Feeling Very Frustrated

mbmatzek

For the past 10 days, I have been on a 1,400 calorie diet with daily cardio exercise, plus strength training 3x a week. I've cut down carbs a lot and only have them with protein. I also gave up my daily Mountain Dew habit (that's 400 calories right there) Yesterday, I get on the scale and I have lost nothing. The app tells me that due to my eating habits I should be down 7 to 10 pounds in five weeks (you know that little window that pops up when you're done inputting for the day) I am just so frustrated -- why am I making all these changes if there no movement on the scale? My husband says I need to keep at it and give it more time, but right now I feel like a failure.
I do have a thyroid problem and gained 20 pounds until it was diagnosed and now it's being treated with daily medication so that should no longer be a factor. I feel like a huge failure

kommodevaran

Listen to your husband, he's a clever guy.

Oh, and don't do silly eating. Have a balanced diet. Balance will feel good and natural.

dykask

I was stuck for 2 years at 92kg to 94kg. This spring I tried cutting back on added refined sugars and now I'm at 86kg. Not saying that is your problem, it just sometimes takes a while. 10 days is very brief, it will probably take more time.

Arapacana1

If you just started strength training, you are probably retaining water. The water weight will come off - just give it time.

PennWalker

If the exercise is new you might be retaining water due to muscle repair. Give it time.

samchez0

10 days is not long enough to see a huge difference. You are probably retaining water. Give it more time.

tiny_clanger

Also, your thyroid will not just magically "fix" overnight, even with the medication. Your metabolism will have changed to adapt to the malfunctioning thyroid and the thyroxin imbalance, and will take time to reset once you achieve blood thyroxin stability on meds.

avielosesit

What everyone else said!

But I wanted to chime in and sympathize. I have a thyroid problem too (quite severe) and gained 20lbs while it was undiagnosed. So I hear you on how frustrating things are!

mbmatzek

Thank you for the information. I have been on my thyroid medication since March and have had stable normal levels since April. I am not new to exercise -- I bike and do the ellipical trainer a lot but am relatively new to strength training. I never considered I was retaining water; I am also cutting back on refined sugars as much as possible. I am not giving up. I have given up drinking Mountain Dew and snack food and that in itself is a win, right?

Arapacana1

You are doing great, OP! Giving up Mountain Dew and starting lifting are both good things to do for yourself. And yes, starting lifting -even if you have done all kinds of other exercise regularly- often makes people retain water for a while. It will come right off once your muscles are used to it.

RoxieDawn

mbmatzek wrote: »

Thank you for the information. I have been on my thyroid medication since March and have had stable normal levels since April. I am not new to exercise -- I bike and do the ellipical trainer a lot but am relatively new to strength training. I never considered I was retaining water; I am also cutting back on refined sugars as much as possible. I am not giving up. I have given up drinking Mountain Dew and snack food and that in itself is a win, right?

You are doing great! Keep doing what you are doing and stay the course!

dykask

mbmatzek wrote: »

Thank you for the information. I have been on my thyroid medication since March and have had stable normal levels since April. I am not new to exercise -- I bike and do the ellipical trainer a lot but am relatively new to strength training. I never considered I was retaining water; I am also cutting back on refined sugars as much as possible. I am not giving up. I have given up drinking Mountain Dew and snack food and that in itself is a win, right?

For me, cutting my refined sugar back from 40+ grams per day to around 10 grams per day has had a huge impact. I was working hard for years but not making much progress after I got to the low 90's (kg). Since making the cut I've lost about 10cm on my waist line and about 8kg. That is over 5 months. Turns out I'm very sensitive to refined sugar. For me though the biggest improvement was reduced hunger.

I don't think you need to cut it 100%, that would be pretty hard because these days sugar is everywhere. I've even had a few high sugar days where I had some ice cream desert. I have noticed that my hunger starts coming back when I do that, so if I did it for multiple days in a row it might be a problem. However, once in a while seems to be just fine.

Best of luck and congrats on making a hard choice.

TavistockToad

I've never even tracked my sugar, but I know that it takes at least 3 weeks of consistently hitting my calorie goal before I see the scales move

elphie754

No one here asked how you are measuring how many calories you are eating. If you are not weighing all your food with a food scale, you may being eating more than you think.

callsitlikeiseeit

ogtmama

My favourite piece of advice is from Dory, "Just keep swimming swimming swimming".

adamyovanovich

Keep it up, I've went 19 days without a scale budge, actually went up 3 pounds. I was at a 1500 cal deficit and started to walk more, then over the course of 3-5 days i lost 7 pounds. Just keep at it, you can do it. Its a daily grind, but a good one.

ugofatcat

First of all you are not a failure, you cut your Mountain Dew habit. That is a huge success right there. I know you want to lose weight, but have you thought of the health benefits of cutting back on the pop? We can never measure the heart attack you didn't have or the diabetes you didn't develop.

I do agree with some of the other posters. How are you tracking? Here is a great video to demonstrate the importance of accuracy using a food scale. It is about 4 minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKPIcI51lU

For anyone who didn't watch it, two meals that look almost identical, yet one has 1,700 calories and the other has 2,900. You must be honest with yourself about everything you are eating.

This is a permanent lifestyle change. MFP is a way of life. It is something you will never stop doing, ever.

frankiesgirlie

I gained 3 lbs when I starting lifting. It came off in about 3 weeks. You've probably lost weight but it is masked by the water weight from lifting. Listen to your husband. Keep doing what you're doing!!

ACanadian22

Frankiegirlie nailed it!! Oh, and please don't listen to "What you should weigh" or you will lose your marbles. I never even look at that anymore.