Working so Hard not dropping weight

nurit0825

Hi I am on my second week stopped all carbs sugar eating the right thing to get to my calorie level of 1200 a day. I am working with a trainer three times a week weight training doing cardio at least an 40 min 5 times a week and I stepped on the scale and gained weight I am so bummed and feel totally discouraged. I gained 20 pounds over the last 6 months some due to prednisone which had been given to be in large doses stress bad eating habits and not getting to the gym. I have a stomach which I cant stop obsessing about when I look at my self I use to be able to eat anything now no matter what I do I cant get rid of it. I'm so bummed

43932452

Happy to see you joined. That and you're working with a trainer.
I know Prednisone is bad for weight. Have you looked into some
foods like cilantro, limes and cucumbers? maybe there are spices
that can help as well. You'll find this is a very helpful place to be.
I wish you all the best .. you can add me if you are looking for
friends to add.

craziecritter

I hope those who have more knowledge than I do will respond to this. From what you have said I don't think you are eating enough if your are doing that much exercise.

elizabeth_teaches

It sounds like you are doing all of the right things....Did you take your measurements before you started with your trainer? I was in a similar situation and it turned out that, while I wasn't loosing weight, I was loosing fat and gaining lean muscle. We tracked it through inches lost. Just a thought and keep up the good work!

heybales

Hi I am on my second week stopped all carbs sugar eating the right thing to get to my calorie level of 1200 a day. I am working with a trainer three times a week weight training doing cardio at least an 40 min 5 times a week and I stepped on the scale and gained weight I am so bummed and feel totally discouraged. I gained 20 pounds over the last 6 months some due to prednisone which had been given to be in large doses stress bad eating habits and not getting to the gym. I have a stomach which I cant stop obsessing about when I look at my self I use to be able to eat anything now no matter what I do I cant get rid of it. I'm so bummed

So you do a bunch of cardio which burns more carbs than you've ever burned just walking around.

Guess what your bodies response to that new routine is?

Guess what stores with water?

Water weight.

But, I hope with that exercise level you are following MFP correctly and keeping reasonable deficit already built in to your eating goal, by eating back your exercise calories.

1200 is minimum safe for sedentary short. You may be short, but you ain't sedentary.

Backpackingmom

I feel for you. I have had trouble losing 15 pounds for over a year now. However, I have moved and my workouts are all over the planet. The only advise I can give you is don't give up. I haven't. I actually lost 6 pounds a couple of weeks ago, but got sick again and haven't worked out in the last 5 days. You might be gain muscle, so measure yourself and keep track that way. Measuring every 4-6 weeks. Muscle weights more than fat, so as you build muscle the scale doesn't appear to move or might increase when in fact you are losing fat. Keep up the work.

MsLaura518

I've been told that when you exercise you will gain weight before you lose it because muscle weighs more than fat. But once you build muscle it will increase your metabolism allowing you to burn calories faster, resulting in more calories burned per day, resulting in weight loss. Check with your trainer and see if they have some kind of "test" to see how much of your body weight is muscle as opposed to fat. Good luck

brucebalding

I have spent more than 27 years running gyms and Judo studios. The working out will put on muscle and that weighs more than fat so gaining weight while working out hard is normal. I gave up smoking years ago and gained 90 lbs. it seemed over night....I started on this site on January 14th and from then to today I have lost over 120 lbs. It is 99% what you are eating and the working out is not as important as you think....I walk.....just walk, one hour per day.....that's it, no trainer, no boot camp, no gym membership.....One hour a night walk and 120 lbs GONE....If you do no carbs, when you eat them again you will balloon right back up, 1200 calories a day, log it in here, and moderate exercise, this will make the scale drop quick, lots of chicken breast, squash, zucchini, green beans, sugar free jello, sugar free hard candies get you through hunger spells, rice cakes, oatmeal, sugar free koolaid, greek yogart, pickles, egg whites are really good for this, boil a couple dozen eggs at a time and put them in Tupperware (6 eggs worth) in each DONT EAT THE YOLKS...the whites are pure protein, You can do this, I did. as long as you log in this site every day and keep close track, theirs no way you can not drop weight.

grimendale

When you first start working out, you develop microtears in the muscle structure as part of the normal process. Your body will retain water and glycogen at the site of these tears as part of the inflammation response to aid in healing. Water is quite dense, particularly when compared to fat, so this retention can balance or even offset any losses from fat on the scale. This is why it is highly recommended that you trust a tape measure over a scale. Even when you are retaining, losses will still show up in inches, even when the scale lies to you. The water weight should come off in another week or two, so don't get discouraged. You are not going to develop significant muscle mass while eating at a deficit, though you are likely to have some initial gains if you are unused to working out.

You also need to make sure you eat enough. It seems counterintuitive, but eating too few calories will hinder fat loss. When you enter all of your vital statistics into MFP, it comes up with a total number of calories you should be eating. This number includes a healthy deficit below what you would need to eat to maintain, so you should try to get as close to that number as possible. When you burn calories, your body pulls both from fat reserves and muscle tissue, but the ratio of the two can change. When you eat at a small deficit and exercise, your body will tend to pull from fat reserves since they are easier to access and your muscles are being used. When the deficit grows too large for too long, your body will start to shift towards burning muscle tissue rather than fat. Muscle tissue requires more calories to maintain than fat cells, so when your body expects to not get enough food for an extended period, it will hoard fat cells to try to maintain an energy reserve for future use. You will still lose weight, but most of that weight will be muscle, not fat. As long as your deficit is small, your body isn't worried about getting enough food and will be comfortable burning through the fat reserves.

When you exercise, MFP expects you to eat back any calories you burn to ensure that you total deficit does not grow too large (see above). This also seems counterintuitive, since it seems like you are undoing the benefits of the exercise, but this is not the case. The more muscle you build and the better shape you get into, the more calories your body will require to maintain itself, so you will eventually be able to eat more without gaining weight. Exercising without eating enough calories can easily result in burning muscle rather than fat.

A lot of people default to the 1200 value since it is the minimum that MFP will allow, but it is honestly too low for many people. Look at the information entered into MFP and make sure that you have been realistic so that you don't shortchange yourself. Eating less does not necessarily mean better results. Hope this helps.

nurit0825

Thank you, it is nice to not feel alone and get such informative information. You seem very knowledgeable I took a chance making this post and found a huge response with so much information. Pretty much doing this on my own no real support network so again I thank you for responding I will follow your directives and advice

TheresaTester

I started on this site on January 14th and from then to today I have lost over 120 lbs. It is 99% what you are eating and the working out is not as important as you think....I walk.....just walk, one hour per day.....that's it, no trainer, no boot camp, no gym membership.....One hour a night walk and 120 lbs GONE....
1200 calories a day, log it in here, and moderate exercise, this will make the scale drop quick

I wish my weight loss had been similar to your loss, but as long as I'm losing I just keep plugging away. I also do not have a trainer, a gym membership, or fancy weights and other equipment. I thought that's why my losing was taking so long. I rationalize the time delay as a lesson to teach me to appreciate the effort and success that much more when it finally comes.

are822

My best advice is just keep doing what you're doing! Work out, eat as healthy and possible and be sure you are getting enough calories. Everything takes time and you will see results with time.