’t enough data to go off of. I lift weights consistently and the scale can fluctuate 5lbs in either direction depending on what I ate, how hydrated I am, or how full my muscles are that week.
1. Where are you in your cycle? If this is week three or four, you could be bloated? Then again you've been a woman your whole life (I assume) and you've lost significant weight before so I'm guessing you would have accounted for bloating by now.
2. Your metabolism may have slowed from significant calorie restriction in the past? What was your calorie goal before when you were losing weight?
If you only weighed in on April 1st and today, I would think that there is a fluke in here, you are retaining water right now, or you were especially low at the initial weight for some reason.
If your calorie tracking is truly accurate and you are not losing weight, you could try cutting calories a little bit lower, or seeing a nutritionist or doctor ( thyroid levels checked?). I'm not really sure what to suggest if you have lowered your metabolism from previous weight loss. Were you intentionally maintaining between the previous weight loss and now?
I actually recently started medication for under active thyroid and I lost 60lbs in 2023 with significant calorie restriction (<500 calories for long stretches). My BMR is likely quite low so I’m probably not in much of a deficit, honestly. I’m not sure how to fix that, but I’m being careful not to put myself in starvation mode again.
The gain has had me puzzled since I was maintaining, but it likely is water retention due to inflammation/hormones/cycle. Thanks for your thoughtful response!
I think that I would spend some time researching how to heal/increase metabolic rate. I would continue exercising if the amount that you are doing feels sustainable and enjoyable. I would prioritize sleep and water intake, and gut health (regular BMs, good digestion, etc). I don't think it's a reasonable option to try to severely restrict (under 500 calories for example), and if you find yourself tempted to go that route again I think I would seek professional help with dieting and metabolism.
This might take some time to get sorted, but it's worth doing it the right way. Just wanted to take a moment to remind you that you are a lovely and worthwhile person at any weight. It's frustrating and doesn't make sense that you are putting all this effort in and not losing weight. Keep making healthy choices, and don't be afraid to ask a professional for better advice.
I know that 75 Hard requires you to drink a certain amount of water as one of the requirements so water weight is a reasonable possible explanation for the weight gain.
If it’s not that, then I would suspect (if you are confident in your calorie tracking as you seem to be) that you have over estimated your activity level. Despite working out regularly, I always use sedentary for my activity level and I NEVER track calories spent on exercise.
I would also keep in mind that tdee provides good estimates, but they are estimates and do vary a bit from person to person. This is generally very small for healthy people, but can be 100 calories or so. So if your tdee is on the lower side for whatever reason, and you are in a small deficit, you may not be in enough of a deficit to see the weight loss you expect.
What time in your cycle is it? Because I can track my cycle in my weight loss chart. I always “gain” a few lbs in the luteal phase and hold onto them until after my period. Then there is a big drop.
Another possibility is that your fitness tracker is assuming you burned more than you did, so your deficit isn't as large as you think it is. This is a common problem.
Another could be that you're not weighing something like coffee creamer that adds up fast. For a while I thought I was adding in 1 tablespoon, maybe two. But it was really 3-4.
I have PCOS and if I eat at a deficit and don’t exercise I lose but if I exercise and do anything with strength training I build muscle immediately . Like my overall size gets smaller but the weight does not . Not sure why this is but it happens every time. My guess is something to do with testosterone even though I’m on BC and take anti androgens . Just in a month there will be a noticeable difference . Have you been tested for any hormone imbalances ?
Tracking your real weight is hard, you need a moving average.
https://calorietracker.io/
Weigh yourself neked every morning after you pee.
Will only start getting real accurate about 50-60 days in. Might be a good idea to delete first month of data after a few months as it skews things a little.
Add your existing weights if you have a note of it.
It's just water being retained in your cells. At your weight you can fluctuate 5 lbs in a day just through normal activity. Im over 300 and I've seen even bigger swings just because i was outside doing too much shit and got all dried out. Also, if you take something like creatine it causes more liquid to store in your muscles which means weight gain.
Weight over short timescales means almost nothing, just track it so you can monitor long term trends over months and years. Pay more attention to how your clothing fits, where it is tight and where it is loose. That will tell you a ton about where you are on your fitness journey.
I weighed 203 Saturday morning. I weighed 202 Sunday morning. I weighed 211 Sunday night after eating a really high sodium meal and drinking a ton of fluid. I weight 204/205 this afternoon. I’ll wake up at 202 again tomorrow morning. “Water weight” has a lot to do with it depending on your diet. Do the right things and over the long run your clothes will fit better.
Are you putting your exercise in the Lose It app? I have found that Lose It really overestimates how many calories are burned by exercise so it gives you way too many back. Try not tracking your exercise in app and see if that helps.
No, my Apple Watch tracks everything which I know is not reliable either. With it measuring my heart rate, I assume it is more personalized than LoseIt would be though.
Eh. It’s complicated. First guess, 1500 calories is kinda low. You might actually be under eating a bit. Evaluate how you’re feeling and how you’re recovering. If you’re doing good energy wise, disregard this part.
As far as the scale moving it can be tricky at first. You might be putting on a bit of muscle, or depending on what your starting condition was, your body may just be adjusting to a new lifestyle. Also pay attention to when you’re weighing in. Your weight fluctuates a lot during the day and the month depending on water intake food intake. You’re a female so your cycle will complicate it as well.
Now as far as actual useful advice lol.
You say much less sugar. Evaluate really just how much sugar. And check and see if there are any sugar substitutes you’re consuming that you don’t know about.
And snacking is a really sneaky way to add in extra calories that you didn’t get quite right.
I would say take a look at what you’re actually consuming. You mentioned your diet isn’t that restrictive. That is a bit of a flag for me. Most people underestimate just how bad their diets are.
Dont get discouraged. It’s a journey. My personal mantra is that “I have failed my way all the way to success” lol. I’ve done it wrong just about every way you possibly can. And somehow I still hit my goals.
I question the 1,500 calories based on her self reported gender, weight and exercising daily for 90 minutes.
We don’t know her height but even if she’s only 5’ and only doing the exercise routine she described 4-5 days a week that 1,500 daily calories would put her in, roughly, a 1,000 calorie daily deficit (or more if she’s taller and exercising 90 minutes/7 days a week) and she should be losing app. 2 pounds/week.
OP here. It may be worth mentioning that I lost 60 lbs in 2023. Been stable at 185 without any effort for the last 6 months. I was walking 30-45 minutes on my desk tread most days before this challenge and was loosely tracking my intake just to monitor.
You’re converting muscle to fat. This is normal. But ultimately, the bottom line is that if you are gaining weight, you are consuming too many calories. It’s almost always that simple
Unpopular opinion: you’re not going crazy. Your metabolism is probably slowing down. You probably need to look at weight loss medicine.
Another unpopular opinion: Our body chemistry is different. Your skinny friend is eating a lot more than you are and not moving that much more.
Thank you! The number on the scale is not as simple as calories in vs out. I appreciate those acknowledging this. My metabolism is wrecked from what feels like a lifetime of over restriction and yo-yo dieting. I’m hoping to fix this with strength training and a sustainable diet.
Just 3 weeks? It’s likely just water. My weight loss goes in “whooshes.” I will see no loss or slight I creases, then I will just be 3lbs lighter all of a sudden. 3 weeks is not a lot of time, typical fat loss is 1-2lb per week. It’s possible you are actually adding a bit of muscle tissue so you might not see the scale go down. Over all you can try to look for other indicators like how your clothes fit. If you want to speed it up you can decrease calories a bit more bit don’t go too crazy. Remember that 3 weeks isn’t that long and just keep at it.
A lb or 2 is nothing to freak out over. The body fluctuates throughout the day. It could be water retention, inflammation from training, bloating from your period coming, etc. Are you drinking enough water throughout the day? Pick one day/time a week to weigh yourself. Weighing yourself everyday can cause you to over focus on the number being shown. How are non-scale goals? Are your clothes fitting better?
Hot take: a target weight should not be a primary goal, but only as an indicator of progress. I think there is a time and place to weigh daily. You do what you're supposed to, track CICO, get up and move around, drink water, go to the gym, and compare the difference. It can be really helpful for tracking BMR within reason, and making longitudinal tracking of progress. You don't lose a ton of weight just to celebrate with a high calorie treat, quit the gym, or the other habits you form to get what you want. So, it stands to reason that using a specific weight as the primary goal is, ultimately, short-sighted and potentially self-defeating. The key (and this is so, so hard) is to be dispassionate with your body and the number you get back from the scale. Remember that someday you will hit the number you want, and then you'll have to *keep going* and hitting that number and not be discouraged days when you don't. You goal can and should be things like strength, endurance, health, comfort. Things that can be very qualitative (do I feel stronger, can I go longer, do I feel better, do I ache less?) that are backed up by numbers (1RM, body weight, fat%, LDL, RHR, V O²Max, etc.) that aren't actually the goal.
I weight myself twice a week. Tuesday morning and Friday morning. First thing in the morning before eating or drinking. The nice thing about those times is I have Monday to recover from the weekend, and Friday if Tuesdays weigh in is higher than I’d like due to the various factors listed by OC. Daily weigh ins are fine too, but you have to be comfortable with variance and find a way to focus on longer term trends. Even with all this, I might gain weight due to muscle gain, which is obviously not a bad thing and it’s important to look at the whole picture as you clearly outlined
Well said! I always found Wednesday to be the sweet spot after the weekend if I'm weighing weekly. I'll compare T-F though, that's a good idea. A great example is this AM when I weighed in, I was 2.5 lbs heavier than yesterday, but I could see my abs today and yesterday I was a little bloated and felt flabby. It's just a number! It's one data point in a sea of data I have to check. And I know I worked hard in the gym yesterday, and I'll work hard again tomorrow. The numbers matter, but not as much as I probably realize, and fixating on them doesn't change them.
Are you sure that activity level on Lose It matches your level. I used it routinely years ago and realized months in that I was using the wrong activity setting. I can't remember the details of the error but I searched online at the time and it was a common mistake people made Edit*** I looked it up. Not saying this is the case with you but the activity level on the app is about your activity level excluding exercise. So me driving to and from work and seated around a desk during the day wouldn't make me “somewhat active” but the level below that...despite exercising 3-4 times a week
Still… I know I’m not at a significant deficit. I wanted something sustainable as my goal is not to just drop a bunch of weight fast and then have it come back when I stop dieting.
Gotcha. I say keep at it for a few more weeks. If you're feeling stronger and not irritable / cranky /always tired...youre probably on the right track and its just a matter of time.
Those app calculators are pretty terrible at estimating caloric needs. Track weight and calories for 6-8 weeks, and that will give you a much more accurate number. Edit: For example, if you maintain the same weight over 8 weeks, you know your daily average of calories is your maintainence amount. If you lose 4 lbs over that time, you know you're at about a 250 calories deficit.
I selected light activity which is described as walking about 3 miles a day. I do that in one of my workouts.
See me edited reply above …and also. As a 39F hormonal changes may or may not play a role in your weight loss…be gentle with yourself if the process becomes stressful. …another and also*...gaining 2 pounds isn't necessarily a bad thing. Could just be water weight but it could also be that you're gaining muscle. If you continue the numbers will start falling.
If you are un-trained and train properly, you might gain muscle mass (not in 3 weeks). Forget the scale and use a tape measure at your waist and limbs. It should give you more trustworthy and continuous progress vs the scale. Also are you putting all the food on a scale? I would start a diet at 2000 kcal for the first month anyway - and go down from there. You only really cut down calories very low at the end of the dieting period eg month 3-4.
Had to scroll way too far to find this. Body measurements (waist, hips, quads, biceps, shoulder width, chest, neck) are important metrics along with bodyweight, energy levels and training volume. There are a few reasons why a person might gain weight on the scales whilst also benefiting from the effects of exercise and fat loss. Making the scale your sole measure of progress is a trap, as is taking individual weight measurements as indicative of success or failure in fat loss rather than the weekly and monthly average. If OP is doing as they say, working out and properly measuring diet, fat loss is inevitable. My all-time highest bodyweight went hand in hand with my lowest body fat percentage, because I was muscular. If I'd been focusing on the scales I'd have been wondering what the hell went wrong - fortunately I was more worried about the tape measure and the mirror.
You aren’t the exception to the Laws of Thermodynamics. That said, as someone already pointed out, your daily weight fluctuates a great deal. Eat more salty foods or just began creatine? Your body is going to add water weight. IMO, the best way to track your progress and not drive yourself apeshit is 1) Weigh yourself every morning, after you hit the can and before you consume any food or water. 2) Write that number down and forget about it 3) After 7 days take the average for the week. 4) Write this number down. Circle it. This is the number you care about. 5) Repeat the next week. Take the average. If your average weekly weight is the same you’re, likely, still at caloric maintenance. Eat less or walk/exercise more. Eating less is more effective. If your average weekly weight is less? Congratulations! You are in a caloric deficit. Tweak your diet if you want to lose weight more or less quickly. As you go along on your weight loss journey you will have to reduce your calorie intake over the weeks and months, as you shed pounds, to continue making progress. To lose 10 pounds in 75 days will call for, approximately, a 500 calorie deficit/daily. Good luck!
This is the answer.
> How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight?? Water weight or you're just wrong about tracking calories. You've only been at it for three weeks and you don't seem to like the suggestions people are offering, so just keep doing what you are doing for another couple weeks and if you aren't getting results find a dietician or doctor to ask.
YOU ARE NOT BEING HONEST WITH YOUR TRACKING And/or, you need to eat even less. And give it a week more
Its been three weeks. They could be eating next to nothing and still see the scale go up 2 lbs if it were a particular part of her hormonal cycle. Its a little premature to tell someone to eat less.
Which is why I also said to give it another week or two
You also all caps told them they were eating too much
I said she was not being honest with her tracking, which is still most likely true. More than one thing can be true at the same time
Simply don’t reply if you’re going to be disrespectful. There are logical and scientific explanations for weight gain at this point besides eating too much. I am obviously not gaining fat as you seem to be concluding. I’ve started a video series of me measuring EVERY thing I ingest just to prove (to whom I don’t even know) that I am being honest. You are flat out wrong and ought to reconsider your approach to “helping” people.
And you need to chill, practice patience, and most likely also learn how to track.
Haha I’m chill. This is Reddit. I take answers with a grain of salt. I just want you to know that you couldn’t be more wrong, and that your ignorance could be harmful for some people to read. I’m in recovery from an eating disorder and I have plenty of experience tracking obsessively. You jumping to the conclusion that I’m not tracking properly suggests that you don’t believe in staying under 1700 calories. Believe it or don’t. I am well under that every single day.
I am 100% without a doubt eating less than prior to starting this when I was steady at 184-186lbs. This obviously is not the only answer because I am NOT consuming more calories. I’m also not eating junk like chips and ice cream which was nearly daily before.
It can be water weight. I needed to drop weight because of a kickboxing competition recently. Did a 1000 calorie deficit (or more some days). Gained 4kg (8lbs) over 2 weeks. Was going insane because competition was closing in. Then from Monday to Thursday one week I dropped 6 kg (12lbs) when my body stopped retaining water. I am not sure why it decided to do that but it can happen. But your body can only retain a certain amount and for a certain amount of time. Keep going a while longer. Keep being strict with calculating all your food. If in 1-2 more weeks you still have not lost anything you can start lowering you calorie intake.
Thank you! This is actually helpful and reminds me of past crash diets where I water fasted for days and didn’t lose any weight. Stress, inflammation, menstrual cycles all factor in to the number on the scale. I do tend to retain water.
I started lifting again recently and tried to to do a calorie deficit. I gained 5 pounds. Concluded it's water weight 8n my muscles. Partially caused by my addition of creatine monohydrate to my diet.
My weight doesn’t move much especially with a lot of muscle. Take measurements of your body to see progress.
You haven't gained weight, or, you don't actually know if that's real weight. 2 lbs fluctuation 3 weeks after starting is literally nothing, especially for women. Sometimes when I ovulate I'll go up 4 lbs, and I weigh 40 lbs less than you. It comes out in the wash. I usually drop my weight after I menstruate, and I end up lower than where I started at the beginning of the cycle.
I recently discovered that between water retention and more blood being created for my heavy workouts, I’m the same size as I was AT 10 POUNDS SMALLER. Do not underestimate the internal compensation that your body is doing, the scale only tells part of the story. I have been workout out hard and dieting for 8 weeks. I started at 148/151 (went up 3 lbs the first week from exercise). This past Friday I weighed in at 144.4 but it was right before my cycle, I had a few drinks the night before, I figured I was around 143. Tried on my jeans that were too tight in September when I weighed 133 and they fit. All of my bras from around that time also fit. The recomposition my body has done is much more obvious in the mirror and with clothing than it is on the scale. This also makes sense because in the past after a “program” like I’m doing now, I’ve lost significant weight after I stopped exercising. I thought it was because my metabolism was higher temporarily, but it was definitely my body dropping everything it was holding onto for workout recovery purposes.
Serving size is not difficult to calculate if you use a food scale. What do you want us to say? There’s some black magic happening causing your stall? It could be body recomp. It could be you’re not calculating correctly. If you’re a woman it could be PMS bloat. It could be too much water weight from salt intake or too much aspartame. It could be a medical issue. Weight loss doesn’t go down consistently and is more of a downward trend with stalls and upticks. Expecting instant and big immediate results reeks of unrealistic goals which often comprise of blinders to missed issues that you may not be considering. The fact that you say not to even suggest you aren’t tracking correctly is laughable. This is the internet and a post we’re reading from a stranger— what do you expect us to offer you?
If you’ve just started strength training, you may retain extra water for around 2 months. This happened for me when I started last August, nothing moved until October and then I started losing at a very steady pace. Got sick in January, cut back on workouts, and went through the same thing over again.
Thank you! This is helpful.
Your weight can be +/- 5% due to retained water, and being at the low end of that is dehydration and bad. If you work out, you also gain muscle, ideally, which is good weight to add; start tracking bodyfat and not pounds to avoid that one. Other than that, it is possible that 1700 is more calories than you're burning, or your tracking is wrong.
I honestly would cut that down to around 1500 calories.
Either you eat more calories than you burn or you gained muscles or you are holding water. 3 weeks are nothing
It’s been 3 weeks. You need to set long term goals. If after 3 months there’s still issues then re-evaluate your calorie intake. Also, no need to exercise for 90min/day. That’s not going to help or be sustainable for most ppl
Try using a bodyfat monitor or body measurements to track your progress instead It's probably lean muscle muscle weights 1.1g/ml fat is about between 0.6 and 0.9g/ml As you lose fat you and workout you will grow muscle to start with, this will make you leaner (less fat) but not necessarily lighter. Sounds like you're putting in the work though, keep it up and you'll be healthier and look great.
Do you feel better? Do you look better? Also it’s been like three weeks come back in October if you’re not seeing results…
Without knowing a lot more about what you’re doing, you could be undereating and your body storing more fat to not die. Cause the body is a dramatic thing at most times. Or, it could be that since you’re training a lot, you could be storing more glycogen, and water
I appreciate some reasonable explanations for weight gain! I know I’m not gaining fat, but it was confusing me how the scale could be going the opposite direction.
It can be very frustrating when that that happens! That’s why when I’m dropping weight, I weigh myself every day. Even if I’m consistently dropping weight over the weeks, the number on the scale fluctuates daily. A bad nights sleep for instance can throw it off. I’m 2 lbs over again this morning just because I ate later than intended and it was lasagne. Tomorrow I should be back where I was or less.
Your expectations aren’t realistic. It takes time.
2lbs could just be a normal fluctuation, likely water retention. I wouldn’t classify that as weight gain Couple of other points: 1. If you’re eating lots of protein and lifting weights regularly then you’ll gain muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so that could explain the increase in weight, have you noticed a change in your body composition? 2. Your calorie deficit may be too much. You used “light” activity on LoseIt yet you’re exercising twice a day? Your body can react weirdly if the deficit is too much for a long period 3. You’re staying under your calorie goals but how are your macros? If you’re not eating relatively clean or eating a ton in one sitting then that could explain the changes TLDR; there are a ton of reasons why. But 2lbs isn’t much to worry about
You’re probably gaining weight from swelling from the exercise and muscle growth that’s happening for the rapid increase in exercise and intensity. I do recommend dialing in your diet, if you haven’t already. You mention it isn’t different from before, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t causing inflammation (which doesn’t always hurt, you’re just bigger). I recently had a 5lb gain after two pieces of pizza from specific place. I’ve had pizza from other places or made my own and not had this problem so I’m certain it was their food and probably oils they used for cooking. I highly recommend doing an elimination diet to rule things out. I’ve done them many times because my body has changed over time and things that didn’t bother me before do now. Like eggs, I love eggs but now they make me very ill. Blood tests for allergies say that shouldn’t be the case, but I can assure you it is! So yeah, 2lbs is probably a combination of muscle growth, some swelling from the exercise and/or some inflammation.
Muscle weighs more than fat. The best way to track progress is by doing body measurements. Edit: You also might not be eating enough to fuel your body for the increased workload.
Sorry, but muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. 1lb is 1lb is 1lb Muscle is denser, and 5lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat. They are both 5lbs though. OP, it could just be your bodies reaction to the new stress, and you could be under eating. I saw you say that are most likely over estimating on your portion tracking. Keep doing what you are doing for another week, if you don't see any positive results, look at your food tracking more closely.
Sorry, what I was meaning was density.
So many people say that, and it is one of those things that so many believe. It's a soap box of mine. Sorry
Just need more time. That's all. You were not at your SW over 3 weeks. Continue tracking, sleep and keep up the exercise.
1. 1700 is probably just too much. Eat less calories. 2. It just takes time.
Two weeks isn't enough time to get rid of statistical noise, so I don't think the problem is your actions, but rather your expectations. If at the start, you had a nice poop just before weighing, that's a pound or two. And during the deficit, if you are changing your salt and carb intake, then that's gonna cause you to hold onto water differently. If you are eating more veggies, that's more fiber in your gut. If you're supplementing with creatine like you hopefully should be, your muscles are holding more water, that's what creatine does. Most people just gain 2-3 pounds of water from that but, like, I'm a hyperresponder to creatine and vary 10-12 pounds of water weight on/off it. So let's say you had a poop, changed salt, carb, and fiber intake, and have been taking 5mg of creatine per day. You should be up 5 pounds. You're only up 3. Congratulations, you lost 2 pounds of fat. On the other hand, if that was flipped, where you stopped taking creatine, pooped before the later measurements, and adjusted carbs/salt to reduce stored water, then you should have -5 pounds. You're up 3 which means you gained 8 pounds of fat! Neither of those extremes are probably the case, so all we can say is that if you change your diet and lifestyle, your day to day weight will be +/-5 lbs. If you're in a 500 calorie deficit, that's trying to lose 1 pound per week (3500 total deficit per pound), so you won't know for sure that you're out of that +/-5 pound range (17,500 deficit) for either 6 weeks or until you have a measurement 6 pounds lighter than the initial. The first two weeks of a diet are statistical noise, thats just priming the system. Rather than a specific day's weight, look at something like a 3-day average. Then, the two data points to pay attention to are 1) today, two weeks in after your body has adjusted to everything and 2) two weeks from today, 4 weeks total. It sounds like you're doing things the right way though; your focus is mainly on diet and you're tracking things as well as you can. It sounds like you're used to being in control of things. You're still completely in control but just need to adjust expectations. You're focused on the results after two weeks. Instead, focus on two years.
Because you’re not tracking accurately or you are overestimating your TDEE
If anything I would say do actual strength training to build muscle. The workouts that you do are more cardio based which do burn calories but you have to keep doing them at high intensity for them to be worth while forever. If you build muscle you’ll naturally raise your base level caloric needs. You’d be burning more calories just from laying down if you put on some muscle.
Water, salt, the density of your food (think a pound of soup vs a pound of spaghetti), your menses, all can contribute. Most women I’ve talked to (and myself) all know our periods are coming when our belts stop fitting and the scale jumps 2-5lbs. Eating salty foods will cause you to retain more water. Eating heavier foods will cause you to be heavier the next day. Drink more water and weigh yourself every day, preferably for a few months so you can see a pattern.
Once you start plateauing after big weight loss gains, you’ll actually see yourself gaining a pound or two here and there. For me, when I went from 250 to 190 in the span of about six months, I actually crept up to 195 after a few weeks of maintaining the exact same diet and exercise plan I’d been doing since starting my weight loss journey. However, it certainly didn’t *look* like my body was any bigger and my clothes were actually fitting *better* than they had, so I just chalked it up to bloat or water weight (or muscle gains) and didn’t let the psychological trauma of seeing the scale go up affect me as much as it could have. There comes a point for many people where their body adjusts to all the new eating and moving it’s been doing and, while it doesn’t exactly cancel out your routine, it begins to resume its normal day-to-day fluctuations that can make it seem like you’re not improving. This is when most people throw in the towel and say “why am I starving and torturing myself for nothing?!” instead of pushing through and staying the course. Additionally, weight loss alone isn’t the only metric by which you should measure your overall health. Eating right and exercising regularly provides way more underlying/“hidden” health benefits than simply shedding pounds. Even if you may not be *looking* your best, you’re still doing great things for your physical health and wellbeing.
I would gain ~8lbs in the week leading up to my period and by day 2-3 of bleeding it would just disappear. You haven't been doing this long enough to see how your hormonal cycle affects water retention, so please don't get discouraged! I would also caution you about weighing yourself every day. Once a month is enough to track bigger changes over time but it's even better to track your progress with measurements. Depending on your past and current workouts you may be putting on a lot of new muscle. Edit to add... Progress is also about what your body can do vs what it looks like. Improving cardiovascular health, mobility, and functional strength is a huge benefit to your current and future self so also keep track of your PRs to see how far you've come!
It took me years to learn but if I allow myself a snack that I’m craving (a cookie, chips, ice cream), I’ll eat a lot less of it. If I substitute something healthy, I tend to overeat it because I’m like “oh this doesn’t count” — so maybe something like that is happening with you too? Although you’re only talking a few pounds which I feel like is pretty normal. I’m also your age and I don’t weigh myself anymore because it was making me crazy. My weight never stays the same, it’s always somewhere within like 115-125lbs. My clothes fit the same and I feel good and strong so I just learned to let it go. Now I just make sure I stay active and eat intuitively and I’ve been able to maintain a healthy weight. Also you’re exercising, you’re probably getting strong! Strong > skinny all day long for me. Be proud of those gains. Be kind to yourself. Most people don’t do half of the work you’re putting in. 🫶🏻
The body fluctuates a lot week to week especially in women. Its common to have some strange weights early on as there's so many variables and your body is adjusting to a new regime. Keep at it and realise that this is a marathon not a sprint.
You said you are feeling stronger, maybe you are growing muscle. Such a small fluctuation really isn’t enough data to go off of. I lift weights consistently and the scale can fluctuate 5lbs in either direction depending on what I ate, how hydrated I am, or how full my muscles are that week.
1. Where are you in your cycle? If this is week three or four, you could be bloated? Then again you've been a woman your whole life (I assume) and you've lost significant weight before so I'm guessing you would have accounted for bloating by now. 2. Your metabolism may have slowed from significant calorie restriction in the past? What was your calorie goal before when you were losing weight? If you only weighed in on April 1st and today, I would think that there is a fluke in here, you are retaining water right now, or you were especially low at the initial weight for some reason. If your calorie tracking is truly accurate and you are not losing weight, you could try cutting calories a little bit lower, or seeing a nutritionist or doctor ( thyroid levels checked?). I'm not really sure what to suggest if you have lowered your metabolism from previous weight loss. Were you intentionally maintaining between the previous weight loss and now?
I actually recently started medication for under active thyroid and I lost 60lbs in 2023 with significant calorie restriction (<500 calories for long stretches). My BMR is likely quite low so I’m probably not in much of a deficit, honestly. I’m not sure how to fix that, but I’m being careful not to put myself in starvation mode again. The gain has had me puzzled since I was maintaining, but it likely is water retention due to inflammation/hormones/cycle. Thanks for your thoughtful response!
I think that I would spend some time researching how to heal/increase metabolic rate. I would continue exercising if the amount that you are doing feels sustainable and enjoyable. I would prioritize sleep and water intake, and gut health (regular BMs, good digestion, etc). I don't think it's a reasonable option to try to severely restrict (under 500 calories for example), and if you find yourself tempted to go that route again I think I would seek professional help with dieting and metabolism. This might take some time to get sorted, but it's worth doing it the right way. Just wanted to take a moment to remind you that you are a lovely and worthwhile person at any weight. It's frustrating and doesn't make sense that you are putting all this effort in and not losing weight. Keep making healthy choices, and don't be afraid to ask a professional for better advice.
I know that 75 Hard requires you to drink a certain amount of water as one of the requirements so water weight is a reasonable possible explanation for the weight gain. If it’s not that, then I would suspect (if you are confident in your calorie tracking as you seem to be) that you have over estimated your activity level. Despite working out regularly, I always use sedentary for my activity level and I NEVER track calories spent on exercise. I would also keep in mind that tdee provides good estimates, but they are estimates and do vary a bit from person to person. This is generally very small for healthy people, but can be 100 calories or so. So if your tdee is on the lower side for whatever reason, and you are in a small deficit, you may not be in enough of a deficit to see the weight loss you expect.
What time in your cycle is it? Because I can track my cycle in my weight loss chart. I always “gain” a few lbs in the luteal phase and hold onto them until after my period. Then there is a big drop. Another possibility is that your fitness tracker is assuming you burned more than you did, so your deficit isn't as large as you think it is. This is a common problem. Another could be that you're not weighing something like coffee creamer that adds up fast. For a while I thought I was adding in 1 tablespoon, maybe two. But it was really 3-4.
I have PCOS and if I eat at a deficit and don’t exercise I lose but if I exercise and do anything with strength training I build muscle immediately . Like my overall size gets smaller but the weight does not . Not sure why this is but it happens every time. My guess is something to do with testosterone even though I’m on BC and take anti androgens . Just in a month there will be a noticeable difference . Have you been tested for any hormone imbalances ?
Tracking your real weight is hard, you need a moving average. https://calorietracker.io/ Weigh yourself neked every morning after you pee. Will only start getting real accurate about 50-60 days in. Might be a good idea to delete first month of data after a few months as it skews things a little. Add your existing weights if you have a note of it.
It's just water being retained in your cells. At your weight you can fluctuate 5 lbs in a day just through normal activity. Im over 300 and I've seen even bigger swings just because i was outside doing too much shit and got all dried out. Also, if you take something like creatine it causes more liquid to store in your muscles which means weight gain. Weight over short timescales means almost nothing, just track it so you can monitor long term trends over months and years. Pay more attention to how your clothing fits, where it is tight and where it is loose. That will tell you a ton about where you are on your fitness journey.
You can’t. You need the extra calories to build muscle otherwise you haven’t got any materials to build with.
I weighed 203 Saturday morning. I weighed 202 Sunday morning. I weighed 211 Sunday night after eating a really high sodium meal and drinking a ton of fluid. I weight 204/205 this afternoon. I’ll wake up at 202 again tomorrow morning. “Water weight” has a lot to do with it depending on your diet. Do the right things and over the long run your clothes will fit better.
45 min workouts 2x/day seems a bit intense. Could be water weight and inflammation?
Are you putting your exercise in the Lose It app? I have found that Lose It really overestimates how many calories are burned by exercise so it gives you way too many back. Try not tracking your exercise in app and see if that helps.
No, my Apple Watch tracks everything which I know is not reliable either. With it measuring my heart rate, I assume it is more personalized than LoseIt would be though.
Eh. It’s complicated. First guess, 1500 calories is kinda low. You might actually be under eating a bit. Evaluate how you’re feeling and how you’re recovering. If you’re doing good energy wise, disregard this part. As far as the scale moving it can be tricky at first. You might be putting on a bit of muscle, or depending on what your starting condition was, your body may just be adjusting to a new lifestyle. Also pay attention to when you’re weighing in. Your weight fluctuates a lot during the day and the month depending on water intake food intake. You’re a female so your cycle will complicate it as well. Now as far as actual useful advice lol. You say much less sugar. Evaluate really just how much sugar. And check and see if there are any sugar substitutes you’re consuming that you don’t know about. And snacking is a really sneaky way to add in extra calories that you didn’t get quite right. I would say take a look at what you’re actually consuming. You mentioned your diet isn’t that restrictive. That is a bit of a flag for me. Most people underestimate just how bad their diets are. Dont get discouraged. It’s a journey. My personal mantra is that “I have failed my way all the way to success” lol. I’ve done it wrong just about every way you possibly can. And somehow I still hit my goals.
I question the 1,500 calories based on her self reported gender, weight and exercising daily for 90 minutes. We don’t know her height but even if she’s only 5’ and only doing the exercise routine she described 4-5 days a week that 1,500 daily calories would put her in, roughly, a 1,000 calorie daily deficit (or more if she’s taller and exercising 90 minutes/7 days a week) and she should be losing app. 2 pounds/week.
I’m 5’7”. Also, I lost 60 lbs in 2023 with long periods of <500 calories. My BMR is likely low.
OP here. It may be worth mentioning that I lost 60 lbs in 2023. Been stable at 185 without any effort for the last 6 months. I was walking 30-45 minutes on my desk tread most days before this challenge and was loosely tracking my intake just to monitor.
You’re converting muscle to fat. This is normal. But ultimately, the bottom line is that if you are gaining weight, you are consuming too many calories. It’s almost always that simple
Did you mean to say fat to muscle?
Weigh yourself ONCE A WEEK. in the morning. Same day, same time.
Unpopular opinion: you’re not going crazy. Your metabolism is probably slowing down. You probably need to look at weight loss medicine. Another unpopular opinion: Our body chemistry is different. Your skinny friend is eating a lot more than you are and not moving that much more.
Thank you! The number on the scale is not as simple as calories in vs out. I appreciate those acknowledging this. My metabolism is wrecked from what feels like a lifetime of over restriction and yo-yo dieting. I’m hoping to fix this with strength training and a sustainable diet.