Over 18st and need help!

[Whodofthunk]

I have lost weight before, a combo of pregnancy, divorce and various mental breakdowns ensured I comfort ate my way back up but I figured I knew how to lose weight, I just needed to make sure my head is in right place first. Which now thankfully it is, and I began counting and logging kcals again with mfp to help.

I am aiming for around 1600kcals a day. So I started at 18st11lbs (5 foot 5) and after a few days had an instant drop of 6lbs but since then it has been creeping up. I am now at a 3lb loss on the scale which is still the right direction but I feel like something is amiss. I am obese, normally healthy eating ensures it drops off, why the sudden loss then back up. I am drinking lots of water, etc. Scared I may lose motivation seeing the number creep up daily. I am so proud of myself sticking to this for the first time in years, and I just desperately need the scale validation . Tell me the number will suddenly change if I troop on or it is crazy water retention or something please

I’m sorry it’s not working for you despite obvious enormous effort

I think you are encountering the documented issue with the calorie counting approach. It’s too simplistic.

It really matters what your calories are made up of. Different foods provide fuel in different pathways, and different pathways either encourage fat burning or they don’t.

It matters what you eat and when

What are the types of food you are eating and how often?

DO NOT GIVE UP!!

Sorry for shouting, but seriously don't do it. The initial whoosh of weight does vary day by day, it's mainly water weight as when you first start calorie counting you reduce starchy carbs and those hold water.

I restarted my calorie counting 1st August and have lost 47lb since then.

I've attached a graph of 100 days of weighing in that I did, mid September to Xmas eve. As you can see it goes up and down daily but the overall trend is down, and that's what is important.

I stick to logging my food in MyFitnessPal and eating the amount of calories it tells me to eat for a 1lb loss per week.

Thank you both. Today is proving testing but I have not caved to the junk. Um, I am eating every 3 hours ish between about 8am and 7pm I guess, lots of veg and salad, bits of fruit, lean meat, fish, a bit of pasta/rice/spud each day, measured bits of cheese. I think you are right I just need to plod on and see the trend, win the war as a whole etc. Thank you fot reassurance x

You need to input your stats into a BMR calculator and work out your calories. Don't just guess them at 1600 - I suspect that you'll start with more as you're over 18 stone. Starting too low means you have nowhere to go when you start to drop weight.

Nutra check app is really good and intuitive to use , better than MFP

I'm not guessing, I have done that already. I apparently maintain around 2100 kcals.

The weight fluctuations could be lots of things (mainly to do with your fluid levels) - hydration, salt, exercise response etc... my own weight fluctuates 2-4 pounds over course of day, and I get ups and downs over a few days

Sounds like you are doing the right things, so it’s the trend over a few weeks that counts

Could you just weigh yourself a couple of times a week? Do it when you ‘feel’ lighter ... normally we can tell days when body is holding on to water

Yeah, you are right, thank you. I think I am just doing my usual impatience trick. This is definitely no sprint!