Scales: the cause of misery and confusion. Help!

rosiesparkle100

So I have been doing this for a month now. I was really feeling that I was making some progess, my body felt different, my clothes were fitting better. But today I got on the scales, and I had gained weight. Not much (100g) but it was in the wrong directction. So after crying for a while I have decided to come on here and see if anyone can advise me why.

Firstly, it might be my scales. I hate digital scales and they seem to tell me my weight before I have balanced on them
Secondly, it might be that I still drink alcohol? But all my friends still drink, and they are losing, and I do try to keep it in my daily allowance (if I go over, it's not by much)
Thirdly, Maybe I'm losing inches and not weight? I have been doing quite a lot of excercise?
Fourthly, maybe I'm eating too much? My calorie allowance is 1690, and everyone here seems to be on 1200
Fifthly, I'm not eating enough? I'm tall and quite big, and my basal metabolic rate is 1830, so should I be eating this much at least?

As you can see, I have no idea. My diary is public, so any suggestions would be much appreciated! (I have been eating most of my excercise calories back by the way, and I have logged them as less than MFP says as I think they are too high).

Thanks!

Rosie x

snowglassapples

im not sure about the cals but i will say that alcohol is basically sugar and full of calories, i gained loads of weight a few years ago from drinking, nowadays i only have a couple of glasses once a month (im breastfeeding my daughter) and im slimmer than ive been in a long time, i think if you cut waay back (its hard at first but you get used to it) you will see a difference very quickly :happy:

hth's!

Deidra_50

I have done a lot of studying about others giving up trying to lose weight. One of the things that were mentioned is the scale. After reading about it, I tossed out my scale. It contributed to the failure of many of my weight lose quests. I now rely on how my clothes fit and the general way I feel after a good work out. That is my "pat on the back". If you really must weigh yourself, only do it in the morning. You are at your lowest weight just after you awake and only do it every 2 - 3 weeks. Remember that if you find you have gained a pound or two, there can be several contributing factors. Also remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Muscle is more slimming than fat. Good luck on your journey and don't look back.

ricschick

hi from looking at your diary for the last 2 day i notice tht you eat low fat sweet bars and crisps maybe steer away from those for a week and see if that makes a difference as this have a lot of sugar in them yes there low in calories and fat but they normally add more sugar so they have a nicer taste, im no expert but just a thought xx

rosiesparkle100

Thanks, this is all very helpful! Also, I knew scales were a bad thing. They are the thing that always makes me give up as I lose heart. I definitely do feel thinner and my clothes are definitely looser. I shall watch my booze and snack sugars though!

lodro

I have done a lot of studying about others giving up trying to lose weight. One of the things that were mentioned is the scale. After reading about it, I tossed out my scale. It contributed to the failure of many of my weight lose quests. I now rely on how my clothes fit and the general way I feel after a good work out. That is my "pat on the back". If you really must weigh yourself, only do it in the morning. You are at your lowest weight just after you awake and only do it every 2 - 3 weeks. Remember that if you find you have gained a pound or two, there can be several contributing factors. Also remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Muscle is more slimming than fat. Good luck on your journey and don't look back.

muscle does not weigh more than fat, sorry, a pound is a pound. generally the meaning is that the muscle weighs more by volume.

Deidra_50

Sorry. I got that one betweezled. I went to a Curves clinic one time and one of the ladies lost 5 lbs. She was a bit discouraged at not losing a lot of weight. The instructor brought out two 2.5 lb containers of of margarine and compared it to the fat she lost and the muscle she gained and it was a real wake up call. That was about the time that I tossed my scale because her clothes fit looser even though she had only lost 5 lbs. It seriously looked like she lost 15 lbs.

Bienfu

Agreed about the muscle weighing more than fat - if your clothes are fitting better, then you are on the right track - maybe track measurements for a while instead? I think you can do this on this site as well. If your measurements are going down, then you are doing something right and it probably is muscle vs. fat. I like to check bust waist hip thigh and bicep - once or every two weeks at the same time in the day, before I start drinking my daily water. Don't get discouraged!

annaholden65

The scales lie! the other day I weighed myself and then decided to see if it really did make a difference if I had a big drink before weighing in- drunk a cup of tea, stepped on again and they said I weighed a pound less! Expensive weight watchers ones as well!

I'm the same as you- I can see I have lost weight and I look more toned yet my weight is going down ridiculously slowly. I also like a wine or 2, and I am NOT cutting it out as I know it will never last once I reach my target weight. I think we just have to accept it will make the weight come off more slowley!

Keep with it!

Aylilth

I have decided to put my scales away this time around, I took 2 months off the really close dieting exercise around Christmas, then we went on Holidays so didn't want to stress and that....ok sorry story lol.

But this time around i am not looking at them and doing monthly weigh-in's. I have set other goals, like increasing my distance in running etc.

I was bad in the end weighing every morning

tansyg

of course a pound is a pound. A pound of feathers is the same weight as a pound of lead. But A handful of muscle would be heavier than a handful of fat.. .....If we are going to be pedantic ha ha ha

tansyg

I have done a lot of studying about others giving up trying to lose weight. One of the things that were mentioned is the scale. After reading about it, I tossed out my scale. It contributed to the failure of many of my weight lose quests. I now rely on how my clothes fit and the general way I feel after a good work out. That is my "pat on the back". If you really must weigh yourself, only do it in the morning. You are at your lowest weight just after you awake and only do it every 2 - 3 weeks. Remember that if you find you have gained a pound or two, there can be several contributing factors. Also remember that muscle weighs more than fat. Muscle is more slimming than fat. Good luck on your journey and don't look back.

muscle does not weigh more than fat, sorry, a pound is a pound. generally the meaning is that the muscle weighs more by volume.

supragirl

Why don't you try just not weighing yourself for a few weeks and then you should notice a difference I did that after Christmas because I was too scared to see how much I'd put on over the festive period!

As for alcohol, I know it's bad, but depriving yourself of alcohol completely is not really practical do you not think? I usually just drink once/twice a week but add it to my diary. Also, many people on here say to not eat back the calories burnt during exercise - you could try that too?

At the end of the day, if you and your clothes feel different, there MUST be something good going on in there I know how it feels to get onto the scales and you lose nothing but please don't give up The weight loss will kick in soon! Good luck!

not2late

I once micromanaged my eating over several months. I weiged myself everyday. I found that there was a weekly weight loss pattern and a monthly weight loss pattern. just keep going, wyou may be pleasantly surprised if you follow MFP "rules" how your weight may start to drop again! Nest set of tears may be of Joy!

rosiesparkle100

Thanks everyone for all your support! I have now gathered myself together and 'womanned up' . I am not going to give up drinking, because as Anna said, it's just not sustainable (and tends to make me uppity and pofaced and irritable!), but I will just have to make sure I really don't drink beer and cider and I really do drink lots of water. I will try and be careful of my sugar and salt, and I will quite frankly just stick with it.

And the scales, quite frankly, they can rot in the corner for a while. I'm going to go by how I feel, and my clothes feel on me. And maybe in a month or so, I will step on them again, and see a difference.Hooray!

Happy weekends everyone!