So Very Discouraged

brenn24179

Something is wrong here. I went to the gym for a year and did not lose weight. But when I started logging my calories the weight came off. I do not do anything at the gym I do not enjoy. For instance I hate spin class and I don't like the machines. I do Zumba, walk the track and other classes with people. If you have a calorie deficit you should lose weight. Unless you are not measuring accurately or not counting calories.

You did points with WW, calories is about the same. So if you lost it before you should be able to again. I know it is hard, a lot of discipline but you can do it.

marvinq42

Hang in there and keep it up. Don't quit!

Aaron_K123

Good morning. Well you've been working out so you must be developing muscle which would account for weight gain. Can I suggest that you take and record body measurements....I for one don't see much movement in the scale but I do however see a difference in my waist size. I saw a dietician a few weeks ago and she gave me some wonderful tips...that may also be something that you may consider doing.
Maybe you need to add some variety to your workout it may take time to find a work out that you really like....have you checked the wonderful work outs on u-tube. I discovered that I really like to power walk...so I bought a few different dvds and now power walk in the privacy of my home. You said early in your post that you and your husband were trying to get pregnant... find a cute baby picture of yourself and husband and keep them with you when you work out. It's important to remember why we want to get in shape and you have a wonderful goal to shoot for.
Deb

It's not muscle. It's very very hard for women to gain muscle, it takes surplus of calories and progressive lifting to even come close.

Apparently I must be an abnormal woman then, since I've always gained muscle quickly with little to no effort and have a muscular build in my family as well..(_scratches head) wonder if I'm really a man?

I would question how you are measuring your muscle gains. The majority of the time, people confusion strength gains (muscle efficiency) and lowering body fat with new lean body mass growth. Essentially, getting stronger and seeing muscle definition =/= muscle gains like we would all love.

At the nutritionists office. Measured professionally. Yes, I am muscular. To the point where people ask me about my calves and legs all the time and how I got them lime that (I run marathons). Nothing to "question". It is genetics.

What tool was used to measure; a bioimpadence machine (hand held device), dexa scan, hydrostatic?

Bio impedance plus hydrostatic. I don't know why it would be so hard for a man to believe that they don't have a monopoly on muscle. When you workout as much as I do couple with genetics, you do naturally gain muscle. At time of measurement I was 5'2, about 138-140, 17 percent bf. IF I watch what I eat, weight just comes off. (Of course, if I don't...we all know what happens :-) ) Solid mesomorph.

Its not sexism its just fact. Men gain muscle faster than women, this is just true. Neither gain muscle while at caloric deficit other than so-called "noob" gains at the very beginning of weight training.

Also 5'2 138 pounds and 17% bodyfat? Were you a professional bodybuilder? If you were 17% bodyfat and 138 pounds that would mean your lean mass as a 5'2 woman was 115 pounds. That is huge.

I tried to find images of a 5'2 woman with 115 pounds of lean mass and I couldn't find one. I found one of a 5'2 man who had a lean mass of 115 pounds and this is what he looked like.



A 5'2 woman with 115 pounds of lean mass and 17% bodyfat would be ripped, full six-pack and contest-level muscles.

Or the measurements were wrong.

Did find a 120 pound woman at just sub 17% bodyfat but she would have had a lean mass of 100 pounds not nearly the muscle of someone with 115 pounds of lean.

nattiegxc

Are you on any medications? If so, that may be your problem. I was in the middle of cross country season and still gaining, even though I was getting sick after every practice and running up to 6 miles, five days a week. THen it dawned on me that the only thing that had changed was the med. I am now off of it, and am no longer gaining, but having slight difficulty losing...

Aaron_K123

I have been overweight for most of my life (I am about to turn 35). My husband and I have been trying to get pregnant for a while now and I have many people telling me that if I lose weight it will help me get pregnant. I am a teacher so when school ended in the middle of June, I decided that I was going to dive in and really try to get the weight loss jump started. I've been going to the gym and logging my food. I do about an hour's worth of work at the gym 3-4 times a week (weights and cardio) and most days I am at or under my calories (I will admit to going over somedays but not by a huge amount). The results? I've gained 10 pounds in a month.

I am so discouraged. Why should I go to the gym and put in all this effort doing something I hate - despise - loathe - and detest just so I can gain weight. What is the point to it if I am just going to gain? I know that people are going to give me the whole song and dance about muscle vs. fat but I am someone who needs to see results on the scale in order to feel like this is all working and worth it. If the scale is going up, what is the point to all of it?

Sorry for ranting and whining. I am in the midst of a pity party and I just asked you all to attend. I am sitting in my gym clothes, trying to talk myself into going and all I can see in my head is that number - 10 pounds higher than a month ago.

Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do to get yourself jump started and going? Any tips to feeling motivated when all you want to do is be done?

Thanks for "listening" and for helping me get out of my funk.

If you gained 10 pounds that quickly it is almost certainly water weight. Not to get overly personal but did this weight gain come around your TOM? Also if you are new to weight lifting and start out you will tend to retain a significant amount of water in your muscles which will translate to an increase in your scale weight due to the water alone.

MireyGal76

Good morning. Well you've been working out so you must be developing muscle which would account for weight gain. Can I suggest that you take and record body measurements....I for one don't see much movement in the scale but I do however see a difference in my waist size. I saw a dietician a few weeks ago and she gave me some wonderful tips...that may also be something that you may consider doing.
Maybe you need to add some variety to your workout it may take time to find a work out that you really like....have you checked the wonderful work outs on u-tube. I discovered that I really like to power walk...so I bought a few different dvds and now power walk in the privacy of my home. You said early in your post that you and your husband were trying to get pregnant... find a cute baby picture of yourself and husband and keep them with you when you work out. It's important to remember why we want to get in shape and you have a wonderful goal to shoot for.
Deb

It's not muscle. It's very very hard for women to gain muscle, it takes surplus of calories and progressive lifting to even come close.

Apparently I must be an abnormal woman then, since I've always gained muscle quickly with little to no effort and have a muscular build in my family as well..(_scratches head) wonder if I'm really a man?

I would question how you are measuring your muscle gains. The majority of the time, people confusion strength gains (muscle efficiency) and lowering body fat with new lean body mass growth. Essentially, getting stronger and seeing muscle definition =/= muscle gains like we would all love.

At the nutritionists office. Measured professionally. Yes, I am muscular. To the point where people ask me about my calves and legs all the time and how I got them lime that (I run marathons). Nothing to "question". It is genetics.

What tool was used to measure; a bioimpadence machine (hand held device), dexa scan, hydrostatic?

Bio impedance plus hydrostatic. I don't know why it would be so hard for a man to believe that they don't have a monopoly on muscle. When you workout as much as I do couple with genetics, you do naturally gain muscle. At time of measurement I was 5'2, about 138-140, 17 percent bf. IF I watch what I eat, weight just comes off. (Of course, if I don't...we all know what happens :-) ) Solid mesomorph.

the disbelief is not just restricted to men. I also have a hard time believing when anyone claims to just pack on the muscle.
But that said, this isn't your thread, so I don't wish to derail it any further.

If you do indeed pack it on as easily as you do, then congratulations - you are the envy of many - male AND female.

xmichaelyx

You lose weight in the kitchen, not in the gym.

reachrenhere

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!

Nicely said.

reachrenhere

I realise that I haven't lost a lot of weight and only recently started on MFP, however, I *have* done a lot of reading/studying and listening/viewing to anecdotal evidence.

Your calories are what will change the scale. Your exercise, specifically resistance training/weight training will prevent you from losing all of your lean muscle mass while you are eating at a caloric deficit. I disagree that women don't build muscle. Obviously they do or they wouldn't tone up and have definition when they are in shape. There is a difference between having muscle weight vs fat weight than there is in BULKING like women on steroids do, which is what I hope the previous poster was referring to.

Take care and hang in there.

RUNNING_AMOK_1958

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

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.

ALittleHazey

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

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

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!

This. Don't give up! You can do this!

Amy101975

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!

jenniferhanisch5

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

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

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

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