PLEASE explain what is wrong with me

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  • poeco76
    poeco76 Posts: 139 Member
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    Lots of people will have lots of opinions about this, and frankly it's something that may require trial and error for you. There are many who will say that you're eating too much, and just as many who'll say you're not eating enough. It could be the types of foods you're eating, when you're eating, how often you're eating, etc.

    I can sympathize with you, certainly. I went through a three month plateau when I started and am currently in a four month plateau. It sucks, to say the least. I eat what I should, work out very hard every day and nothing happens. I don't have any health issues, but the weight refuses to budge. I keep myself motivated by telling myself that I am doing this to be healthy, not to lose weight...that is just a by-product.

    My best thoughts or advice are to try different things, but give each experiment a couple of weeks to see if it's working. All the best to you on your journey. :0)
  • IryshWhiskey
    IryshWhiskey Posts: 20 Member
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    After I posted the similar forum topic (that made us friends, yay!) I began measuring myself. I lost 4 inches in my waist, 5 in my hip/butt area and 1 inch in my arms, neck, etc. That's a LOT of inches. I gained weight, but lost inches.

    I'd honestly think it's the weight training. I don't know your history, but if you were sedentary for a while before beginning these workouts, you're probably gaining muscles in places you aren't even aware of.

    Whip out the tape measure, and kick your scale for being a jerk. ;)

    **I wouldn't rule out a thyroid thing, or even something random like a gluten allergy? My roommate stopped eating gluten and lost weight/gained energy almost overnight.
  • gracielynn1011
    gracielynn1011 Posts: 726 Member
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    I know it is frustrating to see this, but keep in mind that when you start a workout/cardio/weight lifting routine sometimes the scale can go up. The reason is because as you build muscle you may show an increase in weight, but may lose inches overall. A few years ago, I joined a circuit training center and the first month I lost 12 inches from my body, but my scale shows that I gained 5 lbs! I was so disappointed until the instructor explained it to me.

    I just restarted a work out/diet program and it is frustrating again, because I feel like I am killing myself with these workouts, but I showed a 2 lb gain since last week. So I understand exactly were you are coming from. Just hang in there, and re-evaluate what you are eating. I know some of my problem is that I love carb heavy foods! So I need to rethink that. Also, you may be eating too few calories. I know that sounds crazy also, but suddenly dropping from a high calorie diet to a low calorie diet freaks your body out and makes it think you are starving.

    I know this is lengthy, so really I just want to encourage you and let you know that you are doing a great job, and you will see results. And really it takes a while to gain this weight, so we should expect that it will take a while to see progress on loosing it also.
  • MissyBrears
    MissyBrears Posts: 41 Member
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    Could it be that with all that exercise you are gaining muscle. Have you measured yourself maybe you are losing inches to start.
  • bbriscoe13
    bbriscoe13 Posts: 175 Member
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    Something sounds wrong. With everything you are saying, you should be losing. If you just started out, even if you are eating too few calories right now, you should still be losing. I would go see a doctor and make sure something else isn't wrong. You should have lost something by now. I'm sorry this has been so difficult for you. Hopefully your doctor can help you out. Sorry I cannot be more help. It sounds like you are doing everythig right. Weight training and cardio together is a great thing, don't stop that. Good luck with everything.
  • serenapitala
    serenapitala Posts: 441 Member
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    If you are weighing yourself sporadically, consider where you are in your cycle. We're women, our weight fluctuates and not always the way we expect. Some women weigh less during their TOM others weigh more. If this happens to be your heaviest time, it can look terrible on a scale or with a tape measure. Someone suggested weighing yourself every couple of days. I would recommend that for now, just so you can see if there are weight changes.
    Other than that I would agree with people who said to visit your doc. There could be more going on. The cals and macros you listed shouldn't be messing you up even if they aren't what other people do.
    I hope this helps!
  • weird_me2
    weird_me2 Posts: 716 Member
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    I think your estimate of cals burned is off.

    Without knowing your height and age I have to take an educated guess at your BMR, is probably about 1,670. An estimate of burning 2,850 cals daily equates to a Harris Benedict factor of 1.6 which is fairly active. I'd be more conservative on the estimate of cals burned and recalculate food intake.

    I'm 36 years old and 5'-10", large framed woman. (german). :) According to the HB factor I have a BMR of 1815. I will even go with lightly active(I am exercising)... that would get me to 2496 per day. Even at sedentary its 2178...so I'm still at least 500 below.

    Do you know your body fat %? If not, I recommend trying to get an estimate of that and use the Katch Mcardle formula. You may find that your BMR and in turn TDEE/calorie expenditure is off. Also, if you are using a lightly or moderately active activity factor because you are working out, then you wouldn't want to ADD your exercise calories on top of your TDEE for your calculated burn. I know you have the BMF, but even that bases your BMR /average burns on statistics for the "average" person and has a margin for error. It all really comes down to getting an accurate base to go off of.

    You also could very well be retaining water due to TOM or hormones and/or your new exercise regimine. I weigh daily so I can see my weight fluctuations more regularly than just weighing weekly. Last month, if I went by my week to week weight, then from one Friday to the next, I would have shown a .8 lb gain and then the next Friday I would have shown a net .8 lb loss. Monday to Monday of those same weeks I would have seen a 3.4 lb GAIN the first week and a NET 2.6 lb loss overall. Most all of that is because of TOM and also water retention after weight training days. I really stepped up my exercise last month and I really didn't see many big drops in weight until the last week of the month, but the scale and body fat %s are trending down and that's all that matters.

    I say keep doing what you are doing, don't change anything and give it at least a month. I'm betting that you will be down at least something over the course of the whole month. I also recommend that you weigh everything you are eating to keep your diary as accurate as possible. If, after a month or more of logging every single food eaten as accurately as possible and tracking your activity you still aren't losing, then I definitely recommend seeing a doctor.
  • alanlmarshall
    alanlmarshall Posts: 587 Member
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    how are you measuring food? Do you use a food scale?

    Yes, I have been using it and also measuring cups.

    Weigh everything. Re-dedicate yourself to measuring accurately. That is the likely culprit.
  • Mandini31
    Mandini31 Posts: 14
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    Thank you everyone for your input. I know two weeks is not enough, but technically I have been working on this since Jan.1st. I joined the Biggest Loser at work and are constantly hearing of people's weight loss...3,6,9,15 lbs. and they are just watching what they eat(and not even that close)....not even exercising at all. Then here I am tracking, exercising, giving up soda, stopped smoking(last october-had been16 years), taking vitamins and supplements, drinking more water, keeping busy with household activities for extra exercise, have changed all this stuff to become more healthy and creating a good lifestyle for the future and can't even lose a pound, while others are dropping it like crazy and not even giving half the effort. I think that's why I needed some encouragement from the WONDERFUL people in the MFP community. I will keep trying (trial and error and all the good advice here) until March 1st and if things do not change (even 1 lb) I'm going to go to the doctor or I will end up quitting due to extreme frustration. Thanks again!!
  • Jane_1705
    Jane_1705 Posts: 152 Member
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    I love reading this for motivation
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/850716-nsv-let-s-hear-yours?page=2
  • MissyBrears
    MissyBrears Posts: 41 Member
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    Try not eating back exercise calories for 1 week
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
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    For what its worth, you could probably eat more, and whenever I start a new workout routine, especially with weights, I'll gain up to 10 pounds for the first 4-6 weeks before the weight starts to come back off.
  • ApexLeader
    ApexLeader Posts: 580 Member
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    2 months later....
  • hmuh
    hmuh Posts: 379 Member
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    Water retention due to new workout regime.
    Very well could be. I didn't lose a thing doing insanity. But, I was much stronger, had greater endurance and increased flexibility when I was done. Score!!! Just don't quit!!!

    Just saw that the original was two months ago! I wonder what happened....

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