(Just as a note, I originally made this post on a throwaway that sadly didn't meet karma requirements because there are assholes that stalk my main profile.)
Hello! (19M, 181 cm/ 5'11", 109,5 kg / 241 lbs) here! I got into IF about two to three weeks ago, after a friend recommended it to me. My weight has always been a problem for me, since I loved to just stuff my face full of some junk after school (and honestly, with how much trash I ate, my weight feels like a low end). I couldn't keep diets, and as many times as I tried exercise (I'm almost completely sedentary, yay), I just couldn't get into it. IF sounded pretty good, so I figured, why not?
Progress was actually pretty nice the first few days, I started out at 116 kg (though that was a measurement in the middle of the day, so I feel like something more accurate would be 112-113), and, well, have lost about 3-4 kg since. At first, I felt great! The issue is, that has badly stagnated after the first few days. I actually gained 0,3 kg in the last two days. I don't follow any strict diet, I live with family so the grown ups do the cooking, but any trashy dinners like pizza or McDonald's are nonexistent. I will admit, I do have a tendency to eat something bad, but I can discipline myself with it, I'll have something like a hot dog, or maybe like 6 Pringles, a cookie after a meal and that's it, I've only really had a cheat day once.
Do my numbers really look that bad or am I just overly anxious about it? Any input helps.
Answer
You put yourself in a 500 calorie deficit a day that is one pound a week lost. People expect weight to come off far quicker than it will. This is especially true if you take what you see early on and think that is real weight loss. Quick changes are not real weight loss but other things like changes in water weight. So weight loss also tends to happen in stages. So most don’t see a linear downward movement. People weigh themself far too often especially early on. Daily and even weekly won’t really tell you much. The number on that scale doesn’t tell the whole story. So don’t don’t fixate on that. Just make the changes and do them long term.