HELP..i havent lost!! Serious encouragement needed!

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  • tinasullens
    tinasullens Posts: 203 Member
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    Claire,

    Hang tight! What type of exercises are you doing at the gym? If you're doing cardio only, then add in some strength training. Muscle burns fat, so work on building some lean muscle. Also, I read someone say "fat turning to muscle"....fat does not turn into muscle, nor does muscle turn into fat. They are two totally different things.

    You mentioned you were usually below your calories every day. Are most of your calories from whole foods or processed foods? Do you drink regular sodas? Are you drinking enough water? You may have already answered some of these questions, I'll have to read through the posts again.

    You may want to think of tossing your scale out into the trash. Sometimes, we will lose inches (body fat) but not lose weight; which discourages us. Go by how you feel in your clothes and stay off that dreaded scale for at least 30 days. Take your measurements at the beginning of the month and then retake them at the end of the month. I think you may be surprised!

    Oh, and by the way....5 lbs. of muscle weighs the same as 5 lbs. of fat....it's just that muscle is more compacted and lean and fat just floats around. :wink:
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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    SavvyStefie had it right. I too lost weight the first week, then I actually gained weight the next two weeks which was perplexing because my jeans fell right off my butt!!! Before you throw the scale out the window, just remember you will most likely lose inches first then pounds. Watch sodium intake, drink water, and put the scale in the no-go-near zone the week of your period. That week will be uber depressing if you are a scale watcher. Stay on your plan and you should be fine.
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Claire,

    Hang tight! What type of exercises are you doing at the gym? If you're doing cardio only, then add in some strength training. Muscle burns fat, so work on building some lean muscle. Also, I read someone say "fat turning to muscle"....fat does not turn into muscle, nor does muscle turn into fat. They are two totally different things.

    You mentioned you were usually below your calories every day. Are most of your calories from whole foods or processed foods? Do you drink regular sodas? Are you drinking enough water? You may have already answered some of these questions, I'll have to read through the posts again.

    You may want to think of tossing your scale out into the trash. Sometimes, we will lose inches (body fat) but not lose weight; which discourages us. Go by how you feel in your clothes and stay off that dreaded scale for at least 30 days. Take your measurements at the beginning of the month and then retake them at the end of the month. I think you may be surprised!

    Oh, and by the way....5 lbs. of muscle weighs the same as 5 lbs. of fat....it's just that muscle is more compacted and lean and fat just floats around. :wink:

    Thanks so much for the advice!
    OK, i'm going to go through your answer, and reply as best i can:

    My workouts consists of:
    30mins brisk walk on the tredmill
    20 mins on the air walker (i think its caled the air walker..its similar to a cross trainer)
    3000 meters on the bikes at a'half way' level (takes about 10 mins)
    2 sets of 15 thigh weights
    2 sets of 15 leg weights
    1500 meters on the rowing machine.
    I do this workout mon-thurs, apart from every other week where its mon-fri.

    My diet is (i think) quite healthy. i dont have processed foods as a matter of habit (apart from on Saturdays, where i allow myself 2 slices of pizza or some jaffa cakes, and a glass of red wine, which is all calculated in my calories allowance on here). I dont fry and food, i eat lots of fruit and veg, and most of my meals are based on soup, salad, turkey, chicken, veg. Any pasta/rice i have is wholemeal, i dont drink fizzy drinks, although i do have a few milky coffees a week.

    i just dont understand what i am doing wrong!!
    I am just carrying on as normal, and hopeing that i will see a change next weigh day (Friday)!
  • FireRox21
    FireRox21 Posts: 424 Member
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    You are doing quite a bit of cardio. Have you thought of getting a heart rate monitor? It could be that you are doing too short of lengths of cario. For weight loss, it is a good idea to maintain a certain heart rate for a certain amount of time; the times and lengths differ for each person.

    There are a lot of good threads on MFP that list heart rate monitors. You could also try swimming. You can stay at a constant pace as far as heart rate and it works all of your muscles without the bulking up i.e. adding weight due to muscle gain.
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Thanks Firefox. I will have a look at some HRMs now, thanks for the tip!
  • wallena
    wallena Posts: 32
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    i do have a suggestion. avoid the scale for a little while. it is VERY discouraging and misleading. it's useful but i'd say in the beginning, leave that part of it out. concentrate on how healthy you feel. you're doing something about your eating and exercise. changing bad habits is hard enough without dragging the scale behind you. i keep thinking of the oatmeal commercial. these ppl have scales chained to their ankles and the song "you were always on my mind" is playing. hilarious but accurate. just don't weigh for a few days, limit to once weekly and remember if you build muscle, you may even gain. so don't panic. bet you feel better and your clothes fit. the scale will come around in time. :)
  • bethrs
    bethrs Posts: 664 Member
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    One thing no one has mentioned is how many calories you are eating- that can make a difference. Be sure to go above 1200 and don't dip too low below what MFP has suggested you hit.

    There are some great posts about exercise calories and why you need to eat them- Everyone's given great advice, but I wanted to throw that out there too. Some times eating too LITTLE can have a negative impact.

    Good luck! You'll get there, I know it.

    (edited for typo)
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Thanks again for all support you guys, it means so much to me!!
    I am trying not re-weigh myself again today..so have been keeping busy doing all the housework today (and i am sure that burns some cals)!!
  • makeitallsue
    makeitallsue Posts: 3,086 Member
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    http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan

    This was an article I came across last night, it is very interesting and does make sense, just copy and paste it in your browser and I hope it helps some.....I can understand your frustration...Hang in there!:flowerforyou: :bigsmile:
  • ange_mechant
    ange_mechant Posts: 25
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    I was about to post today a very similar post. I, too, have been pretty good on my calories, and been doing the JM 30 day Shred and doing about 1 hour of cardio 5 days a week at the gym. Yet, I am not losing anything. I started at 186 about 3 weeks ago, and I absolutely cannot get below 181. It's so frustrating! I am drinking about 9 glasses of water a day, taking vitamins, taking weight loss supplements (also by Jillian Michaels) and doing anything that remotely resembles exercise with my kids. But nothing. I'm going crazy. On top of it all, I'm a scale addict. I literally cannot NOT look at the scale. I weigh myself each morning when I wake up and then again at the gym because I know my scale sucks and I just haven't gotten a new one yet. Anyway, I'm feeling a little better since reading everyone's posts, but still. It sucks.
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Makeitallsue- thanks for the reply. I will have a look at that site in a bit..just cooking dinner!! (must make sure it doesnt burn by the end of my post)!!

    ange_merchant- its so frustrating isnt it! I am resisting the urge to re-weigh myself though. I always weighed my self 1-4 times a day before i joined this site last week, but i now understand how, if you weigh everyday, it doesnt give you a real weight, so i am just trying to wait till friday, as fridays are my weigh days now! Just before the weekend!
    I am just hoping that Friday i will bring me some good news!!
  • evilincarknit
    evilincarknit Posts: 5
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    Be strong! I hit a plateau for 2 weeks one time, where no matter what I did or ate I couldn't lose even 2/10 of a pound (I have the masochist scale!). But after that, it started coming off really easily. It's like our bodies resist the change for awhile, then finally give in!
    To shake things up a bit, try not eating after 6 pm for a day or two and see if that helps. I get my calories in earlier in the day and slow down after 4:00, maybe have something light at 6:00 for dinner like a no-dressing salad. It seems to help jump-start things.

    Good luck, you can do it!
  • Clairereynard
    Clairereynard Posts: 20
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    Keep going it just takes time.... Some weeks you don't lose anything... but don't give up. I know how you feel....

    Good luck.. Hang on in there..:smile:
  • ange_mechant
    ange_mechant Posts: 25
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    Makeitallsue- thanks for the reply. I will have a look at that site in a bit..just cooking dinner!! (must make sure it doesnt burn by the end of my post)!!

    ange_merchant- its so frustrating isnt it! I am resisting the urge to re-weigh myself though. I always weighed my self 1-4 times a day before i joined this site last week, but i now understand how, if you weigh everyday, it doesnt give you a real weight, so i am just trying to wait till friday, as fridays are my weigh days now! Just before the weekend!
    I am just hoping that Friday i will bring me some good news!!

    I've tried so many times to just not weigh myself--I got to 3 days one time and it drove me crazy! So I gave in and I'm back to weighing myself all the time, but I only check in and post it on Mondays. I try not to take it to heart when I weigh myself and it goes up and down--it's just that it's not going anywhere on Mondays when I actually do check in that's the problem. Stupid scales! What I really hate though is that my scale at home will show something like 176 one day and the scale at the gym says 181. Or my scale at home will say 179 and the gym says 181. I really need a new scale. The gym has one of the old school ones like the doctor offices...which I hate because it's never quite in the middle like it should be. Ugh.
  • wannabe
    wannabe Posts: 29
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    same thing has happened to me in the last month i have lost 2 lbs. i did cheat for 1 week cuz it was a crazy week but i felt like i should have lost 5 the way i was working out. so i got really upset and went on a "give up" binge peanut butter hot fudge sundea included.......dont do that. may be you;re not eating often enough. or maybe you're just being t hard on yourself, remember that if you keep going at it you are still building muscle, becoming healthy and making healthy habits, eventually you're body will start burning more fat when it gets into the metabolic burning routine. dont give up! im back on track now too
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Hi guys!

    thanks again for all your support, you guys are amazing!!
    I am determind to carry on, and have just packed my gym stuff ready for my early morning gym session tomorrow. I have also bought an iPod from eBay, and an arm strap for it..so i can listen to some rocking music while i work out. All high tempo of course,, to get me in the mood!!

    You know what..i just dont care that i havent lost much this week..yes, you read that right I DONT CARE!!!!!!! From reading so many posts on here, saying the same thing as me "i havent lost this week" etc...i have come to the conclusion that it TAKES TIME!!
    My body is probably in shock, and i should give it some time to re-adjust!

    So i am going to carry on doing what i'm doing, and hope that on friday (weight day), i will see some results!
  • claire30
    claire30 Posts: 153
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    Hi guys,
    i just wanted to thanks you all for your support! I was feeling REALY low when i started this thread..but carried on anyway, inthe hope it would eventually work. WELL, i shouldnt have weighed myself till friday (thats the day i chosen every week)..but i caved in, and weighed today..i have lost 1lb!!! And, evenn better than that, i have lost 1inch off my tummy!!
    I can definately see the difference, even if i have only lost 1lb...my stomach looks flatter already, and physically i feel great (apart from a pulled muscle today)!

    So thanks again for getting me past a tough couple of days!

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