So Very Discouraged

2»

Replies

  • RUNNING_AMOK_1958
    RUNNING_AMOK_1958 Posts: 268 Member
    Maybe it's your attitude. Going to the gym is something you hate? I know if I hated something I wouldn't be going balls to the wall while I was doing it. Are you just going there, plodding along, going through the motions just to get it done? Having a pity party and whining why, why, why, doesn't get you any thinner or fitter, or pregnant. That energy would be better spent trying to find a solution.

    Know how many calories you should be eating.
    Know how many calories you actually are eating by weighing everything.
    Drink all your water, every day.
    Know how many calories you are burning.
    Measure those calories burned as accurately as possible.
    If you don't like your training plan, do something else until you find something you like.
    Keep going.
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
    I don't know if you are weighing and measuring your food....but for me, that has made a HUGE difference. I used to just "assume" I was eating a serving of something..... once I started to weigh and measure it, I realized myr assumption was inocrrect.... you know what they say about "assume"....

    For example, I'd just log one serving of coffee creamer for my 2 cups of coffee. One day, I decided to measure it. One serving wasn't enough for my coffee.... I had to double-up. That's 70 calories vs. the 35 for 1 serving. For one cup of coffee. BUT, I'd have TWO cups of coffee... that means I was using 140 calories on cream - but I was only logging 35. I was shocked.

    Same goes for my peanut butter (almost every morning on a whole grain English muffin)... one serving is 32 grams (2 tablespoons). I finally weighed it and it was less than what I had been slathering on all these years.....

    Even thought I KNOW I'm supposed to weight/measure my portions, I got lazy and thought I could eye-ball it. I couldn't.

    Just saying- but that's just me.
  • You lose weight in the kitchen, not in the gym.

    While this is true, let's assume diet isnt the issue.

    The flipside you never hear about is the gym causes TEMPORARY weight gain. I'm not talking about muscle being more dense than fat, it takes a long time to gain significant muscle, im talking about the water weight that comes with adding new excercise.

    As an example I was logging my food and weight lifting for a while, losing nearly 2-2.5lbs a week.
    While continuing on an nearly identicle diet and lifting routine, I added 4k on the elliptical on the days i don't lift. Instead of continuing my downward trend, i was up 4lbs at the end of the first week,

    Most people don't see what i estimate to be 6lbs of waterweight for a few rough days of cardio, but as a sedentary obese man with 0 training, it was a big strain on my muscles.

    Discouraging now, but once you acclimate you'll lose all that water and finally see the weight you've been losing the whole time reflected on the scale.
  • gary241069
    gary241069 Posts: 255 Member
    Don't want song and dance. Then how about this?

    Health and Fitness is about the good things we can achieve
    It's about the ability to breathe easier, move more freely
    It's about feeling stronger and being able to concentrate better
    It's the pride we feel in ourselves when we feel immune from
    against catching many illnesses.
    Weight-loss can help you get there, but it's not the most important
    thing about you health.
  • MommeeRN
    MommeeRN Posts: 7 Member
    Here is a guess from me about what might be happening. Summer vacation started and you are no longer running around at school so your activity level dropped. Then you started working out really hard for an hour so your daily activity actually dropped even more because you figure "I worked out hard so I can take it easy now". I wear a fitbit so I know I have a tendency to do the same thing...without a workout I might get 13000 steps in a busy day, but if I put in a good workout I will end up with 7000 or something because of tiredness or whatever. Also, you might be more hungry with the weight lifting.

    Here is my advice for what it is worth (probably nothing). Stop going to the gym which you hate. Take a walk or something you might enjoy every day. Focus with laser beam intensity on your food which is where weight is gained or lost. That hour in the gym will not make up for what you are doing in the other 23 hours.

    You don't need the gym to lose weight! You need to eat less calories. You can do it! :smile:

    This. Don't give up! You can do this!
  • Amy101975
    Amy101975 Posts: 37 Member
    Great advice!
    Here is a guess from me about what might be happening. Summer vacation started and you are no longer running around at school so your activity level dropped. Then you started working out really hard for an hour so your daily activity actually dropped even more because you figure "I worked out hard so I can take it easy now". I wear a fitbit so I know I have a tendency to do the same thing...without a workout I might get 13000 steps in a busy day, but if I put in a good workout I will end up with 7000 or something because of tiredness or whatever. Also, you might be more hungry with the weight lifting.

    Here is my advice for what it is worth (probably nothing). Stop going to the gym which you hate. Take a walk or something you might enjoy every day. Focus with laser beam intensity on your food which is where weight is gained or lost. That hour in the gym will not make up for what you are doing in the other 23 hours.

    You don't need the gym to lose weight! You need to eat less calories. You can do it! :smile:
  • jenniferhanisch5
    jenniferhanisch5 Posts: 44 Member
    Weigh/measure EVERYTHING that goes into your mouth, even if you didn't plan to eat it. (I found I was eating a lot of extra calories by eating what my sons didn't before putting their plates in dishwasher.)
    Underestimate or in beginning don't worry about how many calories you burn in the gym. You are moving and that is good. But as previously mentioned don't take that as an excuse to sit on your butt the rest of the day.
    Find some activity you do enjoy and want to do. Go for a bike ride, walk outside, play a team sport, swim, etc.
  • trishalackin
    trishalackin Posts: 54 Member
    There are many things that could be going on, but there are only TWO things that are for certain - you should NOT quit trying to get healthy, but you SHOULD quit doing activities you hate. There are so many things you can do to get fit that are FUN. Find what you enjoy, and maybe it won't be so maddening when the scale seems to deceive you. *hug*
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    There are many things that could be going on, but there are only TWO things that are for certain - you should NOT quit trying to get healthy, but you SHOULD quit doing activities you hate. There are so many things you can do to get fit that are FUN. Find what you enjoy, and maybe it won't be so maddening when the scale seems to deceive you. *hug*

    +1
  • arewethereyet
    arewethereyet Posts: 18,702 Member
    HI!

    I have deleted a few of the responses, as they had gotten way off track.

    OP has a question, let's concentrate on that question.

    2. No Hi-Jacking, Trolling, or Flame-baiting Please stay on-topic in an existing thread, and post new threads in the appropriate forum.
    Taking a thread off-topic is considered hi-jacking. Please either contribute politely and constructively to a topic, or move on without posting.
    This includes posts that encourage the drama in a topic to escalate, or posts intended to incite an uproar from the community.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines Thanks in advance for your cooperation. Hope you are enjoying the site.

    Thank You!

    Arewethereyet
    MFP Moderator
  • Others can comment on the weight loss/gain etc. - but I just wanted to mention the fertility issue. As others have said, check with your doctor on the fertility. I have also always been overweight and when I was trying to have kids it took a few simple blood tests to find out that I wasn't ovulating, etc. Know the issues you're dealing with and then you can tackle them (which will likely include getting healthier/losing weight, etc,).

    I ultimately had two healthy pregnancies via IVF. Sorry pregnancy isn't coming easy for you, I've been there!
  • Jlennhikes
    Jlennhikes Posts: 290 Member
    Here is a guess from me about what might be happening. Summer vacation started and you are no longer running around at school so your activity level dropped. Then you started working out really hard for an hour so your daily activity actually dropped even more because you figure "I worked out hard so I can take it easy now". I wear a fitbit so I know I have a tendency to do the same thing...without a workout I might get 13000 steps in a busy day, but if I put in a good workout I will end up with 7000 or something because of tiredness or whatever. Also, you might be more hungry with the weight lifting.

    Here is my advice for what it is worth (probably nothing). Stop going to the gym which you hate. Take a walk or something you might enjoy every day. Focus with laser beam intensity on your food which is where weight is gained or lost. That hour in the gym will not make up for what you are doing in the other 23 hours.

    You don't need the gym to lose weight! You need to eat less calories. You can do it! :smile:

    Sensible advice.
  • Gingergal12
    Gingergal12 Posts: 64 Member
    Hang in there! Keep logging your food. Perhaps your doctor can test for insulin resistance. When I wasn't losing weight that was a factor. It will happen, keep the faith. :flowerforyou: