Weight not budging. Confused about strength training.

elleelise

My background (you can skip to the end if you don't care): 26 year-old female here! I used to be a chronic fad dieter/binge-eater since the 4th grade. Endomorphic body type; born a stocky 11lb3oz and from a family of very tall/big Goliath people with a predisposition towards storing excess fat (my brother would have been a 15 pound baby if he hadn't been born three weeks early, ha). Under my layer of fat my body is inherently muscular and proportionate. After two decades of trying it all: counting macros, veganizsm, Paleo, WW, Southbeach, Atkins, calorie counting, exercising like a fiend, etc. I decided to try the most radical solution of all: self acceptance.

I sought counseling from an Intuitive Eating/ Body Image therapist in order to tackle my my body image and food issues. The work was life changing. I took two years to ditch food control and learned to stripped deprivation and guilt from my eating; stopped binging on sweets; I ditched the scale, focusing on how I felt; I started to pay more attention to my hunger signals and food reactions; I moved more; I now feel good in my skin and with who I am, and learned that YES: YOU CAN BE FAT AND HEALTHY and that habits trump your numerical weight in determining your health. All good things and important realizations.

But of course, after binging/dieting and messing with my weight set point/metabolism for 20 years, the minute I stopped doing so I started gaining weight and went from a size 14/16 to an 18. But, I have stellar vitals, I run, I am strong. I eat nutritious food, and I am mentally well, and have a fabulous relationship (just to bust the myth that being fat means a life sentence of mediocrity, diabetes and cat-lady singledom.) Don't believe the myth.

The problem with the weight gain is career-based. I am a performer, and as such I am constantly bombarded with ignorant comments from folks about my "weight problem." While on a certain level I feel that it is my job to reeducate brainwashed morons in my field and fight for body diversity, on another level I am exhausted from being on the defensive and missing out on opportunities because I carry extra padding, despite my talent and drive.

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So I bought a food and body scale, and decided to start a sensible plan of calorie counting, upping my fitness regime with adding strength training in an effort to get back to a size 14. I can't really integrate HIIT right now and am avoid compound strength training in favor of machines, bands and light free weights (I was in a car accident and I'm still recovering from a pelvic alignment problem). However, my weight is not budging despite hitting my calorie targets (1600-1800), weighing my food, strength training 3-4 times a week, and doing cardio five days a week. I'm getting enough protein too, although I could use more vegetables and fruits in my diet so that's a goal. It's only been 15 days and while I am in no rush whatsoever, I'm wondering what effect the strength training has on weight loss? In the past whenever I would start a diet (with no strength added in) I would shed weight/body mass quickly. I've never added strength training at the same time as calorie restriction, so I don't know how it all works.

I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing because I feel great and stronger, but it's odd to me that the scale hasn't changed a single ounce. I wonder if my body is happy at my larger weight, or if my metabolism is just F'd from years of chronic binge-eating and restriction. Thoughts? Advice?

keithcw_the_first

The strength training would be helping you maintain your lean body mass as much as possible while the caloric deficit slowly sheds fat. That's my understanding at least.

StaciMarie1974

Give it 4-8 weeks. And as a female, our monthly hormones/TOM have an impact on water weight. So I suggest you compare your weight on a monthly basis rather than weekly. So compare today with ~4 weeks from now and look for a trend that way.

SueInAz

The weight lifting can most definitely be impacting the downward movement of the scale but that's not a bad thing. Your end goal here is to be a size 14, right? So shouldn't your progress be measured more by outward size rather than the scale? Grab a tape measure, the type you use for sewing. Measure your hips, waist, bust, thighs, biceps, calves, etc. Track those measurements in MFP every few weeks along with the number on the scale.

I started lifting heavy last year while eating at a slight deficit, also using machines not free weights. I've not had a lot of scale movement but, boy, has my body changed! I've also doubled, or more, the weight of my lifts since I began. I still step on the scale every day and also track my body measurements occasionally. I've gained a few pounds lately (due to poor focus on my diet) and feeling a bit depressed about it on Sunday I grabbed the tape measure and my measurements are just slightly higher than they were when I weighed 15 pounds less! And I'm 5'4" so 15 pounds can make a huge difference. I knew my clothes still fit pretty well but it was instant affirmation that the scale really doesn't matter so much, especially when weight lifting.

livingleanlivingclean

If you've just started getting back in to training, you could hold extra water weight and have some inflammation from the training....

Be persistent and consistent and you'll get the results you want. Perhaps your calorie intake is too high, online calculators are only a guide and we can't know for certain if the numbers will work for us... If nothing changes in the right direction, and you're tracking food properly, consider adjusting.