Pants looser, but weight not really going down

[thrashertm]

I've been cutting at 2000 calories a day for the last 8 weeks. My pants seem to be getting looser and looser, but I am not noticing a lot of visual progress nor much progress on the scales. I do eat quite a lot of sodium and artificial sweetener on my way to my 2000 calories. I am 5'11 165 and I lift and do cardio 6 days a week.

One thing I've noticed that concerns me is that I will eat a salad at Qdoba 1x a day 1/2 the week. According to their website, the salad is only 300 calories yet I suspect it contains more. Still, I prefer to accept their accounting rather than confront a reality where you cannot trust any of the nutritional information companies post.

The other thing I have noticed is that based on my calories tracking (Fitday.com), I often get to the end of the day with about 1400 calories logged, so then I eat about 600 calories in the last hour or two before sleeping (usually cottage cheese, PB, low calcrispbread crackers, an apple, cocoa baking powder).

I am thinking that it's time to drop the budget down to 1900 calories, since I know that I can easily achieve 1600-1700 if I focus.

[badger-rampage]

I've been cutting at 2000 calories a day for the last 8 weeks. My pants seem to be getting looser and looser, but I am not noticing a lot of visual progress nor much progress on the scales. I do eat quite a lot of sodium and artificial sweetener on my way to my 2000 calories. I am 5'11 165 and I lift and do cardio 6 days a week.

One thing I've noticed that concerns me is that I will eat a salad at Qdoba 1x a day 1/2 the week. According to their website, the salad is only 300 calories yet I suspect it contains more. Still, I prefer to accept their accounting rather than confront a reality where you cannot trust any of the nutritional information companies post.

The other thing I have noticed is that based on my calories tracking (Fitday.com), I often get to the end of the day with about 1400 calories logged, so then I eat about 600 calories in the last hour or two before sleeping (usually cottage cheese, PB, low calcrispbread crackers, an apple, cocoa baking powder).

I am thinking that it's time to drop the budget down to 1900 calories, since I know that I can easily achieve 1600-1700 if I focus.

Last year, I used to ignore the advice of others when they said toss the scale. This year, I'm kicking myself for not realizing that this is key. I've punched two holes in my belt in the last month, and woke up yesterday realizing that I needed to punch a third hole!

(Call me cheap, but I've been steadily losing weight so I've been constantly buying new belts, so I decided to punch new holes until I hit my target weight/bf%. good thing right?)

Yet, I haven't lost much weight. Certainly however, I've gained muscle. Plenty of people have noticed and complemented me. For the first time in my life, a few weeks back a young woman told me I have an athletic build.

My weight fluctuates, based on water, sodium, I do consume artificial sweeteners, and sometimes I simply eat too much. But my pants continue to get looser, so much so that I realized it's time to run to Ross to get some stuff to hold me over until I reach my target weight.

So like people told me last year, TOSS THE SCALE! Focus on the calorie in vs. calorie out. You'll have a much better piece of mind.

[thrashertm]

Last year, I used to ignore the advice of others when they said toss the scale. This year, I'm kicking myself for not realizing that this is key. I've punched two holes in my belt in the last month, and woke up yesterday realizing that I needed to punch a third hole!

(Call me cheap, but I've been steadily losing weight so I've been constantly buying new belts, so I decided to punch new holes until I hit my target weight/bf%. good thing right?)

Yet, I haven't lost much weight. Certainly however, I've gained muscle. Plenty of people have noticed and complemented me. For the first time in my life, a few weeks back a young woman told me I have an athletic build.

My weight fluctuates, based on water, sodium, I do consume artificial sweeteners, and sometimes I simply eat too much. But my pants continue to get looser, so much so that I realized it's time to run to Ross to get some stuff to hold me over until I reach my target weight.

So like people told me last year, TOSS THE SCALE! Focus on the calorie in vs. calorie out. You'll have a much better piece of mind.

Thanks for the reply. I don't think I've gained any muscle - I was already doing a pretty regular lifting program before I started cutting. If anything, I have lost a little power on my curls and can't do as many pullups.

I would love the excuse to stay up at 2000 calories for a bit longer, since that allows me to indulge a bit more

[I3odyI3uilder]

Ignore the scale back when i first started i let the scale destroy me cause i would see the scale go up instead of down and when i saw that i gave in and just ate whatever i wanted it destroyed me for awhile till i figured out to go by how i feel and how my clothes feel and not the scale.

[DeadICation]

OP, I have noticed the same thing! I've gone from a 40 to a 36 jean since September, yet I'm still hanging around in the same weight class! I've decided to stay off the scales and focus on more important things than weight (how I feel, how I look, my energy level, clothing sizes, etc....) Who cares how much you weigh if you feel better/look better!

[thrashertm]

OP, I have noticed the same thing! I've gone from a 40 to a 36 jean since September, yet I'm still hanging around in the same weight class! I've decided to stay off the scales and focus on more important things than weight (how I feel, how I look, my energy level, clothing sizes, etc....) Who cares how much you weigh if you feel better/look better!

Yes this is very true. I do feel much better in my clothes and I have higher self-esteem! That is truly what is important, but I feel like weight is a good objective measurement of progress.

[ECfromHTX]

You can lose fat and not necessarily lose weight. I think that's what's going on with you.

[DeadICation]

You can lose fat and not necessarily lose weight. I think that's what's going on with you.

Totally agree! That's what I'm going through. The problem with focusing on weight is it doesn't accurately describe progress all the time. If you are losing inches in the waist and feel better then it seems obvious that you are losing body fat. On the same note, if you are doing that and not losing weight then it would seem that you are gaining muscle. Both are great!!! If you get on a scale, see that you haven't lost weight, and lose motivation then stay off it! There is no reason to work so hard in the gym and on your diet just to have a little machine, that measures ONLY your weight, RUIN it for you! Just keep working hard.

[95whtgst]

Totally agree! That's what I'm going through. The problem with focusing on weight is it doesn't accurately describe progress all the time. If you are losing inches in the waist and feel better then it seems obvious that you are losing body fat. On the same note, if you are doing that and not losing weight then it would seem that you are gaining muscle. Both are great!!! If you get on a scale, see that you haven't lost weight, and lose motivation then stay off it! There is no reason to work so hard in the gym and on your diet just to have a little machine, that measures ONLY your weight, RUIN it for you! Just keep working hard.

Hmmm, this seems to be some pretty good advice. I've been lifting hard, eating pretty well, but not necessarily losing much for weight on the scale. I've got 3 new holes in my belt and fit into a size smaller t-shirt than i did when I started.

[tfpriest]

Get out the tape. The measuring tape. Then, you dont have to worry about clothes shrinking or stretching, you will still have a concrete number to gage and measure progress.

[Muclebuilder1]

You are going to need to wear this under your shirts and still look good at work or college.

Made in the U.S.A.

http://www.holdup.com