Confused..big time..

L

losing_it

New member
My weight loss journey, going on 5 weeks now, has been a happy and sad one already so far. I started out just cleaning out my diet, then went to diet and exercise. I was doing okay... but the more I worked out, the less I lost. I was working out 30-60 mins 6 days/wk and eating about 1,400-1,500 calories. Thinking I was putting too much stress on my body, I cut down to 20-30 mins 4 days/wk.

I know I'm probably gaining muscle. It's just harder to work out knowing I won't lose as much weight if I do.

I hit my 20 lb mark this morning and am feeling happy about it, but still confused.

Any advice?
 
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Start using a measuring tape! If your weight stays the same and your belly gets smaller, success!
 
20 lbs in 5 weeks? That's 4 pounds a week, which is double what is recommended for a healthy, sustainable weight loss. What was your starting weight? If you are severely overweight, then that would be more acceptable, however, moderately overweight people's bodies are not capable of that much fat loss, so be careful if you fall into that category.

Also, it was probably wise to reduce the frequency of exercise. When you exercise, you increase your caloric needs. If you are already in too much of a deficit for your body's needs, then exercising will slow down the weight loss process.

When it comes to gaining muscle weight - in order to gain significant lean muscle mass, you must be in a caloric surplus (i.e. - eating a lot) which is why bodybuilders, etc eat so very much - to help build muscle. So unless you are eating a bunch and lifting serious weight, don't be too worried about muscle gain hindering your weight loss.
 
I started out at 260 lbs. 9 of the 20 pounds were lost in my first week, and I've averaged 3-4 lbs weekly since then. I don't feel that I'm dieting unhealthy or over doing it, so I'm okay with the double of what's recommended for now.

I did cut out soda, pretty much all fast food, which right there.. is what I think contributed mostly to my weight loss thus far.
 
Well, it's natural to lose a lot of weight at first, and then for it to slow donw. So it's not that your losing less because your exercising, you're losing less because your body does not need as many calories as before, so your deficit is smaller.
 
u have no reason to be discouraged, the weightloss u are seeing is more than normal, u are in a sense lucky. don't get discouraged though, cuz as u lose weight ur weight loss will get slower. nothing good is easy haha
 
Keep reminding yourself of where you were, where you're going, and the fact that you're moving in the right direction. I love the "weight loss high" that comes in the first week or two when you get rid of that water weight. Then, as your body adjusts to its new lifestyle, things slow down, and so does my motivation. But I keep reminding myself that even though it might be going slow, it's still moving, and that's better than I was a week ago.
 
Like others have said, just keep in mind that most of it is water weight at this point. There are alot of things that could be causing that so it's too early to be worried about it. Just think about it, a pound of fat is typically about 3,500 calories. So, 9 pounds in one week, if it were all fat, which it's not, you're talking about an extra 31,500 calories burned. That's burning an additional 4,500 calories per day AFTER you've burned up everything that you've eaten, so you're talking about burning a total of 6,000 calories a day, for 7 days straight. Obviously, this did not happen, it's water. So basically at this point, keep at it, and before long your weight will level off and stop fluctuating rapidly. Once you get to that point, if you are still working out, you need to count on and shoot for only 1 pound per week, 2 at the most. This is when you are burning fat, which is what you want.
 
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