Am I being unrealistic? Very discouraged.

amamainlove

I’m really feeling discouraged but my husband says I haven’t given it enough time.

It’s been about 2 1/2 weeks since completely overhauled my nutrition and exercise regime. But I haven’t noticed anything. No weight lost, no inches, not even centimeters. The only thing that has changed is I mentally feel better.

Everything I read says I should be seeing something by now. I only want to lose between 7-10 lbs. I try to keep my macros right on point which I usually do. I’m typically within 1-5% of what my macros should be.

Before I changed my diet I was literally eating fast food and junk food every single day for every single meal. So I kinda thought that changing my diet and actually working out would give me quick results. What the heck? I’m so discouraged.

I do 20 minutes of HIIT on the tread mill 3x week and do weight training 5x week. I burn between 400-800 calories depending if I’m doing HIIT that day or not.

Don’t judge my fitness pal diary. I don’t log all my exercise and never log my water intake. Other than that, I log every food I eat. Even if it’s a half a tablespoon of bbq sauce.

Anyway, I honestly have no clue what I’m doing wrong.

kimny72

With only 10 lbs to lose, you should be expecting to lose @ 0.5lbs per week, which can really easily hide behind water weight fluctuations. When I was losing my last 10 lbs, I saw the scale move about once per month. Women can have crazy water weight swings tied to their hormonal cycle.

Check out these threads when you get a chance and good luck!

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

taco_inspector

Well, if you've just began to exercise; especially at this level (I'd die from HIIT 3x/wk alone), it's entirely possible that your muscles are working at a lot of repair and therefore are holding onto a bit of water ... it really doesn't take much...

The most solid advice would be to hang on and stay your chosen course to see how this all sorts out for you. It'll take several weeks to come to a new homeostasis and see the effects of your changes and hard work.

lorrpb

^^What she said.

quiksylver296

L1zardQueen

You sound like you need just a little patience. The last few bits are the hardest to lose. Nose to the grindstone.

kami3006

Excellent advice so far. Just wanted to add that changing the foods you eat, even with adding exercise, does not guarantee weight loss. You still have to be in a deficit to lose, regardless of the food you eat.

jemhh

I'll echo the "be patient" crowd.

As a woman, you're going to be prone to more water weight fluctuations. Women (especially already lean women) are better off comparing their weights cycle to cycle (meaning Day 1 to Day 1) rather than week to week because your hormonal profile changes so much. If your weight doesn't change over the length of one menstrual cycle (or 6 weeks if you have no period), drop your calories.

kami3006

Patience is key. I lost my last ten very slowly (.25 to .33 lbs per week) and the scale only moved every three weeks since it was masked by normal fluctuations.

Silentpadna

lorrpb wrote: »

^^What she said.

Yep.

3x per week of HIIT AND 5x per week weights? Not even a little recovery time in there. Hint: recovery is when the magic happens . Your body is going to be stressed multiple ways when doing a lot of exercise and carrying a calorie deficit along with it.

When your body stresses, hormones take action and your body starts using water for repair (that water weight is - mostly - a good thing). But it also holds water when there is extra stress.

So what I would recommend is:

1. If you want to lose weight, eat at a deficit
2. Allow recovery time
3. Allow 6-8 weeks to see results.
4. Do not under eat (i.e. don't carry a large deficit).

Nokt2018

Silentpadna wrote: »

lorrpb wrote: »

^^What she said.

Yep.

3x per week of HIIT AND 5x per week weights? Not even a little recovery time in there. Hint: recovery is when the magic happens . Your body is going to be stressed multiple ways when doing a lot of exercise and carrying a calorie deficit along with it.

When your body stresses, hormones take action and your body starts using water for repair (that water weight is - mostly - a good thing). But it also holds water when there is extra stress.

So what I would recommend is:

1. If you want to lose weight, eat at a deficit
2. Allow recovery time
3. Allow 6-8 weeks to see results.
4. Do not under eat (i.e. don't carry a large deficit).

^^ this

amamainlove

Thank you for you advice you guys! I’m feeling so discouraged. After I had my first baby I got into the best shape of my life. I’ve always worked out and worked out hard.

And sorry I meant to say I do 5x weight training and then 3 of those 5 days I do HIIT with it. So I take 2 days off per week from working out.

Maybe I am going too hard though. It’s just what I’ve been use to in the past.

thisPGHlife

I agree with what everyone has said so far. I just wanted to highlight that for women, because of our cycle and hormones, if you are not post menopausal then it may be more like six weeks before you really see a change. Especially since you have so "little" left to lose. Some people at the point where you are at only see a change in the scale once a month. I agree that patience is the best course right now. On those difficult data remember that no matter what, your mental health is improving.

jdog022

amamainlove wrote: »

Thank you for you advice you guys! I’m feeling so discouraged. After I had my first baby I got into the best shape of my life. I’ve always worked out and worked out hard.

And sorry I meant to say I do 5x weight training and then 3 of those 5 days I do HIIT with it. So I take 2 days off per week from working out.

Maybe I am going too hard though. It’s just what I’ve been use to in the past.

I’d swap two HIIT for LISS. 5x week weights and 3x HIIT is over doing it.

PAV8888

Don't overdo your deficit. Use a weight trend application. Be mindful of expected water weight variations caused by hormones, exercise and other expected issues.

Feeling better is not a minor win either....

Also ask yourself if you're overdoing it. This should be a self improvement project; not something that feels punishing.

mmapags

jdog022 wrote: »

amamainlove wrote: »

Thank you for you advice you guys! I’m feeling so discouraged. After I had my first baby I got into the best shape of my life. I’ve always worked out and worked out hard.

And sorry I meant to say I do 5x weight training and then 3 of those 5 days I do HIIT with it. So I take 2 days off per week from working out.

Maybe I am going too hard though. It’s just what I’ve been use to in the past.

I’d swap two HIIT for LISS. 5x week weights and 3x HIIT is over doing it.

Totally agree! Also, you mention overhauling nutrition but you don't say anything about calorie deficit. That is what is going to drive weight loss. Are you in one?

Silentpadna

amamainlove wrote: »

Thank you for you advice you guys! I’m feeling so discouraged. After I had my first baby I got into the best shape of my life. I’ve always worked out and worked out hard.

And sorry I meant to say I do 5x weight training and then 3 of those 5 days I do HIIT with it. So I take 2 days off per week from working out.

Maybe I am going too hard though. It’s just what I’ve been use to in the past.

Remember when the goal is weight loss specifically (or really not weight, but fat), it's the deficit that matters. The less weight you have to lose, the smaller the deficit should be. Don't use exercise to create the deficit. Especially since exercise is another stressor. Do use exercise for fitness. Do use strength training for shape and retaining of muscle and lean body mass. Your deficit and fat reduction is done primarily in the kitchen.

Also be careful of how much you estimate your burn to be with HIIT. Most people (not singling you out in this) do not actually do HIIT when they think they are. For most people, if you do real HIIT 3x per week, it's probably too much. I would also mention that whatever you expect your weight training to be doing for you, you may be sabotaging with HIIT. @jdog022 suggested to substitute 2 HIIT workouts by instead using LISS (Low intensity steady state) cardio. This is sound advice.

It was tempting to me to want to eat nothing and do every exercise out there. I had to learn that each thing has its function and some of the things can oppose the goal of the other things.

kshama2001

amamainlove wrote: »

Thank you for you advice you guys! I’m feeling so discouraged. After I had my first baby I got into the best shape of my life. I’ve always worked out and worked out hard.

And sorry I meant to say I do 5x weight training and then 3 of those 5 days I do HIIT with it. So I take 2 days off per week from working out.

Maybe I am going too hard though. It’s just what I’ve been use to in the past.

The exercise is new, yes? I gained 7 pounds when I started lifting weights. Came off in a few weeks.

AnnPT77

amamainlove wrote: »

I’m really feeling discouraged but my husband says I haven’t given it enough time.

It’s been about 2 1/2 weeks since completely overhauled my nutrition and exercise regime. But I haven’t noticed anything. No weight lost, no inches, not even centimeters. The only thing that has changed is I mentally feel better.

Everything I read says I should be seeing something by now. I only want to lose between 7-10 lbs. I try to keep my macros right on point which I usually do. I’m typically within 1-5% of what my macros should be.

Before I changed my diet I was literally eating fast food and junk food every single day for every single meal. So I kinda thought that changing my diet and actually working out would give me quick results. What the heck? I’m so discouraged.

I do 20 minutes of HIIT on the tread mill 3x week and do weight training 5x week. I burn between 400-800 calories depending if I’m doing HIIT that day or not.

Don’t judge my fitness pal diary. I don’t log all my exercise and never log my water intake. Other than that, I log every food I eat. Even if it’s a half a tablespoon of bbq sauce.

Anyway, I honestly have no clue what I’m doing wrong.

It sounds like you've made some really great changes, all at once! :flowerforyou: I agree with others that more time/patience is a good plan. The water weight from the additional exercise (healthy, needed for muscle repair) and possible other sources of water weight fluctuation, can mask scale results for a long time. On a new regimen, 4-6 weeks is a fair trial. (I also agree with that flowchart up top. ).

I have some reservations about how you're estimating those exercise calories, though. If you're estimating 400 calories from the weight training, and 400 more for 20 minutes of HIIT, I'm pretty sure that's not realistic.

Weight training is definitely worth doing for fitness and body composition, but it's not a great calorie burner. As a 130-something-pound woman, I figure maybe 150 calories an hour, probably less. Many fitness devices or heart rate monitors overestimate it, because heart rate goes up with the physical strain (disproportionate to calorie burn).

If you're doing higher-speed weight circuits rather than classic lifting, that'll burn more calories, but if you're a relative beginner, fitness and body composition would be better served by a 3 day whole-body beginner program. There are some well-regarded ones discussed here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you

If you're doing circuits, having fun, and liking the results*, then there's no need to change that, but I'd still take a good look at the calorie estimate. I do think others have a point about taking rest days (two sleeps) between strength sessions that work the same muscle groups. (* Fitness and body composition results won't show up in 2.5 weeks, BTW. You could see some quick strength gain, and a bit of nice-looking muscle-fullness from the way water retention works in muscle repair.)

HIIT for 20 minutes on the treadmill isn't burning 400 calories for a non-athlete woman, no matter how one defines "HIIT", especially for someone with only 7-10 pounds to lose (because you're not moving an XL bodyweight). I can't burn more than about 250 in 20 minutes of the hardest rowing machine workout I can sustain for 20 minutes (steady, not intervals), and this is an exercise I'm very experienced (decade plus) and semi-adequate at doing. Usually, shorter intense steady-state will burn more calories than the same length of HIIT, or close, especially when relatively new to exercise (harder at first to be ultra-intense in the intense part of the interval, more likely to be dragging in the easy part of the interval).

Heart rate monitors and fitness devices are not very accurate for estimating HIIT (or other intense intervals) either, especially for people who are relative fitness beginners (in part because no one's heart rate drops commensurately with effort drop during the slow part of the intervals, and that's extra true for beginners).

If you're eating back 400-800 calories from weight training plus HIIT, and either eating those back, or thinking they'll create a big deficit for you, I'm sorry to say that I think that's doubtful.

I think if you stick with the program, maybe with a few tweaks, and certainly with the patience that's been recommended, you'll see positive results in the longer run.

Best wishes for much success!

LynnJ9

quiksylver296 wrote: »

I've missed seeing this flow chart!