GAINING weight? HELP!

_lyndseybrooke_

Ok, so this might get long, but bear with me, because I really need some words of wisdom! For future reference, I am a 23-year-old female and I'm 5'5". My goal weight is 135 lbs.

I started dieting about three months ago and, more seriously, two months ago. I started off at 155 lbs, according to my analog scale. By the time I joined the gym a month ago, my scale was telling me I was down to 147 lbs. Since I started working out, the scale refused to budge. 147 lbs week after week. During my second week at the gym, I weighed myself on their digital scale and got 156 lbs and 29% body fat. What?! I chalked it up to being weighed at a different time of day, being clothed, and different scales. My scale was still saying 147 lbs.

I didn't really understand why I wasn't losing, but I decided to just keep doing what I was doing and it would all work out. Well, I decided my analog scale was a piece of crap (what did I expect for $10?), so I bought a better digital scale. I weighed myself on that today and got a weight of 150.8 lbs with 33% body fat! Holy crap! So, I basically feel like I've gained almost 4 lbs overnight (even though I know that's not true, because my analog scale now says 146 lbs).

I know scales vary, but I'm assuming the most accurate reading is my brand new $50 digital scale. So, I've lost about 5 lbs in three months. That's not good. I've never taken body measurements, so I can't go on those. My pants fit a tiny bit better, but nothing truly noticeable. I feel like I'm working my butt off and getting absolutely nowhere. I've been a yo-yo dieter for awhile and I used to be able to eat 1200 calories a day (mostly processed and prepackaged foods), hop on the treadmill for a brisk mile three days a week (yep, that's it!), and I'd steadily lose 1-2 lbs per week. But now that I'm doing everything the healthy way, I'm losing nothing!

Time to break down my habits.

EXERCISE
I go to the gym 4 days a week. I do a 10 minute warm-up on the elliptical, 30 minutes of strength training with light weights, and a 20 minute incline walk on the treadmill at 4mph. I haven't skipped a gym day since I started. On two of my non-gym days, I do 30 minutes on my stationary bike. I have one rest day.

FOOD
My food goal is 1260 calories. My diary is open to everyone, so feel free to look at it. I'm getting better at reaching 1260 (or close to it), but I still haven't started eating my exercise calories. The reason for this is because I believe the burned calories is an exaggeration and I don't want to eat more than I should. Also, I tend to do worse on weekends, so I feel like I make up for not eating enough by eating a bit too much on weekends. I used to do this on Weight Watchers with no problem. The only thing I eat "too much" of during the week is protein, fiber, and sugar (only because of fresh fruit). I don't eat processed or prepackaged foods for the most part. I'm drinking at least 8-10 glasses of water daily.

The only thing I can think of to improve is to start logging calories on weekends and to not "cheat" so much, but the issue is that I've always cheated on weekends and had no problem losing weight in the past. Why now? Everyone keeps telling me that I must be gaining muscle, but I don't think I've been doing strength training long enough or with heavy enough weights to be gaining muscle. Plus, I feel like I'd see a difference in the mirror by now, but I'm not. Others are telling me to skip the strength training and just do cardio, but I don't want to just be skinny - I want to be healthy and toned, and I certainly don't want to lose what little muscle I have.

I just feel like I'm working so hard and getting nothing in return. I'm super discouraged right now. Any ideas on why my weight isn't budging? What am I doing wrong?

leebesstoad

I well through your food diary. Assuming you've got everything in there (no cheating), I think it looks pretty good. I see another PB-a-holic. Welcome to the club.

First, my experience with scales that purport to show you bodyfat percentage is that they are about as useful as wings on an elephant. Just MHO. Does your gym have someone who can measure bf using skin calipers? That is more accurate. By far.

Are you weighing yourself the same time of the day every time? Wearing the same thing? When I was in in weight-loss mode, I did an "official" weigh-in once a week, same day of the week, same time of the day, normally wearing approximately the same thing. That was the one that counted. Weighing yourself every day, multiple times in the day is just a guaranteed trip to cuckoo-land. Your body can, and will, fluctuate quite a few pounds every day. As an example, I stepped on the scales once before getting in the bathtub. I weighed 179. I stepped on the scales when I got out 15 minutes later. I weighed 182. My skin was dry and had absorbed almost 3 pounds of water from just a nice leisurely soak in the tub. So don't sweat the daily fluctuations. It'll drive you bonkers.

My guess is that you actually probably have started to change from fat to muscle somewhat. Seeing it yourself is the hardest thing in the world. I didn't see it in me until I was down 20 pounds. Long after I was getting compliments from others. I didn't see it in the mirror at all. So don't necessarily go by what you see.

And yes, women can retain water more at different times of the month too, so you need to remember that too.

You are eating pretty cleanly from what I see. A reasonably good balance of carbs/protein/fat. Your exercise regimen sounds good.

I don't know if it is possible for you, but I know what helped me is to eat 5-6 smaller meals a day rather than 3 meals. Keeping your body fed can let your metabolism not worry about whether it is going to get fed again and burn more easily. But if you can't, you still seem to be doing fine from what I see.

I'd say keep at it. We all get these plateaus or walls we have to break through. Sometimes the body just says "I ain't giving it up". And once it does, it'll start coming off quickly. And don't live by the scale so much. The goal shouldn't necessarily be the number. The goal is feeling better, looking better. The weight is a guidepost, a target, a motivation. But from what I see, I bet you can get there.

transparentenigma

I know how you feel, I would suggest not to let it bother you that much. I am at a 2+ months plateau. It sucks, especially when I weigh over 270+ pounds, eat less than 2000 calories a day, mostly on average about 1500-1600, exercise at least for an hour 5X a week AND THE SCALE IS NOT MOVING AT ALL.

The only thing that keeps me going is that my aunt who has lost over 100+ pounds tells me that there were times when the scale didn't move for her for almost 3 months, and she is an exercise-aholic, and eats about 5-6 small meals a day, she says its just one of those things, the most important is to keep doing what you are doing, don't give up, take a look at what you eat and try switch it up a bit, maybe eat a little bit more on some days a little less, until your body gets in gear again.

I am changing my exercise routine, at least the type of exercise I do, adding more HIIT and Strength, and guess what, the scale is STILL not moving, but my clothes are fitting better. Can't win for losing... ALL THIS TO SAY, DON'T GIVE UP, IT MAY TAKE A WHILE, BUT IT'LL BE WORTH IT.

badick

from my days in sports medicine in high school and from my conversations with my nutritionist, routine can stiffle your progress as much as anything. Your body gets "used" to the activities and behaviors and will level off the calorie burn. Time to mix it up, take a week off from working, have a splurge day (not the same week), and then dive back in. I keep hitting week long plateaus, and just by changing one day of activity, it breaks and my body starts losing again.

The other thing to consider is your general body type. I'm a squat kind of guy from a squat family, we gain and lose much more easily than the tall skinny folk. Look at your family for comparison and learn about body types to get an idea about how to break through.

And NEVER give up!

jwdieter

Log everything. Not logging weekends is a bad idea.
Agree with breaking up your gym routine. Also, look into HIIT for your cardio, and pick up heavier weights.

runningcats

I agree with changing up your exercise routine. Your body can get "used to" how it burns/uses calories, so you may need to adjust that to see more long-term loss. Also - I'd say log weekend food as well. I started several years ago (took me 18 months to lose 30 pounds - *slow* weight loss, but it was steady progress), and found that I did better when I logged everything. I did give myself 1 day a week to "cheat" - (that was my day to have a glass of wine and a small piece of chocolate). Giving myself that break each week I didn't feel like it was a big sacrifice to have an overall change in the way I ate.

Keep at it - don't get discouraged!