I've net a 4000 calorie deficit for the week: So when do I lose my pound of fat?
I know weight loss sometimes happens in chunks, regardless of how consistent one is with calorie deficits. But I get frustrated when I do the work and see no result.
How does your deficit-weight loss cause-reaction work? Does the weight come off slowly but surely, a fraction of a pound each day? Or do you sometimes see a three-pound drop after three weeks of no loss? Or perhaps it happens differently?
I paid my dues, I want my reward! At the same time I know the body is capricious.
Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Supposingly it takes 3500 deficit to lose one pound...but I do the same thing, it all seems to come off at once and then the scale does not move for the rest of the week...I need a digital that counts in 0.1 to really see how it comes off. I agree, it is frustrating, I always have about a 1000 deficit a day and it still seems to move slowly....I have lost 18lbs in the lst month though
calories in food can be accounted for pretty accurately, but burn is always an estimate, so deficit is always an estimate. if you think you have a deficit over a couple of weeks, and the scale isn't showing it, you're probably over-estimating your burn.
If only the actual loss matched the math, sadly, it's nowhere near perfect. Since I started keeping track of my daily deficits, the math says I should have lost 7 pounds but I've only dropped 4. There, obviously, won't be an overnight drop from the prior day's deficit, but at the end of the week, something should show up.
There will be weeks when the loss is higher than deficit and others, there will be none or even a gain. One week, I lost 3 pounds, next week gained one, then went down nearly 6 the week following (that one was a shock, yup, I double checked) then back up another two the week after that. Wish I had been tracking the deficit numbers during that period to find out what happened.
Hey, as long as it's going down, I'm not going to complain (much).
Original Post by nekochama:I know the body is capricious.
That my dear is the truth and the only thing that will ever make sense!
Even digital scales don't help because then you will see every gain as well as drop. Up 1, down 2, up 3, down .3, up 2.5, down 1.8. Its maddening.
The only real way to know if you are losing is to track your progress over a length of time. A good month is not too long. Your daily and even weekly progress can seem insignificant. But over time you can see that you are losing.
Thanks for your replies!
I should probably mention that I am normal BMI -- 5'9" female 147lbs. My goal is 140, and it's slow going, even with 500 - 1000 daily deficits. I put my activity level at sedentary and then log what I sweat off at the gym, usually a total burn of 2400 - 2550. 1700 on my off day (once a week.)
I think I do need to focus on the bigger picture of my overall trend and not day-to-day weight loss. It is really maddening, though! Sodum intake, how much I sleep and TOTM also throw their weight around (pun intended) and send the scale up and down.
Patience... Not my easiest virtue.
Original Post by pgeorgian:
calories in food can be accounted for pretty accurately, but burn is always an estimate, so deficit is always an estimate. if you think you have a deficit over a couple of weeks, and the scale isn't showing it, you're probably over-estimating your burn.
Im having the same problem and i have a HRM that shows the calories I have burned when workingout and i have checked to make sure all my info is put in right. It does get very frustrating bet you if i ate that 3500+ deficit I would gain that pound. 
I'm finding my degree of weight loss is closely related to my menstrual cycle.
I'm trying to lose 1 pound a week, and what I'm finding is that I lose 4 pounds in the week after my period and then the scale doesn't budge for the next 3 weeks. So I only feel confident that I'm losing weight once the whole month has passed.
Original Post by snailrind:
I'm finding my degree of weight loss is closely related to my menstrual cycle.
I'm trying to lose 1 pound a week, and what I'm finding is that I lose 4 pounds in the week after my period and then the scale doesn't budge for the next 3 weeks. So I only feel confident that I'm losing weight once the whole month has passed.
I remember I had the exact same experience when I lost 30+ pounds in 2001-2002. I would never lose the week before or of my period, but then would drop three the week after! Man, I loved that week...
I'm going to focus on the monthly and not weekly pogress. Thanks for your posts, everyone!
The explanation is quite simple
Your fat cells replaces the fatty acids they release with water. It takes on water because it wants to keep its volume in case it would need to store fat again. When it realizes that you won't use it anymore, it will let go of the water. This could take from a couple days to 6 months.
That's why you lose fat but not weight. So don't bother too much with the scale, because it's not telling the real story. You are losing fat. Keep on doing what you are doing.
Patrick
Original Post by valtorpublic:
The explanation is quite simple
Your fat cells replaces the fatty acids they release with water. It takes on water because it wants to keep its volume in case it would need to store fat again. When it realizes that you won't use it anymore, it will let go of the water. This could take from a couple days to 6 months.
That's why you lose fat but not weight. So don't bother too much with the scale, because it's not telling the real story. You are losing fat. Keep on doing what you are doing.
Patrick
Yeah sometimes it's best to use the tape measure rather than the weighing scales. You can remain the weight but reduce your waistline.
I get caught up in this weight measurement madness too...but what you really should be measuring is your 'measurements' themselves. Muscle weighs more than fat. So if you put on muscle and lose fat...you could technically gain wieght. If you aren't working out or eating protien then it's not supposed to work that weigh.
If you put your old pants on and they feel loser...then you are losing regardless of what the scale says.
There is a lot to it but this is one thing to keep in consideration.
Rich
I completely avoid the issue. I avoid the scale. Weighing yourself daily is like staring at the clock hoping the day will end soon. The more you stare at the clock the slower it moves. (A watched pot never boils) It's better to go by the tape than the scale, but measure every month not every day.
I also think that we have a tendency to fudge the numbers(pun intended). I try to enter more than I've eaten to avoid underestimating my intake. We lie to ourselves about how far we rode walked or ran and how much we've eaten. And then you step on the scale and become discouraged and eat even worse than you would have otherwise.
Don't lie to yourself. It will work!
I lost 50 pounds in about 8 months during that time I weighed myself three times.
250lb to start, 230lb, 220lb, 200lb going for 180lb 
Original Post by nekochama:
I put my activity level at sedentary and then log what I sweat off at the gym, usually a total burn of 2400 - 2550. 1700 on my off day (once a week.)
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If you've been weight training, it's possible that you've been at least partially exchanging muscle for fat. It's also possible that you might not be eating enough calories. I think you should take some measurements like others have suggested and if they seem to be going in the right direction don't worry about it, otherwise you might want to look into increasing your calorie intake by maybe 100 cals or so a day and see if that helps you at all.
I personally weigh myself every day (I know it can drive you crazy, but I tend to eat better knowing that I'm going to have to record my weight in the morning), but I try to filter out my day-to-day fluctuations and just make sure that my trend line is going in the right direction.
UPDATE: The scale moved and lost my pound! I am now 146, six more pounds to go. It's odd the weight loss showed today - I had very salty Japanese noodles for dinner last night.
Thanks to everybody who replied! Next week is my TOTM so I must be extra careful to keep my eye on the big picture and not obsess with the daily fluctuations or the scale getting stuck...
Woo-hoo! Congratulations. I'm still waiting to lose my pound, heh.
