What the...??!!!

I am soooo frustrated & obviously haven’t the faintest clue as to what I’m doing!!! I started my calorie caounting (on a different site) and have encountered an annoying problem; the scale is moving in the wrong direction! 1st, here’s my activity for the past 3 weeks:

Dec. 23 (Tue.): starting weight 143lbs  

Dec. 23-Dec. 29 (Tue.-Mon.): Averaged 1100 cal/day (was shooting for 1200) and no exercise.Dec. 30 (Tue.): I weigh in at 138lbs (down 5lbs- Yah!!!...but wait)Then I joined a group online for motivation & support & we weigh in weekly on Fridays. 

Jan. 2 (Fri.): I weigh in at 139.5lbs (up 1.5lb- What?!...In only 3 days?!)I continue weighing in on Tuesdays & Fridays from then on.

Dec. 30- Jan. 5 (Tue.- Mon.): Consumed and average of 1330 cal/day & burned an average of 150 cal/day in exercise (so, 1330-150= 1180 cal/day-however, I was still shooting for 1200 cal/day after workouts).Jan. 6 & 9 (Tue. &Fri.): I weigh in at 139.5lbs still… 

Jan. 6- Jan. 13 (Tue.- Mon.): Consumed an average of 1290 cal/day & burned an average of 140 cal/day in exercise (so, 1290-140= 1150 cal/day- I was trying 1200cal on inactive days & 1400cal on active days). Jan. 13 (Tue): Weighed in at 139.5lbs still…

So, I think to myself...perhaps I’m not getting enough calories and I up my intake…

Jan. 16 (Fri.- Today): I weighed in at 141lbs!!!! (up 1.5- What the @#$%?!!!)

Jan. 13- Jan. 15 (Tue.-Thur.): Consumed an average of 1400 cal & 250 cal burned in exercise (1400-250= 1150- I can’t believe I’m still under 1200??? I do calorie shifting- ex. Eat more on active days & less on non-active days).

What the heck am I doing?! And, what should I be doing??? Someone, pleeeeaaase school me! : }

-I’m a 5’2” female & 25y/o w/ a goal weight of 120lbs.

Well if your calorie intake isn't consistent, your body will hold food and water on certain days. Heck, even if it is.. it also depends on the amount of sodium and carbs and water and all that stuff you have. Plus with exercise, you're probably retaining a bit more water than usual as well.

But look at your trend. You started on Dec. 23 at 143, and now you're down to 141. You've still lost 2 lbs, even with the zig-zagging on the scale.

But you don't say what your exercise consists of. You probably need to be eating even more. Make sure you are netting what your calorie needs are on sedentary at the very least. I'm 5'1" and my calorie needs on sedentary are about 1,390.

EDIT: I input your stats on caloriesperhour.com, and your unadjusted BMR is 1,350. Do not ever go below this number. It also says you burn 1,620 being sedentary, so you still are not eating enough. Interesting, eh? lol

my body weight can flucuate several pounds over the course of one day.  Don't freak over a couple of pounds.

Whenever I start trying to lose weight, it takes 4 to 6 weeks before I start to see any real results.  I mean, I'll lose maybe a pound or two despite doing everything "right" in those 4-6 weeks, but it's really frustrating because it feels like I'm working so hard for no results.

And even when I finally do start to see a loss, it's zig-zags all the way, baby.  The scale goes down two pounds, up three, down two, up a half, down four, up two... you get the idea.  Just hang in there and give your body time to work with you.

Original Post by ezzied:

But you don't say what your exercise consists of. You probably need to be eating even more. Make sure you are netting what your calorie needs are on sedentary at the very least. I'm 5'1" and my calorie needs on sedentary are about 1,390.

EDIT: I input your stats on caloriesperhour.com, and your unadjusted BMR is 1,350. Do not ever go below this number. It also says you burn 1,620 being sedentary, so you still are not eating enough. Interesting, eh? lol

Thanks so much! That really helps cuz I was really confused what I am supposed to be netting at? How I was trying come to my true BMR was so vague...By th way, I do resistance training w/ weights about 3-4 times per week for an hour, pilates about once a week & cardio about once a week for an hour. I've been trying to step up my cardio  this week & maybe have done about 2-3hrs of cardio since Monday.

Thank you all...to know you all have had flutiations helps a little. Its just that in the past where I've done this (not necessarily net calories at 1200 or less) I lost consistantly each week...different numbers, but progress each week. BUT, I wasn't as disciplined about meeting 1200-1400 calories on my intake with exercise so I was probably not dropping below a net caloric intake of 1,350.

Hey guess what?!  I'm also 5'2 and 25 years old.   I was lucky enough to reach my goal weight of 120 lbs.  so perhaps I can give you some  tips on what I did.

First of all, I think you've got your cals. right.  We're not very tall, so yeah we do need to cut back to around 1200 for a weight loss.  It was hard for me at first, but I started eating a lot more protein and cut out some of the carbs.  I tried to eat equal amouns of both.  After a couple weeks, i finally started to see results!  I was getting so mad!  Maybe your body might be different, but if I eat 1600 cals. then I won't loose weight.  I also go to the gym 3-4 times a week doing high intensity cardio like spinning, running, etc. and weightlifting.  I think the whole, "not eating enough" is somewhat of a hoax if your talking about the short term.

My other thought is:  are you weighing and measuring your food?  Perhaps you might be eating more calories than you think.  It's a good idea to double check that if your not sure.

But it did take 2-3 weeks to start seeing the scale move, so maybe it hasn't been long enough. 

It sounds like you're doing everything right, just give it more time and double check your calories.  It shouldn't be as complex as "calorie shifting" and whatnot, just eat when your hungry and make sure it's healthy protein.  It keeps you full the longest and your body is much more efficient in burning it.  In fact, I was told your body burns protein, carbs, and then fat in that order.

Hope this helps!

Like another poster has said, you still have lost some weight! So good job! =D

I'm also 5'2" and at my goal weight range of 122-125 (right now I've been weighing in consistently at 124, but as long as I'm within that range, I'm not going to freak out). I started at 150-ish lbs. I lost the last 5-10 lbs eating about 1400-1900 a day, zig zagging. I do work out 5 days a week, MWF walk/sprint + weightlifting and TuThurs(Sat) I do boring cardio (for me... wish I could walk/sprint and weight lift EVERYDAY).

I weigh myself everyday I work out just to keep track and then average out the weight on the last day. You really shouldn't fret about minor fluctuations though, even if you are weighing yourself once or twice a week. Sometimes I would weigh about 1-2 lbs more than I did the day before, but also, for instance, I lifted heavy weights and was extremely sore or ate a lot of stuff with too much sodium the day before. So don't worry and be patient! Like said before, you've still lost a couple lbs already! That's awesome. =]

Original Post by kaleenashai:

Averaged 1100 cal/day (was shooting for 1200)

Right there, you probably briefly triggered your conservation mode and didn't eat enough to offset it for a bit. The fluctuations may be normal, but you may also have been "recovering" from some undereating. The smaller you are, the more careful you will have to be NOT to undereat. Use exercise to build your deficit, and allow yourself to lose slowly, and you will, and it will be easier to keep it off.

I'm sure for small gals. You have to eat at least 1200, and yet your BMR is relatively low, so it looks like you have a small deficit, so you exericise to increase it. But b/c you are smaller, you don't burn a ton of cals with exercise, so it seems impossible to get anywhere close to a 1000 cal deficit. So, don't even try! aim for 500 and if you hit it consistently, you will lose 1 lb/week. You don't want to lose more than 1% of your body weight/week anyway. Hang in there!

Thank you all for you input! You've all been very helpful and very encouraging! I think I'm gonna increase my exercise and try to keep my net calories closer to 1200-1350 on a daily basis w/out all the zig/zaging in my eating.