No real weight loss yet??

Need some advice. I am 5.5 1/2 and my starting weight was 146. I am currently at 144.4. (Its been two weeks) Earlier this week, I was at 143.4, which was leading to a 2lb per week weight loss initially. I am not trying to be ruled by the scale, and i understand fluctuations. I just need some reassurance that I am doing things right I guess.

I have been sticking to 1200 calories a day, and working out for at least 30 min daily, usually more than 45.

My first question is, I am not sure why the weight loss is so slow intially. I figured I would loose quickly in the beginning, but maybe after 5lbs slow down. Perhaps I am eating to little, but I have never been a big eater, I just made poor choices when I did eat. Most days its a struggle to get in 1200 calories. Hubby tells me not to worry about the calories if I am not hungry. If that was true, Id probably only eat like 1000 calories a day. It always amazes me how much 1200 calories is when its not cookies!I guess my main question is if I am eating enough?

My goal is to get to my comfortable weight of 130, but more so that I am healthy and my clothes fit. I quit smoking as well for 3 weeks now!

Thanks for your help. Its time to do the FIRM! UGH

Amanda

With those stats and at least half an hour of exercise a day you're in the category of 'lightly active' - possibly even 'moderately active'.  If you use the CC calculator, enter your stats and set your target weight to a realistic amount with a reasonable time-scale I think you'll get a number rather higher than 1200.  Plan out your day in advance and increase portion-sizes slightly so that you get the full amount rather than getting to the end of the day and finding you've undereaten. Eating less than 1200 cals a day will give you problems long-term.  If you stop feeling hungry on less than 1200 cals a day, that's not a good sign.

Because you're not technically overweight, weight-loss will be slow.  At best you could hope to lose 1% of your body-weight.... so 1 - 1.5lbs a week. You've lost about 1.5lbs-2lbs in 2 weeks if I read that correctly... which is spot on.   Try not to weigh more than once a week since this only throws up all kinds of odd numbers that bear little relation to anything.   Good luck

"Try not to weigh more than once a week since this only throws up all kinds of odd numbers that bear little relation to anything."

Jane, what do you mean by this?

My goals are very similar to yours! I weighed 150, I'm 5'5", and I want to get down to about 125-130. This was my weight pre-baby, and I have gained a lot of tummy weight. 

My daily calorie intake (suggested by the meters on this site) is 1700. Eating high fiber foods helps me feel full, and I try to space them out over 4-5 meals a day. I've only lost about 2 pounds in two weeks, but I've worked out almost daily and dramatically changed my diet. I have managed to stay under 2000 calories on average -- some days I take in 2000-2300, but then the next day I may only eat 1500. I listed myself as moderately active -- I do some weight training 3x/week and workout until about 35 min. of intense (sweating and breathing heavy!) cardio 4-5/week. 

If I had to guess, I'd say I'm losing slowly for a number of reasons: I've put on a lot of muscle, I drink about 96 oz. water daily, and I am not dead set on losing it quickly but evenly. My jeans are already looser and my tummy much trimmer -- it must be fat loss and muscle gain evening out. 

Good Luck and keep at it!

Original Post by counselork:

"Try not to weigh more than once a week since this only throws up all kinds of odd numbers that bear little relation to anything."

 

Jane, what do you mean by this?

 By this she means if you weigh yourself everyday, you will be tracking the little changes that your body has naturally, fluctuations due sodium levels, body water, whether you have a meal in your tummy.  Your weight can fluctuate plus or minus 2-3 lbs each day, so by weighing once a week, at the same time of day, you will have a more accurate idea of progress over time AND you won't drive yourself crazy.

Weighing every day can be very disappointing. If you have too much salt, or not enough water--the next day the scale is up. If you have a diuretic (sp?) like red wine, you are a little lower weight. If you exercise with heavy weights, your muscle may retain more water to rebuild. If you didn't take a good BM (okay, maybe tmi!) you may be up. If you have been building muscle, the scale may go up (or at least not go down as expected!). Take your measurements. Judge your progress on how your clothes feel and how much energy you have, or even the clarity of your skin! Weigh once a week and notice a trend over time... hopefully going down :)