Grrrr.

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pantsyfance
pantsyfance Posts: 5
in Motivation and Support
Okay, I know.... I should give it some time and not expect immediate results. I am no less motivated but perhaps maybe a tiny bit frustrated that the scale does not reflect any of my hard work.

As of a week ago I measured 256 lbs, and 5'6", and I was getting absolutely no exercise and eating tons of junk. For seven days I have cut my caloric intake to 1200, eating balanced, healthy meals. I have worked out every day for at least an hour, and most days it's about 90 minutes... yesterday it was 120 minutes. One week later I weigh myself and my weight has increased by a pound. Again, I am not losing my motivation, but it's a little kick in the gut to see I've not even made the slightest bit of improvement... especially considering how much weight I have to lose and the drastic changes I have made.

How long was it before you saw a change? Am I crazy for feeling this way?

Replies

  • hellokitty41489
    hellokitty41489 Posts: 93
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    I can't view your diary so I don't know what you're eating but here are some of my thoughts:

    EAT MORE! 1200 isn't very much especially if you're exercising that much; what will happen is your body will freak out and think you're starving so it holds onto the weight (sounds crazy but true happened to me). I eat about 1500 calories a day (netting from 1300-1500) and was losing about a pound a week until a couple weeks ago but that was my own fault; I started eating too much crap.

    Again I can't see your diary but watch the sodium and processed foods. Honestly that's what's gotten me the last couple of weeks; processed foods really aren't very good for you. I'm not saying you have to eat 100% "clean" all the time but if you get in your fruits and veggies I bet you'll see a big difference.

    As for how long it took me to actually see a change? Probably the 20lb mark. Other people started noticing around then or maybe the 30 lbs mark.

    Good luck and hang in there!
  • ricky_j_b
    ricky_j_b Posts: 64 Member
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    what are you eating????
  • Alexstrasza
    Alexstrasza Posts: 619 Member
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    You may need to increase your calories a bit.

    Make sure you eat back your excercise calories since you are eating so low.

    Drink a LOT of water, you'll be amazed the difference it can make in your weight.

    Be patient.
  • LottieLou13
    LottieLou13 Posts: 574 Member
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    I can't view your diary so I don't know what you're eating but here are some of my thoughts:

    EAT MORE! 1200 isn't very much especially if you're exercising that much; what will happen is your body will freak out and think you're starving so it holds onto the weight (sounds crazy but true happened to me). I eat about 1500 calories a day (netting from 1300-1500) and was losing about a pound a week until a couple weeks ago but that was my own fault; I started eating too much crap.

    Again I can't see your diary but watch the sodium and processed foods. Honestly that's what's gotten me the last couple of weeks; processed foods really aren't very good for you. I'm not saying you have to eat 100% "clean" all the time but if you get in your fruits and veggies I bet you'll see a big difference.

    As for how long it took me to actually see a change? Probably the 20lb mark. Other people started noticing around then or maybe the 30 lbs mark.

    Good luck and hang in there!

    ^ This - and its more than likely water weight from your muscles retaining water from the exercise
  • FireBrand80
    FireBrand80 Posts: 378 Member
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    It takes longer than 7 days, give it a few weeks.
  • pantsyfance
    pantsyfance Posts: 5
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    Last week it was mainly boiled turkey and chicken breasts, non-fat cottage cheese, cantaloupe, apples, carrots, zucchini. I guess I should say that I FEEL better, but I just haven't seen it on the scale.
  • pantsyfance
    pantsyfance Posts: 5
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    You may need to increase your calories a bit.

    Make sure you eat back your excercise calories since you are eating so low.

    Drink a LOT of water, you'll be amazed the difference it can make in your weight.

    Be patient.

    This is where I get confused.... so, I cut my calories to 1200 and this represents the 'sittin' around the house and doing nothing' energy I would burn...

    so if I workout in addition to this, say 800 calories, I should consume an additional 800 calories to support that workout?

    I am so confused. I was told I need to create a certain deficit through both working out and cutting calories.
  • pantsyfance
    pantsyfance Posts: 5
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    It takes longer than 7 days, give it a few weeks.
    Well, yes, but MANY people see something within the first week, especially when they're really overweight. That's why I was hoping to see something.
  • hellokitty41489
    hellokitty41489 Posts: 93
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    This is where I get confused.... so, I cut my calories to 1200 and this represents the 'sittin' around the house and doing nothing' energy I would burn...

    so if I workout in addition to this, say 800 calories, I should consume an additional 800 calories to support that workout?

    I am so confused. I was told I need to create a certain deficit through both working out and cutting calories.

    Yes; you want to NET at least 1200 calories a day. Anything lower than that unless you are told to do so by a medical professional is dangerous. For a while I was netting like 800 +/- a day and my hair started falling out. No joke. The best way I ever saw it explained was like this: your body is like a car and food is like gasoline. You worked out or "drove" 100 miles. What does that do to your gas tank? Empties it. You have to put more in to be able to keep moving so while it does seem counter intuitive you should eat back your exercise calories or at least a portion of them. MFP already worked the deficit for you into the equation :)
  • Kairunz
    Kairunz Posts: 51
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    This is going to sound wierd, but dont exercise so much. Try and do interval training with a 2:1 ratio to start with like 20 seconds jog then 40 seconds of walking and you want to use the talk test pace, as in you can hold a conversation without huffing and puffing. Do this for like 30 minutes 3 times a week as you increase in fitness you can increase your jogging/running time but stick to the 2:1 ratio just increase the intensity of you running time. Do some strength training 3 times a week. Have one day a week where it is just rest. Drink lots of water and don't have less then a 500 calorie deficit. Muscle holds water when it has been worked to repair itself which can mask any weight loss you might have achieved.

    Disclaimer: Not an expert. I have done quite alot of reading on the topic and have just started my journey about 6 weeks ago and am seeing good steady results.
  • bodiva88
    bodiva88 Posts: 308 Member
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    I used the MFP method. I set the height, weight, and to lose a pound a week. I've eaten mostly within that EATING BACK MY EXERCISE CALORIES (I swim 2 half hours and 1 hour and bike 2 half hours a week but I worked up to that...the first few weeks I was just swimming a couple of days a week...I added as I felt ready) and you can see from my tape icon that in 10 weeks I've lost 2.6 lbs a week. No starving. No 1200 calories minus exercise. I could have netted 1880 a day and still lost weight, but I find that eating mindfully I really just don't eat that much...more like netting an average of 1600 a day.

    Trust the system. If starving yourself worked, diets would work. They don't. This is a way to figure out how to eat forever without feeling like you're missing something.
  • pudgeylou
    pudgeylou Posts: 202 Member
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    I am extremely over weight and while I did see a small reduction in my first week, it has been three weeks of nothing since. I understand your frustration and the first thing everyone told me is to up my caloric intake. I was also at 1200, so I have now upped mine to 1450. It isn't a lot but I didn't feel I needed more. Because of my workouts I seem to be building a little muscle which may account for the lack of weight lost. I did take my measurements and lost a total of 6 inches even though I didn't see the scale move. 1 week may be too early to tell but make sure to take measurements too, don't rely solely on the scale because it doesn't tell the whole story.
  • jak1958
    jak1958 Posts: 82 Member
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    Hang in there! It took three looooong weeks for me to see any change on the scale. However - I lost 3 pounds the fourth week. It's frustrating but your body will catch up !

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