frustration to the point of tears.. help!

you may have built some muscle??? I go by several things... a scale... my jeans...and a TAPE MEASURE!!!! Best wishes, its all scientific and sometimes our body does crazy things!!! You may be holding some water as well depending on you TOM! Just a thought! Ive been where you are and Im sure since I have more weight to lose, Im sure ill go through it again!!

I know it's a popular concept on MFP, but it's really impossible to gain fat by eating too little. You can, though, gain weight from sources other than fat no matter what you eat. And this could be your problem. Perhaps you are bloated from hormones or due to eating something your body isn't tolerating. Have you added anything new to your diet? Are you eating too much added sugar or sodium?

Exercising and eating reduced calories does work for fat loss. You might just need to give it time. When you up the intensity of your workouts you could initially gain weight from your muscles holding water. Don’t give up! Just keep at your plan and give it a little more time. If you still aren’t losing you might want to see a doctor just to rule out a hormone imbalance and/or see a nutritionist for diet advice re: food intolerance.

Cricket, there are so many factors, many of which have already been eluded to that could cause a slight weight gain. Overall, toogsmom hit the nail on the head. Look at your measurements rather than your weight. Chances are you are building muscle due to the high intensity of your Tae Bo activity.

I do not know enough of your BMi or anything else to make an assessment as to whether your caloric intake is too low or not, but your friend is also right in that if it is too low it could cause weight gain.

Out of curiousity, how long have you been on the Tae Bo regimen? Have you ever switched activities? Supplemented with something lower intesity and longer duration? Our bodies learn to adapt to training loads relatively quickly. If you find that your measurements have not changed or increased, that your sodium intake is spot on and your caloric intake within means to support healthy loss then it is possible that you body has learned to be efficient with your current choice of training and that you need to switch it up with another approach. I switch my cycle up every 12-16 weeks not just to keep my body guessing, but also for the mental break.

Same here. You may be gaining muscle mass. Never go just on weight. Take measurements. I am stalled at my current weight but I am still losing inches and showing tighter muscle mass so I am happy. The weight will continue to come off. Based on my past measurements, I will stall at a weight but lose inches during that stall, then I guess my body equalizes and I start losing weight again. But I also do cardio circuits and change up my program when I stall. Keep the body guessing.

Step off of the scale for a month. Write down your measurements, check them again in a month.

Also, as many others on here have suggested - how much sodium are you getting in? I find when I eat carbs or sodium, I gain.

Over the last month, I gained 8 pounds - I looked at my food diary, and saw a lot of sodium. I but it, drank more water, and looked at the tape measure. I found I had lost about 6 inches, and a pants size, so I am honestly, not that worried about the weight - I figure its muscle, since starting Insanity.

If you have upped your calories, it will take your body a month or so to adjust, so stay off the scale... it will help you head!!

Good luck!!

It can be a delicate balance, that's for sure. My strategy is don't check the scales too often (once per month) and focus on the calories (1350 before exercise) that MFP suggested for losing 1 pound per week. Your weight can go up for so many reasons, but if you're doing the right things, that fat is going to come off. Just keep focus, don't go jumping around between this recommendation and that recommendation. Be as accurate as you can in measuring your food portions.

I suspect you're building muscle.

I know what you mean about eating more to lose weight. It feels strange to force myself sometimes to find extra calories to eat that are healthier choices. I'm sure when I eat whatever I want ( like fast food) I can scarf down 2500 - 3500 calories in a day. I suggest eating those extra calories and you may want to add some weights to your mix. I am just getting out of a plateau myself and I increase my calories and started lifting. Now I'm eating around 1500 calories a day. Some days it may be more and some days it may be less. You just have to be patient and figure out what works for you. Good luck!

you may gain some muscle while fat is not starting be gone yet. I feel like eat good amount (depend on different people) and give yourself longer to see some results. Me used 4 months to finally see some number dropping and very small number.
Keep working on it, you will see

I did a lot of reading and researched the TDEE / BMR numbers, etc. as I had been eating the recommended 1200 cals for months. I did really well at first and lost 7 lbs pretty quickly. then nada.... I couldn't figure out why since I was only eating between 800 - 1200 cals per day net. Doesn't a large deficit equal large weight loss? Not for me...

After spending a lot of time on different websites, and doing different calculators, here is what has worked for me:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

I didn't want to base my numbers on exercise that I MIGHT do, even though I'm consistent, so I factored in my TDEE at the Sedentary rate - 15% (I don't have much to lose).

I am 5'5" and currently 136 lbs. My BF is 22.7 % and am 40 years old. I went to the Scooby Workshop website to calculate my calorie needs for the day and use those numbers. If you know your bodyfat % then a more accurate calculation is using the Katch-McArdle formula according to them. These stats give me:

BMR - 1405
TDEE - 1686 (at Sedentary)
Calorie Requirements to lose 0.5 lb per week - 1433 (this is at a 15% deficit)

Sooooo, what I did after that is reset my MFP daily goals at 1450 cals per day NET! I eat back ALL of my exercise calories.

The second thing I did was purchase a HRM to accurately guage what I was burning during my workouts. You would be surprised at the discrepancies between estimates! I do an intense bootcamp class 3 x per week and run on my off days. Either a few miles or sprint intervals, depending on how I feel that day. Depending on what we are doing in bootcamp, my burn could be anywhere from 240 cals to 350 cals....WAY under what I thought!!! If I was to eat back what I GUESSED I was burning, then I would be eliminating any deficit I had for the day. Keep in mind that the muscle you're building will burn more calories at rest, and you get a great 'afterburn' from weights that will last for hours after, so even though you're not burning as large of an amount during your workout, the after effects far outweigh doing just straight cardio!!! Heavy lifting is the best thing you can do for your body!! I used to do both on the same day, but have stopped doing that. A little bit of something 6-7 days per week is better than a huge amount of exercise 3-4 days per week. (for me anyway).

The last thing I do is stop stressing and trust the process. I eat whatever I want and try to make sure that it fits into my calories for the WEEK. I've been eating Halloween chocolate like it's going out of style (yesterday that's all I had for lunch), and I was down a half lb this morning. I was way over my calories on Sunday, and was under Monday and yesterday. The little weekly graph on MFP shows me at an average of 1453 cals per day for the week so far.

I weigh myself every morning, but only log the progress if it's less than the last entry. sometimes there will be 2 weeks of no change, but then all of a sudden there's a 1 lb loss showing on my graph. If I take the total loss and divide it by the amount of weeks, then I AVERAGE a 0.5 lb loss per week. This way I can see the trend with water retention, etc. I don't stress if it's up.

This method has been easily sustainable for me....slow and steady with zero deprivation!!

Hope this helps, and good luck to you!!

An absolutely fabulous reply to the original post - great advice.

I suspect you're building muscle.

Lol, my thoughts exactly.

I am in some serious need of help. I've, somehow, gained 5 pounds in the last month or 6 weeks. As far as exercise is concerned I was only doing about 20 minutes of tae bo a day. I saw the scale was starting to go up, so I went out and bought a new tae bo DVD and I now do 40 minutes a day! Since I started doing the 40 minutes I've gained another 3-4 pounds!! I am in tears and so frustrated! I was eating between 1100-1300 calories during the week.... some more on the weekends. A friend of mine said I was not eating enough, so now this week (Mon and Tues) I've been eating between 1600-1700. I am too afraid to step on the scale, but I definitely do not feel like it's working. To be very honest, I was comfortable at that 1100-1300 calories a day and moving up has been annoying, probably because I'm really doubting it will work.

What ever happened to the age old truth that if you exercise your tail off and eat less you'll lose weight?

Help!

I used to think this! I spent 15 years being frustrated. You would think I would have given up but I'm quite stubborn. A lot of people told me to give up. I ran marathon after marathon and even ultra marathon, lifted weights, martial arts, hiking, cycling, boot camps, you name it, and even still gained weight and it didn't seem like I ate too much. I never binged or pigged out or had emotional eating issues, I am just small with a low RMR and didn't realize it. You can not out exercise too many calories. Losing fat is all about calories.

Your BMR could be lower than you think. You could go to a lab and have this tested. It's the only way to know for sure.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

All I can do is share what worked for me. I achieved my goal at age 50 after beating my head against the wall for 15 years. Yeah anyone can do it, but I can tell you that you are up against a lot when you are older and I believe females have some unique issue to face with hormones and such. The sooner you can get a handle on it the better. DO NOT GIVE UP. As I got older and the weight piled on (and I didn't feel I was eating too much!) everyone kept telling me to give up, this is what happens when you get older. I'm small, and I didn't realize how small I was until I lost the weight. Everyone said I had big bones. I looked hefty because I worked out. Once I lost the weight I realized how small I really was and that small people don't need to eat as much as big people. HINT: If you are short you are probably small.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.


Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

It really is about calories. I tell people this all the time and they say "Well if calories are all that matter why do you eat so clean???!!" Well, because it makes me feel better, sleep better, and perform better at my sports.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am.

Start lifting now, lift heavy and change it up often, find a lot of weight routines with free weights, make it fun, embrace it, make it part of your life. Only 3 days a week is all it would take. Crank up your tunes and learn to love it, because your body will love it and it will make your quality of life better in many ways, especially when you get older like me.

Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

If you are female you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

My muscles really are not that big, but they show a lot of definition because I'm quite lean. If I gained some fat then I would have a softer more toned look (which is OKAY too!). Then if I gained more fat I would look bulky and hefty like I did most of my life until last year. YOU CAN HAVE WHATEVER YOU WANT. Lean and ripped, soft and toned, or hefty, it all depends on how much fat you leave on your body. Calories are the only thing that changes fat. Exercise is for changing or maintaining your lean body mass only. Lifting weights will give you the best bang for your buck for shaping your body. I finally changed my shape by putting lifting first and cardio 2nd. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

This thread is making me want to seriously bang my head into a wall.

YOU

CANNOT

BUILD

MUSCLE

ON A

CALORIE

DEFICIT

You can't build something out of nothing.

Tae bo is pretty much straight cardio. Try adding strength training to your routine.