What am I doing wrong? Heavy lifting not working. Ugghh

Read this immediately and join the group eat train progress and read the rest of sara's information.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

2 to 4 months may seem long, but something to factor in: Not only will you see results, but your body will be stronger...when you are stronger, you'll be the person who wants to walk around the neighborhood after dinner instead of veggie out, the one who runs up the flight of stairs instead of asking someone ask to get something for you, the person who stands instead of sits.

All those "incidental" calories over time add up. We all know those people who seem to be able to eat everything and stay skinny. The research is that those people are the ones who do a lot of "incidental" movement...they are the people who don't circle the parking lot...they park in the distance lot and walk because what seems like a hike to other people is just a stroll to them.

This is what I would suggest (always works for me, and I see visible changes in a week or two at most):

First, ignore the suggestions on the app and eat very low-carb. Don't count calories or fat, but eat only natural, unprocessed foods. You should just be focused on eating plenty of protein. So I eat lots of eggs, milk, chicken, and vegetables, complete with butter or olive oil. Ideally, try to eat 30g max of carbs per day in the beginning.

Second, in addition to lifting weights, try HIIT. All you need to do is around 20 mins a day, maybe 4 or 5 days a week. I just alternate jogging and sprinting on the treadmill, or do a short high intensity cardio video workout at home.

Take a look at your week as a whole not just day to day. I was in your same position until I got a snap of reality!! Initially I was doing cardio only and watching what I ate. I lost 29 pounds. Kept hearing how heavy lifting would really boost my success..Decided to hit the gym started going hard core, lifting heavier, working with a trainer etc. Upped my cals as suggested and after about a month I had gained 5 lbs... I freaked! Talked to my trainer readjusted my eating and slowed down a bit. Turns out I was over training.. NOW I eat less cals and work out everyday but not 2-3 times a day. I have added cardio back in and I am happy to say that as of Friday That 5 pounds left and took another two with it! Just had to find the right balance that included both cardio AND strength training and eating for my bodies needs.. Best of luck to you! :flowerforyou:

Muscles make you weight more! But they make you look and feel great! Check your measurements, and your how your clothes fit. Also, how you are feeling? Are you starting to feel stronger, calmer, healthier? Weight is not always the correct thing to be measuring! Keep up the good work! Exercise an alternate set of muscles every other day so you don't overdue it!

1 pound of Muscle weighs the same as 1 pound of fat. The difference is 1 pound of muscle takes up less space - it's more dense, more solid than 1 pound of fat.

As others have pointed out, you've only been at it a month.

Let me tell you something to encourage you. Today I had to wear a business suit for a mediation in my office. I seldom have to suit up, the last time was 2 years ago for a trial. Last night I tried on all my suits and every single one of them as too big to wear, including my favorite Calvin Klein suit that I bought shortly after I lost 25 pounds. I ended up pulling a 20 year old suit out of mothballs that was ok - still a bit loose but I didn't look frumpy in it. I weight 15# more now than I did when I wore that suit last and it fit perfectly then. So you see, the scale is not a good indicator of getting fit!

Measurements tell better. Please don't get discouraged.

I also did/do cardio 4-5x a week (30 mins of HIIT)

Weigh absolutely everything you put in your mouth. No measuring cups or spoons, and definitely no estimating. I think weighing is easier really- I put my bowl on the scale, zero it, add my lettuce, zero it, tomatoes, zero it, dressing...I track all the numbers right away. Milk in my coffee? I stick my coffee cup on the scale, zero, and add milk. I did not see results until I started doing this years ago.
When you make a recipe, weigh all the individual ingredients as you add them, and then weigh the entire batch after (might have to record the weight of the cooking/serving dish ahead of time and subtract it). I enter recipes into MFP like this: "Chili (100g)" and in the servings, I put the # of grams of the entire batch (for example, 1200) divided by 100. So 1200g entire recipe = 12 servings. Then you can serve yourself however much you want (say, 150g of chili) and enter the # of grams divided by 100. So 150g chili = 1.5 servings.
This works perfectly and allows me to eat as much or as little as I want of a recipe, and know exactly how many cals.
It sounds time consuming but it really isn't- and you save washing all the measuring cups!

Your sets are extremely low. It's okay to do 3 sets at 8 reps for "working" sets, but you probably need to pyramid the weight down. It's possible that you're burning fat and building muscle. MFP sort of sets protein levels to non-lifting diets. I switched my ratio to 40% of my diet to be protein... you can mess with yours numbers that give the best results. A lot of people assume they're executing the exercise correctly. Have you learned proper form? If you haven't you could be making the mistake of using too much of your forearms and shoulders to bear the weight, which could cause lack of proper muscle stimulation.

Read this immediately and join the group eat train progress and read the rest of sara's information.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think

^^^
Great information.

Regarding lifting, if you can I would highly recommend getting one or two sessions with a good trainer. You can't really learn form, at first, without someone there watching you and positioning your body properly. Also, I would start with a warm-up weight for each exercise and then do an additional 3 sets with increasing weight. Your first set could be up to 15 reps, gradually declining until your last set is about 5-8 with heavier weights. Also, the more muscles engaged during a particular exercise, the more calories you burn. Exercises like squats, dead lifts, etc., burn a lot more calories than regular bicep curls, for example. However, you can still maximize the calorie burn for smaller muscle groups; for example, when doing bicep curls you can balance on one leg (or a bosu ball), and switch legs with each set. This helps you strengthen your core and work on balance. Almost any exercise can be adapted to engage the core and larger muscle groups. Most people, for example, do flat bench dumbbell presses with a weight in each hand. If you do them with a weight in one hand, and have half of your body off to the side of the bench, you will be contracting your glutes, flexing the core, and working the pec muscles all at the same time. This burns more calories and maximizes your workouts.

You are getting a lot of really good information here. However, if after another month none of this works, I'd recommend that you ask yourself a few questions about your own body and habits.

Do you notice any food intolerances? Personally, I discovered a gluten intolerance and an extreme sensitivity to sugar (not diabetes, but my body just doesn't like processed sugars) while testing out different diets. When I cut out certain things from my diet, I lose weight, even if I don't change the calories much.

Do you have a slow metabolism? Not everybody burns calories at the same rate. While exercise will make you burn more calories faster, you may have to push your body a little to find the level that fits you. MFP is a great tool, but the values for a healthy male with a fast metabolism are NOT the same as the values for a woman with a slow metabolism, even if they have the ame activity level.

Do you eat/drink diet products? Faking sugar by having sweeteners can trick the body into releasing insulin, which will bind carbs as fat rather than burning them. This is one reason why some of the advice above is for all water and green tea.

Do you drink alcohol? Alcohol can be as disruptive to weight loss as diet products.

Do you get enough sleep? Sleeping well is important for weight loss, to the point that a constant sleep deficiency can cause weight gain in otherwise healthy people eating healthy.

Sometimes getting the body back on the right track is really easy - and sometimes it's a struggle, and demands a total reevaluation of all habits and ideas about health and food. Don't give up, the final benefits are much greater than the pain you now feel.

Losing weight correctly:

Step 1: Throw away your scale
Step 2: Buy a mirror
Step 3: Pick a regimen, stick through it for a 3 month period, and decide if it's working or not.

and what if after 3 months u find out it didnt work? 3 months wasted! if u r in a proper calorie deficit, the weight should start coming off 1-2 weeks.

Keep at it! I think you will start seeing some changes over the next month. You body is adjusting to the change from constart cardio to weights. The fact taht you are lifting heavier each week is a great start!