Pounds not coming off

Tilran

Hi all,

I am a bit frustrated with results I am seeing in myself...or lack of results I should say. I have been tracking for the last month and a half maybe a bit longer. I started at 200 pounds and I am looking to get down to 170. I would say that I hit my calorie goal or stay under it 5-6 days a week, and those 1-2 days a week that I slip up, it is not by an outrageous amount.

I go to the gym 5 days a week with 2 days of rest and my workout schedule is Cardio/Abs, Upper Body, Cardio/Abs, Lower Body, Cardio/Abs....in that routine. I am very competitive and aggressive in my workouts so I dont half *kitten* it, I come out of the gym drenched head to toe every day. I am also part of a volleyball league that I do once a week for 2 hours on a non-gym day...so really I'm working out 6 days a week.

My weight has dipped initially to 194 right away, then went to 196...then 194, then 198, then 196 and now back to 198...I weigh myself weekly on the same day with the same clothes on to reduce any amount of variable change.

On a side note, I have put on considerable muscle...I see it when looking in the mirror...my chest is much bigger, I've got some definition in my abs, and my arms are starting to become really sculpted....however I am not droping weight.

Is this normal? Am I just replacing fat with muscle and maintaing the same weight? I try to tell myself that to keep the diet and routine going...but it is extreamly frustrating to get on that scale and either see it stay the same or go up.

I try to stick to the 500-400-300 rule as much as possible on work days...but it is a bit hard...so I'd say I use that more of a guide.


Any suggestions or help would be very appreciated.


Thanks,
Ron

AngelAtkins61

Do your clothes fit differently? That is the key. As you know muscle weighs more than fat. So yes you may be building muscle if you feel your clothes are looser.
But take a good look also at your daily diary Is it possible that you are missing some things? Maybe you dont have the correct counts for the work outs and or foods?
I was on a Plateau for over 7 months. I started my weight loss journey the beginning of July last year. I had not lost (actually until last week I weighed more than I did in Dec) until this month. VERY discouraging. Yes my clothes were different but come on not one pound?
Many people told me , including my sister who was a personal trainer and my daughter big into health and fitness, it was time to change up my routine and work outs. And to be more watchful of processed things. Protien bars, my daughter thinks were harming me more than doing me good.
I see many have HRM here. I do want to get one but for now I use my FitBit ultra tracker to help me keep track of calories and exercise. It was when I got this that they pounds started coming off again
GOOD LUCK and hope I helped a bit!

nxd10

You've been tracking a month. If you set the default at one pound a week, you should have lost four pounds.

You aren't following your calorie guidelines religiously - you're going over - so expect a little less than that. (And I find that if I don't average my calorie goal for the week, I can see that in my weight loss.)

And you've toned and put on a lot of muscle.

Sounds like you're doing about what you'd expect. You're getting in better shape but aren't at a big enough calorie deficit to lose very quickly. If you want to lose more consistently you need to keep a fairly steady calorie intake that should average to your recommended calories for the day. You also have to track religiously because - if you're like me - all those little tastes, sauces, and mouthfuls of nothing add up to an addition couple hundred calories a day.

Fruch02

You're putting on muscle man. Throw the scale out for a while and use the mirror. Muscle weighs more than fat.

DanaDark

Sounds about right.

You've lost fat in pounds, gained some muscle, and are seeing fluctuations in water weight.

Being that you are sweating a lot in the gym, hopefully you are getting at LEAST 8 cups a day of water, if not several extra.

So the first week you probably lost a LOT of water and about a pound of fat and gained a smidgen of muscle. The following weeks water fluctuating around with some fat loss and muscle gains.

Don't fret over the number.

babesintow

The scale should not be your only source of measurement. If you can actually see changes than you certainly on the right track! You men are soooo lucky you can put on muscle that quickly... I am jealous! We have hormonal shifts...children and all sorts of baggage :laugh:

Take photos, use a measuring tape, the same scale and track it...and body fat if you are so inclined. Sounds like you don't really need to make changes....I am sure you'll see the numbers move soon enough. Congrats!!!

Tilran

Thank you everyone for the encouragement. I will keep it going and see what happens. As far as clothes fitting better, I can go 1 notch further on my belt when I dress for work so, yeah I guess my waist has gotten smaller which is a good thing.

I'll keep it up and see what happens, I guess I'm just a bit frustrated that I feel like I'm doing heavy training but not seeing weight loss results.

I agree with nxd10 that I havent been perfect on the calorie counts but I havent been that off either. I usually also estimate on the worst case scenario type of thing...if I eat a salad, I use only half the dressing provided but I'll still mark down the full thing...just in case type of thing. I always look at it as cheating the system only cheats myself, so I never fib or stretch the numbers.

As far as working out, I just go by what comes up...so it is possible that my 35 minutes on an elliptical is not really 370 calories and that my 20 minutes on a stair master is not really 250 or whatever they are....but I'm not really sure how to find out the exact number for those. For machines with the heart sensor stuff that track calories burned, they usually line up pretty close with the fitnesspal numbers.

Plus, I can tell by my sweat output compared to others that I am definately putting in the work...lol


Thanks again everyone for your input..and I will stay on it and hopefully next month see some weight loss.