This is frustrating

tazmaninaz

So I joined a gym in November, mostly to lose weight. I was 65 pounds overweight and it was affecting my health, as I also have Type II Diabetes. I hired a personal trainer because I knew if I didn't, I wouldn't go on my own. From November to January, my body fat went down quite a lot, but I was still weighing the same. I told my trainer it was I had poor eating habits. He then set weight goals I had to meet every two weeks. I figured I need to change not only what I ate, but how much and stuck to it. From January to June, I lost 35 pounds. I still have 25 pounds to go.

I went from just working out at the gym to working out at the gym and eating right. For the past two weeks, I have been going to the gym, eating right, and doing cardio outside the gym 7 days a week.

I still have 25 pounds to go and it appears I'm not losing it. I even spoke to a nutritionist. I'm burning anywhere from 500 - 1000 calories a day and my scale is not showing it. I know what you're saying, I don't see the weight loss, but I'm changing physically, and I am. I dropped almost three pant sizes, I'm swimming in my 2xl shirts, but what I want to see is my scale telling me I'm losing the weight.

I know the following:

Eat right
Eat the right foods
Exercise replaces fat with muscle
If you don't eat enough, you keep the weight you have
If you eat too much you gain weight
If you're working out and you keep your heart rate above target, you are losing weight

Am I missing something?

tavinsmom

I don't think you are missing anything. I swear my body does not want to give up the weight.
I lost 20 lbs in about 6 months on my own. I joined an exercise class (1 hour workouts 5 times a week) and after 3 months of that, I had actually gained a pound. I was counting calories, dripping sweat when I was done working out, and nothing!!) But I kept at it, and finally last week I dropped 3 lbs in 1 week, and have lost 2 this week. I think if you just keep doing what you are doing it will start coming back off again. The trick is to not get frustrated and quit (in which case you will never lose it)

laurie62ann

Are you eating back your workout calories? Is it possible your under eating!

southerndream24

The scale can be a evil little thing. You've already said that you've seen the changes physically and in your clothes. That is a greater indicator than some silly scale.

Fat loss > weight loss

pilot1960

Sounds like you are doing the right things. Your body does plateau for a while as it gets used to the weight/fat changes. Don't despair it will happen. I do wonder if you are eating enough though. Do you get naughty notices quite a lot? If so eat back some of those extra burnt off calories.

kaleena1983

I had a pretty bad plateau recently. What got me out of it was changing up my workout. I always do strength training, and that is helping me build a lot of muscle. The cardio I was doing was mostly on the elliptical. I changed it to Insanity and the weight starting falling off. Just changing my cardio made a huge difference.

erickirb

You make it more difficult than it has to be. All you need to know is eat less cals than maintenance (TDEE) and lose weight, just don't have too large of a deficit, or a large % of your loss will come from lean muscle, not from the fat you want to lose.

If you are not losing and think you are doing everything right there may be a few reasons, here is a list of possible reasons (not all inclusive, but is in order of most likely)
- You are eating more than you think you are eating (If you don't weigh solids and measure liquids this is very likely)
- You are retaining more water (this could be due to change in exercise routine, amount of exercise, intensity, more sodium, less potassium, less water intake)
- You are burning less calories than you think you are burning (If you use MFP estimates or machines, most likely you are really burning less than you think you are)
- your metabolism is slower than MFP or other site calculated to be (Lower BMR and as a result all multipliers would lead to too high of a caloric intake)

auddii

You don't appear to be logging your food. How do you know you are eating at a deficit? Also, little things can be throwing off your perception of what you are consuming (and it adds up). Do you take a bite of something while cooking to see if the seasonings are right? Do you weigh your food with a scale instead of using measuring cups?

A good read (and check out the video in the first few comments):
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

Ayne6246

Just something to think about.....stress can cause weight gain so try to stop stressing about the weight loss. I know that is very hard to do though. I was stressing about not losing then went on vacation for 2 weeks and decided I was not going to even think about diet & exercise while I was gone, just enjoy myself. I fully expected to come home up by at least 5 lbs because our vacations usually center around whee we are going to eat next. Got home hopped on the scales and WOW down 3 lbs! since then I have stopped wprring about the number on the scale and have had a slow but steady loss.

Lparault

I feel your pain. I plateau much more than I lose at a steady pace. My nutritionist told me that the plateau is your body playing catch up and reset...in other words you body cannot lose weight rapidly for a prolonged period of time. It goes into the plateau phase to catch up and reset itself to your new eating and exercise habits. DON'T STOP doing what you're doing.

Also, eating is what revs up your metabolism...are you eating 3 large meals or 6 small ones? Eating six smaller meals will keep your body in burn mode. Try to eat breakfast within one hour of waking. And eat something every three or so hours after that until about 4 to 6 hours before bedtime. Eat smaller meals with an am snack and a pm snack in between. Also a protien snack before bed helps, too.

Drink water like it's your job. If you don't drink enough water, your body will retain fluid like a bird retains feathers. Water will keep your metablolism funtioning properly, and your physiological processes working on a cellular level. If your body goes into retention mode, you will not show weight loss...1 gallon of water weighs 8 lbs. Drinking enough to keep everything working correctly will cause your body to shed excess water weight.

Be sure that you are eating the calories you burn by exercising. You are concerned with the calorie deficit, not the actual count, so to speak. If you require 2500 calories to maintain your weight, you cut that to lose. If you are going for a 500 calorie a day deficit (just example numbers to make the math easy ) Then you eat 2,000 calories. However, if you burn another 500 excercising, then your deficit has become 1,000 calories for the day....if you don't eat the additional 500 calories that you burned, then your deficit is too high and your body goes into starvation mode and shuts your metabolism down and you gain or stop losing.

This weight loss thing really is a balancing act. A good friend of mine gave me the best advice I have gotten in a while. I told her how frustrated I was by the amount of work I was putting into this for the scale to say the same thing every damn time. She said, "Pick a new measurement for progress." She then followed up with, "I don't care if you tattoo a dotted line on your behind so you can hit the same mark everytime, use a tape measure and NOT the flipping scale."

I'm not on speaking terms wih the tape measure so, I dug out some clothes I haven't been able to fit into in a while and hung them up where I can see them.

First time, I couldn't pull the pants on. Next time, pulled them up, couldn't zip. Third time, zipped them laying down. Next time, zipped without laying down, but can't move in them, lol. ...I'm going for fit comfortably By the way, the scale says I gained weight I the immortal words of ...Oh, I don't know who said it, but #$@! the scale!

Hope this helps.

Oh, one more thing. If you are eating a high protien diet, vary up your food selection for a couple of days with some carbs. Don't go off the rails altogether, still track your calories and don't blow your whole program, but eat a baked potato or a baked sweet potato, or soem pasta or rice. I have found out the hard way that cutting carbs for too long impedes your weight loss as well.

Good luck!

FattieBabs

Great post as I am having similar issues. Thanks, there is a lot of good advice there. For what is is worth, my scale loss has practically stopped but I have dropped two dress sizes in a year. The first 20 pounds came off easily but the next 20 is proving difficult.

MyJourney1960

I know what you're saying, I don't see the weight loss, but I'm changing physically, and I am. I dropped almost three pant sizes, I'm swimming in my 2xl shirts, but what I want to see is my scale telling me I'm losing the weight.

what you are missing is that weight loss is not just about "a number on the scale". and believe me, i'm just as obsessed as you are by "the number", but it's important to change your mind set. You understand that if you "dropped almost three pants sizes" then you ARE LOSING. let the scale go for now - your body will adjust itself as you go along. Keep doing what you are doing.

PunkinSpice79

I don't know about men, but I think for women, hormones can play a major role.