eating right, exercising...and little to no weight loss?

improvninja
improvninja Posts: 19 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started insanity this week. I have been continually eating right, drinking water...etc.. Not gonna lie, I am a bigger guy...and this week I lost .2 lbs. Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this phenomenon? And/or is there a way to check ones metabolism or verify a possible overactive thyroid?

need some help and encouragement. Encouragement through the discouragement.

Insanity should be working right? I am sore as hell.
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Replies

  • nikiwoofter
    nikiwoofter Posts: 8
    doctor can do blood test to check thyroid. i think it is too soon to say your not loosing w/ insanity. keep it up. sadly loosing is a slow and steady process where as gaining is quick. but the good news is that slow and steady usually means u keep it off longer.
  • Dakryn
    Dakryn Posts: 155 Member
    It could also mean that your muscles and increased....muscle weighs more than fat and it could be that you didn't weigh yourself the same as last time...just because you didn't lose any weight doesn't mean you haven't changed your body in some way...I haven't lost much weight but I feel sooooo much better than before, my energy is back and I feel thinner even if the scale doesn't show it... I hate the scale anyway... Good luck and Keep Going!!!
  • mrsedge1
    mrsedge1 Posts: 18
    I did the Insanity workout program back in May before my wedding and didn't really lose much weight through out the whole thing. However I did lose fat and inches which is a lot more important, I also gained a lot of muscle.
    Give it time an i bet you start to see results. Its painful but totally worth it :)
  • scubagirl319
    scubagirl319 Posts: 115 Member
    One of the things to remember is as you start a new exercise program and especially Insanity, Your body holds onto water to both keep you hydrated and to repair the micro tears in your muscles. Keep with it and make sure you eat some protein within 30 mins of finishing exercising to help rebuild the muscles.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
    My doctor told me to not start exercising immediately not because I'm too out of shape, but because exercise increases cortisol levels, which causes weight gain. That can discourage people and they stop before even starting. I got her to confirm that it was safe for me to exercise and started anyways. But, I don't let any bump in weight loss bother me. I weigh daily but ignore the scale mostly (I try to use it to determine if I'm drinking enough water). I only record weight weekly, and I know it can go up and down from week to week, but I'm looking for an overall downward trend.

    Basically, be patient and keep doing what you're doing. You're in it for the long haul.
  • fraser112
    fraser112 Posts: 405
    You are holding water or most likely miss counting your calories. A thyroid condition can only account for up to 10 pounds of weight gain which people get deluded into thinking it is to blame.

    Infact one study found that every obese woman in the group on thyroid medication was under reporting her eating by 50% and over estimating her calorie burn by 50%. i have tried myself to think i was a special case and it was not my fault but in the end i was overeating.

    Option 1 Get a food scale and measure everything

    Option 2 Wait a few weeks and see if water weight drops off. if nt refer to option 1

    If in the end you end up in below 1% that have trouble losing after dieting perfectly for months then see a doctor. But i would bet all my money if you keep at it the weight will drop off.

    Being new to exercise will also cause you to hold water.
  • dahkneeka
    dahkneeka Posts: 163 Member
    It could also mean that your muscles and increased....muscle weighs more than fat and it could be that you didn't weigh yourself the same as last time...just because you didn't lose any weight doesn't mean you haven't changed your body in some way...I haven't lost much weight but I feel sooooo much better than before, my energy is back and I feel thinner even if the scale doesn't show it... I hate the scale anyway... Good luck and Keep Going!!!

    Correction: muscle does not weigh more then fat unless your comparing 2lbs muscle to 1lb fat.... 1lb of feathers is the same as 1lb of bricks... bricks are just more dense thus taking up less space. Consider your muscles as bricks and your fat as feathers...

    Also, weight loss is not static. Your hard work WILL pay off, just keep it up. Who knows, maybe next week you will be down 2-3lbs just like that.
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    I did the Insanity workout program back in May before my wedding and didn't really lose much weight through out the whole thing. However I did lose fat and inches which is a lot more important, I also gained a lot of muscle.
    Give it time an i bet you start to see results. Its painful but totally worth it :)

    Awesome, thank you
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
    Your muscles are retaining water. Keep it up, log everything, and be patient. :)
  • alicedaisysquires
    alicedaisysquires Posts: 2
    hii.. keep up the hard work! its what happens sometimes you have weeks where you loose from 5 - 10 (<good week) and then you have a few that are 2 pounds! skerioustly its nothing to be down... its a bit like a test you will pick up over the next couple of weeks ushally when you don't loose that much its you body adapting to its new lifestyle and diet and once the first month or so is over and your tummy starts to shrink its a hell of a lot easier...

    hope this helps,
    alice x
  • Healthydiner65
    Healthydiner65 Posts: 1,552 Member
    Open your food diary so we can comment!
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    I focused right in on the "eating right" comment. That's eating right, based off of your definition. I'd encourage you get yourself a food scale, and log as accurately as you can while making your diary available for others to see and make suggestions.

    Another thing to take into account is the amount of sodium/potassium & water intake, and activity level. Different combinations can cause significant differences in your scale weight. If you are expending more than you are consuming, you will lose weight, especially for someone like yourself who is just starting out and has a lot to lose.
  • Alford96
    Alford96 Posts: 70
    I agree with the "you're probably building muscle and holding water" comments but I would suggest to you that you measure yourself now. Then periodically thereafter. I measure my waist, hips, thighs when I'm in a plateau and i have found so far that my inch measurements are ALWAYS down even if the scale's not moving much. Muscle is much denser than fat so as you build muscle, you will get smaller, even though the scale may not move much. Good luck with Insanity-I haven't been brave enough to try it yet! :tongue:
  • mrsedge1
    mrsedge1 Posts: 18
    Let me know how you get on.
  • mcgraw0204
    mcgraw0204 Posts: 6
    Patience, it doesn't happen overnight. Your body will hold water, and do all sorts of strange things when you change your habits. My advice, hide the scale and only weigh in once every 10 weeks or so. Weighing in weekly can be discouraging, and often cause people to want to quit. Keep going, eating right and it WILL pay off. Understanding that this needs to be a life long change will be key to your success, change your mindset from wanting to lose pounds, to wanting to be FIT and good things will happen. (FYI I am speaking from experience, coming from 290 lbs and about 30% bodyfat down to 245lbs and 13% bodyfat, its taken me 2 1/2 years)
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    I focused right in on the "eating right" comment. That's eating right, based off of your definition. I'd encourage you get yourself a food scale, and log as accurately as you can while making your diary available for others to see and make suggestions.

    Another thing to take into account is the amount of sodium/potassium & water intake, and activity level. Different combinations can cause significant differences in your scale weight. If you are expending more than you are consuming, you will lose weight, especially for someone like yourself who is just starting out and has a lot to lose.


    I opened my food diary. I would say prob 90% is good, and I usually do use a food scale. But my diary is open for all to see. :)
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    I also have been going at exercise since December 1st...so...six weeks now? So I guess it isn't extremely new as I started insanity this week. Just had more results the other weeks with 30 min cardio and weightlifting at the gym.
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    Open your food diary so we can comment!

    I opened my diary. any help is greatly appreciated.
  • Greenrun99
    Greenrun99 Posts: 2,065 Member
    Took 1 month of Insanity for me to have the scale start to move.. The second month it moved nicely.. Don't expect pounds dropping immediately. Plus I don't think your eating enough, try to stay close to the nutrition guide, I know it sounds counterproductive to eat more.. but Insanity is a crazy calorie burning program.. not eating enough can stall you... Bit more protein too.
  • Fat2Fit145
    Fat2Fit145 Posts: 385 Member
    hmmm i'm in the same boat..... i started INSANITY this week as well... have been eating welll and maintaining my caloria goals, exercising for the past 10 days and nothing, not an ounce lost... hmmm idk, and im at 174.6 lbs
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Took a look at your diary and I see a couple of problems. They aren't with food. I don't care what you eat as long as you eat at a deficit and hopefully get enough protein.
    What I do see is that you haven't been logging very long or at least not consistently. So my first piece of advice is log everything. All the time. Period. Looks like you have been doing a good job at that, so keep it up.
    The second thing I see is that your calories are all over the place. Back in November, especially, it looks like you were extremely low cal. You have been second-guessing your weight loss and moving your calories up and down trying to start losing. You're getting discouraged instead of thinking rationally. STOP....
    Here's what you need to do. Find a good TDEE calculator and figure your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers for AT LEAST a month. Consistently. Don't drop your calories because you are not losing.
    In fact, if you were eating very low calorie for longer than what I saw in your diary, I would recommend eating at TDEE for 2 weeks to a month to reset your metabolism and hormone levels, before you start eating at a deficit again.
    You can over-think this all you want, worrying about sodium, potassium, what counts as water, what doesn't, etc. etc. Go ahead and complicate this if you want but the bottom line is that if you eat below your TDEE, you will lose. That's where I would start.
    Be consistent. Be honest. Be successful.

    Here is a link to a decent calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    I'll just go on and tell you, you are NOT sedentary, so don't set your activity level as "Sedentary" hoping to make sure you lose weight. Most people are not sedentary.
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    Took a look at your diary and I see a couple of problems. They aren't with food. I don't care what you eat as long as you eat at a deficit and hopefully get enough protein.
    What I do see is that you haven't been logging very long or at least not consistently. So my first piece of advice is log everything. All the time. Period. Looks like you have been doing a good job at that, so keep it up.
    The second thing I see is that your calories are all over the place. Back in November, especially, it looks like you were extremely low cal. You have been second-guessing your weight loss and moving your calories up and down trying to start losing. You're getting discouraged instead of thinking rationally. STOP....
    Here's what you need to do. Find a good TDEE calculator and figure your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers for AT LEAST a month. Consistently. Don't drop your calories because you are not losing.
    In fact, if you were eating very low calorie for longer than what I saw in your diary, I would recommend eating at TDEE for 2 weeks to a month to reset your metabolism and hormone levels, before you start eating at a deficit again.
    You can over-think this all you want, worrying about sodium, potassium, what counts as water, what doesn't, etc. etc. Go ahead and complicate this if you want but the bottom line is that if you eat below your TDEE, you will lose. That's where I would start.
    Be consistent. Be honest. Be successful.

    Here is a link to a decent calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    I'll just go on and tell you, you are NOT sedentary, so don't set your activity level as "Sedentary" hoping to make sure you lose weight. Most people are not sedentary.

    The truth is I haven't been logging very long. I signed up for MFP a while ago. But, December 1st is when I really started. So my diary reflecting from that date is the most accurate account of my "trying". I will check out that calculator you sent and attempt the reset. Do you think I am not eating enough?
  • jsuaccounting
    jsuaccounting Posts: 189 Member
    One of the things to remember is as you start a new exercise program and especially Insanity, Your body holds onto water to both keep you hydrated and to repair the micro tears in your muscles. Keep with it and make sure you eat some protein within 30 mins of finishing exercising to help rebuild the muscles.

    Excellent point... Water is heavy. When I feel sore, I ignore the few extra pounds until they disapear in a day or so.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Took a look at your diary and I see a couple of problems. They aren't with food. I don't care what you eat as long as you eat at a deficit and hopefully get enough protein.
    What I do see is that you haven't been logging very long or at least not consistently. So my first piece of advice is log everything. All the time. Period. Looks like you have been doing a good job at that, so keep it up.
    The second thing I see is that your calories are all over the place. Back in November, especially, it looks like you were extremely low cal. You have been second-guessing your weight loss and moving your calories up and down trying to start losing. You're getting discouraged instead of thinking rationally. STOP....
    Here's what you need to do. Find a good TDEE calculator and figure your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers for AT LEAST a month. Consistently. Don't drop your calories because you are not losing.
    In fact, if you were eating very low calorie for longer than what I saw in your diary, I would recommend eating at TDEE for 2 weeks to a month to reset your metabolism and hormone levels, before you start eating at a deficit again.
    You can over-think this all you want, worrying about sodium, potassium, what counts as water, what doesn't, etc. etc. Go ahead and complicate this if you want but the bottom line is that if you eat below your TDEE, you will lose. That's where I would start.
    Be consistent. Be honest. Be successful.

    Here is a link to a decent calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    I'll just go on and tell you, you are NOT sedentary, so don't set your activity level as "Sedentary" hoping to make sure you lose weight. Most people are not sedentary.

    The truth is I haven't been logging very long. I signed up for MFP a while ago. But, December 1st is when I really started. So my diary reflecting from that date is the most accurate account of my "trying". I will check out that calculator you sent and attempt the reset. Do you think I am not eating enough?
    I don't know your stats, so I couldn't tell you. But I do know you aren't consistently eating the same amount. You're doing a good job of logging now. Keep at it. If you log EVERYTHING, you will be able to look back and KNOW if you are eating too much or too little. The calculator just gives you a good starting point and it tends to be fairly accurate for most people.
    If you will post your height, weight and age, I can tell you what the calculator says you should be eating. You may vary slightly from that, but it should be pretty close.
    I forgot to mention.....Make sure to measure and take progress pics as well. Never rely on just the scale to show progress. It has it's place, but it is only one of several good tools you can use to measure progress.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    Keep with it and make sure you eat some protein within 30 mins of finishing exercising to help rebuild the muscles.
    The whole "protein within 30 minutes thing" has pretty much been debunked.
  • supersmashl3y
    supersmashl3y Posts: 2 Member
    I think a better indicator of your progress would be checking your body fat %. You can get a pretty cheap manual fat caliper on amazon. You may have gained muscle and lost fat, but that won't necessarily be reflected in your weight.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    The food scale is the most important tool for weight loss IMHO... and patience.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    it is the shock to your body..exercise and diet all at once.. exercise will make you gain temporarily. You'll weigh heavier for a few weeks to a month. I read this an an article long ago. I have lost more steady and easily without exercising and eating at a deficit than when i exercise and diet at the same time. However...we all know that exercise makes us LOOK BETTER...even though the scale might not reflect a loss. Have to get your head right about it all. lol.
  • cedarghost
    cedarghost Posts: 621 Member
    I think a better indicator of your progress would be checking your body fat %. You can get a pretty cheap manual fat caliper on amazon. You may have gained muscle and lost fat, but that won't necessarily be reflected in your weight.
    Good point ^^^^^ I forgot to mention that as well. This another good measurement tool besides the scale.
    But again, I can't stress enough, that until you get your diet consistent you will just be running in circles.
  • improvninja
    improvninja Posts: 19 Member
    Took a look at your diary and I see a couple of problems. They aren't with food. I don't care what you eat as long as you eat at a deficit and hopefully get enough protein.
    What I do see is that you haven't been logging very long or at least not consistently. So my first piece of advice is log everything. All the time. Period. Looks like you have been doing a good job at that, so keep it up.
    The second thing I see is that your calories are all over the place. Back in November, especially, it looks like you were extremely low cal. You have been second-guessing your weight loss and moving your calories up and down trying to start losing. You're getting discouraged instead of thinking rationally. STOP....
    Here's what you need to do. Find a good TDEE calculator and figure your BMR and TDEE and eat between those numbers for AT LEAST a month. Consistently. Don't drop your calories because you are not losing.
    In fact, if you were eating very low calorie for longer than what I saw in your diary, I would recommend eating at TDEE for 2 weeks to a month to reset your metabolism and hormone levels, before you start eating at a deficit again.
    You can over-think this all you want, worrying about sodium, potassium, what counts as water, what doesn't, etc. etc. Go ahead and complicate this if you want but the bottom line is that if you eat below your TDEE, you will lose. That's where I would start.
    Be consistent. Be honest. Be successful.

    Here is a link to a decent calculator: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    I'll just go on and tell you, you are NOT sedentary, so don't set your activity level as "Sedentary" hoping to make sure you lose weight. Most people are not sedentary.

    The truth is I haven't been logging very long. I signed up for MFP a while ago. But, December 1st is when I really started. So my diary reflecting from that date is the most accurate account of my "trying". I will check out that calculator you sent and attempt the reset. Do you think I am not eating enough?
    I don't know your stats, so I couldn't tell you. But I do know you aren't consistently eating the same amount. You're doing a good job of logging now. Keep at it. If you log EVERYTHING, you will be able to look back and KNOW if you are eating too much or too little. The calculator just gives you a good starting point and it tends to be fairly accurate for most people.
    If you will post your height, weight and age, I can tell you what the calculator says you should be eating. You may vary slightly from that, but it should be pretty close.
    I forgot to mention.....Make sure to measure and take progress pics as well. Never rely on just the scale to show progress. It has it's place, but it is only one of several good tools you can use to measure progress.


    Thank you

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