Feeling discouraged. Help

kassondrah2

Feeling very discouraged! I have been eating right, and going to the gym atleast 3 times a week. I weighed myself this morning and I gained 3lbs. How can this be?! I have been working so hard to loose these 10 lbs and here I am gaining 3 more. I want to give up! Any one that can give me some words of advice or encouragement would be greatly appreciated

TavistockToad

Water weight from starting working out? Or water weight because your period is due?
Or water weight from something else...

cmriverside

Ten pounds you have to lose? It's going to be slow-going. Just keep doing what you're doing. Three pounds is well within the daily water fluctuation. You didn't gain three pounds of fat overnight.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10691413/help-im-not-losing-any-weight-a-detailed-explanation-why-what-to-do-about-it#latest

mbaker566

Three lbs could be water, hormones, sodium.
one day is one day. weight loss is not a straight line.

you can work out all you want and eat "right" but unless you are eating at a deficit, you will not lose weight. focus on the deficit.

Kathryn247

Lillymoo01

You say you are eating right but how are you measuring the amount you are eating? Eating right won't make a shred of difference with weight loss if you are consuming the same or more calories than you are burning.

Soul_mate

I think if you have lost 10LBS that means you are aware what is and how much intake is right so not questioning that, However as all said fluctuations of 2-3 lbs should not be very material, unless it keeps increasing.. You must adopt interval measurement to stay motivated.. decrease frequency of your weighting yourself.. if u do it daily do it weekly.. if u do it weekly.. do it fortnight.

JBanx256

camanishmittal wrote: »

I think if you have lost 10LBS that means you are aware what is and how much intake is right so not questioning that, However as all said fluctuations of 2-3 lbs should not be very material, unless it keeps increasing.. You must adopt interval measurement to stay motivated.. decrease frequency of your weighting yourself.. if u do it daily do it weekly.. if u do it weekly.. do it fortnight.

I disagree, as weighing too infrequently can appear to amplify fluctuations. Here is a copy/paste from The Muscle & Strength Nutrition Pyramid 2.0 (Eric Helms, Andy Morgan, etc - basically several PhD's got together and wrote this pretty awesome book about nutrition):

What I recommend is to have a daily weigh-in first thing in the morning,
after you use the bathroom, before you eat or drink anything, nude, and
record the number. It’s not that we care about the single day’s weigh-in
(we don’t, and focusing too much on your daily weight can drive you
crazy [16]), rather it’s that you’re going to use your daily weigh-ins to
generate an average weight for the week.
This can be easily automated using an Excel (PC) or Numbers (Mac)
spreadsheet using the “average” equation function built into the
software. There is also a phone app called Happy Scale that averages
and smooths out your weigh-ins for you to predict actual weight loss
over time. You could also just do it long hand with pen and paper. Or you
can search the web for “average calculator” and Google will have quite
a few options for you to use for free as well. There are many ways to
do it, but the main output we need is a weekly average, compiled from
weigh-ins at roughly the same time of day, from at least three morning
weigh-ins per week (in most cases, more in Behavior and Lifestyle),
under the same conditions, to get as consistent data as possible. Once
you have your average, the goal is to compare your average weight
from one week to the next. Over a week, averages will flatten out daily
fluctuations in body weight and give you a workable, reliable number.
It is totally normal for your body weight to fluctuate 1–2% on a daily
basis due to shifts in water (sometimes more for some people). This
is caused by day-to-day fluctuations in food intake, sodium intake,
alcohol, and stress hormones, or from hormonal shifts during certain
phases of a menstrual cycle (among other things). But what you’ll
notice is that when you get a weekly average, that number is much less
variable and much more comparable when looking at a previous week’s
average.

I personally weigh myself at least 5x per week (SUPPOSED to do it every day but umm yeah, that doesn't always happen. Cause, you know, life.

Soul_mate

JBanx256 wrote: »

camanishmittal wrote: »

I think if you have lost 10LBS that means you are aware what is and how much intake is right so not questioning that, However as all said fluctuations of 2-3 lbs should not be very material, unless it keeps increasing.. You must adopt interval measurement to stay motivated.. decrease frequency of your weighting yourself.. if u do it daily do it weekly.. if u do it weekly.. do it fortnight.

I disagree, as weighing too infrequently can appear to amplify fluctuations. Here is a copy/paste from The Muscle & Strength Nutrition Pyramid 2.0 (Eric Helms, Andy Morgan, etc - basically several PhD's got together and wrote this pretty awesome book about nutrition):

What I recommend is to have a daily weigh-in first thing in the morning,
after you use the bathroom, before you eat or drink anything, nude, and
record the number. It’s not that we care about the single day’s weigh-in
(we don’t, and focusing too much on your daily weight can drive you
crazy [16]), rather it’s that you’re going to use your daily weigh-ins to
generate an average weight for the week.
This can be easily automated using an Excel (PC) or Numbers (Mac)
spreadsheet using the “average” equation function built into the
software. There is also a phone app called Happy Scale that averages
and smooths out your weigh-ins for you to predict actual weight loss
over time. You could also just do it long hand with pen and paper. Or you
can search the web for “average calculator” and Google will have quite
a few options for you to use for free as well. There are many ways to
do it, but the main output we need is a weekly average, compiled from
weigh-ins at roughly the same time of day, from at least three morning
weigh-ins per week (in most cases, more in Behavior and Lifestyle),
under the same conditions, to get as consistent data as possible. Once
you have your average, the goal is to compare your average weight
from one week to the next. Over a week, averages will flatten out daily
fluctuations in body weight and give you a workable, reliable number.
It is totally normal for your body weight to fluctuate 1–2% on a daily
basis due to shifts in water (sometimes more for some people). This
is caused by day-to-day fluctuations in food intake, sodium intake,
alcohol, and stress hormones, or from hormonal shifts during certain
phases of a menstrual cycle (among other things). But what you’ll
notice is that when you get a weekly average, that number is much less
variable and much more comparable when looking at a previous week’s
average.

I personally weigh myself at least 5x per week (SUPPOSED to do it every day but umm yeah, that doesn't always happen. Cause, you know, life.

You are right, it suits u, as u r strong man. many people break easily and for them i suggest dont weigh daily,

JBanx256

Soul_mate wrote: »

JBanx256 wrote: »

camanishmittal wrote: »

I think if you have lost 10LBS that means you are aware what is and how much intake is right so not questioning that, However as all said fluctuations of 2-3 lbs should not be very material, unless it keeps increasing.. You must adopt interval measurement to stay motivated.. decrease frequency of your weighting yourself.. if u do it daily do it weekly.. if u do it weekly.. do it fortnight.

I disagree, as weighing too infrequently can appear to amplify fluctuations. Here is a copy/paste from The Muscle & Strength Nutrition Pyramid 2.0 (Eric Helms, Andy Morgan, etc - basically several PhD's got together and wrote this pretty awesome book about nutrition):

What I recommend is to have a daily weigh-in first thing in the morning,
after you use the bathroom, before you eat or drink anything, nude, and
record the number. It’s not that we care about the single day’s weigh-in
(we don’t, and focusing too much on your daily weight can drive you
crazy [16]), rather it’s that you’re going to use your daily weigh-ins to
generate an average weight for the week.
This can be easily automated using an Excel (PC) or Numbers (Mac)
spreadsheet using the “average” equation function built into the
software. There is also a phone app called Happy Scale that averages
and smooths out your weigh-ins for you to predict actual weight loss
over time. You could also just do it long hand with pen and paper. Or you
can search the web for “average calculator” and Google will have quite
a few options for you to use for free as well. There are many ways to
do it, but the main output we need is a weekly average, compiled from
weigh-ins at roughly the same time of day, from at least three morning
weigh-ins per week (in most cases, more in Behavior and Lifestyle),
under the same conditions, to get as consistent data as possible. Once
you have your average, the goal is to compare your average weight
from one week to the next. Over a week, averages will flatten out daily
fluctuations in body weight and give you a workable, reliable number.
It is totally normal for your body weight to fluctuate 1–2% on a daily
basis due to shifts in water (sometimes more for some people). This
is caused by day-to-day fluctuations in food intake, sodium intake,
alcohol, and stress hormones, or from hormonal shifts during certain
phases of a menstrual cycle (among other things). But what you’ll
notice is that when you get a weekly average, that number is much less
variable and much more comparable when looking at a previous week’s
average.

I personally weigh myself at least 5x per week (SUPPOSED to do it every day but umm yeah, that doesn't always happen. Cause, you know, life.

You are right, it suits u, as u r strong man. many people break easily and for them i suggest dont weigh daily,

Except that I'm not a man at all. I'm a female - a wife and a mommy. Being strong has nothing to do with it (and neither does gender, apparently). The recommendation by multiple EXPERTS who have their PhD's in this field is what I copied & pasted. The EXPERTS who have written multiple books on training & nutrition recommend one thing, and they provide their reasoning for same. FWIW the coaches I have worked with recommend daily, or almost-daily weigh-ins as well. None of their reasons have to do with the perceived strength of the individual. But ummmm yeah if you think you're going to "break" by weighing in, you probably do need a safe space without scales or mirrors...

JBanx256

According to Dr. Mike Israetel and literally 5 other PhD's who wrote The Renaissance Diet 2.0 (which, FWIW, is what my current nutrition is based on):

Average weight should be compared week to week using two to three weigh-in data points.

So even if you're not weighing yourself every day, at least 2-3x per week will give you the most accurate overall idea of your weight trends etc. I personally do like the Happy Scale app due to the good visual chart it updates daily. If you're just weighing yourself once every couple of weeks, one meal could pretty much sabotage you - eat too much sodium etc the night before you weigh and you're going to be devastated when you step on the scale and see your weight is up after a couple weeks of hard work. Whereas if you weighed and were heavier than anticipated, and you went "oh well that sucks..." but you know due to seeing the trend/pattern as it emerges, you won't panic and you're confident you'll be right back on track by the next weigh-in.

Soul_mate

JBanx256 wrote: »

According to Dr. Mike Israetel and literally 5 other PhD's who wrote The Renaissance Diet 2.0 (which, FWIW, is what my current nutrition is based on):

Average weight should be compared week to week using two to three weigh-in data points.

So even if you're not weighing yourself every day, at least 2-3x per week will give you the most accurate overall idea of your weight trends etc. I personally do like the Happy Scale app due to the good visual chart it updates daily. If you're just weighing yourself once every couple of weeks, one meal could pretty much sabotage you - eat too much sodium etc the night before you weigh and you're going to be devastated when you step on the scale and see your weight is up after a couple weeks of hard work. Whereas if you weighed and were heavier than anticipated, and you went "oh well that sucks..." but you know due to seeing the trend/pattern as it emerges, you won't panic and you're confident you'll be right back on track by the next weigh-in.

Oh Great information and I am sorry having called u man.. But let me be very clear that I strongly oppose Gender or racial discrimination.. I feel strength of a person shouldn't be judged by Gender or any prejudiced criteria.. .. N thanks for the good info.. I shall follow this..

Chaos_Angel

Don't freak out unless it's like 6lbs change lol XD that's indication of a definite recent disturbance XD 2lbs is so easy to fluctuate though don't worry

kassondrah2

Thank you everyone! Feel better already

CharlieCharlie007

It is impossible to gain 3 pounds of fat overnight. You would have to eat 13000 calories over. Scales are useless on a day to day basis. get that monkey off your back and weight yourself once every two weeks.

fiddletime

I stayed right within my calorie limit yesterday and gained a pound overnight. I suspect it was from the salt in my Burmese lunch. That’s why I weigh daily. To get used to these fluctuations. (And I’ve been weighing daily for years, but nobody likes a weight gain when they’re actively engaged in maintaining or losing).