Does weight loss happen in steps?

Hi guys,

I have been on diet and excercise for about two months now. I started on 72Kgs, and the scale never moved in the first month of my diet. Though at the end of the month, I suddenly lost about 2 Kgs.

I am close to the end of my second month now, and I am still at 70. It makes me wonder: does weight loss happen in discrete steps?

I am 27 years old, and I eat about 1200 calories a day. I also workout for about 45 miutes to one hour, and that includes 20 minutes of cardio + weight training.

Advice me please.

Are you losinginches? are your clothes fitting any loser? I say yes.. in steps because It did for me...... but are there any signs of CHANGE?

Yes, they do. I haven't lost inches considerably at my waist. But I had to tighten my belt to one more hole with my pants. 

Good to know that this isn't just for me :) I am hoping to reduce another 2 Kgs by the end of this month. But did you have a regular weight loss pattern? And how many kgs did you drop when you drop?

My weight loss is weird...I stay at the same weight for a few days/ a week, then I'll put on 1lb, then a couple of days later I'll lose 3lbs. this has happened several times, and because i weigh myelf every day i've noticed the pattern.

Weird!

=)

I'm like loosewindow...lose one, get 2 back, bounce back and forth for a few days and end up about 1/2 a pound down.

Hi,

As a personal trainer I can tell you that your problem may lie in several areas but it is most likely the result of eating too few calories.  1200 calories, in my experience, is probably too little for you lose the fat you want.  When your body feels it is being starved, the last thing it will do is burn body fat.  You are probably burning muscle in the latter stages of the day while burning fat in the first half.  Up your calories to maybe 1600 (especially on days you exercise) and you should be taking in enough calories to keep your body from feeling like it is being 'starved.'  Hope this helps.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies.

houstonpt, but I am finding it really difficult to eat more than 1200 cals a day. Here is my typical menu for a day:

Breakfast (8:00 AM)
 A   Apples  110
 B   Multivitamin Juice  72
 A-  Bread, Rye  73
 A   Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, Year Round Average  10
 
Lunch (12:30 PM)
     Fusilli - Tricolore, Dry 263
     Fat free natural joghurt 40
 A   Cabbage - Raw 21
     Kidney beans 131
 A   Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, Year Round Average 16

Snacks (4:30 PM)
 A-  Bread, Rye 73
 A   Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, Year Round Average 10
 B   Multivitamin Juice 72

Dinner (8:30 PM)
 A-  Bread, Rye 148
 A   Tomatoes, Red, Ripe - Raw, Year Round Average 22
 B+  Skim Milk 90

That comes to a total of  1151 calories. The analysis tab in this website tells me that I am eating 8% fat, 14% proteins and 78% carbs, and the nutrition grade is A.

I workout in the evenings, so I am not really very hungry after my workout, and a rye bread sandwich with milk fills me up. Where can I add more food, and what type of food should I add?

Also, being a vegetarian, I am not able to find many protein rich (and low carb) foods. I would like to get about 30% of proteins and 50% of carbs. I have been thinking about some almonds to add more proteins. But are there other protein rich foods? (besides eggs, which I don't like to eat very much)

You allready figuered it out, you do NEED much more protein than you currently get.

I eat everything, meat, veggies, fruits, while most meat will look unhealthy at first, it is pretty damn needed just because of the protein it gives you. All your body is based on protein, amino acids. I lose arround 2kgs a month that way.

I would reccomend that you add some protein shakes to your daily meals, not only to lose weight much faster, but also to eat healthier ;)

Also your fat intake seems to be quite low, try to get at least 20%(it's not hard anyway since fat is damn high in cals), eat nuts, olives and so on(when you train, you can add these without cutting ANYTHING you eat regularly, if you don't train, then cut out some other stuff, you should have lost much faster eating only 1200 cals a day). Try to aim for 20% fat, 25% protein and 55% carbs, that would be a great chart(one I will never get hehe). Also drink a lot, drink 3 litres a day on hot sunny days and at least 2 litres on any other day, eating fruits is also a great idea to get some more water.