Scales not moving

[PumpkinP]

IM doing a calorie controlled diet. For the first two weeks I’ve had good loses but this week I haven’t lost a single pound! It’s Hard to stay motivated when the scales arent moving. I am very very big. Don’t want to say how much I weigh but I’m a size 20 so feel I should Be losing weekly. It’s making me lose motivation or is this normal? I’ve stuck to my diet btw and haven’t had any off days.

I found that the only way I can shift weight is to restrict carbs in my diet. Not totally no carb but low carb. Can you post some examples of what you are eating in a day and how many calories you are aiming for?

How tall are you? How many calories are you on? Are you weighing food? Are you ovulating? is your period due?

How much did you lose week 1 + 2? sometimes you get a really big initial loss and then it levels up.

I lost a lot the first 2 weeks hence why I guess I’m just disappointed with the standstill now and would have expected to lose at least a pound or 2 a week! I’ve lost a stone so far but please bare in mind I am very very overweight. I am aiming to lose 5 stone and even then I will still be “overweight” but trying to have a realistic goal. I am 5ft 3. No period due yet.

Today I’ve had a slim fast shake for breakfast, for lunch an activia yoghurt and granola thing, then for dinner will be pasta And veggie balls (bought brown pasta as apparently that is better if you are going to have carbs?, I don’t weigh things but probably should be) snacks will be fruit and got some mini packs of breadsticks, I love carbs so would struggle to cut them out. I’m aiming to stay under 1500 calories or should it Be less? I have mfp so basing it on what it suggested.

People doing the low carb Bootcamp (on Mumsnet) report this phenomenon frequently! And especially if you've lost a lot in your first two weeks. Think about it logically - you can't possibly expect to lose at the same rate every week!

And interestingly, I'm on a Fast800 facebook page - that diet is a combination of VLCD (800 calories per day), intermittent fasting and lower carbs. The very same thing is being widely reported there.

So KOKO - keep on keeping on! If you lost a lot in the first two weeks it's obviously working. You just need to be bit patient.

Thank you BIWI that’s what I need to hear! It’s so hard to stay motivated some times. Atleast it is a common thing that others are experiencing. I feel like I need to step away from the scales for abit!

Okay. Firstly -

*How can you be calorie counting if you don't weigh your homemade foods?
You're just estimating. And I bet you're UNDERestimating.

Fair enough, if you're buying stuff (yoghurt etc) then scan the barcodes in to MFP.
But homemade stuff (pasta, meat, fish etc) needs weighed.
You might think weighing everything takes too long or is too complicated. But it takes seconds once you're used to it. I bet you sit fucking around on your phone for ages every day. I bet you've spent an hour a week at a slimming class at some point. Or sat bingewatching Netflix. 10 minutes a day weighing food isn't exactly hard work.
Get some kitchen flat scales. For example - if you put sme mayyonnaise on a meal, put your plate on top and reset the scale to zero. See how many grams have gone on to your plate, scan the barcode from the bottle and enter that amount of grams on to MFP.

Are you imputting your pasta dry or cooked in to MFP? Because there are HUNDREDS of calories difference if you've done the wrong one.

Are you logging oils you cook in, every sauce, every condiment, every milk on your hot drinks, every squash, every mouthful of kid's leftovers, every spoonful you taste out the pan when cooking etc etc? They all add up. Everything that gets put in your mouth needs weighed and logged. They all contain calories. And more than you think.

It's a scientific impossibility not to lose if you're eating the right amount of calories. You're eating too many.

Are you having a 'cheat' day or treats through the week? You might be eating just under your allocation for a few days, but then going just over on the next few days which just puts you back at zero. Eating well for a week or too and then having one 'binge' day will bring your calories to a 'gain' amount, not a 'lose' amount.

Look at your WEEKLY amount on MFP. Diary-Nutrition-the drop down under nutrients tab and change it to 'week view'.
It will tell you your daily average and also tell you how many calories OVER or UNDER you are for that week.
If you know youve got a party/night out/meal out/treat day/takeaway, then eat less calories the rest of the days that week and 'save' extra calories for that day.

If you're calorie counting. You actually need to count them. All of them.

*You don't need to reduce carbs or anything else ridiculous. Eat whatever you want. But you MUST log everything. Reducing carbs is a quick fix. But if you like carbs, have them. I love them. I'm never reducing or cutting them out. You don't need to if you're withing your calories every day.

*STOP WEIGHING YOURSELF (and spend that time weighing your food instead)!
If you weighed yourself 10 times in a day, you'd be a different weight each time.
You'll weigh different amounts on different weeks because you're in different phases of your mentrual cycle. It means fuck all.
A litre of water weighs 1kg. If you drink that litre, you're not 1kg fatter are you? You'll just weigh more TEMPORARILY.
Go off weekly photographs in the same underwear each time (you might despise them now but in a few months, you'll wish you had them to compare) and from how tight your clothes feel.
Weigh once a month for a rough guide. No more.

@BobbyBlueCat reducing carbs isn't ridiculous! You may not want to, and that's absolutely your prerogative. But it is the case that too many carbs will impede weight loss.