Help please, would love your opinions.

NeverGivesUp

Ok so here it is. I am getting confused. 2 things have been bothering me in my weight loss. I have been really working hard for a little over a month now with lots of inches gone but not much weight Lost 5 gained back 3. I have been reading about a couple of things that are concerning me here but I am aware that the internet is a dangerous place for mis information. I have been doing really long walks every day. The thing that concerns me is that I have been reading a lot about cortisol. Could that be a reason for my lack of weight loss? Or is my body just reshaping itself? I have only 20 lbs to lose before I am normal weight, so having less to lose might also be a factor. I have officially put the scale away and will take it out once a month just to stay on track because it affects my mood too much. I want to fix any problems so that I can be productive in my weight loss. This is serioulsly frustrating to me. I am super serious and quitting is not an option and I see this as a long term thing and have already taught myself to eat and crave only pure clean foods. I have a tendency to go for it and do too much. Is going from being a couch potato to taking a 3 hour walk with 7 lbs in each hand too much?? Is cortisol real? I have been doing a lot of exercise for about 3 of the 4 weeks that I have been at it. Am I stressing my body too much? I feel good, my body feels like it is toning itself even though nothing is showing up on the scale except for 3 crappy pounds of gain. I am a very healthy and clean eater, eat a ton of veggies. My problem is mostly portion control but I have already figured out that I need to consume more calories while I am exercising so much. Is my body still figuring out this whole thing? Am I doing the right thing? I took the weekend off of tracking, didn't gain anything. Just wondering if I am too impatient or if I am maybe doing something wrong? I will open up my food diary so that you can get a clearer picture. I only eat fish, no meat, and I gave up bread and anything with gluten in it a year ago because that was my major weakness. I am a problem solver and am very motivated to fix the problem if there is one. Otherwise, I would love to have some encouragement that I am doing the right thing and that the weight will come off eventually. Thanks in advance. Oh, I am going to start biking now that the Spring is coming. I am not much of an exercise person so I am looking for things that I can stick to (I love being outside and walking). Also, I will be joining the gym next month to switch the exercise up a bit. Just don't want to work out too much if cortisol is going to make me gain weight instead of lose it. And maybe I am overthinking things Thanks

tabinmaine

How tall are you? Your "daily goal" of 1700 seems kinda high for someone trying to lose weight, I suppose it matters what height you are. That is almost maintenace for me...

chevy88grl

How tall are you? Your "daily goal" of 1700 seems kinda high for someone trying to lose weight, I suppose it matters what height you are. That is almost maintenace for me...

I'm only 5'4" and I can easily lose weight while consuming 2100-2200 NET calories. I'm maintaining my weight (in the 145-150lb range) by consuming 2300-2500 NET calories a day.

Depending on how active you are, it's very possible that she needs 1700 calories a day to lose weight. For me, 1700 is WAY too low. All about your daily activity level.

Anweena

Well I have lost a bunch, but no inches lost...maybe you are gaining muscle?

LeenaRuns

Your diary looks great, and losing inches is amazing! I wouldn't worry about the weight. If you're losing inches, then you're losing. If you are concerned re: cortisol, it may be worth talking with your doctor. Good luck!

CharityPearce

I agree with the above. You can probably lose weight at 1700 cals, especially if you are very overweight (which you obviously aren't), but it will take a while. Which is fine, but you'll just have to be patient and hang in there. Good luck.

jennyfertree

Muscle weighs more than fat, so even though you're not loosing weight you are gaining muscle, which in the long run will make you burn more fat. As it is muscles that burn fat, so the more muscle you have the more fat is burned.
I am in the same situation, I have gained 1lb, yet I can get in jeans that used to be too tight.
I am avoiding the scales from now on and going on how my clothes feel. which keeps me in a better frame of mind as I also go very grumpy and disheartened when the scales go up.
keep up the good work, and keep up the exercise

ShrinkinMel

I agree if you are losing inches then you must be doing something right. You might talk to your Dr. if you keep worrying because worry and stress is a good cause of cortisol problems. Sounds to me like you are doing just fine. When you have less to lose 10-20 it can take a lot longer to see scale movement but the pure fact you see inches going is good.

There was a thread recently with a gal that actually weighed more than the beginning but was tight and toned. So those things factor in too. She obviously burned fat and gained quite a bit of muscle.

Dethea

As long as you are losing inches, I would definitely not worry about what the scale says.

On the other hand, I have a scale that measures my body fat and water percentage. If you don't have one of those, I would consider investing in one (mine was about $30) and work towards making the body fat percentage go down.

As far as cortisol, check with your doctor if you are really concerned about it. It never hurts to ask a professional!

NeverGivesUp

I should have explained that I am doing the Olivia method and leave between a 500 and 1000 calorie deficit every day.

Reasie26

I say stay the course!!! Sounds like you are doing what you need to - eating mostly whole, healthy foods and exercising consistently. It took about a month for my body to "get with it" and figure out that I wasn't just trying to starve it or run it to death, but that this was the new way of things.

Give it a little more time before making any adjustments. If after another month you are not seeing the scale cooperate, maybe tweak things then. BUT, I second the above statement regarding inches - that's really a much better determiner. You could be gaining muscle (walking will do that) and/or retaining water, etc.

What matters most is what you described - losing inches and feeling better!!! I'd say you are quite successful already!!! Stick with it!!!

tabinmaine

I only said that because she is my friend on here and I believe my "twin" I can NOT lose weight on 1700 calories unless I worked my butt off at the gym or running...

My daily goal is 1200 if I don't exercise to lose 1.5lbs a week. and if I don't exercise, so 1700 is great yes , if you work off 500 each day in calories .....

At 5"4 to maintain my weight I need to eat 1900 without exercise. So 1700 would not produce much weight loss for me at all because even though we all track as precisely as we can, just 100 calories in errors on my tracking would cause nothing to change on the scales for me.

I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.

tabinmaine

I should have explained that I am doing the Olivia method and leave between a 500 and 1000 calorie deficit every day.

If that is the case then maybe you are not eating enough ..... maybe it's just the opposite ??? What is your "true" daily calorie consumption ?

IsMollyReallyHungry

Bump! No time to reply to now. I will reply before end of day!

NeverGivesUp

it depends on how much I exercise. I try to get a lot of exercise in so I can eat more !!!

Victoria2448

Ok so here it is. I am getting confused. 2 things have been bothering me in my weight loss. I have been really working hard for a little over a month now with lots of inches gone but not much weight Lost 5 gained back 3. I have been reading about a couple of things that are concerning me here but I am aware that the internet is a dangerous place for mis information. I have been doing really long walks every day. The thing that concerns me is that I have been reading a lot about cortisol. Could that be a reason for my lack of weight loss? Or is my body just reshaping itself? I have only 20 lbs to lose before I am normal weight, so having less to lose might also be a factor. I have officially put the scale away and will take it out once a month just to stay on track because it affects my mood too much. I want to fix any problems so that I can be productive in my weight loss. This is serioulsly frustrating to me. I am super serious and quitting is not an option and I see this as a long term thing and have already taught myself to eat and crave only pure clean foods. I have a tendency to go for it and do too much. Is going from being a couch potato to taking a 3 hour walk with 7 lbs in each hand too much?? Is cortisol real? I have been doing a lot of exercise for about 3 of the 4 weeks that I have been at it. Am I stressing my body too much? I feel good, my body feels like it is toning itself even though nothing is showing up on the scale except for 3 crappy pounds of gain. I am a very healthy and clean eater, eat a ton of veggies. My problem is mostly portion control but I have already figured out that I need to consume more calories while I am exercising so much. Is my body still figuring out this whole thing? Am I doing the right thing? I took the weekend off of tracking, didn't gain anything. Just wondering if I am too impatient or if I am maybe doing something wrong? I will open up my food diary so that you can get a clearer picture. I only eat fish, no meat, and I gave up bread and anything with gluten in it a year ago because that was my major weakness. I am a problem solver and am very motivated to fix the problem if there is one. Otherwise, I would love to have some encouragement that I am doing the right thing and that the weight will come off eventually. Thanks in advance. Oh, I am going to start biking now that the Spring is coming. I am not much of an exercise person so I am looking for things that I can stick to (I love being outside and walking). Also, I will be joining the gym next month to switch the exercise up a bit. Just don't want to work out too much if cortisol is going to make me gain weight instead of lose it. And maybe I am overthinking things Thanks

"One month with lots of inches lost"

You are doing great! Good job throwing away the scale, it lies.

You state you are exercising a lot. Is it just the walking or something else? Please forgive me if you have already said...it's hard to read the post as it has all run together.

Dethea

I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.

I really don't think this is true. A lot of women just don't have muscle mass at all! I have strong arms and legs so I have more muscle. But my mom (who has stick arms and legs) on the other hand has no muscle, so she always gains a little weight when she first starts working out.

MaximalLife

You're losing inches, and that means you are progressing.
Here is something to compliment weight tracking - body fat.

Here for free
http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html

Also, you ladies have unique needs that I couldn't address given that what works for me may not be the best program for a female seeking peak fitness.
For cardio, do what you enjoy and what produces results.
As for the specifics of your resistance program, just see what has worked for others in your position who have achieved what you seek.
Here are some sites to give you ideas.

http://www.stumptuous.com/
http://www.weightliftingforwomen.net/
http://www.fitnessblender.com/

I know what works for me, and the main item that spells success is just the doing of something that targets every muscle group in the body.

As for your diet, continue to stick with MFP recommendations, and DO NOT heed the bad advice of those here telling you to cut back calories. Remember, you're losing inches, so something good is happening.

Stay the course - keep punching!

All Is Possible!

NeverGivesUp

Thanks so much for the great replies. I have lost 7 inches off my hips and 3 inches off my waiste so to me that is great. I do have a bmi scale which is way off. It says I am over obese which is obviously not the case. For now putting away the scale is what I need to do since it totally depresses me. I can feel it in my pants. I am getting blood workup on Friday so I might ask them to check my cortisol levels out of curiosity. Until recently I was anemic with very low iron. I have been taking supplements in hopes of changing this. But I will ask on friday if they can check my cortisol levels while my blood is getting checked anyway.

psuLemon

I should have explained that I am doing the Olivia method and leave between a 500 and 1000 calorie deficit every day.

That could be the problem in itself. 500-1000 calorie deficit is rather high for those with 20 lbs or less to lose. You might be better off figuring your TDEE and cutting 20%. Now, the one benefit is you are cutting inches, which means you are cutting fat down and maintaining muscle mass. So I say just stick with it.

NeverGivesUp

I am mostly walking with weights but will be starting to bike with the good weather and will join the gym. After my long walks my legs are pretty sore. I am trying to stay with exercise I can continue. I really looooove to walk.

jcpmoore

I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.

I really don't think this is true. A lot of women just don't have muscle mass at all! I have strong arms and legs so I have more muscle. But my mom (who has stick arms and legs) on the other hand has no muscle, so she always gains a little weight when she first starts working out.

I have to agree with the second. If you read the OP, you'll see she is walking 3 hours holding 7 pound weights. That's not trivial weight lifting. That's definitely enough to gain muscle mass.

It's actually a common practice for women to not do weight lifting for the first two weeks of a weight loss regimen just so they will see some weight loss. Otherwise they frequently do not see it due to the muscle gain. (Read in the Fat Smash diet, used for Celebrity Fit club.)

tabinmaine

I highly doubt she has gained enough muscle in a month to call it muscle gain. A woman struggles to gain at lb of muscle each month, she would have to be lifting heavy weights and eating tons of protein to achieve that.

I really don't think this is true. A lot of women just don't have muscle mass at all! I have strong arms and legs so I have more muscle. But my mom (who has stick arms and legs) on the other hand has no muscle, so she always gains a little weight when she first starts working out.

Oh I am not saying a woman does not gain muscle , they most definately do, but they strenghten that muscle and it's harder and stronger, but to actually put on a whole pound of muscle in one month, that's not easily achieved for a woman....... over a few months yes, but not in 3-4 wks.

Another thought I just had, it's possible that if you are walking and carrying those weights that your muscles are sore and water goes to them to help them recover, so you might be holding on to some water weight as well. When I lift , the next day when my muscles are sore, I always gain a lb of water or so, 2-3 days later, it's gone...

NeverGivesUp

the olivia method takes your maintenance goal and with exercise you have to eat more. It really encourages exercising and at the end of the day it is easy to figure out how many calories you have to eat back. If you have 1000 calorie deficit you will have 2lbs weight loss and 500 calories should be one lb weekly weight loss. It is a little complicated but I was always having a hard time figuring out how many calories to eat back. This method makes you eat all your calories back after a certain amount of exercise for me it is if I exercise over 700 calories away. I just switched to this method and I do think my body was starving before.

Karmynzahringer

If you have shocked your muscles you are likely retaining water around them for repair. During the first 5 days of 30 day shred I gained 5 lbs, and my muscles killed me, but after 9 days now, I have re lost that 5, and am moving back downward slowly. I have lost a ton of inches in 9 days even when I still had the weight gain I was down around 7 inches and now that that has dropped back off its more

. In your goals area, do you have your activity set to sedentary? I know that you can set it to sedentary, and get a lower caloric intake but then just eat your exercise calories back (hope that makes sense) I would normally set mine to lightly or moderately active, but set it to sedentary so that the days I do not work out I am still at a deficit and the days I do, I just make sure to eat my exercise calories back (or most of them) and it has seemed to be working for me. If you have it set to your fitness level including your workouts, don't eat exercise calories back!



(copied from another post in the sticky thread)

My BMR is 1670 which is the amount of calories I eat every day no matter how much or how little I exercise. I do this for two reason

1. I totally agree you should not eat below your BMR, your body needs to keep functioning
2. I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

With my numbers I consider myself between Mod and very active so I multiply my BMR by 1.6, this gives me a TDEE of 2672. So if I wanted to maitain my current weight of 211(which I don't) at my current activity level I would eat 2,672 calories a day. But I want to lose weight. So I am reducing my caloric intake for a 2lb a week weight loss, which is 1,000 calories a day. So, to lose 2lbs a week I eat 1,672 calories a day and wouldn't you know it, that's right where my BMR is! When I actually did all these calculations I was very happy to see the numbers were supported both ways. This is also why I don't adjust my food intake for exercise, I've already worked my activity level into my calculations on my TDEE, now if I really do an extra long workout that's more than my average I'll certainly add some more calories in.

Also try this link

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1

and this one has a lot of good links you can check out.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8199-off-to-a-slow-start-actually-still-at-starting-gate



Are you eating your exercise calories back? Or are you already set to your activity level?

NeverGivesUp

maybe it is water, not sure. I drink a lot!!! Actually when I took off from tracking this weekend I realized that I was still craving the water intake. My body and skin are getting used to it!!

amonkey794

Saved

NeverGivesUp

If you have shocked your muscles you are likely retaining water around them for repair. During the first 5 days of 30 day shred I gained 5 lbs, and my muscles killed me, but after 9 days now, I have re lost that 5, and am moving back downward slowly. I have lost a ton of inches in 9 days even when I still had the weight gain I was down around 7 inches and now that that has dropped back off its more

. In your goals area, do you have your activity set to sedentary? I know that you can set it to sedentary, and get a lower caloric intake but then just eat your exercise calories back (hope that makes sense) I would normally set mine to lightly or moderately active, but set it to sedentary so that the days I do not work out I am still at a deficit and the days I do, I just make sure to eat my exercise calories back (or most of them) and it has seemed to be working for me. If you have it set to your fitness level including your workouts, don't eat exercise calories back!



(copied from another post in the sticky thread)

My BMR is 1670 which is the amount of calories I eat every day no matter how much or how little I exercise. I do this for two reason

1. I totally agree you should not eat below your BMR, your body needs to keep functioning
2. I calulated my TDEE, TDEE is the total number of calories that your body expends in 24 hours, including all activities. TDEE is also known as your "maintenance level". I based this on my current weight. Here is a rough way to calculate your TDEE. Take your BMR and multiply it according to your activity level

Activity Multiplier
Sedentary = BMR X 1.2 (little or no exercise, desk job)
Lightly active = BMR X 1.375 (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/wk)
Mod. active = BMR X 1.55 (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/wk)
Very active = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)
Extr. active = BMR X 1.9 (hard daily exercise/sports & physical job or 2X day training, i.e marathon, contest etc.)

With my numbers I consider myself between Mod and very active so I multiply my BMR by 1.6, this gives me a TDEE of 2672. So if I wanted to maitain my current weight of 211(which I don't) at my current activity level I would eat 2,672 calories a day. But I want to lose weight. So I am reducing my caloric intake for a 2lb a week weight loss, which is 1,000 calories a day. So, to lose 2lbs a week I eat 1,672 calories a day and wouldn't you know it, that's right where my BMR is! When I actually did all these calculations I was very happy to see the numbers were supported both ways. This is also why I don't adjust my food intake for exercise, I've already worked my activity level into my calculations on my TDEE, now if I really do an extra long workout that's more than my average I'll certainly add some more calories in.

Also try this link

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/6556-the-answers-to-the-questions?page=1

and this one has a lot of good links you can check out.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/8199-off-to-a-slow-start-actually-still-at-starting-gate



Are you eating your exercise calories back? Or are you already set to your activity level?

Thanks so much for taking the time to write that. I am doing that and I guess I never took into account that my activity level has changed since I started this. Maybe since I am so active, I shouldn't think of myself as a couch potato anymore hehe. I am basing it off my TDEE what I should be eating but if I am active instead of sedentary, maybe I am not eating enough. I will have to sit and rework things tonight. Thanks so much.

Karmynzahringer

As long as you are losing inches, I would definitely not worry about what the scale says.

On the other hand, I have a scale that measures my body fat and water percentage. If you don't have one of those, I would consider investing in one (mine was about $30) and work towards making the body fat percentage go down.

As far as cortisol, check with your doctor if you are really concerned about it. It never hurts to ask a professional!

Karmynzahringer

As long as you are losing inches, I would definitely not worry about what the scale says.

On the other hand, I have a scale that measures my body fat and water percentage. If you don't have one of those, I would consider investing in one (mine was about $30) and work towards making the body fat percentage go down.

As far as cortisol, check with your doctor if you are really concerned about it. It never hurts to ask a professional!

Oops, meant to ask where you got your scale and if you feel it is accurate?

lizard053

Cortisol is real and it can play a role in weight loss! It's really real, from personal experience!

Include stress reduction techniques in your life to minimize cortisol levels. The less stressed you are, the better! I use yoga, meditation and sometimes tai chi. All help me center and ground out the stress.

Too much cortisol makes it hard to lose weight around the waist and in the tummy. Too little cortisol makes you sluggish all the time. Both situations are bad. I've been on the too little side for too long, but my doctor has me bouncing back now! Trying to avoid the too much level!

Sounds like you are doing everything else right. And I must say, your profile picture is beautiful! You're doing a great job, keep it up!