frustrated, confused, and ready to quit. HALP!!

Switch up your routine too. I SWEAR by free weights and old school conditioning... push ups, sit ups, raised planks... if you can do 30 reps- its too easy. Good luck and go by inches, not lbs.

I agree, if you can do 30 reps, it is way too easy. Increase the weight so you have to work to get to a maximum of 12 reps. If you can do 12 at a weight, increase the weight so you can't do 12 reps any longer. I would actually suggest doing a range of 5-8 reps personally with a weight that keeps you there. Also ditch isolation exercises, that is, those exercises that only work on muscle which are usually ones that only have one joint moving. Do things like squats, overhead presses, rows, deadlifts, bench presses. You will get much more effect from them. Also, after a warm-up, do you weights first, then your cardio, assuming you do both in the same session. I personally like the Turbulence Training approach.

As for diet, if you maintain a calorie deficit you will lose weight. Your Protein, Carb, Fat amounts have more to do with body recomposition. Ideally you want to do both. I am not going to say what you are eating is the problem, although unless you are measuring your servings carefully, you cannot trust others who process food to do so. This, along with the better nutritional quality, are the primary reasons for eating food you prepare yourself from scratch. Not to mention you will find them much more satisfying.

Finally, the weigh gain over the past week, assuming you maintained a calorie deficit for the week, was likely water weight. Again, this is assuming a calorie deficit was maintained which depends on how carefully you are measuring and logging your food. Take your measurements as well (chest, waist, hips) as they tell you much more than weight will.

THIS is why i'm confused. some people are telling me to increase the weight/intensity and decrease the reps, other people are telling me the opposite. i get the same information when i look online. i try to do compound movements when i exercise -- i'm not just standing there working one arm at a time -- i'm squatting while doing curls, etc. i always do weights before cardio also, i feel like i get a better workout that way because after i do cardio, i don't want to do anything besides eat, sleep, and shower (i wish i could do all three at once, haha).

my weight, waist, and belly measurements have all gone UP since joining the gym. my arm and leg measurements have remained the same. my butt has gotten a lot nicer from all the squats and lunges, but otherwise i haven't seen any change.

Switch up your routine too. I SWEAR by free weights and old school conditioning... push ups, sit ups, raised planks... if you can do 30 reps- its too easy. Good luck and go by inches, not lbs.

I agree, if you can do 30 reps, it is way too easy. Increase the weight so you have to work to get to a maximum of 12 reps. If you can do 12 at a weight, increase the weight so you can't do 12 reps any longer. I would actually suggest doing a range of 5-8 reps personally with a weight that keeps you there. Also ditch isolation exercises, that is, those exercises that only work on muscle which are usually ones that only have one joint moving. Do things like squats, overhead presses, rows, deadlifts, bench presses. You will get much more effect from them. Also, after a warm-up, do you weights first, then your cardio, assuming you do both in the same session. I personally like the Turbulence Training approach.

As for diet, if you maintain a calorie deficit you will lose weight. Your Protein, Carb, Fat amounts have more to do with body recomposition. Ideally you want to do both. I am not going to say what you are eating is the problem, although unless you are measuring your servings carefully, you cannot trust others who process food to do so. This, along with the better nutritional quality, are the primary reasons for eating food you prepare yourself from scratch. Not to mention you will find them much more satisfying.

Finally, the weigh gain over the past week, assuming you maintained a calorie deficit for the week, was likely water weight. Again, this is assuming a calorie deficit was maintained which depends on how carefully you are measuring and logging your food. Take your measurements as well (chest, waist, hips) as they tell you much more than weight will.

THIS is why i'm confused. some people are telling me to increase the weight/intensity and decrease the reps, other people are telling me the opposite. i get the same information when i look online. i try to do compound movements when i exercise -- i'm not just standing there working one arm at a time -- i'm squatting while doing curls, etc.

Using both arms in a bicep curl is not a compound exercise. It only works your bicep. By two joints I mean something like the squat where both your hip and knee joints are moving, unlike a bicep curl where only your elbow is involved.

As to the low weight high reps, the problem is this ungrounded fear that a woman will bulk up using heavy weights. All that low weight high repetition workout does is increase your endurance, not your strength or even result in significant muscle retention. Lower reps with higher weight will preserve your muscle mass, and make you stronger. You may find this motivating to lift heavier weights at lower reps http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

ooh, staci's story is inspiring. thanks!

Anytime!

My legs are "big" but now they feel like rocks rather than all squishy like haha! I do hate the "stumpy" look of being so short but there's nothing I can do about it other than rock some high heels and take care of my body!

yeah ... if i could gain height, i wouldn't need to lose weight. womp womp!

This is exactly why i keep my diary provate ppl see one iced coffee, one french fry and attack your whole lifestyle on here .. smh if you are watching your calories and woring out, also eat in moderation you should be ok , drink lots of water, maybe you need a whole new work out plan to get out of a plateau, Good luck I feel you I get frustrated as well

yeah, i had some pizza and an iced coffee, i must be some fat slovenly idiot! i must be a total dumbass that doesn't know that eating mcdonald's is bad! i snack here and there, because if i tried to avoid "bad" food entirely, i'd go bonkers and wind up eating the entire pizza -- and i'm SURE that i'm not the only person that feels this way!

in the first sentence of my post, i wrote that i've only been at this whole weight loss thing for a little over a year. this is my FIRST serious attempt at losing weight -- not like some people who are on their umpteenth try and are wondering why it's not working. i'm making mistakes, i'm learning, just like anyone else.

thankfully i was not an overweight child (i was actually extremely underweight until puberty, and then i was average weight up until college). this is NOT a problem that i've been struggling with my entire life, so obviously i don't know how to deal with losing weight if i've never had to do it before. it's all extremely new to me, so i may be naive to a lot of aspects regarding fitness and lifestyle, but yes, i do know that mcdonald's is bad -- that's why they only saw one small freaking smoothie in my diary, not a big mac, fries, onion rings, and all other sorts of garbage.

the funny thing is, i tried a new work out plan to get me out of my plateau (i was stuck at 115lbs or so for a while) and the new work out plan pushed me up to 122lbs because the exercise increased my appetite.

i think the most pertinent thing that i've gathered since making this post is that some people have really poor reading comprehension skills. they find one or two bits of information and base their entire response on that while ignoring everything else.