Am I gaining weight!??

Argent78

Hey MFP friends!
I've been great with my diet and workouts... I'm weight lifting and doing cardio. I really feel changes in my body, but I haven't lost a single pound, and I even think I GAINED weight!
I'm getting really frustrated... I am 5.5' and 139 pounds. I have fat to loose, but it is not moving!

Is it possible I'm gaining weight from building muscle, but not loosing any fat!??

SirBen81

Yeah it's definitely possible.

Argent78

Then, my next question would be: how on earth do I loose fat then!??
I'm doing lots of cardio, and eating super clean... should I start starving myself!??

HauteP1nk

You have to focus on fat loss not weight loss.
You have to measure & get your body fat percentage taken.

Your body probably is changing. Sometimes the scale won't budge for awhile or maybe it might even go up...but you could still be losing inches.

Plus, the smaller you are the harder it will be to lose... You are a good weight right now and within your BMI so you will have to work harder to see results.

It won't happen over night... And just think, if you were to drop 10lbs really quick it will be just as easy to put those 10lbs on again. Slow and steady wins the race, and puts less stress on your body.

HauteP1nk

Then, my next question would be: how on earth do I loose fat then!??
I'm doing lots of cardio, and eating super clean... should I start starving myself!??

Do not starve yourself!! Keep eating right and you will get there.

Interval training is great for burning fat....
Lift weights too because this will boost your metabolism and help you burn more.

Argent78

You have to focus on fat loss not weight loss.
You have to measure & get your body fat percentage taken.

Your body probably is changing. Sometimes the scale won't budge for awhile or maybe it might even go up...but you could still be losing inches.

Plus, the smaller you are the harder it will be to lose... You are a good weight right now and within your BMI so you will have to work harder to see results.

It won't happen over night... And just think, if you were to drop 10lbs really quick it will be just as easy to put those 10lbs on again. Slow and steady wins the race, and puts less stress on your body.

Thanks! Yeah sometimes it is frustrating to work so hard and not see the scale move down
Tomorrow I have my assessment, after 3 months starting my training program... I hope to see body fat going down...

MinMin97

Then, my next question would be: how on earth do I loose fat then!??
I'm doing lots of cardio, and eating super clean... should I start starving myself!??

Do not starve yourself!! Keep eating right and you will get there.

Interval training is great for burning fat....
Lift weights too because this will boost your metabolism and help you burn more.

Good counsel! Interval training boosts your fat burning metabolism! Dr Mercola shows how to do sprint 8's on an incline bike. Super simple, and only takes 20 min 2-3 times per week. That's one way to get in interval training. mercola.com
Wise food choices and exercise!

SirBen81

Open your food/exercise diary for more specific recommendations.

cici1028

So I went down a pants/dress size without the scale budging. Focus on your measurements for now.

ilovedeadlifts

Then, my next question would be: how on earth do I loose fat then!??
I'm doing lots of cardio, and eating super clean... should I start starving myself!??

taking in less calories.

sneph650

I'm in a similar situation: the scale hasn't budged in a couple of weeks and sometimes it's 1-2 lbs higher. That said, my pants are looser and my arms are smaller....and I feel some serious muscle in my biceps. I was also able to buy a pair of pants in a smaller size this week. Getting fit the healthy way requires patience!

Argent78

My measurements are not moving either...
I'm size 6, and I don't think I can go smaller. I see my core firmer, and my arms look really good with well defined muscles.. It's just that I store fat in the wrong places: hips, and "floaters" (

Argent78

Open your food/exercise diary for more specific recommendations.

I thought it was open... let me see if I can fix it

SirBen81

For your height and weight I'd drop your net calorie goal to 1400 per day. If you eat the right foods that is very doable without being hungry. I'd also try swapping most of those carbs with healthy fats such as nut butter, olive oil, cottage cheese, avocado...etc

I'm seeing great results with 1400 net calories comprised of 50/40/10% Protein/Fat/Carb% ratio.

Lastly, don't restrict cardio to one activity(elliptical). Change it up every week or two.

gl

Argent78

For your height and weight I'd drop your net calorie goal to 1400 per day. If you eat the right foods that is very doable without being hungry. I'd also try swapping most of those carbs with healthy fats such as nut butter, olive oil, cottage cheese, avocado...etc

I'm seeing great results with 1400 net calories comprised of 50/40/10% Protein/Fat/Carb% ratio.

Lastly, don't restrict cardio to one activity(elliptical). Change it up every week or two.

gl

According to all the forums I've been reading, and the fat2fit calc, I should be eating 1900 cals... so that is confusing.
Also, the meal you saw on Sat was a cheat day, I usually don't eat many carbs, and the only fats are healthy ones. I never eat fried, except for that Sat.
About my activity: The elliptical shows there, because is how the exercise log in works, I actually do 40 mins weight lifting with a personal trainer every time, ans always switching my routine. I also do spinning 1 time per week...

So, except for dropping my cals, I couldnt change anything, and I'm not sure I should be eating 1400, which is LOWER than my BMR

SirBen81

According to all the forums I've been reading, and the fat2fit calc, I should be eating 1900 cals... so that is confusing.
Also, the meal you saw on Sat was a cheat day, I usually don't eat many carbs, and the only fats are healthy ones. I never eat fried, except for that Sat.
About my activity: The elliptical shows there, because is how the exercise log in works, I actually do 40 mins weight lifting with a personal trainer every time, ans always switching my routine. I also do spinning 1 time per week...

So, except for dropping my cals, I couldnt change anything, and I'm not sure I should be eating 1400, which is LOWER than my BMR

Right, eat 1900 calories per day, but burn 500 through exercise to equal 1400 net calories. I didn't just look at Saturday, I went through a week's worth of days and saw on average 150+ carbs per day. That's fine, but I've only been able to cut fat and maintain muscle on a low carb, high fat/protein diet. Everyone's different.

Argent78

According to all the forums I've been reading, and the fat2fit calc, I should be eating 1900 cals... so that is confusing.
Also, the meal you saw on Sat was a cheat day, I usually don't eat many carbs, and the only fats are healthy ones. I never eat fried, except for that Sat.
About my activity: The elliptical shows there, because is how the exercise log in works, I actually do 40 mins weight lifting with a personal trainer every time, ans always switching my routine. I also do spinning 1 time per week...

So, except for dropping my cals, I couldnt change anything, and I'm not sure I should be eating 1400, which is LOWER than my BMR

Right, eat 1900 calories per day, but burn 500 through exercise to equal 1400 net calories. I didn't just look at Saturday, I went through a week's worth of days and saw on average 150+ carbs per day. That's fine, but I've only been able to cut fat and maintain muscle on a low carb, high fat/protein diet. Everyone's different.

Ok! I was always confused because I thought I had to eat low fat (I always do high prot), but if I do that, I have to upper carbs. So maybe switch to high prot/ high fat/ low carb, instead of high prot/ high carb/ low fat, right?

Spanaval

Are you logging everything? There are days when you are significantly under on your calories. Many, many days.

Do you know what your TDEE and BMR are?

msue482

Try taking pictures on a monthly basis! I have stopped looking at the scale. I 've been watching what I've been eating since February and although I did lose about 4 lbs I have not seen the scale budge in maybe a month or two. I'm only trying to get down to around 120 (currently 128). Anyway, I took my first months worth of progress and I saw a noticable difference. So, just step away from the scale for now and focus on how you feel, look, how your clothes feel on you, etc. Good luck!

Argent78

Are you logging everything? There are days when you are significantly under on your calories. Many, many days.

Do you know what your TDEE and BMR are?

No, I'm not logging everything
It is sometimes really hard, because we cook a lot, and then entering every ingredient takes me forever... that is a flaw!

Argent78

Try taking pictures on a monthly basis! I have stopped looking at the scale. I 've been watching what I've been eating since February and although I did lose about 4 lbs I have not seen the scale budge in maybe a month or two. I'm only trying to get down to around 120 (currently 128). Anyway, I took my first months worth of progress and I saw a noticable difference. So, just step away from the scale for now and focus on how you feel, look, how your clothes feel on you, etc. Good luck!

I'll start with the pics then! sounds better than being obsessed with the scale, right ?

Myobi

The easiest way to see results is to take your measurements every couple of weeks in addition to weighing yourself. When the scale doesn't move, it can be really hard to keep going. When you see that you've lost an inch of your hips regardless of the scale not moving, you can see that you ARE making progress.

Spanaval

No, I'm not logging everything
It is sometimes really hard, because we cook a lot, and then entering every ingredient takes me forever... that is a flaw!

There is a tab for recipes. Log your recipes there, so you can reuse them. I don't generally bother adding spices; that would make the ingredient list too long.

Argent78

No, I'm not logging everything
It is sometimes really hard, because we cook a lot, and then entering every ingredient takes me forever... that is a flaw!

There is a tab for recipes. Log your recipes there, so you can reuse them. I don't generally bother adding spices; that would make the ingredient list too long.

I know, but we never cook the same! My boyfriend is a cook, so he is always making up things... it is always healthy, but we don't repeat much... ugh

Myobi

When my husband cooks, he doesn't follow a recipe. I did ask him to measure what ingredients he uses, though, just so I could log it. Generally it takes me about 2 minutes max to get it all entered (5 minutes if it takes me a while to find the right ingredient in the database).