SO Frustrated!!

melnem

Please help, I need some advice! I worked out 6 days this week and was under my calorie goal each day and still gained this week! What can I change?

morganadk2_deleted

Are you eating your exercise calories? you may need to eat more -When you exercise this puts you at a deficit. It seems like a lot of people do better when they eat their recommended allowance PLUS their exercise calories.

So now we can figure out where your goal should be.
Go to the tools section and figure out your BMI:

Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).


http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

Darlis

Time.....don't judge your efforts on one week. Your body may need more calories with all that exercise or your muscles may be storing water if you aren't used to exercising that much. Just stay the course and as your body gets used to the changes the weight will come off.

lee112997

Have you looked at your salt intake? With the amount of water we need to drink, if we have just a little too much salt, we will retain it. Just pick up a 20oz. bottle of water and feel how heavy that is. I struggled with salt myself and have started using other seasonings to flavor my food and haven't missed it. I especially love garlic powder and paprika. My husband hasn't even noticed the change.
One other thing to consider is the types of workouts you are doing. Are you doing a lot of weight work? Could this be muscle weight you are gaining? Watch out for the scale as numbers can be deceiving. How are your pants fitting? Do you feel good? Are you eating healthy? Do you have more energy? Those are the things to concentrate on.
You can do this! Don't give up! Tweak things this week and see what happens. Aslo consider eating all of the calories recommended. Skipping foods can make your baody go into starvation mode and store these scant calories as fat instead of bruning them quickly!
Good luck!

jnell82

You could be retaining water from the workouts. How do you feel, though? Do your clothes fit a little looser? Do you feel better? Sometimes taking measurements is more encouraging because there are a lot of factors that can affect the number on the scale. I admit I am a slave to tht number on the scale too but I have also started doing measurements because that seems to keep me more motivated. Don't give up, though! You are on your way to a healthier life!!!

hperowl

Have you been working out regularly for a while or have you just started working out 6 days a week? The reason I ask is, if you're just starting to workout then your body might be in shock and it should kick back in over the next week or two if you keep up the same level of workouts/intensity. Also you might be gaining muscle mass and muscle weighs more than fat. But don't stress over that because muscle boosts your metabolism which will burn more fat in the long run.

So, don't get discouraged! Keep your chin up and keep doing all of the positive things you are doing! Good Luck!!

butterfly81106

You are building muscle and that weighs more. Just keep at it and watch the kind of calories you are eating. You are making positive changes. You are working out and eating less, but you are 'under construction' and anything like that takes tiime. You can add me as a friend if you would like so that we can keep each other motivated.

sophjakesmom

Time.....don't judge your efforts on one week. Your body may need more calories with all that exercise or your muscles may be storing water if you aren't used to exercising that much. Just stay the course and as your body gets used to the changes the weight will come off.

this is so true. Stay faith to logging and exercise and make sure you are getting enough calories. I bet you will see that loss this week.

wavscaper

Everyone here has such great answers!!!!

Biggest thing I can add. WATER!!! and don't go below 1200 calories. PERIOD!
Other than that, don't be in a hurry. Health is forever, not one week.
Keep up the great work!

MarsChallenge

is it your TOM? That really screwed up my week ....

H_Factor

hard to truly give you advice without seeing your journal. however, some possibilities include:

1. you are not eating enough.
2. you are working out too much and not giving your body enough time to recover (applies more if you are doing any sort of resistance training).
3. you are not drinking enough water.
4. your body is playing catch up. our bodies aren't always prepped to losing weight. maybe you need to change something up to re-start your metabolism engines.
5. could be a host of other things depending on what you are eating.