dire need of motivation

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wongisms
wongisms Posts: 12
in Health and Weight Loss
my first 3 weeks i lost 5-6pounds. the last two weeks, i actually gained back 2-3 pounds back and cannot seem to drop it. Im going on week 3 and i am highly discouraged with the fact that i gained it back and it wont seem to go anywhere now. I actually exercised MORE in the past 2 weeks than i did the first 3 weeks when i lost.

5'2, starting weight 150, now fluctuating from 145-147. workout 3-4 times a week at 30-60 minutes. Strength and cardio. and usually under or at my net calorie goal of 1200/day. i try to overestimate calories i eat when approximating for homemade meals or meals not listed.

this is incredibly frustrating to lose, and te so quickly seem to gain it back and be unable to get back to the losing part.

Replies

  • caribear1984
    caribear1984 Posts: 203
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    Don't get discouraged, it could be water weight gain. In fact, if you increased exercise lately, that's probably what it is. Try taking measurements instead of depending on the scale to show progress.
  • bearcrusher
    bearcrusher Posts: 90
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    Hitting a plateau after a few weeks of big weight losses is normal. Your body is just holding onto water like caribear1984 said. Stick with it and the pounds will fall.
    Don't let some dumb numbers on a scale demotivate you. You know if you've been good and stuck to your diet you won't gain weight and you'll succeed
  • Shr3dded
    Shr3dded Posts: 232
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    Need motivation? Look at my chest.
  • SaraBrown12
    SaraBrown12 Posts: 277 Member
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    Have you checked out your inches rather then lb's? I bet you get a nice surprise! You will be building muscle while dropping fat hopefully!
  • wongisms
    wongisms Posts: 12
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    Ive lost half an inch around the thighs, but none elsewhere. Should I not be eating my exercise calories back? Or eating less of the exercise calories back?
  • cathybabe70
    cathybabe70 Posts: 117 Member
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    I'm almost 5 months into my weight loss journey and I've had that happen to me a few times along the way(dropping and then putting back on a couple of pounds). Try not to over think it. Just keep going. As for eating back exercise cals...I eat back at least half of mine if not more depending on how hungry I am and I have been losing weight that way. Remember this is more of a marathon and not a race. Just keep doing what you're doing and it will happen.
  • AprilBarkulis
    AprilBarkulis Posts: 76
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    "The reason that the metabolic rate slows with prolonged dieting of less than 1,200 calories per day is a chain reaction of physiologic responses to the stress associated with such a restricted diet. Your body initially adapts to the stress of low caloric intake by engaging the "fight or flight" stress response, which has several negative consequences, despite you seeing lower numbers on the scale. The "fight or flight" response stimulates the breakdown of muscle in order to supply the body with enough fuel (glucose) to maintain the blood sugar levels in the absence of sufficient dietary calories. This "fight or flight" stress response will eventually wear out, thus slowing the metabolic rate to compensate for what the body perceives as starvation.
    Some studies referenced at LiveStrong.com indicate that long-term dieting and calorie restriction can lower your metabolism by up to 40 percent and can take up to one year to correct."
    -Taken from http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-1200-Calories-Day-Important-When-Dieting-13080864

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/518807-negative-side-effects-of-eating-less-than-1-200-calories-a-day/ is what they are referring to.

    Hope this helps. There are many more articles out there. Basically eating less than 1200 is not enough for your basal metabolic rate to work properly. Eating less puts your body into what is called "starvation mode." This is a natural response of our bodies to store whatever we get for prolonged periods of starvation. If our basal metabolic rate is not up high enough and effective, then your body kicks in this mode. It causes your body to store whatever you do get causing weight gain and eventually a decrease in protein stores (ie muscle). Fat is kept on because protein gives more immediate energy. That is why the body uses it first. I hope this makes sense. Basically you want your body burning fat and making muscle, but not burning muscle and making fat. Eating less than 1200 does this!
    Keep you NET above 122 as often as possible. An occasional dip lower is ok, but regularly staying there is where it becomes detrimental.
  • AprilBarkulis
    AprilBarkulis Posts: 76
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    How Do Calories Cause Weight Gain? In general, you need about 1,500 calories a day to fuel the body’s normal biological activities, such as breathing and keeping the heart beating. This is called a basal metabolic rate (BMR). On top of your base calorie burn, you use another 500 calories or so — more if you exercise — for physical movement. The trick to avoiding weight gain is to eat the same number of calories as your body uses. So if you eat 2,500 calories but burn only 2,000, the extra calories are stored as fat.
  • AprilBarkulis
    AprilBarkulis Posts: 76
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    one of my friends shared this and I thought I would share this with ya'll Remember when eating your body only absorbs 500 calories each meal. Anything over that gets absorbs into fat within the body. When exercising, as the body builds muscle it is also eating the fat cells....so remember...muscle eats fat.
  • nxd10
    nxd10 Posts: 4,570 Member
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    Okay, I just got this to work for another post, but it's relevant here.

    KEEP ON GOING!

    Here is my weight loss for the last year:

    The top graphs shows what looks like steady weight loss. But look at the bottom! It's how much I lost on average by week. It's all over the place. Some weeks I lost a couple of pounds. Some weeks I lost nothing. And I didn't even post those days I gained a pound for whatever reason we gain weight when we are making our calorie goals.

    Just keep logging everything, measuring everything, and exercising, and it will come off. If you're normally healthy and you've got the right numbers, it will come off. (And eat back your exercise calories or you'll make yourself sick.)

    You can't see the big picture if you focus on the little fluctuations.

    Capture.PNG
  • wongisms
    wongisms Posts: 12
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    thanks all!! also, the tip about the 500 calorie per meal absorbed by the body is very useful. i love food too much to give it up, but it gives me a good barometer to use for portion control.
  • AprilBarkulis
    AprilBarkulis Posts: 76
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    Glad to help! your doing great !!
  • Siege_Tank
    Siege_Tank Posts: 781 Member
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    It's water. You have to overeat, in a surplus to gain fat mass.

    You can't look at the scale in short time frames, and expect it to be anything more than a measurement of how much water you're carrying. Water weighs 8.3 pounds per gallon, so drink a 16 oz glass and you'll INTSTANTLY *gain* 1 pound of weight.

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