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.