Is initial weight loss usually difficult?

March 6, 2008 10:24 AM

Is it common for the first month or more of a diet and exercise program to yield little weight loss?

Asking for my wife -- she's 5'6", 163 and has a target weight of between 145 and 150. She's an avid skier and climber, so she has a fair amount of muscle mass and broad shoulders -- not a waif, so 145 would be pretty thin for her.

She's about four weeks into a new diet and exercise program -- the biggest change is the addition of exercise during the week, 4-5 times. It consists of running 20-30 minutes and a quick round of weight lifting for another 20-30 minutes, M/W/F. T/Th has been stretching, push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups and a leg intensive ski workout (lunges, squats, jumps). She's recently dropped the ski workout on those days and is riding her bike to work T/Th, since the weather's improving.

Running is totally new for her and she's building leg muscle and definition that she didn't have before. The weight training is new as well. After 4-5 weeks, she hasn't seen any loss on the scale, though I can see that her pants are fitting more loosely in the butt and thighs. Not a huge change, but definite. She doesn't see it and is fixated on the numbers, at the moment.

We've just overhauled the diet once more to make sure she's actually getting enough calories during the day -- I suspect her body was going into "shutdown" a bit, since she was constantly hungry and exhausted. We're aiming for a 500 calorie deficit overall, daily, half from exercise, half from food.

Longwinded, sorry, but is it common for the first 5 weeks or more of a new program to result in little weight loss? I'm thinking she's building new muscle mass, particularly with the running...

posted by Pantengliopoli to health (28 comments total)

If she is gaining muscle mass (and if she is doing real weight-lifting, then she probably is), then it is possible to maintain the same weight. This could be accompanied with a loss in body fat. So the body composition is changing for the better, even though body weight is the same.

If clothes are fitting more loosely, then there is probably a change in body comp.

Tell her to keep up the good work!!
posted by tiburon at 10:29 AM on March 6

This is normal if you're starting new exercise routines. She's probably adding some muscle mass. As long as she's accurate/honest about her daily calorie deficit, the scale weight will eventually start creeping down. Keep up the -500 cal/day, exercise, lift weights, and eat lots of protein and she'll be okay!
posted by Caper's Ghost at 10:34 AM on March 6

You may want to look at the work of science writer Gary Taubes, whose writing on why exercise often doesn't lead to weight loss is pretty controversial, but has been highly praised by many medical professionals. His book is Good Calories, Bad Calories.
posted by decathecting at 10:44 AM on March 6

If you deficit 500 calories a day you will lose 1 pound per week. One pound is 3500 calories. Exercise rarely contributes as much to weight loss as reducing calorie intake (just because of the way the math works). In any case, really only the aerobic exercise she is getting is going to burn extra calories (and from what I just read she isn't really getting a lot of new aerobic exercise). She is however probably improving muscle tone and you are probably right about her improved appearance. At 163 pounds her resting metabolic rate is probably around 1630 calories, meaning that if she eats 1130/day she should lose about a pound a week or 4-5 pounds a month, without any additional exercise.
posted by thomas144 at 10:50 AM on March 6 [1 favorite]

Taubes doesn't know anything exercise.
posted by tiburon at 10:52 AM on March 6

I've been exercising rather hard since the start of the year, and started out about 30 lb from where I'd like to be. I remember reading somewhere that working out twice a day, shorter workouts, will help you lose more weight, because your metabolism ramps up twice instead of just once. The weeks I've been able and willing to get up and do something first thing in the morning in addition to my evening workout (and I cut down the duration somewhat so I'm not *dead* for my afternoon workout), my weight has almost fallen off me.
posted by notsnot at 10:53 AM on March 6 [1 favorite]

If she is weighing herself daily, which is a good idea when dieting*, then it can really help to use a running average to track the weight loss. Physics Diet does this online, or you can get a spreadsheet here (I think a 10 day average is better), or you can just do it by hand. It can really help to see your trend-line next to your daily physical weight. Often although it seems like weight is not changing per the daily weight, your trend line shows different.

*There are some people who don't like scales when they are dieting, preferring a feel-good, gestaltish approach. But in my experience it's very easy to fool yourself unless you have data. Those folks are also, in my experience, often not interested in athletics, and so may not be losing weight for the same reasons that an athletic performance-driven person might be.
posted by OmieWise at 10:56 AM on March 6

To lose weight concentrate on the diet rather than the exercise. Exercise is great, and you need it, but it won't help you lose weight like dieting will. As far as weight loss is concerned exercise, however instensive, will lead to frustration and a quick plateau if the correct diet isn't in place. Get the diet right and weight should plummet even with no exercies at all, supplement it with the right exercise regularly and you're really flying. You need a weight loss diet plan, and I'd recommend your overall regime should be focussed about 70% on diet, 30% on exercise. You don't mention the foods but eat plenty protein, few carbs, as much fruit and vegetable as possible, no alcohol, and limit your dairy to a small daily allowance.
posted by fire&wings at 11:11 AM on March 6

i also understand that when you start a new exercise regimen, you can retain water as your metabolism adjusts, so you may actually gain a pound or two.

if she's looking to improve her shape, and her pants are fitting more loosely, then it dosn't really matter what the scale says, i guess.
posted by thinkingwoman at 11:13 AM on March 6

If she's athletic, the number of pounds she weighs is meaningless, except when considering materials or design for equipment that needs to be able to remain stiff under a given weight.

She will likely be happier with her results if she frames them in a way that is not so notoriously variable or arbitrary, like size or performance. Even then she could end up undermining herself if the exercises that get her to her performance goals also bulk her up.
posted by caitlinb at 11:18 AM on March 6

Muscle weighs more than fat. If she's gaining muscle definition, but maintaining the same weight, she's definitely getting smaller. New muscle is good because it needs to be fed too, so it will raise her overall metabolism rate, even when she's not exercising.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 11:20 AM on March 6

I suggest that you convince your wife that she shouldn't call her current exercise program and food eating plan a diet. Aim for making permanent and healthy changes in lifestyle. Be realistic, is you wife trying to lose weight for a swimsuit competition or is she unhappy with her appearance in the mirror?

I'm curious, how many calories does she aim for each day and what are some staple foods in her diet? I really suggest a high fiber/high volume/low calorie/mostly vegetarian lifestyle. Anecdotally, I'm running faster and looking leaner than ever; YMMV.
posted by hammerthyme at 11:20 AM on March 6

If she's going to focus on numbers she should use ones that shift fast and reflect what's really going on. Start tracking body composition and measuring her waist/hip/buttocks. Weight is terribly misleading and she's probably burning fat while building muscle.
posted by chairface at 11:20 AM on March 6

Thomas144 is right on. A healthy weight loss is about a pound a week. Take her weight and multiply it by 11, and that is the number of calories she needs to maintain her current weight. So, consuming calories less than that amount will contribute to weight loss.

Also good advice from fire&wings about the percentages. When I tried to lose weight with exercise alone, I lost about 1/2 pound in two months, and my too-cheerful, phony trainer said, "yay! See, you can do it!"

Also, stay away from food that contain lots of salt that may seem otherwise healthy, pickles for example. That will help retain water.
posted by Melismata at 11:34 AM on March 6

If she's athletic weight is a very important as a measure of overall fitness and potential. Although she isn't a runner, per se, the estimate for slowing incurred because of excess weight at the marathon distance is 1 minute per pound tacked onto your finish time. Climbing is a sport predicated on strength to weight ratios, and not how good you feel. The fact that weight is a contentious topic and one that is the focus of a lot of social stigma does not mean that it isn't a valuable metric for some people. Hence my earlier admonition that people who do not understand the role of weight in athletic pursuits may have less useful ideas about weight loss.
posted by OmieWise at 11:37 AM on March 6

I meant, number of calories per day.
posted by Melismata at 11:38 AM on March 6

If your wife is having trouble losing weight using a low-calorie approach she might benefit from a low-carb approach. I tried for years to lose weight through a combination of exercise and cutting calories but had no success until I decided to try a low-carb approach. I recommend Gary Taubes's book highly as well.
posted by peacheater at 12:02 PM on March 6

Great responses everyone, thanks very much. Lots of good information to work with. Here's a list of the usual daily "diet", as it stands, for a day where she's riding her bike:

Yoplait yogurt and 1/2 cup of "Bran Buds"
String cheese
Orange
Pear
Tupperware of carrots and broccoli
Hard-boiled egg
Wasa crackers (whole grain, unleavened cracker -- 45 cal, high in fiber)
Sandwich with two slices whole grain bread (90-120 cal each), sliced fresh cooked chicken breast, bell pepper, lettuce and a touch (1/3 teaspoon?) of low fat "mayo"

She also has a selection of protein bars in case she needs extra energy for the ride home. On days when she doesn't ride, she ditches the pear and the protein bar, and usually has a snack of high-fiber bread with her egg/egg-white when she gets home, before going to the gym.

Dinner is usually some combination of salad with some chicken and a whole wheat tortilla, or whole wheat pasta with vegetables, stir-fry with brown rice, burritos with beans/brown rice and sausage...

The diet is the part that I'm really trying to figure out, as has been emphasized by many of you -- I'm the primary shopper and chef, so a lot of those choices are on me and I really want to help her however I can. She's "heavier than she's ever been" and I think the number, combined with her appearance is what's really motivating her, but she's getting frustrated with no apparent progress.

Thank you!
posted by Pantengliopoli at 12:51 PM on March 6

I've posted this before. Many years ago when I was trying to lose the 20 or so pounds I slowly gained after quitting smoking, it did take me 8 weeks or so to even lose a single pound.

I was about to give up, but around week 9, I started losing between .5 and 1.5 pounds per week. I was doing the same thing the whole time: eating between 1400 and 1700 cals, writing everything down, and exercising 45-65 minutes per day 5-6 days per week. I was at my goal in about 8 months (including the 2 months of no loss).

I have NO IDEA why (and my tale has been met with speculation before) Frankly I don't care because in the end I got what I aimed for: 20+ pounds of weight gone. It was totally frustrating at first though.
posted by peep at 1:31 PM on March 6

I lost over 100 lbs over two years and have kept it off for a year. To me, her diet sounds great. Does she feel hungry?

She might want to take a look at her ratio of calories from fat, protein and carbs. After I had lost quite a few pounds, I went to see a nutritionist who told me that the ratio should be 30-30-40. The high protein helps prevent muscle loss due to having a calorie deficit, and that ratio also gives you enough healthy fat.

I've also heard that you should eat carbs before a workout and protein shortly after one.
posted by amarynth at 1:33 PM on March 6

That sounds like a great diet, although the one thing I'd check into would be the yogurt. Sweetened yogurt can often have far more calories than you'd expect. I don't know about Yoplait specifically, but you might want to compare a few different yogurts next time you're buying her breakfast.
posted by dizziest at 1:40 PM on March 6

If you are trying to lose fat, you already weigh less than 200lbs (at any given height) and are working your ass off and eating right, LBS LOST is a horrible, terrible fucking indicator of "progress" from working out. Please stress this to your poor wife as she's probably getting into awesome shape but berating herself for not making any progress... gravity-wise(!?!?).

She may end up looking smokin-hot before she ever gets near her target weight. Everyone has different muscularity, different muscle density, etc.

Now, if she can still see and feel actual BODY FAT that she needs to cut, you should help her cut up her diet. She needs to be eating good carbs - whole grains, whole wheat, whole oats. Cut out the white rice, white pasta, and white flour carbs ASAP. Cut out sugar, CUT OUT HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP! Those are some basic guidelines to follow.

Lastly, have her transition from regular, steady-pace cardio to High Intensity Interval Training. Interval training is proven to burn more calories overall than steady cardio at a lower intensity.
posted by crunch buttsteak at 1:50 PM on March 6

Weight is probably the most deceptive and disappointing way to measure. Hip and waist measurements (and any other parts that are important to her) are the best way to go. It sounds like your wife is already seeing some improvements there, so she just needs to grab a tape measure and starting writing those numbers down. The diet looks good, but if she is really wanting to see some weight change, a low carb/ high protein plan really does work well. Also, it may be helpful to plug her food choices into a free food tracker such as fitday.com or thedailyplate.com to get a better idea of how many calories, carbs, etc she's getting each day and where there might be room for improvement. But to be honest it looks like she's doing everything right, she's just using the wrong kind of measurement.

(On preview, I agree with dizziest on the yogurt, make sure you're getting plain unsweetened yogurt then add your own fruit or sweetener if need be.)
posted by platinum at 1:52 PM on March 6

Also take a peak at the ingredients label on her protein bars. A surprising number of them use HFCS.

Buy a scale that measures body fat, or a set of calipers. Neither method is as exact as more expensive body comp. measuring techniques, but they're more accurate than just measuring weight.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 2:22 PM on March 6

She should also start taking body measurements. I take mine at least once a week and measure all the key areas: waist, belly button, hips, thighs, etc. I've been on a hardcore exercise plan since January and while I've only lost about 4 lbs my measurements have gone down considerably, which helps counteract the blasted scale. It's not about losing weight, it's about losing fat. Measurements, or a body fat scale, or calipers, can all help determine if she's losing fat.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 6:18 PM on March 6

Awesome everyone, thank you. platinum, thanks for the fitday.com recommendation. I'm checking that out as a good reference. I'd mark all of these as best answers if it didn't seem a little over the top.

One last piece of the puzzle that I'd forgotten about -- she's got a Mirena IUD and much of the weight gain seems to have come since she got it put in. The FAQ on the site indicates that it's not usually associated with weight gain, but I'm wondering if anyone has any other anecdotal experience. Thanks again everyone!
posted by Pantengliopoli at 6:22 PM on March 6

My anecdotal experience with the Mirena was that I've lost 10 lbs since getting it inserted in September (and that's pretty amazing given how much weight I gain during the holidays). If you take a look at the "weight" tag at the IUD Divas community, you'll find posts from quite a few people who have had weight gain and responses from quite a few people that haven't*. There have been a couple of studies in the last few years that show that birth control pills don't cause weight gain, and the Mirena has a much amount of hormones than the pill. Here are a couple of links about one of those studies.

Sparkpeople.com is another good, free website where you can keep track of your calories and exercise. I like it better than Fitday because it has more foods in it's database, and you can easily customize what you want to track (fiber, cholesterol, etc). They have some good articles, too. And there's a Metafilter group!

*I generally take the postings on IUD Divas with a big grain of salt, because how many people would bother creating a new post just to say, "I haven't gained weight!" or "I'm not having x weird side effect!" I think if someone were considering and IUD and just read the posts without reading the comments, they'd be scared enough to change their minds.
posted by amarynth at 7:06 PM on March 6 [1 favorite]

And, coincidentally, today's email from sparkpeople featured an article about measuring progress without a scale.
posted by amarynth at 7:17 AM on March 7