What is my body trying to tell me?!

Quiing

I'm not understanding.

Last year I dropped 42 pounds in 6 months eating mostly junk (Popeye's, Waffle House, KFC, Taco Bell, etc.) way over my calorie goal and not exercising (other than walking to work). Though this was a nice loss, I wanted to treat my body better and eat better, cleaner foods.

January 1st I started cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner of basically veggies, fish, shrimp, eggs, some bacon and sausage and oatmeal, and I started a weight training regimen. I gained 10 pounds the first 10 days...

Now, since last friday I've been eating McDonalds, Popeyes, Olive Garden etc, and I've stopped lifting... this morning I'm back at my weight before January 1st!

The 10 pounds disappeared when I ate junk again... why?! Why is doing wrong being good to me?! I feel so guilty...

martinh78

It might be trying to tell you to stop mucking around and give it more than 15 days to adapt?

Stick with the healthier eating plan and regular exercise and providing you are in a calorie deficiti you will loose weight.

supplemama

I would say it's just newbie gains from lifting. It does seem really odd though considering all that fast food is high in sodium.

Bronx_Montgomery

Stop reading the damn Scale!! I hate the scale. The scale is an Effing Liar. Do not feed your body junk.....its not good for you even if you lost the weight. I can't explain how you lost 46 lbs on crap and no exercise besides walking (unless you never walked that much before and it some how balance the junk out). Remember if you but good things in you body, good things will come out. Who cares if you went up 10lbs. That muscle growth. Start working on writing down inches lost (or gain due to muscle) instead of the scale. I can't tell you the last time I weighed myself because I look for more physical changes.

Throw the scale away

GuybrushThreepw00d

Stop reading the damn Scale!! I hate the scale. The scale is an Effing Liar. Do not feed your body junk.....its not good for you even if you lost the weight. I can't explain how you lost 46 lbs on crap and no exercise besides walking (unless you never walked that much before and it some how balance the junk out). Remember if you but good things in you body, good things will come out. Who cares if you went up 10lbs. That muscle growth. Start working on writing down inches lost (or gain due to muscle) instead of the scale. I can't tell you the last time I weighed myself because I look for more physical changes.

Throw the scale away

Agree with this.... apart from the 10lb. It wasn't muscle.

Eat healthily. Log it all properly. Stick with it for a month. Report back.

lucasriggs

Stop reading the damn Scale!! I hate the scale. The scale is an Effing Liar. Do not feed your body junk.....its not good for you even if you lost the weight. I can't explain how you lost 46 lbs on crap and no exercise besides walking (unless you never walked that much before and it some how balance the junk out). Remember if you but good things in you body, good things will come out. Who cares if you went up 10lbs. That muscle growth. Start working on writing down inches lost (or gain due to muscle) instead of the scale. I can't tell you the last time I weighed myself because I look for more physical changes.

Throw the scale away

The scale is only a liar if broken. The scale tell you your relationship between your mass and the gravity of the earth nothing more, nothing less. If your want to lose fat or gain muscle it is a useful ally in this mission and I would definitely not recommend throwing it away.

Only calories matter and if your eating the appropriate amount of calories you should be losing weight. Give it more than two weeks..maybe a month to allow for water fluctuations and possibly newbie gains from lifting and you should find some weight loss.

hoosierlad

I'm sure others have said it...muscle weighs more than fat...looks like you built some muscle, then let it turn back to fat. Funny think about fat is that you don't see it right away...kinda runs throughout your body parts then settles in middle. Although I have lifted weights all my life, if I take a break of a month or more, I always add 5-6 pounds when I start back. Keep with the better eating and certainly the lifting / exercise as it will pay off later in life as to what you can and can't do...cheers :-)/

Cathy7794

I'm sure others have said it...muscle weighs more than fat...looks like you built some muscle, then let it turn back to fat. Funny think about fat is that you don't see it right away...kinda runs throughout your body parts then settles in middle. Although I have lifted weights all my life, if I take a break of a month or more, I always add 5-6 pounds when I start back. Keep with the better eating and certainly the lifting / exercise as it will pay off later in life as to what you can and can't do...cheers :-)/

So, you're saying that she gained 10 pounds of muscle in 10 days and since last Friday it's turned back to fat?? :huh:

leilaphoenix

I reckon there is something else going on here. Have you been accurately tracking your quantities?

hoosierlad

Probably not all the difference, but could be half of it...depending too on what type of lifting she did, and the fact that she did very little in terms of exercise before the change. I easily gain 5-6 within the first 2 weeks after a layoff. Other factors could be sodium related to diet change (someone else mentioned), If nothing else, I think it is normal for people to see weight gain after starting a lifting program, and possibly see body changes before they see significant weight loss changes. Thoughts?

fionadasein

To really figure this out -- compare your net calories when you eat these two different ways.

I suspect that when you eat 'cleaner', you overeat to help compensate for feeling deprived of the yummy junkier foods - higher net calories.

When you eat junk food, you might actually be netting fewer calories because you've trained yourself to experience them as more satisfying.

Also, eating clean and weight lifting will make you gain some muscle mass. This will especially show up on the scale because muscle weighs much more than fat.

When you eat high cal fatty foods, and don't workout much, the numbers on the scale will go lower because your body is converting muscle to lighter weight fat.

When you eat clean and workout, the numbers on the scale go up because you're converting lighter fat to heavier muscle. But this is healthier because your metabolism gets higher, you will live longer, and if you don't give up, you will start dropping pounds as well as converting fat to muscle -- the numbers will eventually go lower!

You need to retrain yourself to start enjoying eating clean and this will take time. Don't forget to still treat yourself, but you can do this by eating healthy foods and then indulging in a more balanced way. You can do it. It takes time to make new habits and feel really good about them. Don't give up!

HyacintheAlcuin

Stop reading the damn Scale!! I hate the scale. The scale is an Effing Liar. Do not feed your body junk.....its not good for you even if you lost the weight. I can't explain how you lost 46 lbs on crap and no exercise besides walking (unless you never walked that much before and it some how balance the junk out). Remember if you but good things in you body, good things will come out. Who cares if you went up 10lbs. That muscle growth. Start working on writing down inches lost (or gain due to muscle) instead of the scale. I can't tell you the last time I weighed myself because I look for more physical changes.

Throw the scale away

^^^^ This

PINKinquisition1908

Hello Lady,

I hope you are getting some good insight from this thread. I want to start by saying I took a peek at your diary, and may have some insight. What I'm writing is out of respect and in response to your question. Many people on this site can be rude and mean, when critiquing other's diaries. That is the last things I would ever want to do. So please know what I am writing is in the spirit of compassion and love.

I looked back at your diary, dating from January 1, 2013. I have no doubt you have made great strides to change your diet. However, I see a few things that may be causing your body to surprise you.

1. I notice that some days you start out well (cooking and making things fresh) and then end up eating fast food around lunch or dinner. This can derail your progress.

2. You are eating a lot of processed foods containing large amounts of sodium, sugar and saturated fats. Particularly the sauces and butter spreads.

3. Your diet in the morning looks a lot like Atkins, but then later in the day switches to a very carb heavy diet. This could be confusing your body--especially if you have insulin sensitivity issues.

4. You have not been consistently creating a calorie deficit--based on your goals--since the 1st of the year. Even one day of binging can derail your progess; especially if you go over nearly 1,000 calories.


I'm no doctor, nor an expert. Just someone who has made similar mistakes and had to wonder what my body was doing as well. I hope this helps. And again, I in no way shared this information to make you feel badly. I just hope my experience helps you.

:flowerforyou: