To expect to see some weight loss by now?

[Angeldust747]

When the gyms reopened nearly 3 weeks ago I started back, going swimming 3 times a week and a yoga class once a week. I have also started to improve how I eat (reducing calories a bit but more eating better foods).
The only thing is that I've not seen any difference on the scales yet. Is it too soon? I never seem to lose weight by exercise alone, but since lockdown and WFH I've piled it on due to being less active, so was hoping to see at least some difference by working out!

Weight loss is 90% diet rather than activity (but the activity is really important too! It will be massively improving both your mental and physical health).

It may be that you are still eating a large number of calories, even with healthy foods. If it’s not triggering for you, you could try calorie counting for a few days to see if that’s the case. If you use an app like my fitness pal and put in your starting weight it will give you an idea of how many calories you need to eat per day for weight loss. You can also track your exercise and it will factor that it.

How do your clothes feel? That's a much better indicator, mass is so dependendent on fluctuations of water and muscle development you are better off using a tape measure to record bust, waist, hips, thighs and upper arms measurements, it's where you'll see the changes first.

Have you tried putting on clothes that were too tight a few weeks ago for comparison, or measuring yourself? Weight is a bit of a dark art sometimes, what with muscle growth and water retention and all that, so possibly other metrics might be worth a go.

I try to also focus on how much better I feel within myself, as well as getting thinner. Sounds very holier than thou, I know, but it does help

Might be that you're due on as well.

Thing is that you could be overcompensating because you've been exercising or, like many women, you've got the instinct to eat after swimming (it's a known thing with women - and not that you are doing it, but the craving is often something high in carbs, fat and salt - chips, in other words). Linked is the tendency to drink a fair bit of juice/fizz to deal with wobbly legs afterwards - that knocks out all the calories you've just burned.

Maybe give it another week and if you haven't seen any difference after then, look at possibly reducing energy intake a little more?

Don’t forget too that because it is warm your body will try to hold onto water that’s why we feel sweaty and a bit bloated in the heat.

Just concentrate on getting a better health mindset after lockdown and you will start to feel normal again. It took 4 months to go on it might take the same to come off.

I'd suggest you start viewing this as a long-term thing. Don't weigh hoping for fast results. Keep going as a lifestyle and tweak it once your healthy eating is a habit, rather than a 'diet'.

Firstly, well done so far!! However 3x swimming sessions and yoga will tone but not burn a lot of calories. And eating better is healthy but you need to drastically reduce calories to lose weight.

What you are doing is great for maintenance, not weight loss I'm afraid...

I lost half a stone by following the Fast 800 diet, and I didn't even follow it 100%....jusr saying.... Consider it...

Forgot to say I lost it in 3wks

Another vote for taking measurements! Grab a tape measure and keep a record of arms/bust/waist/hips/thighs. Quite often the scales will say the same number but the tape measure will be heading in the right direction.

Those exercises are great for toning, but you’d benefit from adding an activity such as cycling, running, or a Zumba class - something that really gets the heart rate up. You also need to watch your calorie intake - this is more important than exercise. I use LoseIt an app which Gives you a calorie allowance based on you’re height and weight and how long you want to take to lose the weight. It’s not perfect but it’s starting to work for me.

@SarahBellam

Me too!

I finally got the motivation to start a diet using the Lose it! app. Started last Monday and I've already lost a few pounds.

Find it very easy to use.

Exercise won’t make you lose weight. You need to get your diet sorted and then exercise for strength.

It depends how long you're swimming for? If you're swimming for 30 mins at a leisurely breaststroke, you'll only be burning around 200 calories a session/600 calories a week/1,800 calories over the last 3 weeks - and yoga isn't going to burn many at all. To lose 1 pound, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you eat.

If you're still eating more calories than you're body needs you won't lose weight. I use a FitBit to monitor how many calories I burn each day, log all my food and ensure each day I'm in a minimum of 500 calories deficit.

Thanks for all the responses! I've been using my smart watch to track the swims and have been doing 500cals per half hour session, and yoga is nowhere near that even for an hour but I'm definitely feeling better in myself from both.
I really struggle with low low calorie diets like 5/2 and fast 800 so I think I may need to go back onto slimfast - the 1360 calories a day is more manageable I think. I will look up the lose it app too in case that looks any better.
I guess I was freaking out as I'm getting uncomfortably close to the next stone bracket and want to turn things round before I reach it 🤣 its definitely going to be a long term plan though as I was overweight before all this so need to make sure it all comes off and stays off x

Exercise can make you lose weight but you have to do tons of it (think about at least one hour a day with increased heart rate).

A calorie is a calorie so it doesn't matter if it's from cake or avocados.

As other posters have said it's a lot more important how your clothes fit, but three weeks isn't really enough.

careful with those apps, and I say this from experience, they can vastly overestimate your calorie burn. And I can't see how 30 mins of swimming burns 500 calories, that's an enormous calorie burn. Again, you are doing very very well, I am just sharing the things I learned from when I started dieting and exercising again in March.

And it took 6 weeks of 5x week of intense cardio and HIIT +lowering calories to start seeing results. It took years! to put on the extra weight, it will not come off overnight so you need to keep at it! Good luck!

500 calories for half an hour swimming seems like a lot.
Exercise is brilliant but focussing on diet is more important for weight loss.

Weight Watchers worked for me. I’m peri menopausal So I thought it would be a struggle. I just tracked my food intake on their app. I was eating a lot more than I thought even though it was healthy. Just continued with normal exercise. Now I’ve lost two stone I feel exercise is easier and have increased it.