How long does it take for weight loss to shop up on the scale for you?

[Lenor]

I’m feeling really defeated 🙁 I’ve been calorie counting for two weeks now. For the first week I was doing it in quite a lax fashion and estimating, not weighing etc. At the end of the week I hadn’t lost a thing and I was gutted. So I decided to do it properly and have been using an app. I’ve been weighing all my food, counting EVERYTHING. I’ve been weighing out my vegetables even and counting how many nuts I add to my muesli. Counting calories in hot drinks, not using oils or butter, you name it. I weighed myself yesterday and I’ve lost 1 pound, which could well just be water weight.

I’m in my 20s, so I would hope don’t have age against me. I have 3 very young children and my weight has ballooned since having my first. I’m 105kg and I’m very active (20k steps a day looking after my little 3). I’m eating 1600 calories a day, as recommended by the online calculator I used for my weight and height and activity levels. The last few days though I’ve been so desperate to see movement on the scales I’ve been having 1200kcal and still, only a pound. Am I just being impatient or is this really odd?

What have you been eating? If you've had a lot of salt, that could affect it, as well as the amount of water you drink. It could all be water and you'll get a whoosh.

Or you could be sensitive to carbs, I could eat only 800 cals of bread in a day but not lose, and even gain, as I can't eat carbs.

Thank you, that’s a really helpful infographic.

I have been trying to drink more but maybe still not enough. Definitely not a lot of salt… I’m eating really well! Salads, roasted veg, rice salads. I feel like I should be a green bean by now 😆I am very impatient though.

Honestly it can take 2-3 weeks to see a true trend. If you consider your first week as a practice run then you've really only been at it for a week!

It takes time, most of us have completely unrealistic expectations of how quickly it should drop off. I am the same, after 3 days I am annoyed it's not worked yet, but you have to get your head down, hit your steps/calories/whatever and give it time.

Also please don't drop to 1200, it's completely unsustainable!

I’m on 1200 a day and have been since mid May. Started at 85kg and am now at 75kg. I’m logging and weighing everything. Every single thing, plus doing 5 work outs a week (spinning and weights at the gym, HIIT at home twice a week). Only lost about a pound last week but a loss is a loss!

Don’t get particularly hungry either (or rather, I do but when it’s lunch or dinner time).

Keep at it OP!

Was going to say about water too.

You do need to make sure you are properly hydrated to see good weight loss so if you are not currently doing it then up your water to around the 2ltr a day mark. You'll be back and forth to the toilet which helps your step count and you'll be giving your body what it needs to break down the fat.

You need to weigh yourself every day and take the lowest weight for the week as your weekly weigh in. There are some great apps which track your daily weight on a chart and it helps you see the gradual downward trend rather than focus on the fluctuations. Also, and I say this with kindness, you have been doing this for one week. Is there anything else in life you would expect to achieve in just one week? With a decent amount of weight to lose this is a long game. Stick with it, tick those boxes, remember your why, and don't expect miracles overnight.

I'm not calorie counting because I'm too lazy to put all the individual ingredients into MFP. I have been gradually losing weight since having my last DC eight months ago but I started intermittent fasting (16:8) two weeks ago and you can see the difference it has made!

I've been making healthier choices too and it is a form of calorie control as you don't really have time to snack.

Combined with what you're doing already it might make a significant difference for you.

You have to click on the pic to see the important bit of the graph!

I drink 3l of water a day and do 20 squats every time I have a wee 💪

Thanks everyone, this is the pep talk I needed! You’re all absolutely right that it’s very early days, and I’m relieved to hear that it’s quite normal I haven’t seen results yet.

@greenmarsupial I did a 100 day weigh in challenge a couple of years ago while calorie counting (1600 a day, 5ft 8, starting about 210lb). Like you say it goes up and down, up and down........the important thing is the long term trend.

Weightfit is a nice app for tracking and getting stats.

3 pounds down today so you were all absolutely right, i’m just impatient. Thanks everyone x