The FastDay Forum

Why are the scales not going down?

I started dieting on 30 April, and this WOE

They dropped 6kg (from 95kg to 89) in the first two weeks doing 5:2 fasting and low GI and since nothing. My clothes are getting looser which is because I am toning up from doing more sport (shredding and swimming) and so I know there is more muscle mass which is replacing some of the fat, but I need the scales to go down too. I have been sooooo good, really squeeky clean eating, always under my daily recommendations, only low GI carbs, almost no sugar, masses of veg, where am I going wrong?

I have another 20 kg to drop to get out of the obese category, so it should be falling of shouldn't it? For God sake my body fat at the beginning of the month was over 40%. Next reading and official measurements at Curves will be around the 5th June, so hopefully that will be better news.

I've read Caroees post on the subject, but I have been static for 10 days. And the better I behave the worse the results seem to be.

Sports wise I do Curves twice a week where my readings are never less than 500 calories, I swim 1km twice a week, and I am on day 4 of the shred.

I keep my MFP info up to date, and that says I should be loosing weight and at a very impressive rate, but I'm not. Please ask any questions you need to but I'm so motivated and it has taken me 7 years to find that motivation and I don't want to loose it again.

Are you eating enough?

I always lose better when I eat my TDEE (in fact I eat in excess of this some days). I think this makes the fast days more efficient and more effective - otherwise you're just on a permanent diet which isn't what this is all about really.

[Moogie]

Hi Wallypot - this all sounds perfectly normal to me for this stage of the diet. You've been doing it a few weeks and lost a lot of weight initially, much of which will have been water. Now your body is adjusting your fat/water balance, so as you regain some of the water lost, you are losing fat and therefore the scales won't change much. This may be the case for a couple of weeks but after that you should find it starts to go down again.

If in doubt, get yourself some scales which measure body fat & water too, so you can see which numbers are going up/down. It's also well worth measuring yourself as you should find you're losing inches if not weight.

6kg is about 12lbs, which is an amazing loss for around 3 weeks! The average is around 1lb a week over the long term, so you're well ahead of yourself on a massive 4lbs a week! Well done you

I've decided to stop weighing myself because I end up feeling dispirited and more likely to beat myself up emotionally.

If clothes are feeling looser on you and you are feeling healthier, why not focus on that for a while? The scales are really just a number - and most of our home scales are not that accurate. When exercising, we do funny things to our muscles - they start storing water etc which can play havoc with the numbers on the scales.

I spent several years calorie counting, always wearing a heart rate monitor to see how much I'd 'burned' during exercise. My whole life was ruled by numbers - the HRM, the scales, the food scales in the kitchen, the calorie content of food - and I was terribly miserable. When I hadn't lost weight, I then ate even less - which I am sure did terrible things to my metabolism and made my body feel starved and more likely to conserve fat stores.

The thinking behind 5:2 seems to be to 'trick' our bodies. We have days when we don't eat very much at all, and days when we eat our full amount of calories - sometimes even a little more. This means our body doesn't get into a 'rut'.

I remember a trainer at the gym saying that we need to 'shake up' our exrcise routines, otherwise our bodies go onto 'cruise mode' - and I suspect it's the same with food.

I am so used to feeling bad about my shape, body and relationship with food that when I am feeling good about myself I often resort to self-sabotage. I think about it as returning to my (dis)comfort zone. Change is always difficult and human beings resist it as much as possible.

It might be that you are used to feeling bad about your relationship with food, so that on the 'free/feast' days you still have a tendency to restrict food intake more than is necessary on this plan. I know that I'm having a problem eating 'normally' on those days, because I'm so used to restrictions when on a diet.

Forgive my ramblings, but I am now determined to make the focus less about weightloss and more about feeling healthy. Your exercise regime puts me to shame. I am not going to think about this as a 'diet', more as a permanent way of life that will improve my relationship with food and prove to me that I do have some control over my appetite.

Very wise words Moptop and Moogie. I'm finding that although my weight isn't changing much, my water % is going up as my body fat % goes down. I agree that it's better to keep it simple and only count calories on fast days. It's too easy to complicate things and end up sabotaging your efforts.

Well done on the weight loss so far, Wallypot. Have faith, it will happen

I think you are doing really well. The weight lost at the beginning is often water and then it is normal for the scales not to shift for a couple of weeks. It happened to me and it happens to a lot of other people! Don't be disheartened - with all the sport you are doing you are fitter too, and as you say muscle is replacing the fat so that might weigh heavier. Make sure you take your measurements too as this can help - they often reduce even when the kilograms don't!
I found I lost weight when I didn't count calories and was more relaxed about what I was eating. Strange, but true.

Intensive exercise and attempting to lose weight are a very bad mix..

I agree...there have been several studies which show that exercise often leads to an increase in weight, not the opposite. Exercise makes you hungry, you think you can eat more because you are exercising and as a result often end up over eating. Read this and see if it is worth it or not!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... lic-health

Interesting article Franglaise.

[Moogie]

That's exactly what I've always thought, better to lose (at least most of) the weight first, then get into exercise to tone up & get fitter.

I had a few things in my garage for years, a bit of a mini gym, tried exercise to lose weight, nope, put weight on.

Sold it all, started going out for a walk each day or gardening or just busy doing odd jobs, that and the 5:2 WOE and I've lost more weight than I ever did trying to exercise my way lighter

I personally think exercise is important on your weight loss journey to ensure you are losing the correct weight. Its common knowledge that our bodies first reaction to weight loss is too shave off some muscle before shedding fat and the only way to keep the muscle is to exercise it - basically use it or lose it.

It may not increase your overall weight loss and may even mean for a couple or so weeks you don't lose anything while your body fights to take the muscle and you fight to keep it but pretty soon your body moves on to its next reserve - Fat - because it has no other choice as it can't take its first option.

There have been plenty of studies done for this too but look for a study of anything and you will find it and most completely contradict each other. personally I believe in the study I have seen with my own eyes - the biggest loser. Although not technically a study the exercise has obviously not meant they didn't lose anything!

wallypot,

I would suggest you step on the scales every morning, so you can see how your weight fluctuates daily. Weight loss can be disguised by water gain and what is in your belly and visa versa. But daily weighing over a period of time give you a sense of whether you are trending up or down.

If you are not losing weight, it is generally an indication that you are eating too much either on fast days or feed days or both. Some people don't realize how much they are actually eating, but it all adds up. Sugary drinks such as lattes, soda, orange juice and apple juice can add on lots of calories. A muffin at the coffee shop can easily be 500 calories.

Exercise, unless you are doing a lot of it, doesn't really burn off that many calories. You have to walk about two hours or run 5 miles to burn off that muffin.

I have found that change, especially permanent change, comes really, really slow. It takes a long, long time to readjust your eating habits. Stay persistent and be mindful and stick with it. That is my advice.

I have to admit, to lose the 1st 3 stones I intentionally did no exercise (except for normal activities). It meant the number on the scales went downwards and I felt motivated to continue. I then started power walking when I started 5:2 and shifted the last 2 stones. Power walking didn't affect the number on the scales so I was happy. Only as I neared goal did I increase the intensity of my exercise - running & incline walking. Reached goal - hurrah! - then started a heavy weight lifting programme - gained 5 lbs! But soon lost it. But still suffer water retention and weight "gain" due to muscles and muscle repair. But now I don't care cause I'm healthy BMI.

The great thing about exercise for me is this:
- doesn't burn a huge amount of calories whilst doing it (eg my 30 minute run burns 300 cals or thereabouts) but makes me fitter so I move more and have more energy throughout the day
- weight training builds muscle which burns lots of calories at rest WIN

Firstly, thanks so much for your support. It has cheered me up and given me a bit of courage. And something to think about. Perhaps I just need to stop trying so hard - which is probably just setting myself up to fail.

When I say we eat clean, I really mean it. We eat unbelievably well, and are renown for it. I live with two chefs, and am a good cook myself. I haven't drunk a soda for about 15 years, nor eaten a cake that wasn't made at home for nearly as long. And I certainly haven't eaten a cake in the last couple of months. I don't drink juice, only water, one (super strength) coffee a day and herbal teas on fast days. On weekends I do drink wine, but I don't think I have drunk 14 units in a week since I was 19, some 23 years ago. And while that might make me dull, I can live with it.

I am pretty much certain I am under eating on my calories, but as everything we eat is home made from scratch, with the exception of soya sauce, it isn't always easy to remember how many spoons of this or that went into someone else's creation. None of us cook with cream or butter, I don't think this is deliberate it is just not our style of cooking.

I don't eat bread, rice, pasta, potatoes or grains. This is more of an experiment to see if it makes a difference to the way I feel. I'm pretty sure my stomach doesnt like bread, even homemade spelt bread. I probably eat under 5 tsp of refined sugar a week. We eat over 5 portions of veg a day most days. I eat fish minimum 2 times a week.

That said, I am feeling healthy, but then I pretty much always do. So maybe I should say even healthier. I'm not a great sleeper, but generally get an average of 6 hours most nights.

I think I am just going to continue as I am until my next official weigh-in and measurements at Curves. I find it ridiculously difficult to measure myself. I will try to forget the "diet" aspect and concentrate on the WOL. If the weigh-in results are disappointing then I shall be completely bummed out, but until then I shall just ignore the scales I guess.

I like doing exercise, and don't really want to stop doing the little (to me) that I do. When I was younger I did such a lot of sport (20 hours + a week) and it's such a pleasure to feel a bit fitter again.