Who's up for another round of "Why's My Scale Stuck?"

maycontainjane

Hey, all. I'm a 19 year old girl (woman? lady? vagina owner?), mediumish frame (thunder thighs!), 5'5", 147-150 lbs depending on the day. I'm trying to get down to 130 or 125 (if my body will let me). Obviously I don't have a ton of weight to lose, but I still think I should be losing SOMETHING. And I'm not, and haven't since I came back to MFP over a month ago (this ain't my first weight loss rodeo).

The skinny (haha) on my diet and exercise: I've been doing P90X (just finished Phase One) and sticking to the program closely, usually running on my rest days (today is the first "real" rest day I've taken). As for my diet, it leaves a lot to be desired health-wise but apart from a few slip-ups I eat at a solid deficit every day. Diary should be open if you'd like to take a peek.

Now you'd think that after more than a month of working out VERY hard for an hour a day and eating somewhat sensibly on the regular that I'd lose SOMETHING. Like maybe a pound, two? Is that too much to ask for 30-some days? But no, NOTHING. No loss. Not even inches. I've taken measurements once every two weeks and there is NO change.

Is something wrong with me? Slow metabolism? Hit by the fat stick as a kid? I just don't get it. I seriously doubt the problem is not eating enough (I'm not perfect with my logging, if anything my calories are being slightly underestimated), but my diary's open, so you tell me.

Thanks!

TL;DR: Slightly overweight 19 year old female does P90X and doesn't eat way too much, can't lose weight, how come?

grimendale

Have you been taking body measurements or relying on the scale? If the latter, that might be your answer. P90x is relatively intense, so you develop microtears in your muscle fibers. Your body retains glycogen, which is bonded to water, in your muscles as part of the inflammation response to help heal the muscles. Water is quite dense, particularly when compared to fat, and can balance or offset any losses from fat. You will still lose fat, and you can see it in loss of inches. I've been doing insanity for the last month and a half, and I have actually gained 2 lbs, but I am down 3% body fat and 4" off my stomach. If I were relying on the scale, I'd probably be pretty discouraged. Since I have better numbers, I know the scale is lying.

Kittyvicious1

yesterday I was 186, today I got on the scale and it said I was 161. holy crap. waaaa. reset my scale and i was 188.
damn

sapf

How do you measure your food? If you are using volumes (Tbsp, etc) I'd highly suggest changing to mass and getting a food scale. It could be that you're eating more calories than you log if you are using volume based measurements.

demarii06

Vagina owner! lmao

ouandi

Honestly you sound just like me. I worked out and stayed within a certain calorie limit for YEARS and lost nothing. I had every blood work done under the sun and nothing major wrong with me. Finally went to see a nutritionist who deals with athletes, models, and figure competitors (I figure he's seen it all). He took one look at me and said for my body type I am eating WAY too much fat in my diet. The fat I was eating was from nuts, avocado, hummus, healthy fats, but still too much fat.

Fast forward, it's been four months I'm down 14 lbs on the scale, body fat is down 30lbs from 48% to 30%. I am still working out the same but this time my diet is helping me gain muscle and lose fat.

The short of it, I used to try to target 30% fat but was always around 35% and now I'm under 20% every day. I also eat more front-loaded calories and hit a high protein amount for each of my four or five meals. So for me, it wasn't total calories it was total fat.

Klem4

I'm going to venture and say.. try and eat more healthful, quality foods... I see a lot of cookies, donuts, etc. Which no doubt, I eat those myself, but try (most of the time) to eat them in small quantities. It could also be that you aren't eating quite enough either.. I saw you had some higher days, but those were filled with fast food or whatnots. My goal is 1900, and I'm 25. I average about 1650 probably, with some high days, some low. I have also read a lot where people on these programs do not really lose much weight in the beginning, it just takes awhile sometimes, I've been through a many weeks of plateaus also, this summer included. Not fun, but keep at it!!

NonnyMary

Hi - I was just noticing that you dont count your sodium. if you could start doing that, you might find you are eating much too much sodium. It can screw things up.. its shocking when you count those numbers too.

AmyRhubarb

Looking through your diary, there are a lot of days where you're still 300-400 calories under your goal. You mentioned a solid deficit - your daily MFP goal has that solid deficit built in before exercise - meaning eat to goal every day, do zero exercise and you'll lose weight, because you're at a deficit. Figure in the exercise cals, and suddenly you've got a cavernous deficit, which can hinder rather than help your progress.

You also mentioned running on rest days - going for a run sorta negates the whole rest day thing! Take a day off, give your body a break. Muscles repair and grow when we rest, so take a break at least once a week. Go for an easy walk if you like - you don't have to be a couch potato, but take it easy.

The only other thing I would suggest is investing in a good heart rate monitor. MFP calorie burn estimates are often way higher than actual burn, so a HRM (with a chest strap!) is great tool to have in your fitness arsenal.

Eat well - remember, goal means GOAL, not 300 calories below the mark, drink water, exercise, get good rest. Hang in there!

maycontainjane

Hey everyone, thanks a ton for your replies. I'll do my best to take everything you said to heart! First step will be trying to eat more healthful foods/watching sodium and fat intake and the HRM is a great idea, I'll probably ask for one for my birthday. Thanks again!