DISCOURAGED!!!

:cry: So I've been at this thing ACTIVELY since August 20th, which is 2 1/2 weeks, at 1200 calories a day, 96oz of water a day, a hardcore bootcamp 2 days a week and a total of a 5 mile walk on two other days AND I HAVEN'T LOST A THING!!!!! :sad:
Well let me correct myself, on Sunday after one of my walks, I weighed in 3lbs lighter, but now its all back!! :noway:
And if nothing else, my feelings are just downright hurt, because this is my first time ever, truly putting forth effort to lose weight, and I can't even get any results!! What the heck?!?!?! On the Biggest Loser, they lose high numbers the first week! Yeah, yeah, I know they are working out ALL DAY, EVERY DAY...but STILL!!! (sigh)
Can someone tell me if this is normal or am I just doing something just all the way wrong?? Pleeeease!! I'm desperate over here...because I WANT TO LOSE THE WEIGHT!!!

Replies

  • I would suggest you keep at it. Two and a half weeks of you going strong speaks volumes of where you are going. Do not stop and if anything check your macros and be certain to take body measurements along the way. Do not let the scale be your friend or enemy. You will see the results, just do not stop, good luck:flowerforyou:
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    Its normal - I actually put on weight for the first few weeks, even though I was eating less and was active more. Then I lost weight steadily for a few months, but I changed my activity again being active longer but more strength than movement and I stopped losing for several weeks. Even though I'm not losing as fast as I hoped, bottom line is that I'm now the lowest I've been in over 30 years.
  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
    In my opinion its defenetly because you dont eat enough calories dear.
    I lose weight every week just by eating between 1200-1400 calories a day and no exersise. Just an occasional walk for 30 mins once or twice a week.

    Eat more calories so your body doesnt feel deprived :flowerforyou:

    All the best, dont give up. Im sure you will see the pounds dropping if you up your calorie intake and you should be losing more weight than me because of all the exercise you do. :flowerforyou:
  • ldholcombe
    ldholcombe Posts: 97 Member
    Maybe you actually need to up your calories. I know it sounds funny but it works for alot of people.
  • Dont be discouraged.... With the excersize you are doing, its more than likely you are gaining muscle mass which weighs heavier than fat. :smile: Its better to be fit and healthy than skinny and weak :heart:
  • Wow! You are very intense about it!.
    One thing, have you taken your measurements?
    It may be that with your intense exercise, you are hardening up the muscle and losing the fat, but the weight stays the same.
    The way you are doing it, you need to have a measurement baseline and the weight, so if one dosen't move you can still see that you are making progress.
    Another thing, you are using too low a calorie count, the program tells you that at 1200 calories you may kick your body's metabolism into starvation mode and it will not, I repeat will not let go of any weight to protect itself.
    Kick it to 1400 and keep on the way you are, with the measurements and see how it works in another 2 weeks.
    Good Luck!:flowerforyou:
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,281 Member
    I agree....if you are working out a lot and only eating 1200 calories, its not enough. I am on 1200 calories and I eat more on days I work out. Give it a try and dont be discouraged. It WILL happen. :)
  • kellison89
    kellison89 Posts: 33 Member
    ^^Truth

    Keep it up! Feel rewarded when you notice the workouts feeling a little easier, when you wake up a little sore. It's really soon to be seeing results, but they will come!
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
    Please make your food diary public so we can advise.

    Don't give up
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    :cry: So I've been at this thing ACTIVELY since August 20th, which is 2 1/2 weeks, at 1200 calories a day, 96oz of water a day, a hardcore bootcamp 2 days a week and a total of a 5 mile walk on two other days AND I HAVEN'T LOST A THING!!!!! :sad:
    Well let me correct myself, on Sunday after one of my walks, I weighed in 3lbs lighter, but now its all back!! :noway:
    And if nothing else, my feelings are just downright hurt, because this is my first time ever, truly putting forth effort to lose weight, and I can't even get any results!! What the heck?!?!?! On the Biggest Loser, they lose high numbers the first week! Yeah, yeah, I know they are working out ALL DAY, EVERY DAY...but STILL!!! (sigh)
    Can someone tell me if this is normal or am I just doing something just all the way wrong?? Pleeeease!! I'm desperate over here...because I WANT TO LOSE THE WEIGHT!!!

    don't let it discourage you too much. It took me 3 MONTHS to lose 7lbs. I lost and gained and lost and gained :( I tweaked my macros, cut my carbs in half, and lost some for a while...but in the last 2 months, I still have had issues with yo-yo weight loss.

    It might be that 1200 calories is not enough for you with all the exercise you are doing.

    give it a month, and if you are not seeing any results, go see your doctor. Thyroid or blood sugar/insulin issues can make losing weight near impossible! I'm actually expecting my blood work results from my doctor next week...
  • schicksa
    schicksa Posts: 123 Member
    What are you starting with? If you're not starting at a really high weight level, you probably won't lose a lot (if you're within a healthy range .5lbs a week is normal). Also, with working out that hard, make sure you are eating enough calories. 1200 is already putting you at a deficit; you also have to eat the calories you work off by exercising. And don't forget to measure as well as weigh! If you're gaining muscle, you may be changing shape rather than just straight losing.

    I also recommend (if you're comfortable) putting your food diary on public so we can check it. May be able to make some adjustments there that will help you.
  • dshgna
    dshgna Posts: 54 Member
    I started on August 14th so we are nearly equal. And I haven't weighted myself in, because prior experience has taught me it is dis-motivating. I plan to weight myself in on September 14th, giving one month to settle in. BUT I do feel totally fit. My arms and tummy are toned and my love handles are fast disappearing. And in short, I feel good.

    A thing I've learnt from prior experience is that it takes time for your weight loss to show. I don't know if it is something specific for me, but say I am dieting and exercising regularly for two weeks, the weight loss may not show at the end of two weeks but there will be a dramatic loss at the end of three weeks, even if I don't maintain such a strict schedule! (This is just an illustration, and the timing may change.)

    So keep going. I'm there to support you:). Lets lose it together.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    Its' very likely water weight that's counteracting any fat you may have lost. When you start exercising, your muscles will retain water as part of the natural healing process. As your body acclimates to the new activity level, this won't happen as much but keep it in mind for any time you increase the intensity (like increasing weights, running instead of walking, increased resistance on cardio machines) of your exercise. Side note: this is something you should do every few months to keep your exercise efficient as your body won't respond as well to doing the same thing day in and day out.

    The other culprit with water weight is sodium. If it's not already on your food tracker, I'd suggest adding it. A day or two going over will totally wreck a weigh in.

    Keep at it and I'm sure you'll see a loss in another week or two!

    P.S. I also agree with the others who are saying you may not be eating as much. According to the ticker on your profile, you're looking to lose 51 pounds which means your goal should be 1.5 pounds per week to be healthy and reasonable. This change may automatically up your calories. Either way, make sure you never net below 1200 or you'll be undernourished. Best of luck!
  • BlackKat75
    BlackKat75 Posts: 210 Member
    Try not to be discouraged. Just keep on keeping on. If you're like me, you didn't put on the weight in only a few weeks, so it'll take some time for it to come off. I've been working at this weight-loss thing since February, and I've lost 23 pounds in that time. That's a little less than a pound a week. I'd love it to be quicker, but I've lost 20 pounds in two months before. You know what happened? I put it back on. Now I'm seven months in to my weight-loss journey and I'm still down. I've lost inches and gained strength (both physically and emotionally).

    I weigh myself every day because I like to keep myself accountable. However, I have to recognize that this comes with the risk of seeing temporary fluctuations *up* as well as down. In the past 8 days, my weight has fluctuated over 3 pounds. However, I *know* that I'm eating at a calorie deficit and I'm exercising every day. My hard work will show up, it just takes time to see it. (Also - recognize that women's weight can fluctuate wildly depending on where they are in their cycle....)

    Good luck!
  • dshgna
    dshgna Posts: 54 Member

    One thing, have you taken your measurements?
    It may be that with your intense exercise, you are hardening up the muscle and losing the fat, but the weight stays the same.
    The way you are doing it, you need to have a measurement baseline and the weight, so if one dosen't move you can still see that you are making progress.
    Another thing, you are using too low a calorie count, the program tells you that at 1200 calories you may kick your body's metabolism into starvation mode and it will not, I repeat will not let go of any weight to protect itself.

    Totally agree with these points:)! Measure yourself:)!
  • Boot camp and 5 mile walks... Sounds to me like you are putting on muscle, but not fat weight per se. I found that walking anything much over 2-3 miles a day would keep me at the same weight for weeks, and while I thought i wasn't doing enough, I was overdoing it. and building muscle, but at the same time, I was getting the protein I needed to not metabolize muscle, so I really was burning fat off.

    Try cutting back to 2 mile walks.

    Losing weight is 80% diet, 20% exercise...

    That's what has worked for me. It may be different with others, but it varies like that.
  • Congratulations for starting your dieting and exercises and, more importantly, sticking with it. 2 1/2 weeks is a good start. Who told you to eat only 1200 calories per day? If your calorie intake is too low your body does go into starvation mode, which means most of the food you eat your body will store as fat for future energy. You say you walk a total of 5 miles p/week but how do you walk? Is it a slow pace or a fast pace. You need to get your heart rate up to help you lose the weight. Are you tracking everything you eat? So you KNOW that you're eating 1200 calories a day (though it should be more). You would be surprised how many calories you gain by eating snacks here and there. Stick with it! Keep posting your results and we'll se how you're doing in 2 months.

    DON'T QUIT! YOU CAN DO IT! IT WILL HAPPEN!!!
  • okidoki7
    okidoki7 Posts: 151 Member
    hiya....from personal experience i have found that as soon as i ramp up the exercise, my weight loss stops dead in its tracks...i have found it demotivating too, to the point of giving up, gaining back the little weight i had lost and found myself back to square one....DO NOT do this lol......carry on doing what you're doing, maybe increasing your calories as per other replies and take your measurements...even if the scales dont budge the inches will....keep at it and good luck :)
  • 12774
    12774 Posts: 1,416 Member
    Hello my friend ,do not get discouraged . Ithink that you are exercising too vigorously and for tooo long a period and you are not taking in sufficient calories to compensate for those that you have burned with exercise.Try decreasing the amt of burn for next week, Replace your burned calories with food and see what happens next week . Good luck
  • stubbseyt
    stubbseyt Posts: 84 Member
    well dont be discouraged just be more determined! its hard to say why you are not losing because without looking at your food diary its impossible to see what might be going wrong.

    when i did weight watchers our leader once said that eating less calories than what you use has to result in wieght loss, the starving of this world prove it. (not very PC of her i know). so i think you need to look at what your eating and reassess what is going on. or, try a different type of diet. i never did well on the low fat high carb diets (i lost well on weight watchers for a while) but i lose far more and feel so much better doing Atkins.

    the only other alternative is to move more (another favorite of my ww leader) getting some excercise which will boost your metabolism, 40 mins of good cardio excercise will keep you burning higher calories for hours, plus muscle makes you burn more fat too so its a win win... not that great tho if you hate excercise.
  • jypsyjulia
    jypsyjulia Posts: 33 Member
    Okay, it REALLY depends on your body type! Last summer, I did the P90X for a bit and the first two weeks I didn't lose ANYTHING. After I began to lose about 3 lbs per week, but only for a bit and then it dwindled to a 1lb. I was only losing 1 lb per week, eating 1500 calories a day, exercising at least an hour 6x a week, but my body composition changed COMPLETELY. So please don't be discouraged! You will get the body you want.