Feeling Discouraged

justkeeprunning91

By way of background, I've been earnestly logging since February 13th, and have lost almost 20 lbs, at a pretty consistent rate of between 1 - 1.5 lbs a week. My starting weight in February was 171.5. Last Friday, I was at 152, though that was after about a week of being 2-3 lbs above my moving average weight. This morning, I was at 156. A lot of things have happened the last week to cause water weight retention, I ate out a lot last weekend because it was my birthday, my TOM is due to start in less than a week, and as a birthday present to myself got myself 6 weeks with a personal trainer to weight train, so I started weight training (for the first time ever) on Monday and was crazy sore on Tuesday and Wednesday. I haven't gone over maintenance and have been running about 15 miles a week. All of this to say, I know the weight gain isn't true weight gain (no way I have I accidentally gone 14,000 calories over maintenance), but I can't help but feel really discouraged by it. For the first time, my moving average weight on happy scale has gone up and my weight of loss on happy scale has slowed to nothing. Does anyone who has been at this longer than me have good tips for dealing with these kinds of bumps in the road from an emotional standpoint. I'm trying to push through but it's extremely frustrating. I'm thinking of putting away the scale and focusing on NSVs for a couple of weeks, has anyone found that helpful? I know this is likely to happen again, so I want to have healthier ways of dealing with it than getting mad and being tempted to quit.

usmcmp

Eating more for a week or two and having your weight stay the same is fueling your muscles. With your consistent loss of 1-1.5 pounds per week and your weekly mileage (without any lifting until now) you are at an increased risk of losing more lean mass than necessary. Slowing the loss down or fueling muscle for a while is going to pay off long term. You'd hate to end up a lighter version of what you already look like.

toxikon

Putting away the scale might be helpful. Your brain already knows about fluctuations, but it can still be difficult to see the numbers go up.

It sounds like you're doing an amazing job.

Have you been tracking measurements? Maybe checking measurements one a week for a month or two will give you something else to focus on as you begin your strength training.

quiksylver296

You're right, it's not true weight. It's water weight from the perfect storm of extra food, TOM, and new exercise.

I was carb-loading for a powerlifting competition this last weekend and put on EIGHT pounds!!! By this morning, 7.6 of those pounds are gone.

Keep doing things right and you'll see the scale go back down once your body normalizes.