Only lost 2lb in first week of diet…

[thetinsoldier]

I’m feeling really demotivated. I’ve only lost 2lb in my first week, and I don’t know why. I’m 13 stone so I have plenty to lose. I’ve done everything right, no cheating. What has gone wrong?

I’m following a DASH heart healthy diet.

I think 2lb is great!!! Better to be consistent. Good luck x

2 pounds is the upper limit for good fat loss. Anymore than that would have been, likely, water weight.

Nothing to be disappointed about.

To lose 2lb you have to have about an 7000 calorie deficit across the week. That’s loads!

Nothing has gone wrong, 2lbs is great, at the top end of the 1-2 pounds a week that is what you’d expect for a diet. People losing large amounts in the first week are often significantly bigger than your starting weight.

What were you expecting this is good loss?

It’s a decent amount to have lost, but it’s also the case that you need not to pay too much attention to short-term movements. Your weight will fluctuate based on how gullible you are your stomach and bladder are and how much fluid you have in your system overall, and could easily be a kg up or down.

The danger with looking at changes over a week is that if you have a “bad” week (more fluid at the end than the start) and so it looks as though you haven’t lost anything, or even have gained, that you can become demotivated.

By all means get weighed often, but don’t think that a bad few days or a week means you may as well give up and have a blow-out. You can undo a whole week’s work in a few hours that way.

2lb in a week is excellent 👌

Keep going.

Agree you need to weigh every day and then take your average across the week.

for example, I weighed myself last week and was 13 stone 1 every day until the Friday then was 13 stone. Saturday 13 stone but had a big meal that night with a lot of carbs. Next day I was 13 stone 3. Monday I was back to 13 stone. If I only weighed myself once a week and that happened to be the Sunday I’d have assumed I’d put on 3 pound that week and would have been disheartened but I knew it was impossible to put 3 pound on overnight.

I hadn’t - it was just water weight.

Therefore better to weigh daily and see a downward trend over time in my opinion.

I didn’t lose anything in my first or second week but it’s now dropping off. 2lbs is great for your first week. Nice and steady.

I've lost 19lbs. My week average is 0.96 lb. So you have had a good start. Consistency is the key.

That’s actually a good amount. 1-2lbs a week is recommended healthy loss.

2lb is a decent loss. I get why it's disappointing as some people do lose a lot in their first week, but it usually settles after that to 1 or 2lb a week, which is healthy.

Generally, the more you have to lose, the more quickly you lose at first - you don't give your height but 13st may be 'overweight' rather than 'obese' if you are taller, in which case you will have a slower loss than an obese person (at first) on the same diet

Keep doing what you're doing!

Thanks, all! That’s really helpful and motivational. Will keep on.

Off to the gym now!

That is loads. Well done!