Dilemma

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maggiepz
maggiepz Posts: 141 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm really torn on what to do about exercise! I busted my butt exercising and wasn't losing weight last month. Alternated cardio and strength training. I gained 2 pounds so I tapered back and gave myself 2-3 rest days. STILL no weight loss. Increased my calories, fluctuated higher calorie and low calorie days. I tried lots of different things.

I got discouraged and had a mild whiplash incident so laid off exercise for 5 days and I lost 5 pounds!

I'm in a local weight loss contest that ends in 4 weeks. I'm undecided if I should go back to strength training or not. I lost a ton of inches and I got so much stronger but I desperately need to take off POUNDS. I really don't want to lose my 3rd place because there's a couple people that said they are going all out to overtake my weight loss percentage.

Everyone says muscle weighs more than fat but you burn more calories with the extra muscle. Just didn't seem like it was working that way for me so I just don't know what to do.

Any advice from someone who's actually had this problem would be appreciated.

Replies

  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i dont see how this is a problem, sorry. you're losing fat and getting fitter, eventually the scale will catch up. that's a good thing.

    if you want to lose weight without really caring about how you do it just to win a contest, then just go on a crash diet stop working out and lose tons of muscle. just keep in mind that all the people on the biggest loser who went into it just to win the contest ended up gaining their weight back. there's a reason for that.

    if you want to do it the healthy way then just take it how it comes.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    i dont see how this is a problem, sorry. you're losing fat and getting fitter, eventually the scale will catch up. that's a good thing.

    if you want to lose weight without really caring about how you do it just to win a contest, then just go on a crash diet stop working out and lose tons of muscle. just keep in mind that all the people on the biggest loser who went into it just to win the contest ended up gaining their weight back. there's a reason for that.

    if you want to do it the healthy way then just take it how it comes.

    I agree, if you're just trying to win a contest then do lots of endurance cardio and don't eat anything. Hell, once you get close to the weigh-in day stop drinking liquids to make sure you're nice and dehydrated. Utilize one of those trash bag outfits to sweat more. The weight will fly off. It will be dangerous and unhealthy but you'll place well!

    Outside of that, the reason you lost a couple of pounds after you stopped exercising is probably due to water weight loss since your muscles will generally store water for repair when you're working out. If you're gaining weight over the long term (months), you're eating too much - period. Maybe you're overestimating your exercise calories and eating them back - resulting in weight gain? You're not packing on tons of muscle or anything. Water weight should remain fairly static once you get into an exercise routine. Consistently gaining weight over a longer period of time means you're just eating over your maintenance.
  • maggiepz
    maggiepz Posts: 141 Member
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    you're right. I need to get back to the right mindset. That's why I'm in third rather than 1st or 2nd. They are doing extreme and I'm doing a lifestyle change. The person in 1st place jokes about being "skeletor" and she's looking it.

    I think I'll step up the cardio more days a week and stop increasing the weights so fast.

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