What am I doing wrong?

Rumik

Hey all,

need some advice, as I'm going a bit mad.

Last year I weighed 12 1/2 stone. I started going to the gym - just running on the treadmill, 3 times a week. After about 3 or 4 months I was down to 11 stone 11 pounds, and pretty happy with myself.

Then Christmas hit and my back got bad, so I took a break for a couple of months. By the time the birth of my daughter came around in February, I had lost the Christmas weight and was holding around 11 stone 11 pounds.

Shortly afterwards I started going back to the gym, this time adding in calorie counting with the MFP app and some strength training, which I've been doing ever since. At first I was limiting myself to 1200 calories a day, and over a few weeks I got down to 11 stone 8 pounds. But then lots of people on this site started telling me that I wasn't eating enough and that I'd lose more if I actually increased how much I was eating. So I thought I'd give that a go, and increased my calorie target to 1570.

Fast-forward to now. I'm seeing some muscles that have spent most of my life hiding under layers of fat, so I'm happy with how that's going. The only problem is I'm not losing any bloody weight! I'm stuck hovering around 11 stone 7-8, and now I'm thinking that I should go back to a calorie target of 1200.

What should I do?

Thanks

dad106

Simply put, nothing.

Put the scale away and bust out the tape measure...because it seems like to me, that you are losing inches but not scale weight which is fine. What you are seeing on the scale is water weight from the muscles repairing themselves.

Keep doing the strength training, add some cardio, and eat at a deficit.. and you'll be fine.

temp666777

I strongly recommend reading "WHY WE GET FAT" by Gary Taubes.

The latest science could change everything you think about weight loss.

DerDude

Hey Rumik,

lifting weights + good food = muscles. So you gain some muscles, you even can see them! Also your muscles store some water to repair. So your weight wont go in any direction
Now you have to choose. Get toned and keep it like it is or bulk even more muscles. But what you should not do, never ever, is to lower your cals to 1200! You´re a men. You need at least 1600/1800 cals even if you do not any excersise.
So you have the choice...eat a bit more and grow or keep it like it is and sculpture your Abs, Biceps, etc.

impyimpyaj

If your muscles are becoming more visible, you're probably decreasing body fat. That's an excellent thing. I agree with the advice to throw away the scale and start measuring. Take photos. The number on the scale doesn't mean jack. Neither does BMI. It really doesn't. Body fat percentage and your measurements are FAR more important. Bodybuilders are "obese" according to the BMI scale, and their scale weights are extremely high. Even just muscular men who aren't "bodybuilders" are going to weigh more than other men their size, simply because of their dense muscles.

Keep doing what you're doing! And by all means, KEEP EATING. Don't cut your calories back so low. You want to KEEP that muscle you've worked so hard to build!

Rumik

Wow, thanks guys, that was just what I needed I'm really grateful