What am I doing wrong?

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Fijiflower
Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been working out consistently for the last 3 weeks and lost 8 lbs the first week and none since then even though my eating is better and better and my exercising is at a good level. I do 100 min of cardio everyday, sometimes more and last week I started adding in some weights. I got on the scale this morning and no change. Don't get me wrong, I feel awesome and have soooo much more energy, but I would love to see the scale come down. I guess I need to stay off the scale and find another way to measure my progress/success.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :happy:
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Replies

  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    100 minutes of cardio a day is way overkill.

    Weight loss isn't linear. You need to watch trends. 8 pounds in 3 weeks is still well above average weight loss.
  • midnightgirl01
    midnightgirl01 Posts: 3
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    Sometimes it just takes more time and patience to see the results on the scale. While you are working out you are also turning muscle to fat so the tricks I've used to stop from being discouraged in my journey over the past 10 months are to measure myself on a regular basis as well, and also get a scale that shows fat/muscle percentage. If you have taken your measurements, try to do that once every few weeks or so.. For quite some time, that was where I'd see the biggest results. I think because I was gaining muscle. For the first few months or so, I was told not to weigh myself daily.

    Also, be sure to do the weight machines as well as cardio. Even though you are not burning calories that moment, you are getting some added beneift for longer after your work out is over so I would spend at least 15 minutes of your workout on the machines, even more as you get to like it. Myself, I spent about an hour in the gym, half cardio, half machines. So far I've lost 64 lbs.
  • PortiaZabrina
    PortiaZabrina Posts: 15 Member
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    It's not uncommon for those that first start a workout to loose a bunch of weight at the beginning. The reason for the 8lbs in the first week is because you're body wasn't adapted to it, so it was working out of it's comfort zone.

    Stressing your body is the BEST way to get into shape and loose weight.
    The reason why you're not seeing any progress even though you're doing 100mins of cardio a day is because you're not stressing your body anymore. You're used to doing 100mins of cardio everyday so you're body doesn't have to work harder, which means you're not stressing your body. For your cardio I would change up the routine and do it only ever other day. Instead of 100 minutes, cut it down to 60 minutes and work harder.

    You also need to do some more resistance training, as more lean muscle mass burns more calories.
  • PortiaZabrina
    PortiaZabrina Posts: 15 Member
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    Also, the scale doesn't tell you Exactly what you weight.. it does, but there are many things that alter it..

    You can jump from 3lbs under to 5lbs over any day if you eat something different, or if your day was a bit lugish and slow. I wouldn't pay attention to the scale except every 2nd week. Measuring around your bust, waist and hips will give you a more clear vision of where the weight is coming off. And with those results you can alter a workout so that you get results EVERYWHERE
  • Tedebearduff
    Tedebearduff Posts: 1,155 Member
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    I have been working out consistently for the last 3 weeks and lost 8 lbs the first week and none since then even though my eating is better and better and my exercising is at a good level. I do 100 min of cardio everyday, sometimes more and last week I started adding in some weights. I got on the scale this morning and no change. Don't get me wrong, I feel awesome and have soooo much more energy, but I would love to see the scale come down. I guess I need to stay off the scale and find another way to measure my progress/success.

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! :happy:

    Open your diary so public can see maybe you need to work on cleaner eating?. Also are you counting 100 mins of cardio stuff like walked to the store logging 5 mins of a walk ?? Or are you going all out on the elliptical for 100 mins ? There is a huge difference in the 2. Can't really see anything on your profile so can't really give any advice. . . .
  • Fijiflower
    Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
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    Ok my diary is public now.
  • Fijiflower
    Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
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    100 minutes of cardio a day is way overkill.



    Why is it overkill? I don't understand.
  • warpedlogic
    warpedlogic Posts: 30
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    Also, the scale doesn't tell you Exactly what you weight.. it does, but there are many things that alter it..

    You can jump from 3lbs under to 5lbs over any day if you eat something different, or if your day was a bit lugish and slow. I wouldn't pay attention to the scale except every 2nd week. Measuring around your bust, waist and hips will give you a more clear vision of where the weight is coming off. And with those results you can alter a workout so that you get results EVERYWHERE

    Very true. The BEST way to measure success (or failure) in weight-loss is measuring your body fat percentage. I have a scale that does it. If you belong to a gym, you can ask the personal trainers if you can take a body fat measurement with a digital device they have. Just know that there is a variance, but if you measure it often enough (and consistently same day/time) then you will see if it's going up or down.
  • samcorvus
    samcorvus Posts: 112 Member
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    Overkill on cardio. The body can only get so much benefit from exercise at a time. What cardio does for you is burn glycogen in the muscles and glucose or ketone bodies in the blood. This stimulates the release of glucagon and reduces the overall energy stores of the body. Basically burns calories. However once you exhaust these stores the body starts converting protein to make up the difference. This added to the wear and tear on the body causes a lot of stress and repair hormones to be released which retard the overall efficacy of any weightless regimen. You'd be better off doing two fifty minute sessions or even four twenty five minute sessions of interval cardio a day. This would keep your numbers roughly equal but give your skeletal muscular and endocrine system time to recover. Eating in between also helps maintain the glucose/glycogen/glucagon reserves.

    As to diet, I took a look at your diary and it's incomplete. Your homemade...thing...has no nutrient data so it's hard to really analyze. If you're still stalled in a week or two try reducing the refined carbs. Sugar and starch are a killer for me and a lot of people. Clean eating is the way to go. I also recommend reading about the paleo/primal diets. Mark's daily apple is a great source. Or you could skim the forums if you do not mind reactionary hate replies and frustrated supporters arguing back and forth. It can be amusing.

    Hope this helps,

    S,
  • Fijiflower
    Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
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    It's not uncommon for those that first start a workout to loose a bunch of weight at the beginning. The reason for the 8lbs in the first week is because you're body wasn't adapted to it, so it was working out of it's comfort zone.

    Stressing your body is the BEST way to get into shape and loose weight.
    The reason why you're not seeing any progress even though you're doing 100mins of cardio a day is because you're not stressing your body anymore. You're used to doing 100mins of cardio everyday so you're body doesn't have to work harder, which means you're not stressing your body. For your cardio I would change up the routine and do it only ever other day. Instead of 100 minutes, cut it down to 60 minutes and work harder.

    You also need to do some more resistance training, as more lean muscle mass burns more calories.


    Thank for your help. I will be decreasing my cardio to 60 minutes because I will be returning to work soon, but I was just trying to get myself in a routine, so when I return to work I can maintain my daily workouts and my motivation myself would be that "it's only 60 minutes at least its not 100"

    I will give your suggestion a try!
  • warpedlogic
    warpedlogic Posts: 30
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    100 minutes of cardio a day is way overkill.



    Why is it overkill? I don't understand.
    [/quote]

    It's overkill because there is no rest period. Exercising so much and so often will take a negative toll on your body if you continue to do this. I would say to take your routine down to 60-90 min with cardio warm up and cooldown (so beginning and end) with weights in the middle. Also if you still want to go to the gym every day, then do arms one day, legs one day, core one day, then repeat.
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
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    100 minutes of cardio a day is way overkill.

    Weight loss isn't linear. You need to watch trends. 8 pounds in 3 weeks is still well above average weight loss.

    I wouldnt say its overkill. Look at all the shows out there on loosing weight, some of those people are exercising up to 4 hours a day. Maybe change up your exercise routine.
  • crafterpaula
    crafterpaula Posts: 47 Member
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    what your better doing is 45min to 1.hr of cardio and the days you do weight it should be every other day ..on weight days do 45 min of cadio and then 30 min to an hr of weights but beware so you don't get discouraged you will gain weight in the beginning of weight training because you gaining muscle and not fat but anywhere between 4 to 6 weeks then you will shred pounds again so don't give up ! you are doing great be proud your self! you'll get there ! if you want to add me as a friend i will support you all the way!
  • AshleyBananas
    AshleyBananas Posts: 62
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    You might want to get a measuring tape and measure certain body parts like your waist, hips, thighs, chest, and biceps. Keep a diary of these measurements. Just measure once a week, and see if they're starting to go down. They will if you're consistent, even if the number on the scale doesn't go down that much.

    If you're lifting weights you may also be putting on some muscle mass, which can make you think you're plateauing but muscle is good, you want muscle. Muscle burns fat!

    Keep it up, and remember slow and steady wins the race. In the last three months I lost 11 lbs now I'm starting to notice that my clothes are loser but my number on the scale is pretty steady. I'm continuing. Keep up the momentum! Friend me if you'd like! I'd love to help keep you motivated and vice versa!
  • Camberries7
    Camberries7 Posts: 19 Member
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    Don't forget to change the intensity of what you're working out. If you're doing running, run on flat, interval, fat burn etc levels. It get your body to change faster because you are mixing it up. I am also a big supporter of weight lifting. Jillian's 30 day shred is great to tone up as well. Good luck!
  • Fijiflower
    Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
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    Thanks everybody!

    I was just considering the paleo diet, I just need to research it more. Also thanks for the info on cardio overkill, I never knew that, but now that I do I will adjust accordingly.
  • rose_mortem
    rose_mortem Posts: 147 Member
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    eating 1000 calories every day AND working out that much isn't good. try to eat AT LEAST 1200 if you work out. good luck
  • tidesong
    tidesong Posts: 451 Member
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    Looking at your diary, you are definitely not eating enough. There are a lot of days where you're not even hitting 1200 calories! And if you're really doing 100 minutes of cardio each day, well...your calorie deficit is going to be way too big, and your body is going to start to go into starvation mode, which means you won't lose weight. You've gotta eat enough, especially if you're putting in a lot of cardio. HTH.
  • Goal_Line
    Goal_Line Posts: 474 Member
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    Some of your estimates of cals burned seem high.

    What are you doing for these 100 minutes?

    How are you coming up with these numbers? It is possible you are overestimating cals burned.

    I'd also eat a little more, your body might be doing everything possible to hold on to fat due to severe cal restriction.

    Finally, 3 weeks is way to short a time period to draw and conclusions - be patient!
  • Fijiflower
    Fijiflower Posts: 16 Member
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    100 minutes of cardio a day is way overkill.

    Weight loss isn't linear. You need to watch trends. 8 pounds in 3 weeks is still well above average weight loss.

    I wouldnt say its overkill. Look at all the shows out there on loosing weight, some of those people are exercising up to 4 hours a day. Maybe change up your exercise routine.





    That is what I was thinking about as well when I made the decision, plus when I return to work I will only be have time for hour long sessions in the morning.

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