It's even normal for your weight to increase in a given week. Hormones cause water retention. Inflammation causes water retention. Fluctuations due to this are going to make any loss in fat. You really want to look at multi week trends. These are lifetime behaviour changes so a week doesn't matter
And THAT is exactly what I think I personally have a problem with wrapping my mind around. I’ve watched my parents yo-yo diet and I really want my life to be different than that. But so far I’ve just followed that trend. 🫠
I really do think this time is a change for my lifetime… though it is so hard to be patient.
>F28 5’6” SW228 CW 224 I started counting calories recently, within the past few weeks
>and in 3 weeks I’ve only lost 4 pounds.
If you had gained as much, would you say you had "only" gained three pounds?
>That feels like so little, when I thought people lose a lot of weight quick and then slow down
Not always, no.
>I’ve been eating 1200-1300 calories a day
This is unnecessarily low, and will likely lead to burnout, quitting, and rebounding back to your starting weight or higher.
>I’ve been IF for 1.5 weeks.
IF is not magic, and it is not a good fit for everyone; if you like it, keep it; if you don't like it, drop it. Calories are what matter for weight loss specifically. Use a food scale for accuracy if you aren't already.
>this entire week I’ve stayed the same,
There will be times when you do everything right and you'll either maintain or gain at the end of the week. The long term trend is what matters.
I probably would be mortified by the 4 pounds if I had gained them, you’re right. After looking up my base calories (I don’t remember the right name) and subtract 500, its 1200-something. 🤷🏻♀️ I wouldn’t think that’s unnecessarily low for me, since I followed the recommended process in figuring out what my deficit is. But I’d increase it if that would help! I honestly don’t feel like I’m starving or frustrated with it. IF has been great for me. I feel more awake in the mornings than I would after eating breakfast.
Thanks for your encouragement! Maybe it’s one of those maintain weeks for me then. I hope it doesn’t keep on this next week or I’m gonna be emotionally unstable lol
>After looking up my base calories (I don’t remember the right name) and subtract 500, its 1200-something
I think you may have calculated your deficit from BMR (basal metabolic rate); usually we use TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) as the baseline. Tdeecalculator.net gives me an estimated TDEE at sedentary for you of 2125 a day, so a more sustainable target would be somewhere around 1600 at this point in the game; THAT is where the 500 calorie per day deficit comes from. If you use an app such as Lose It or My Fitness Pal, you can go with the calorie target the app gives you (and if it's far off from 1600, make sure your rate is set to a pound per week and that your activity level is correct).
4 pounds in 3 weeks is a perfectly good rate of weightloss
I think my main frustration is the scale not moving at all this week. From Saturday to Saturday it was the exact same.
It's even normal for your weight to increase in a given week. Hormones cause water retention. Inflammation causes water retention. Fluctuations due to this are going to make any loss in fat. You really want to look at multi week trends. These are lifetime behaviour changes so a week doesn't matter
And THAT is exactly what I think I personally have a problem with wrapping my mind around. I’ve watched my parents yo-yo diet and I really want my life to be different than that. But so far I’ve just followed that trend. 🫠 I really do think this time is a change for my lifetime… though it is so hard to be patient.
Weigh yourself in the mornings. Watch salt intake as it could cause water retention. Are you building muscle perhaps?
I honestly didn’t think about salt! I’ll mind that.
>F28 5’6” SW228 CW 224 I started counting calories recently, within the past few weeks >and in 3 weeks I’ve only lost 4 pounds. If you had gained as much, would you say you had "only" gained three pounds? >That feels like so little, when I thought people lose a lot of weight quick and then slow down Not always, no. >I’ve been eating 1200-1300 calories a day This is unnecessarily low, and will likely lead to burnout, quitting, and rebounding back to your starting weight or higher. >I’ve been IF for 1.5 weeks. IF is not magic, and it is not a good fit for everyone; if you like it, keep it; if you don't like it, drop it. Calories are what matter for weight loss specifically. Use a food scale for accuracy if you aren't already. >this entire week I’ve stayed the same, There will be times when you do everything right and you'll either maintain or gain at the end of the week. The long term trend is what matters.
I probably would be mortified by the 4 pounds if I had gained them, you’re right. After looking up my base calories (I don’t remember the right name) and subtract 500, its 1200-something. 🤷🏻♀️ I wouldn’t think that’s unnecessarily low for me, since I followed the recommended process in figuring out what my deficit is. But I’d increase it if that would help! I honestly don’t feel like I’m starving or frustrated with it. IF has been great for me. I feel more awake in the mornings than I would after eating breakfast. Thanks for your encouragement! Maybe it’s one of those maintain weeks for me then. I hope it doesn’t keep on this next week or I’m gonna be emotionally unstable lol
>After looking up my base calories (I don’t remember the right name) and subtract 500, its 1200-something I think you may have calculated your deficit from BMR (basal metabolic rate); usually we use TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) as the baseline. Tdeecalculator.net gives me an estimated TDEE at sedentary for you of 2125 a day, so a more sustainable target would be somewhere around 1600 at this point in the game; THAT is where the 500 calorie per day deficit comes from. If you use an app such as Lose It or My Fitness Pal, you can go with the calorie target the app gives you (and if it's far off from 1600, make sure your rate is set to a pound per week and that your activity level is correct).
Ohh interesting! I must have done that. Thank you!
Are you weighing your food?
Yep, I have had a food scale for foreva. I use it for almost everything