About to give up.

MaximalLife

Muscle weighs more than fat. Do you clothes feel bigger? I take fiber caplets everyday to help move it on through.

NO NO NO-- please. A pound of muscle weighs a pound. A pound of fat weights a pound. Muscle is more DENSE than fat. So a pound of muscle takes up less space or volume than a pound of fat. A person who has 150 pounds of mostly muscle will be slimmer, more lean, than a person who has 150 pounds of mostly fat.

But a pound of elephant is the same weight as a pound of feathers... but people still say an elephant is heavier than feathers.

Muscle weighs more than fat -- BY VOLUME!

In other words, a gallon of muscle weighs more than a gallon of fat.
Why? Muscle is more dense than fat like lead is denser than water.

That's all people mean when they say muscle weighs more than fat.
Some may not express the concept correctly, but that's what they mean.

CrystalBonner

Ok, so I am going to sound like a total whiner, but I need some help here before I give up completely. I started this whole journey recently I guess... January 4th 2012. I joined this site I think on the 9th and have been entering my meal plans and exercise religiously since then. I went from terrible eating habits and having multiple glasses of wine every night to eating healthy, working out every day and no wine during the week. According to this site I should be consuming 1200 calories a day. I do some sort of cardio class 5 days a week, burning between 420-550 calories each workout. I drink roughly 9 glasses of water per day and am always always under my allotted caloric intake per day. According to my scale I have GAINED 2 pounds since the 4th of January!?!? How is it humanly possible to go from eating probably 2500 calories a day, drinking NO water and never working out ... to eating 1100-1600 ( per this site I should eat more the days I work out ) drinking 9 glasses of water a day and working out and burning minimum 450 calories each day??? I keep hearing about how I may not be eating enough calories, but I am following what is laid out on this site?? I am getting so frustrated, and feel like a total failure. I've done WW before and was succesful, losing 1-2 lbs a week and that was with NO working out?!? Oh... I am 5' 9" and started at 209. My home scale said I weighed 211 this morning!! The scale at work says I am down about 5 pounds. What am I doing wrong? I seem to be over my protein alotment for the day and am always WAY under my carb alotment for the day, could that have anything to do with it? I still drink wine on the weekends, but I always make sure it falls within my total allowed calories for the day. Sorry this is rambling, I am just so discouraged, I have to be doing something wrong...
:sad:

First, use the same scale every time, weigh yourself at same time of day and with same amount of clothing on. Pair of shoes can add 2 pounds. Or a damp bath towel can add a couple as well. Scale should be on hard surface, not carpet or rug. And cheap scales like the $10 ones from Walmart are not consistent. One scale says you're down 5 pounds. That's a good amount if you've only been at this for 6 weeks. A pound a week is very reasonable for a male and more than average for females.

Alcohol is calories with little nutrition value. No big deal if you're under your calorie count but you how much wine are you drinking? 5 ounces gives you about 150 calories. And its easy to drink 8 ounces and think it's only 4 or 5.

PS- change your privacy settings to let others see your diary and you'll get more and better feedback.

cloud2011

All I can say is, I know you're discouraged, but DO NOT GIVE UP! You can do it, and you ARE doing it.

People here have a lot of good advice, but the main thing is, keep moving in the healthy direction. It will pay off for you. You might need to tweak some things, but you are going in the absolute right direction.

gbelltx

Living Healthy is a marathon not a sprint. It’s not about how fast you get out of the blocks but how consistent you are over the long haul.

CrystalBonner

I have been using the same scale that I started with in May, and I weigh on the same day each week at the same time. Scales are so unpredicitable and jumping on different ones everytime you weigh will cause you to have a different reading each time. I would say by no means give up! You know you can do it...and having the well-power and determination and faith and believe in yourself will get you through.

auticus

#1 - people don't get fat in a month. But they expect to get thin in a month. This is faulty thinking. It takes a while. I've been doing this for 8 months now. Eight long, nasty, grueling, hard months. I've lost 22-27 lbs depending on the day. I've got 10-15 lbs more to lose to get to my goal weight. This takes time.

#2 - a lifestyle change is not a fad diet that you can do in a month and then go back to what got you fat in the first place. It's a lifestyle change. Which means you either change your bad habits, or you patch them temporarily and then go back to them when you've had a short term loss, resulting in gaining it all back and then some (sound familiar?)

#3 - there is no silver bullet.

#4 - losing weight and building a healthy body takes a good DIET of fuel for your body, and EXERCISE. If you are lazy and slothful, this is going to be even harder. If you are lazy and slothful you have to reprogram your brain.

This is not the easy path. If it were, no one would be fat. You're either ready, or you're not.

What do you hate more? Being fat? Or sticking to the trail and working hard?

You don't need to answer that question. Your actions will answer it for you.

feeneyek

First and foremost, don't give up. I am 5'10 and am eating 1430 calories per day. Since I started 6 weeks ago I have lost 6 pounds. If you eat fewer than 1200 calories your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows. You are also exercising a lot and not eating many carbs. You need fuel to support that level of energy. Don't worry so much about carbs vs. protein. If you focus on the calories alone you will eat fewer but better carbs like oatmeal, whole grain and fruit. You can do this! You just need to tweak your habits a little bit. Keep posting and let us know how you are doing.

danahindenburg

Weight can be deceiving, have you tried tracking your measurements?

rjt1000

Muscle weighs more than fat. Do you clothes feel bigger? I take fiber caplets everyday to help move it on through.

NO NO NO-- please. A pound of muscle weighs a pound. A pound of fat weights a pound. Muscle is more DENSE than fat. So a pound of muscle takes up less space or volume than a pound of fat. A person who has 150 pounds of mostly muscle will be slimmer, more lean, than a person who has 150 pounds of mostly fat.

I guarantee you, almost all of the time when someone says "muscle weighs more than fat", there is a silent and obviously implied "by volume" on the end of that. That should be especially obvious given the context here where a woman is complaining that her diet and exercise are not altering her weight. You can continue to "correct" people about it if it makes you feel smart, but in the vast majority of cases people do realize this, and your obtuse semantics are simply going to annoy people.

you've got me wrong. Too many people use the "muscle weighs more than fat" as an explanation for why somebody who's just starting isn't losing weight. They mislead them. Few people who are dieting alone are converting fat pounds to muscle pounds. In fact, if just dieting, people are almost always losing BOTH fat and muscle pounds. And giving somebody who is trying to diet and lose weight the impression that they aren't losing weight because they are converting fat tissue to muscle is wrong. I agree that judging a person's success by weight alone is silly. But its just as silly to play the "you're losing fat, adding muscle" game when it's not true for most people.

and you might read my first reply to the person who started the thread.

Greyseal

I bet you're not eating enough calories. If your body thinks you've entered starvation mode--then it lowers your metabolism. Thank you Darwin! A good rule of thumb that helps me: eat every 3 hours. If you are not hungry 3 hours after eating a meal--then you ate too much. If you're hungry long before the 3 hours--then you didn't eat enough. That simple. Breakfast, snack (fruit) 2 to 3 hours later; lunch, snack 2-3 hours later; dinner, snack. If I let myself get hungry I wind up overeating EVERY time. You might want to change your goal from weight loss to something else; for example, finish a 5K run/walk. The weight loss will come.
Good luck. Trust me, ALL of us have been there and will no doubt be there again (once again, thank you Mr. Darwin!)

Aerohead21

Also, I refused to look at the scale for the first mobth just to aboid watching it go up and down. I knew that at least the first month my body will be adjusting to the new routine. I needed to give my body the time to get used to all the changes. You might try holding off on regular weigh ins until you get more confortable with the process in addition to sone of the other suggestions already made (same scale, same time of day, etc.)

bvixen22

Don't give up. I would defintely buy a new scale. I weigh myself in the mornings only before I eat anything. I have lost 5 pounds in 5 weeks. I walk about 40-45 mins a day 5 days a week. I am good during the weekday but horrible on the weekends, I tend to go on hiatus. But just know that you did not gain all the weight in a few weeks it tooks months or years. So don't expect it to come all off in a few weeks either. You are not alone I think every one wants the quick fix, but you need to stick to it. And by this time next year you could be 60 pounds lighter. So don't give up.

gleechick609

I follow my own customized plan eating 10-20% under my TDEE while using a combo of diet and exercise as a deficit. Eating under my BMR was damaging my body. So I fought back and created my own plan. I have lost 47 lbs in 7 1/2 months never eating under 1700 calories.

This should be an enjoyable lifestyle change, not a miserable diet!

PM me if anyone wants to learn more!

shellimus

When you say you eat 1200 calories, do you mean NET? Or are you eating 1200 and burning 500, thereby netting 700 calories?

Helenatrandom

The only advice I can give is... MEASUREMENTS, MEASUREMENTS MEASUREMENTS.
They will NEVER lie. I personally never had a scale, and bought one last December. I'm not sure it was a good idea. :noway: Measurements will tell you exactly what's going on, and where. When the scale doesn't go down, take your measurements. I bet you lost a few inches already, reason why your pants fit better.

Don't give up! It's a lifestyle that you are doing, nobody said it was gonna be easy.
But you can do this. You are on the right track! Hang in there! :flowerforyou:

And remember... measurements.

Unfortunately I did not do my measurements when I started, but I have since had my measurements done (last week ) and had the trainer at my gym weigh me on some scale that calculates, lean muscle weight, water weight, BMI etc... but he says not to do that again for 3 MONTHS! I hate the scale, I think I am going to smash it into a million pieces!

Give it the three months. It sounds like a long time, I know, BUT aren't you motivated by curiosity to see what it says after three
months? I bet you will be so pleasantly surprised, you will be extolling the virtues of diet, exercise, and healthy living then! (Thankfully, my gym doesn't have one of those! :bigsmile: :flowerforyou:

Livetc

Most exercises exaggerate the amount of calories you are burning. Also it sounds like you cut too many calories too fast. Also, while you are limiting your intake and wine you are also increasing your water. You likely have been dehydrated most of your life and now you are finally hydrated. This will make you gain weight initially. Your body needs to have time to get accustomed to the new lifestyle. What food your 1200 calories consist of is also important. If you eat 2 big macs a day you'll be under 1200 calories but you will never start to loose the weight. You need to eat whole foods that you body take a long time to break down. This causes your metabolism to increase and run all day because it actually needs to run. Stay away from simple sugars like alcohol, white bread, juices ect. Your body metabolizes those at a very fast rate then it shuts down. Ever feel like crap an hour after you drink a soda? Metabolism crashed. I eat bananas apples, whole grains, veggies, turkey ect. All unprocessed foods. You will be fuller longer, and be able to sustain a healthy lifestyle. Also eat fish, omega 3's help your body burn fat, also if you like tea, drink green tea. Very old trick, green tea boosts your immune system and your metabolism. Essentially, give your body time to adjust and yourself. Also, don't go eat the calories you "earned" in exercise because if your calories burned is not accurate you will gain. Men's health says that most elliptical machines over estimate the calories burned by 60%. (just an example) Don't quit. Find a reason to get healthy, even if that means not loosing weight. Calculate your BMI and go for the healthiest weight.

Jcollins1980

I had some discouragement lately. I've been at it like 75 days now and it seemed to be working. So far I've gone from 195lbs to 161. I weigh in every Monday morning, first thing, before breakfast, etc. This last Monday I was back up to 168. I haven't been cheating or anything. I don't know how this happened. But I intend to just call it a fluke and keep on keeping on and see how it is next Monday. I hope my $20 Walgreens scale isn't screwing with me..

I haven't gotten to where I want to be yet, but I do at least have some identifiable progress (not as much as I would have though given I've lost almost as much as my kid weighs). But progress none the less, and what choice do I have but to keep it going? What am I going to do, go back to the shamefully large portions I used to love? Not that the temptation isn't there, but I know no good would come from that. By now I'm getting used to smaller portions anyway and it doesn't really bother me. There are some things I do miss though (a couple nights ago I found myself dreaming about Snickers bars).

Don't expect overnight results, try to avoid "junk" calories, and just keep it up. Consider "going back" to not be an option, only move forward and the road may get easier and the distance more noticeable.

villos50

My advice would be to up your calories to 1,500 since you are doing that much exercise. Weigh yourself only once a week on the same preferably good quality scale wearing more or less the same thing. You may be losing fat but gaining muscle which would affect the weight loss but is good for your metabolism. You need to eat a balanced diet so up your protein to help burn what you eat. Balance is everything. 2 lbs is pretty meaningless I have found. I could be up 2lbs one week and down 4 lbs two weeks later with no appreciable difference in my calorie intake or amount of exercise. If eating and weight gain or loss was immediately related few of us would be overweight. There is a lapse in time between our food/exercise and changes in our bodies so we don't always see the connection. Above all don't quit. Over more time you will see changes in your size and your health and it is so important to change your relationship with food. That doesn't happen over night. Best of luck to you. Allow yourself to feel sad or frustrated but then get up and start again. I have lost over 27 lbs in 6 months and I am 61 years old with a movement disability.

CyberEd312

Living Healthy is a marathon not a sprint. It’s not about how fast you get out of the blocks but how consistent you are over the long haul.

This exactly!! You really have to consider this a lifestyle change and it is literally for the rest of your life. There are no quick fixes or magic pills.. It is waking up everyday and fighting the good fight to improve the quality of your health and your life. Looking back from where I started it would have been so easy to quick. Losing 1 to 2 lbs. a week seemed so meaningless in the grand scheme of things and there was plenty of weeks where I busted my *kitten* and saw Nothing for it on the scale but I kept putting one foot in front of the other and told myself this is the rest of my life and one day I woke up (last wednesday to be exact) and 32 months had gone by and 301 lbs. are now gone and I am living the life I always deserved to have... So keep taking those baby steps, don't give up and keep pushing forward..... Good luck!!!

jcstanton

Some of these may have already been mentioned, but I didn't take the time to read the whole thread. Forgive me if I sound redundant on some points.

1. Watch your sodium intake. Your weight fluxuates from day to day depending on your fluid retention levels. Sodium causes you to hold on to excess fluid possibly making you heavier than you were when you weighed in yesterday.

2. Don't weigh more than once per week because your weight does go up and down from day to day.

3. Did you take starting measurements and a before picture? If so, remeasure yourself about every six weeks or so. Sometimes you will see progress in this way even if the scales aren't moving like you think they should be. I would also suggest finding a fitness professional who can take your BMI measurements with calipers (more accurate than height/weight chart), and have this measured every six weeks or so. I would take another photo about every thirty pounds or so.

4. This is not MYWEIGHTLOSSPAL.com, this is MYFITNESSPAL.com. Set fitness goals for yourself. For example, today is February 9th. Say you went for a three mile walk today, and you completed it in 1:15:00. Set a goal for yourself to be able to walk three miles in 1:00:00 by March 9th. By setting fitness goals, you can measure improvement in your level of fitness, which is another way to measure success.

5. Set up a complete physical with your primary care physician. They will do a complete blood workup including cholesterol and trygliceride levels. They will also take your blood pressure and RHR (Resting Heart Rate). Keep implementing those healthy habits for one year, then have another physical done to see what has improved. I would recommend having your BP and RHR checked about every three months or so.

Health and fitness success cannot be measured by scales alone. Also, remember, no matter what the scales say, a healthy lifestyle cannot harm you, it can only help improve your health. Keep at it just for the health benefits if for no other reason. Don't EVER, EVER, EVER give up. :flowerforyou:

TOYGRRRL

westcoastredh,

Don't give up. It takes time and dedication. This site is not about rapid weight loss. It's about healthy weight loss that you reach by slowly and surely turning your lifestyle around. It took me a year to truly reach my goal (over 30lbs lost) and be able to maintain it for many months without MFP. I came back because I gained two handfuls on my tummy on a trip to europe and I knew I needed to become accountable again to get back down to where I wanted to be. It is a difficult journey, it's not a yo-yo diet. You will find it easier as time goes by and if I can do it any dedicated person can. I love food! I'm a foodie (I hate that term but it fits)! I live in San Francisco Bay Area so there are TONs of GREAT places to eat and phenomenal produce and meat available to cook with. And WINE! I love Wine with meals! I love artisinal (well made, well balanced) cocktails! And I make it all work. You can too! DON'T give up. You won't regret it. Keep remembering, slow and steady wins the race.

Hugs,
Pam
(TOYGRRRL)

badgerbabs

Does your gym have a balance-type (doctor's office) scale? If so, use that, weigh no more than once a week, and ignore (better yet, toss) your home scale. RE the whole muscle vs. fat density - no, fat doesn't turn into muscle, or vice versa (duh). But (1) muscle is denser than fat, and (2) from your own report your clothes are fitting better, so THEREFORE, in order to have stayed the same weight, you have gained muscle and lost fat. YOU ARE SMALLER, and isn't that the REAL point? It's WORKING, you just can't see it on the d****d scale! I agree, too, that you're probably not eating enough, but not necessarily because of the starvation thing - it's just that surviving on 1200 calories a day is a pretty miserable existence, and you need to be in this for the long haul. Just remember: IT'S WORKING!

MountainMia

How do I figure out the net calories? I went to the report, but how do I figure out my average net? Sorry if that is a stupid question!

I am definitely feeling like my clothes are looser... and I feel like my fitness level is WAY higher than when I started, I could barely walk the first week I was doing the classes, now I a little sore but nothing like I was the first week... The trainer at my gym thinks I am not eating enough, it's just hard to go your whole life being taught the less you eat the thinner you will be , to you need to eat MORE... KWIM?

There are no stupid questions here. If you go to reports and click the fitness dot, it will pop up a window where you can select net calories and a window for time (7days, 30 days, 90 days) Click 30 and it will give you a chart. You may have to use a computer to do this as the phone apps limit accessibility. You should be able to see on the chart where most of your bars are landing. If they land between 800 and 1200 consistently, you are probably ok. But if they are below that, you aren't fueling your body for the wicked workouts you are doing. There isn't an "average" button, sorry to confuse ya.

Congrats on the loose clothes and fitness level. If nothing else, cling to that and let that be your motivation to keep on keepin' on. Health is more about the kinds of calories and the balance in your body. It's counterintuitive to eat more to lose more, but this may be exactly the case for you right now. I'm not suggesting a binge, but a tweaking and adjustment in your goals and nutrition could make the difference you are looking for.

westcoastredhead

wow!! i went for a run and made dinner, put my kids to bed and came back to all these posts! thank you to everyone who took the time to comment, it means a lot to me to know there are so many people out there who have been through this and have come out the other end a success... I think the 2 major things I have aken from this thread is that I need to realise this isn;t a race! It's so true that it took a hell of a lot longer than a month to be in the situation I am in ( I have been overweight for as long as I can remember! so it makes perfect send that it isn't going to come off overnight. I want to live a long health life for my beautiful girls and awesome husband that should mean so much more than numbers on a scale. THANK YOU for that reminder! And secondly I really think I am not eating enough calories... I am burning a minimum of 450 calories a day working out ( based on the numbers my HRM is giving me ) and I think the most calories in a day i have eaten is 1700 amd that was only once! It's just really hard to mentally and psychologically wrap my head around eating more, I know that's just years of being told eat less = weigh less. So I have to try and get out of that mentality. I am going to try and up my calories a bit and see how it goes, and also try and have smaller meals with snacks in between. A typical day for me is 1 egg, 1 piece wholewheat toast and a coffee, then for lunch a spinach salad with chicken, feta, cuke, avocado and light dressing, then for dinner baked boneles skinless chkn breast with at least a cup of veggies and a half a cup of rice. For a snack at night I eat beets, or veggies and hummus or celery and peanut butter ... that type of thing... maybe throwing some snacks in between will get those additional calories in that I need. Still reading through the posts... thanks a lot... I have been using this site for over a month and never checked out the forums, there is such good support here, I will definitely try and be more involved in the forums, it has given me the reality call that I needed!

westcoastredhead

How do I figure out the net calories? I went to the report, but how do I figure out my average net? Sorry if that is a stupid question!

I am definitely feeling like my clothes are looser... and I feel like my fitness level is WAY higher than when I started, I could barely walk the first week I was doing the classes, now I a little sore but nothing like I was the first week... The trainer at my gym thinks I am not eating enough, it's just hard to go your whole life being taught the less you eat the thinner you will be , to you need to eat MORE... KWIM?

There are no stupid questions here. If you go to reports and click the fitness dot, it will pop up a window where you can select net calories and a window for time (7days, 30 days, 90 days) Click 30 and it will give you a chart. You may have to use a computer to do this as the phone apps limit accessibility. You should be able to see on the chart where most of your bars are landing. If they land between 800 and 1200 consistently, you are probably ok. But if they are below that, you aren't fueling your body for the wicked workouts you are doing. There isn't an "average" button, sorry to confuse ya.

Congrats on the loose clothes and fitness level. If nothing else, cling to that and let that be your motivation to keep on keepin' on. Health is more about the kinds of calories and the balance in your body. It's counterintuitive to eat more to lose more, but this may be exactly the case for you right now. I'm not suggesting a binge, but a tweaking and adjustment in your goals and nutrition could make the difference you are looking for.

okay i figured it out and in the last month I have only gone over 1200 calories 5 times, i think it is safe to say now that i am simply not eating enough taking in the amount and intensity of my work outs. thanks for that tip!

lilyflor

I started losing weight at the beginning but then stop as well it is very discouraging but the other day I measured my self and I did lose some inches everywhere. I haven't lost not one pound for a good 4 weeks already so this week I change my goals and I added more calories to my day, I will weight in tomorrow but somehow I doubt that I lost anything (5 weeks in a row) according to mfp I should be about 6 pounds less by now (you know how it tells you how much weight you will weight in 5 weeks after you're done with your diary) I been trying to lower my sodium and my sugar intake. If in two weeks my weight is the same I guess I may try to lower my calories again... this is so hard! good luck to you and any other reader that is going thru the same.

jessicabass1

i had the same thing happen to me. and i know you don't want to hear it because i sure as heck didn't want to. but i made a choice after several responses and decided not to look at the scale until three months into the whole jouney thing. i measure myself instead with inches and i also measured myself on a "how do i feel i look?" kind of scale. and although i have weighed myself before my deadline i do feel better and i talked to some RN's about my issue and they said if i lossed weight at first, i wouldn't be normal. it's best to gain muscle because that is the only way to loose fat. and o how i hated that. i am a person that needs to see things on paper. i NEED to see the scale go down! but i took the kick in the *kitten* and sucked it up and kept working on myself because i knew it needed to be done and i do feel pretty good. it still stinks not to eat whatever i want but i like what im becoming! i hopt this helped.

atjays

Biggest piece of advice is to ditch the scales and use measurements. There are way too many variables that can lead to the scales being off wildly from day to day. I know my weight can swing upwards of 5 lbs. I weigh in once a week at the same time. What matters more to me is the measurements, and those are constantly shrinking. Since you're apart of a gym doing the cardio classes, have someone there take your measurements weekly and keep track of them.

Last bit of advice, you didn't gain the weight you did in 6 weeks, don't expect to lose it that fast.

MountainMia

I've been doing a little research on plateaus and "starvation mode" and I found this great article that looks scientifically sound, and is put more simply and clearly than anything else I've seen. It's a fantastic explanation with tips and tools to determine what is really going on when the scale won't budge AND HOW TO FIX IT. I will be referring to it when my plateau comes... and it will.

http://www.answerfitness.com/208/weight-loss-plateau-tactics-overcoming-weight-loss-plateau/

I'm not entirely sure you are on a plateau because you are seeing other results, but please check this out before you make any changes. I no longer believe in "starvation mode" but I still fully perscribe to "eat more to weigh less" in certain instances. It's worked for me in the past and if it's right for you, you will know it.

mllowe2

Minus the wine this is pretty much my story, I started January 3 and have only lost 7 pounds! I think I might switch from P90X to something entirely cardio...I don't know, I'm frustrated too. I did Zumba last summer, twice a week and lost 21 pounds in 2 months. Here I am doing p90 4-6 times per week and only 7 pounds in almost 2 months!!

Sorry now I'm whining (not trying to steal your attention!) I just know how you feel! But hang in there, it's a daily struggle for me but I'm very very hopeful the end result will be worth it!