What am I doing wrong?

MissMormie

So today was my monthly way in and measure up at Curves (women's fitness). In the last month my body fat percentage increased by 1 percent. Basically all my measurements were up by 1 or more cm. My weight is still the same, so I've been changing lean body mass into fat. Not what I was planning on doing.

Food
I've been trying to eat enough everyday and get in enough protein. I feel like I'm eating the whole time everyday to get to just over 2000 calories per day. My new stop phrases are 'when are we eating' and 'what are we eating'. I'm eating 6 times a day (at least) to get to this amount. I do weigh and measure everything like it's my new religion.

Exercise
I have a fitbit which surprises me everday with the amount of calories it's estimating I've burned up, it generally says something like 2600 calories. This includes the exercise I frequently do (although I just keep it at the steps fitbit gives for that, not add the exercise seperately as well). I do 3 times 30 minutes curves (circuittraining), I do 3 times a week C25K, 5 times a week to 'befit in 90' exercise (about 30-35 minutes per day) and swim once a week 1km. On average this is about an hour of exercise per day. And I work out enough to have to mop the floor afterwards to clean up stray sweat droplets.

I'm just at a loss. I've been working out very hard, and have been watching what I eat religiously, and the result is the exact opposite of what I was hoping for.

PisceanDream224

I have a couple of suggestions. Although you may be getting only around an hour a day, try cutting back on some time (maybe only do the Befit ?? did I say that right? lol ~ only 3 times a week instead of 5. It may be that you are getting too much cardio all at once, or even overtraining just slightly. You may also be retaining water, so make sure you drink at least 8 glasses a day, maybe just a little more when you work out. Another thing, play around with your calories. 2000 sounds like maintenance calories to me. Perhaps you can eat about 300 less on some days, and see if that works. Are you eating foods with high sodium? If so, try to cut back slightly on your sodium intake. Are you eating a mix of good carbs and protein?? Every meal should include protein (which will help with adding more calories to your meal) and carbs such as veggies (especially green ones!) / fruits. You may also be going through hormonal changes or stress that could cause weight gain / maintenance. Good luck! I hope you find this information helpful.

MissMormie

I have a couple of suggestions. Although you may be getting only around an hour a day, try cutting back on some time (maybe only do the Befit ?? did I say that right? lol ~ only 3 times a week instead of 5. It may be that you are getting too much cardio all at once, or even overtraining just slightly.

Both the Curves and the Befit is half cardio, half weight training. But I could definitely try doing slightly less. I'm just reluctant to cut down on anything with weight training in there while I'm already losing lean mass. But I'll give it a try.

Another thing, play around with your calories. 2000 sounds like maintenance calories to me. Perhaps you can eat about 300 less on some days, and see if that works.

Based on the numbers from Fitbit for exercise I'm only getting just above my BMR for net calories, that's actually the reason I upped my calories since getting the Fitbit. http://www.fitbit.com/user/235HY6 . This gives my average burn just over 2600 for the last month. So I'm not very keen on lowering my calories.

Every meal should include protein (which will help with adding more calories to your meal) and carbs such as veggies (especially green ones!) / fruits. You may also be going through hormonal changes or stress that could cause weight gain / maintenance. Good luck! I hope you find this information helpful.

Out of 6 meals a day there might be 1 without protein or veggies/fruits.

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I'll try lowering my exercise somewhat.

jessjpjb

I also am experiencing this. I have a fit bit as well. I enter my cardio workouts manually into myfitness pal and anything else i do I let the fitbit make its adjustments. Is that correct? M-F my full time job is in an office, however I do find time and make time to do mini workouts or get up and walk around, sometimes walk at lunch. I get up at 3am to get my 50 minutes of cardio in before getting around for work. I was doing C25k then switched it up about 10 days ago to the interval walk/run and this past week saw the scale go up like 5lbs....do not get it. Also I have two scales, a regular one and a digital one and there is like a 6lb difference between them! Is one more accurate then the other?

wisters

I also am experiencing this. I have a fit bit as well. I enter my cardio workouts manually into myfitness pal and anything else i do I let the fitbit make its adjustments. Is that correct? M-F my full time job is in an office, however I do find time and make time to do mini workouts or get up and walk around, sometimes walk at lunch. I get up at 3am to get my 50 minutes of cardio in before getting around for work. I was doing C25k then switched it up about 10 days ago to the interval walk/run and this past week saw the scale go up like 5lbs....do not get it. Also I have two scales, a regular one and a digital one and there is like a 6lb difference between them! Is one more accurate then the other?

Excellent question! I too have two scales, one being digital. The digital is about 4-5 pounds heavier than the one I was using previously. I have no idea which is correct, but I am guessing that is the digital because anytime I would use a scale somewhere else it would always say I was heavier than the one at home, so I am guessing that the new one (digital) is more correct. But I would love to really know

Rozlynmac

I'm far from expert but here's my tuppence worth...

Gain on scales/fat increase could be fluid retention rather than true fat. Cardio excercise without sufficient rest tends to cause fluid retention. Building in appropriate rest days is pretty much mandatory. If you carry on with the weights, you maybe need to up the protein content (not looked at your diary, so commenting blind really), but from what I've read, your not going to replace the muscle with muscle if there's not sufficient protein being consumed.

And jessjpjb - yes, every scale is different. I have access to 3 and between them my weight can change by 7lb. Just use 1 and stick with it, or use them both and be aware they differ.

MissMormie

Any other ideas on what to change?

If it's water retention that'd be great. But since the measurements of almost every bodypart increased as well I'm not too sure.

kiachu

Any other ideas on what to change?

If it's water retention that'd be great. But since the measurements of almost every bodypart increased as well I'm not too sure.

Well where do you think the water goes when its being retained?

All over.

amy1612

I would always encourage weights, but that's just because Iv'e seen such awesome results with them. I would'nt worry about losing lean mass while lifting as long as you're eating right.

I don't know what a lot of food is in your diary (is it in Dutch?), but I'd say be getting a good amount of protein in, and some good carby fuel, I love sweet potatoes for that.

MissMormie

Well where do you think the water goes when its being retained?

All over.

Ok, that sounds so obvious when you say that Can't belief I didn't think about that

venetianz

I personally think 2000cals is too much if you are trying to lose. when i eat 200cals i lose nothing im around198lbs. Try and cut down a bit. Maybe calculate with MFP and see how many calories they suggest per day.

PisceanDream224

I personally think 2000cals is too much if you are trying to lose. when i eat 200cals i lose nothing im around198lbs. Try and cut down a bit. Maybe calculate with MFP and see how many calories they suggest per day.

I know that everyone is different, but maybe if you research different sites online that show you a chart of the amount of calories you should consume in conjunction with the physical activity you are currently doing, you may see a variance in numbers. I would check out many different charts and compare them to get an average figure so you are not consuming too much because one or just a few say that is what you need to be eating. The subject itself is controversial in the field, but you asked for help, so I am just sharing tips that I, personally, have seen success with.

I figured the Befit was a wt/aerobic program, so that is why I suggested cutting back 2 days so you don't over train your muscles. Over training leads to injury, which can hinder your weight loss for weeks or months at a time. While creating regimes for my clients, I have always stressed that Less is More! You don't need to work muscles too much over the week because they need time to heal, especially when you are trying to lose weight and tone. It takes time to build muscle, just as it has taken years to decrease. As long as you work your muscles often, but not frequently, you will see a significant change in them over time. Curves should be a sufficient amount of training, but if you feel you need about 20 more minutes of full body training with weights, only do it on the Curves days.

Good luck!

MissMormie

Right, so I figured out why my numbers didn't make sense.

...
<painful silence>
...
I looked at the wrong numbers.

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I did lose inches. Yes the bodyfat number was higher, but that's off most of the time anyway. So there. It does mean that working out and eating right ( http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12 ) did work for me. It just didn't fix my head yet

I am going to incorporate some more rest (or active rest) days as some people suggested, sounds like a good plan. I'm just happy that my hard work for the last month did get me some results.