I need some support...

socalsweetheart87
socalsweetheart87 Posts: 38 Member
in Motivation and Support
I can't weigh every day or once a week because it can really mess with my head, so i weigh the last day of every month.

January - all i did was calculate my calories and no exercise, didn't even really enforce a limit. I lost 9.5 lbs.


February - All month i have put less than 1800 calories in my body except ONE DAY. I went to the gym two days a week and use my Wii with my daughter two days a week, each for about 30 to 40 minutes. i also have a body media and according to that even on my LOWEST burn day i burn 2300 calories. so... how did 28 days go by with only one pound loss? one!

If i took lowest calorie burn day and did the math for highest food day:
2300 - 1800 =500
500 x 27= 13500
13500/3500 = 3.8 lbs

I wasn't expecting the world but are you freaking kidding me?

I need external support to keep from tossing in the towel.

I have tried so many diets since i put these pounds on and i constantly get stuck right at this weight but when i was honest with myself i wasn't doing it right to get past this weight.... but this time i did.

Replies

  • mhooge
    mhooge Posts: 42 Member
    I've been working on losing weight and have lost 17 lbs so far since October. The last time I weighed was 3 weeks ago and at that point I had only lost 1/4 lb. I was soooo frustrated and haven't stepped on the scale since. Still watching my diet and exercising faithfully, and trying to focus on how I feel instead of a number on the scale. But I'm going to weigh again on Saturday and hope I've lost! Good luck!
  • June2268
    June2268 Posts: 37
    My husband always told me I weighed myself too much and that when I was up a few lbs I would get depressed and tend to eat more due to depression. Well I put the scale away for 1-1/2 months and found myself up 7lbs when I thought I was doing everything right.....I say go back to weighing yourself weekly, maybe that would help:smile::smile: :smile: :smile:
  • kaitlink9
    kaitlink9 Posts: 27 Member
    Hide your scale, and ditch the math.
    Eat and excersise to feel good.
    If you REALLY want to keep track of your losses, measure yourself instead of weighing yourself. I find that your weight can seriously flux. depending on whether or not your bloated, it's that time of the month, etc etc. Loads of things can really effect your weight specifically.

    Hope that helps!

    And hey, feel free to add me up if you want/need support! :)
  • Zosimah
    Zosimah Posts: 54 Member
    Check out Mavd's post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/908372-7-body-fat-loss

    With your time in the gym and activity with your daughter, you may well be improving on lean muscle. This is more dense than fat so the same volume weighs more. You may have a little weight gain going on at the moment but are still improving your body as you now carry muscle instead of fat. Whatever you do, don't quit. Good things will come for your health if you keep at it!
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Do you weigh and measure your food?

    Have you had a lot of sodium recently? Heck, even with moderate sodium intake, I have been so bloated this week you can see it in my ankles.

    Did you poop before you weighed in?

    The important thing is that your health is improving, whether the scale moves or not!


    Zosimah, I love you for using words like density:)
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    That's the problem with weighing so infrequently. Weight varies so much, you may have been 1.5 off true weight at the end of January and 1.5 off at the end of February, meaning you could have lost 4 lbs. Weigh more often and apply the Hacker's Diet tracker to see the true trend.
  • socalsweetheart87
    socalsweetheart87 Posts: 38 Member
    Do you weigh and measure your food?

    Have you had a lot of sodium recently? Heck, even with moderate sodium intake, I have been so bloated this week you can see it in my ankles.

    Did you poop before you weighed in?

    The important thing is that your health is improving, whether the scale moves or not!


    Zosimah, I love you for using words like density:)

    Yes i weigh and measure my food, everything i eat ... i knew i was weighing in so i tried to watch my sodium intake a bit and choose lower sodium items, and its not that time of the month, and yes i was empty when i weighed.. i did find out i lost an inch off of each measurement i take so that gave me a straw to grasp...
  • socalsweetheart87
    socalsweetheart87 Posts: 38 Member
    Check out Mavd's post in this thread: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/908372-7-body-fat-loss

    With your time in the gym and activity with your daughter, you may well be improving on lean muscle. This is more dense than fat so the same volume weighs more. You may have a little weight gain going on at the moment but are still improving your body as you now carry muscle instead of fat. Whatever you do, don't quit. Good things will come for your health if you keep at it!

    Thank you and WOW that thread is a mind blower....
  • djpip1
    djpip1 Posts: 1
    I changed my eating habits in October 2012. I have lost 62 lbs so far. I have done this by eating a low calorie diet under doctor's supervision. She told me that there may be a time when I didn't lose as much, and the plan would be to increase calories 100-200 calories for a couple of days then back down to the usual. She also makes me write everything down. I am so OCD about it that, even if it is a bite of something, I figure out how many calories I used. I was surprised how fast a bite here and a bite there added up. Sorry that it seems you have hit a wall. Hang in there. I am sure it will be worth it when you reach your final goal and look back (I tell myself that daily).
  • suejonestx
    suejonestx Posts: 256 Member
    I agree with Jonnythan...you probably weighed on a "low weight" day in January. Bottom line is that you've lost 10.5 pounds in 2 months! Wow! Very impressive. Keep up the good work.
  • HaywireII
    HaywireII Posts: 71 Member
    I weigh every day because at my size every day is a crapshoot. Might be up; might be down. The scale varies every day but the highest weight this week is lower than the lowest weight 3 weeks ago. As long as I can show a downward trend over time I'm happy. I'm also tracking the measurements so if the scale stops but the tape measure moves I'm cool with that too.
  • positivepatti13
    positivepatti13 Posts: 4
    The best investment I've made during my many on again off again attempts at weight loss was purchasing a scale that gives me both my weight and my body fat percentage. Normally on the weeks that I haven't lost a pound I will have lost a percentage of body fat so that keeps me going. I too need something to keep me going and knowing that I've lost one thing or the other truly does the trick. Stay encouraged and know that this is a complete lifestyle change and any sign of healthier living that you see is encouraging. You may not have lost any weight but you may have more energy, be in a better mood, sleep a little better, walk a little lighter on your feet..... Try to find victory even in the smallest of things! Hope that helps. Keep up the good work!!
  • dialucious12
    dialucious12 Posts: 2
    Hi!
    I am new to the boards. I understand how you feel... sometimes i think everything is going great and then i see the numbers and i'm like huh? I have learned tho that even if the weight is not moving, the inches could be...or the weight is fluctuating in the body to different places...weird i know but i think it's true...hang in there!
  • adbhmb
    adbhmb Posts: 37 Member
    Hello,
    One thing most people do not know is that muscle weighs 20% more than fat. Also when you do ANY sort of "workout" you tear your muscle fibers (which creates lactic acid and is why people get sore after workouts). Every time you tear your muscles, they repair themselves (using vitamins and minerals from your food intake) and they Build while you rest them. You should not base your success on your weight! Take and track measurements of your neck, arms, chest, waist, widest part of stomach (around the belly button), hips and of course thighs. That is where you will see the differences, though it will take time. And sometimes you will see fluctuations in measurements but that is okay. Muscle is what burns fat! If you want to shed fat, you have to build some muscle.
    So do not get discouraged! You are probably doing fine working toward your fitness goals. Do not dwell on the fact that your scale has a higher number than you wish. Stress slows the metabolism, so relax and trust the mirror, tape measure, how you feel and what your loved ones tell you.
    I hope this helped, and good luck
    -- Ashley
  • jimfoxer
    jimfoxer Posts: 34 Member
    We all hit plateaus - and they truly are motivation-breaking. The only thing I would advise, which has been the case for me, is to look for missing calories. For instance, I found 100 daily calories I wasn't calculating just in my vitamin supplements! Also to all who haven't invested in one yet, buy a digital scale! I got one for less than $20 on Amazon, and it has revolutionized how I prepare my meals as I weigh everything! My 1/2 cup scoop for oatmeal in the morning, measured just under the rim, is 60 grams, a full 20 grams over what the nutrition label says a 1/2 cup should be! That little thing alone added 75 calories to breakfast, 525 added for the week. You can imagine the other things I weighed and found out the difference (don't get me started on Peanut Butter!) Nutrition labels lie [full stop]. Notice the "About 3 servings" on the label? That "about three" should read "nearly four". Whenever they do a television expose on food labels, they always find the product contains way more calories than reported. My advice - weigh everything (and I mean everything), and still add 20% for good measure for those lying nutrition labels.

    Watch this about weighing foods - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoAV5t7vnas
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
    Do you weigh and measure your food?

    Have you had a lot of sodium recently? Heck, even with moderate sodium intake, I have been so bloated this week you can see it in my ankles.

    Did you poop before you weighed in?

    The important thing is that your health is improving, whether the scale moves or not!


    Zosimah, I love you for using words like density:)

    Yes i weigh and measure my food, everything i eat ... i knew i was weighing in so i tried to watch my sodium intake a bit and choose lower sodium items, and its not that time of the month, and yes i was empty when i weighed.. i did find out i lost an inch off of each measurement i take so that gave me a straw to grasp...

    If you are losing inches then it's still a success and it may be by eating 1800 calories and exercising you are building on your muscle which weighs more than fat. You could find yourself surprised next month that the scales have changed because your body has had more time to adjust to the changes.

    Also, I'd weigh yourself weekly. This way if you find you haven't lost for 1 week you can go back over your diet and activity levels and make small adjustments, then see how it is the following week. This will help you figure out what works for you personally and what doesn't (because it IS different for everyone) and you wont be disheartened at the end of the month when it feels like it isn't working.

Categories