Significant lifestyle change: no weight loss

[zoliking]

I was gaining weight slowly over a long time. I recently gave up drinking ice tea with sugar on a daily basis and started exercising a little every few days. So I cut out a significant amount of calories and increased how much I use per day. I figured this would result in a slow loss of wieght. This is about the third week, but I when I checked my weight today it was the exact same as the last time I measured it, way before I made the change.

Given how awesome the tea tastes and how other than a tiny sense of accomplishment after each exercise session it seems to do nothing other than exhaust me, the whole thing seems pointless. Am I missing something?

 

[aloe1]

Welcome to the forum!
How much tea were you drinking each day - and how many calories do you think you are burning with your exercise session? There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat so you have to have 500 calories fewer per day to lose one pound in a week. If you usually have 3 cups of 100 calorie tea a day and you are burning 200 calories a day with your exercise, that should result in a one pound loss per week. However, our bodies can be temperamental and not want to give up those pounds even when we are doing the right things. That's referred to as a "plateau". It is possible to plateau at the beginning - especially if you are gaining muscle from the exercise while you are burning fat. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat so you still come out looking slimmer even if the weight is the same. If you don't get discouraged and continue on with your plan I'm sure you will see the good results you are looking for soon. Oh, one other thing - you have to be sure you are not replacing the calories from the tea by adding something else in your meals and snacks. If you just sub plain water for the tea and eat and drink everything else as usual your plan should work.
These are all things I've read - I've never actually been able to lose weight except on the Martin Katahn rotation diet. But there are many others here who have lost many pounds in sensible ways who will be able to give you their expertise if you keep posting.

 

[zoliking]

Thanks for the reply. I switched the tea (I drank about a 1.5l bottle a day) out to diet soda. I've recently made it up to an hour on the exercise bike once per two or three days, the machine reporting a 700kcal burn per session. I hear these things overreport, so let's say 400kcal per session. Reading the plateu thing in your reply I'll keep going for at least another month, thank you again.

 

[aloe1]

Wow, great work on the biking! I have read some negative reports about diet soda so you may want to research that. But calorie wise that should give you the drop you want. You are welcome.