What am I doing wrong? Not losing weight!

[loveabitofbluey]

Started a diet three weeks ago. To give a bit of context before I started my lifestyle was ridiculously unhealthy. I ate whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, lots of chocolate, crisps etc. ate three meals a day, normally toast for breakfast, sandwich, crisps, some sort of choc for lunch and then pasta or something similar for dinner. We normally ate two takeaways a week if not more. I also drank almost a bottle of wine to myself each night. I know how bad this all is so I really want to turn my life around and make myself much healthier for the sake of my DC.

So three weeks ago I turned a corner. I stopped drinking completely (I had a couple of glasses the weekend of the first week but realised I didn't actually miss it much and haven't since then). I've started fasting which I'm actually enjoying, I start eating at about 11/12ish then finish eating at 5/6pm. That leaves me time to have two meals a day and one snack. This is usually eggs with fish or a salad and chicken for my first meal, a piece of fruit with a tablespoon of peanut butter for my snack and then a healthy meal for dinner. I've been measuring out all of my food and try to stick to 1200 calories a day. Sometimes this creeps up to 1300.

I've also started exercising, I go to the gym 4 times a week. I normally do 30 minutes HIIT training on the treadmill followed by 30 mins on the rowing machine. I'm going to swap my gym routine around a bit this week but I just started with these exercises as that's what I felt comfortable with.

When I started all of this I weighed 11 stone 12lbs. I weighed this morning and am only at 11st 9lbs. I've also started measuring myself and have lost 2cm around my waist but that's pretty much it. I really don't know where I'm going wrong! Anybody got any suggestions?

But you are losing...
It's been 3 weeks you lost half a kilo a week and 2cm over the waist. That's losing.
Not everyone gets the massive water drop at the begining.

You’re losing a pound a week, so must be in a deficit of 3500 cals or so every week… that’s not nothing

You are losing. Just slowly.

Thanks both I just thought I would see a bit more loss than this. Makes me feel like I'm not doing something right.

3 weeks is nothing

you can totally turn your life around like this and it is great, but give it time

in a year from now you’ll look back and think WOW

There was a good saying. If I remember it correctly.
In 1 month you will feel it, in 3 months you will see it, in 6 months you will hear it

Peanut butter is calorific. I would lose that if you can, no need to eat that. Just have the fruit.

Slow is best And more likely to be sustained
So perfect not wrong
And well sone on the lifestyle changes , it's hard because so many of the benefits you don't see

You've lost 3lbs in 3 weeks, that's perfect and a sensible amount to be losing.

Weight loss is a marathon not a sprint.

You are losing weight, you're doing brilliantly! Don't let it derail you - if you keep going you'll have made a huge difference by Christmas, plus you'll be fitter and healthier. And 2cm off your waist is great.

At just under 12 stone you were hardly huge, so you won't get a massive weight loss. Your starting weight is my target weight 😂

Thanks for putting it in perspective. I think it's because in the past I've always tried fad diets and slimming world etc where I've ended up losing 8lbs or so in the first week. However I then give up and put it straight back on whereas this time it feels more like a lifestyle change than a diet and I'm actually enjoying it so hopefully it will stay off this time.

@SnapdragonToadflax I'm only 5ft so my target weight should be about 9st

Please don’t feel like I’m preaching and you should do what you want to do but I just felt the need to comment that 1200-1300 calories is not enough for an adult. Fasting and consuming the same amount of calories as a child is not sustainable.

The fact you’re exercising is brilliant - but at the same time if you’re consuming 1200 calories, burning 300 let’s say. That means you’re having 900 calories per day. Your body is most likely going to start to store that so your weight loss might be slow.

I did what you are doing and cut my calories down to 1200 a day and go to the gym. I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t losing much and the guy there was shocked how low my calorie intake was. I upped it to 1650 calories and ate what I wanted but within those 1650 calories. If I wanted some chocolate, absolutely fine just make sure I included it in my calorie intake. I didn’t deprive myself and still enjoyed my food I loved etc x

@littleboymama thank you for the advice. This is where I get really confused. I see so much conflicting advice all the time that I really don't have a clue what I should be doing! On a post I added recently people were telling me that eating 1600 calories would mean I would only maintain and not lose and that I absolutely wouldn't lose weight unless I ate 1200. They said that I shouldn't count the calories I'm losing due to exercise as it wasn't accurate. I might have a word with someone at the gym later and see what they recommend.

ended up losing 8lbs or so in the first week

It's just water weight

I think you are making brilliant progress. In my experience it takes a good few months for fasting to take effect and notice the difference. I'm now losing having made some significant changes including fasting and it took a while. Don't feel dispondent. I view it as a lifelong change of habits, not a time limited thing to reach a goal. It's a marathon not a sprint basically

While I agree 1200 is usually too little, OP is 5ft. So for the height etc it might be absolutely ok for loss.
Half the MN apparently maintains on that....

Also don't ditch the peanut butter, it will balance the sugar from the fruit and is protein and healthy fats

Exactly. I don’t know how some people manage to do that but I know what you mean. At slimming world years ago I was upset because in the first week I lost 1.5lbs and quite a few others of a similar size lost 6/7/8/9lbs in a week. But honestly, it’s not all fat.

You are doing really well. I would try to incorporate some weight training too, that’s just how I personally find weight loss a bit quicker.

3 lbs in 3 weeks is not nothing! Plus, weight loss can really fluctuate - especially around your cycle. When I was losing weight, I would sometimes stay the same for a few weeks, and then drop by 2 or 3 lbs in one week.

I would ignore the posts about your calories - if you feel good and it's working for you, then they are probably fine. Everyone is different.

I agree with the weight training suggestion though - that was a game changer for me!

How do you feel though OP? I started exercising a couple of months ago and I feel fantastic, so much healthier. I haven't lost any weight (not that I wanted to) but there are other positives to motivate you if you're not seeing any change yet.

Yup.

Wait when you realise your posture is better and suddenly you look slimmer even with minimal loss. Bit of a schoker that one

Don’t listen to that please. Nothing wrong with peanut butter.

you are losing, but weight is affected by all sorts such as water retention, digestive cycle etc. btw 1200 is VERY low, probably unsustainable, at your weight you could also lose at 1500

Is it more important to you that the number on the scales goes down, or that you lose inches and feel and look stronger and slimmer?