Help please

EPoynter

Hello everyone!

I guess I need to admit first I am a lurker. I enjoy reading everyone's posts but I've never posted before. I had a baby in October, 2008 and gained way too much weight (80lbs!). I stopped working out for a while and then 2 weeks ago I restarted and have worked out 30 min a day on the elliptical, 6 days a week for the past 2 weeks. I've logged all my calories and I haven't exceeded them....and I've lost a grand total of NOTHING. Sigh. I just need to see SOMETHING on the scale... I should see something by now, right? (I mean, in the beginning is when I've always lost weight...and then it became more difficult as time goes on). Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm a tad discouraged….

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

(P.S. Picture is pre-baby)

JayAlexander

Don't get discouraged! It may take your body a little while to catch up with your efforts. I too have just started working out and lost a lot in the first two weeks but have tapered off for the last two weeks. Just make sure you are drinking lots and lots of water and keep at the working out. Sometimes I don't see anything on the scale but I feel it in my clothes and see it in my face. Look for the small things that can keep you motivated! Maybe pick a shirt of pair of pants that don't fit now and try them again in a week, I think you will be surprised even if the scale it's budging much! Good luck!

deckerp

A similar thing happened to me. I was very good about doing my exercises but I may not have watched my calories very well. Still, I figured I should have been dropping some pounds. You always hear the beginning of a diet is when the pounds come off easily. That's not how it worked for me or you I guess.

I was rehabilitating a knee after ACL surgery. So I just kept at the exercising and ramped it up over time. The elliptical is my choice too, because of my knee.

The weight has started to come off, just not as fast as I would like. But when I look back in my log and see I'm down 12 pounds and about 3 over the past 4 weeks it's encouraging.

Maybe our bodies take some time to change its metabolism and burn more calories. There are other benefits to the exercise too. You'll probably lose more inches than pounds. I put my weight on pretty evenly all over my body, so I don't see it coming off, but gradually there is a difference. I haven't had to get any new clothes yet, but I'm thinking about it.

So don't quit, we're with you.

najah

I completely understand your frustration. The weight will come off. With diligence comes a pay off; however diligence and patience go hand in hand so make peace with the way that your body is working and keep at it! I am going to tell you congratulations in advance for the weight loss goal that I know you can achieve!!

PinguimPraiero

Hi!

I was explained this problem with the example of a triangle: imagine a triangle made up of nutrition, exercise and detox. It may be you just need a week in a detox cleanse! Essentially, it allows your systems to rest so that your body can cleanse itself, and rejuvenate all the systems that work so hard for you each day.

Detox is essential to weight loss, I believe. This is because our cells accumulate toxins around them from substances like smoke, pollution, processed foods, even medicine and beauty care products! The toxins form a barrier around the cell which prevents the cell from working to its potential. Water is retained around our cells because the water clings to the toxins. The quickest result of a detox cleanse is the loss of water retention around the belly and thighs, mostly. The side effects are often bad breath and lethargy for this first day or two--this is because your body is expelling the toxins. Then, after day three or so, your energy level rises, your skin complexion improves and your breath is even fresher than before!

The end result is your body will work more efficiently so your workouts will burn more for the effort put in. If you're interested in a simple detox diet, just send me a message. I would be glad to share with you what I did!

lynnie30

This is exactly what happened to me 8 years ago when I had my son! first of all you are chasing around a 2 year old right? that IS exercise! So when you go to the gym, more cardio is just MORE cardio! I know some people may disagree, but that is how it seemed for me. Once I stopped picking at my son's left over lunch and switched up to some weight training things got a bit better. good luck and stay positive. find what works for you

lt_mrcook

Some poeple lose a lot in the begining, others don't. Especially with 30 min/day 6 days/week you might be working so hard that your body is retaining fluid to protect the muscles that you are hammering. This might be enough to offset what you most likely have lost. Just give it time. Though you may want to increase to 45 min or 1 hr and go 3-4 times per week, so your body can catch up on off days (you are "new" to this again, so allow yourself time to grow into 5-6 days of workouts). Just keep working and you'll see results. Remember you gave your body plenty of time to get really good at storing fat. Be nice and give it some time to get good at using that fat as energy. Don't fall into the trap of losing weight should happen NOW!

lilchino4af

When I started watching my calories and working out more to lose weight, my second and third week plateaued. I think it was because my body was getting used to the change, muscles were retaining water because I was working out more and just that time of the month so I was retaining more water. That and I had a few days were I took in too much sodium (that was before I started tracking sodium intake). HOWEVER, not only do I weigh myself once a week, I measure my waist and hips every 3 weeks. So at the end of 3 weeks I may have only lost 2.5 lbs, but I'd lost 2 inches on my waist!! :happy:

So you might not be seeing results immediately on the scale, but if you keep waist and hip measurements you'll definitely see some positive changes! Just keep in mind, you didn't gain it in a day, so you can't expect to lose it in a day! :flowerforyou:

emilyfh

this could be muscle weight, dont discorage. When I began my healthy eating program I did not loose big until my 3rd month. Keep up the awsome job your doing and the results will come, be patient its not good to loose weight fast anyway.:happy:

halfacerk

Some poeple lose a lot in the begining, others don't. Especially with 30 min/day 6 days/week you might be working so hard that your body is retaining fluid to protect the muscles that you are hammering. This might be enough to offset what you most likely have lost. Just give it time. Though you may want to increase to 45 min or 1 hr and go 3-4 times per week, so your body can catch up on off days (you are "new" to this again, so allow yourself time to grow into 5-6 days of workouts). Just keep working and you'll see results. Remember you gave your body plenty of time to get really good at storing fat. Be nice and give it some time to get good at using that fat as energy. Don't fall into the trap of losing weight should happen NOW!
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i agree.......i think your not giving your muscles enough time to heal... try the 45 min 3 times a week and i bet you will see a big difference.....are you eating your exercise calories your body may be going into starvation mode and shutting down

muth3rluvx2

omg.. this is exactly what my b/f said was happening to me and not having read it anywhere else until now, I started to get a little uncertain about this concept! I am sooo glad to hear it repeated! (water retention w/muscles & working out 5/6 days wk)

I've been at this just a few weeks so I have't really been expecting miracles or anything, but holy moly... I haven't expected to GAIN!!! In the last few days, I've put ON 2.5 lbs!!! This is insane. I haven't stayed under my calories really, but I have been working out almost every day - even if it's just for 5 or 10 minute intervals, my overall dietary choices have improved tremendously and I know my habits are healthier all the way around - so what the hell????? Right...

How long can it take for this whole retention thing to improve? I need SOME encouragement here.. NONE of my jeans fit now. I had at least a couple I could squeeze into last week!!!

msfisher

I had a similar experience the last time I lost weight using tracking software.

It was a few years ago.

I tracked everything and did not go over my calorie allotment and still did not lose any weight.

The software told me that my calories per day target was 2,000.

On a lark, I decided to lower my daily target to 1,500 calories per day.

I was not actually able to hit that target, it was too low for me, but I'd usually come in at about 1,700 for the day.

Within two days, I began losing weight.

My take away was that 2,000 calories per day was not right for me to lose weight, even though the software said that was my target and should have worked.

I just started here at MFP a few days ago. MFP also said that 2,000 per day is my number. Too early to tell, but I would not be surprised if I have to go to 1,700 per day to lose weight.

muth3rluvx2

Mine keeps wanting me to put it at 1,500. I know since I spend the majority of my time sitting (classes, homework, work work (computer) not to mention reading with the kids, helping them w/their schoolwork at the kitchen table, etc etc) that this is wayyy too high. I originally reset it to 900 - but figured out after a couple of days that this was too low. I've now reset it at 1,000. I've been over the last 2 days but that's because of the carbs I've had and didn't realize how high they were until after the fact. I'm learning as I go and once I figure otu what I can have when, I know meeting the 1,000 cals won't be too hard - plus when I'm in better shape, I'll be able to do more than 8 min's of cardio at a time (20 years of smoking doesn't help - just quit Dec 1, so heart & lungs are out of shape!). Yesterday, I got myself down to 1,035. Today's not so good - I didn't know a plain bagel - with NOTHIGN on it would still be so high. That was a rush grab out the door this morning.

So, I totally agree that one has to be sure that their numbers fit them otherwise you could end up stuck. But say somone does have the right numbers and they're working out .. staying within a semi reasonable range of their cals.... one wouldn't think there'd be a total stall or negative consequence. Anyone else experience early weight gain???? A few seemed to have experienced a slow start..

deckerp

A couple things.

I read someplace the elliptical has not been studied well enough to accurately assign calories to the workouts. I find that hard to believe but the workouts we do may not be burning as many calories as the machine says.

My wife and I joined a gym before we had our kids. I gained 5 pounds during the first several weeks. They said it was because I was putting on muscle weight. The muscle weighs more because it holds water better than fat. So I was in better shape and the muscle would burn more calories but I weighed more.

So you're not alone.

EPoynter

Thank you guys so much for all your help. I weighed in this past weekend and I lost a pound! Yay, at least it was something! I'm trying to track my inches more than the scale, and I'm resting more in-between work outs. I really appreciate all your advice. Keep up the great work guys!

kwardklinck

Be patient. I lost 2 1/2 pounds the first month (but I did get considerably smaller from exercising) and 9 pounds the second month. You might try giving yourself a day or 2 break from the exercise and see if it makes a difference. When you first start exercising, your muscles hold water.