I am embarrassed to ask this

CysterWigs
CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been a couch potato my entire life. I work with computers and used to work in an office all the time. This February I quit my job because I felt like sitting all the time was making me very, very unhealthy. In a short period of time I developed Type 2 diabetes and gall bladder disease, resulting in the removal of my GB in March. I joined MFP once I healed up from the surgery.

I have lost about 15 lbs. so far without doing much in the way of exercise. Last week that all change when I began doing Insanity. I have stuck with it for a week. I have a lot more energy, sweat when I'm not even doing anything, and have had much success regulating my blood glucose without meds. BUT - I haven't lost any weight. In fact, I actually gained a pound. This is really frustrating.

I know it could be water. It could be muscle mass. I don't know. I've never been an athletic kind of gal. I use a HRM to determine my burns and I track everything that goes in my mouth. Yesterday I flubbed my diet, but I knew I would be "cheating" and worked out a little extra to compensate. (I didn't gain any extra weight from the cheat day - I weighed myself prior to my diner indulgence.)

The thing that baffles me is that I am eating at a deficit every day. I *should* have lost something. I have been very active and have been doing additional exercise to compensate for any of the Insanity floor work I may not be able to do yet. I weigh a lot (about 250 lbs.), so plateauing this early on is pretty much unacceptable. I have no idea what's going on or how to fix it. In the past, I wouldn't hit a plateau until I'd lost about 35 - 40 lbs.

I am desperate to get this weight off and totally willing to put in the work. I started week 2 of Insanity yesterday and even bagan throwing in a little Hip Hop Abs in the morning. I will continue as long as it helps me with my blood sugar.

My diary, exercise, and all that jazz is public. Please let me know what I should change! (And, please note that yesterday - Saturday - was a dietary acception.)

Thanks in advance.
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Replies

  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    It is very common to go weeks without losing.

    -Take Pictures
    -Take Measurements
    Weight – So many things can affect weight, because of this it shouldn’t be the only way you track your progress. Things to keep in mind:

    :heart: Always use the same scale – Different scales can show different weights. You will get the most accurate number for tracking when using the same scale.

    :heart: Don’t move the scale – Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking.

    :heart: 3500 calories – To gain 1lb of fat you need to be over maintenance by 3500 calories.

    :heart: Muscle Repair – Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.

    :heart: Sodium – Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.

    :heart: Water – Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.

    :heart: Time of day – Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. So for the most accurate tracking, you want to weigh at around the same time.

    :heart: Frequency – This is up to you, but if small fluctuations bother you than only weigh once a week or less.

    :heart: Lightest Weight – Will be naked, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom

    :heart: Multiple times a Day – Don’t Do It. As I said before, your weight will fluctuate throughout the day. What you eat, what you’re wearing, ect will all affect weight.

    :heart: Clothes – If you weigh with clothing on, keep in mind that the scale will show your weight plus the weight of your clothes. (Jeans are heavy)

    :heart: TOM - A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.

    I weighed daily from April 10 to June 4. This is what it looked like in excel (weight is the rainbow line):

    2gyajrb.jpg
  • My0WNinspiration
    My0WNinspiration Posts: 1,146 Member
    It's definitely not muscle. It's fluid retention from the insanity workouts and excess sodium from diet.

    I checked your exercise diary from yesterday. I highly doubt you burned THAT much from dancing. You're over-estimating your calories burned and eating them back. The only exercise I would even consider eating back are the ones burned from your insanity workouts.

    This is just advice. Good luck.
  • wildeone4
    wildeone4 Posts: 204 Member
    It is very common to go weeks without losing.

    -Take Pictures
    -Take Measurements

    I agree with the above!! If you want to weight yourself do it on day 30 and day 60!
  • gigglybeth
    gigglybeth Posts: 365 Member
    Don't be embarrassed! My losses slow to a crawl when I am exercising regularly. Take measurements and pictures! Since I started exercising I've lost seven inches off my waist and 9 inches off my hips without losing much weight at all. Even though I've gained a pound and a half since starting weight training a month ago, I've lost an inch off both my hips and waist.

    So don't give up! It will catch up with you eventually.
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
    You're hitting your calorie goal dead bang and you're doing all the right stuff.

    Listen to what Shadow up there said, keep going the way you're going and the inches will follow.
  • lundii
    lundii Posts: 151 Member
    I am on my third round of Insanity.
    And I never lose any weight when I do this work outs... but I gain a little..
    First I was disappointed... asked me what I did wrong... but then I decided that I didn't do anything wrong..
    Insanity is insane... and I agree it is the fluid.
    But take pictures... and you can see your body changing.
    The numbers on the scale don't show that.
  • MsMuniz
    MsMuniz Posts: 399 Member
    The same thing happened to me when I started Jillian Michaels Body Revolution. I have not lost any weight but I have definitely lost inches, so make sure you take measurements also! :drinker:
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member
    It's definitely not muscle. It's fluid retention from the insanity workouts and excess sodium from diet.

    I checked your exercise diary from yesterday. I highly doubt you burned THAT much from dancing. You're over-estimating your calories burned and eating them back. The only exercise I would even consider eating back are the ones burned from your insanity workouts.

    This is just advice. Good luck.

    While I do think that calorie burn was high, looking at her diary all the way back to the beginning of june, it was the first day she went over 1,700.

    She is really consistent in her diet.
  • AllTehBeers
    AllTehBeers Posts: 5,030 Member

    But take pictures... and you can see your body changing.

    This, this, this! Ask anyone who didn't take pictures at the beginning and almost every one of them regret it. I only have a couple pictures from when I started and I WISH I had taken more.

    You may not see it in the mirror, but you WILL see it in the pictures.
  • AndorZensko
    AndorZensko Posts: 47 Member
    Take measurements, I never do this mostly because I just never get around to it but I know it is very meaningful to a lot of people especially when they are not seeing a scale victory.

    When you say that you eat at a deficit how much of a deficit are we talking? If you starve your body it will hold onto everything and not let it go. I have heard that those insanity workouts can be a killer and you will burn a lot of calories doing them, are you eating enough to compensate for that?

    Have you waited long enough to actually see a scale victory, some people do not see it right away and take a couple extra weeks. I know that can be discouraging but it happens.

    These are just the thoughts that came to me as I was reading what you wrote. Hope you find the answer to your question
  • carriespence1
    carriespence1 Posts: 70 Member
    It's definitely not muscle. It's fluid retention from the insanity workouts and excess sodium from diet.

    I checked your exercise diary from yesterday. I highly doubt you burned THAT much from dancing. You're over-estimating your calories burned and eating them back. The only exercise I would even consider eating back are the ones burned from your insanity workouts.

    This is just advice. Good luck.
    you hold fluid retention in your muscles and seen heavier. When you get to week 4 it will start easing. Measure yourself instead promise your losing g inches
  • CysterWigs
    CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member

    I checked your exercise diary from yesterday. I highly doubt you burned THAT much from dancing. You're over-estimating your calories burned and eating them back. The only exercise I would even consider eating back are the ones burned from your insanity workouts.

    The dancing is legit, I swear. I weigh 250 lbs and my HR was around 140 - 150 for about 2.5 hours straight. It even got around 170 for a moment when I jumped around to some 80's music. (I had to settle down a bit after that, though, because I didn't want to get overly fatigued.) I wore a HRM the entire time and was moving for the sake of the burn, not just for fun. I didn't stop or sit at any time and my butt burns like a mother today. ;)
  • raneylfrick
    raneylfrick Posts: 380 Member
    When I did the 30 day shred the last time, I was also doing a lot of other exercises during the day. I lost quite a bit of weight right away (first couple of days) and then stayed even and then gained a couple pounds. No change in my diet or anything. I did, however, catch my reflection in my grandma's mirror (I refuse to have full-body mirrors in my house!) and I thought, Damn...I'm getting a figure!! So, don't go by the scale alone... If you are sticking to your exercises and eating right, then the weight IS coming off. Give it a few days, let the fluids figure themselves out, and I find it's best to do it NSV for a while.
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    I did Insanity, and the first month I lost over 10 inches and ONE pound. I looked way different, but on the scale it only said a one pound loss. So yes, take measurements and photos. Don't worry about the scale, the scale doesn't say anything about they way your body looks.
  • geekyjock76
    geekyjock76 Posts: 2,720 Member
    I did Insanity, and the first month I lost over 10 inches and ONE pound. I looked way different, but on the scale it only said a one pound loss. So yes, take measurements and photos. Don't worry about the scale, the scale doesn't say anything about they way your body looks.
    This girl knows her chit.
  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    It is very common to go weeks without losing.

    -Take Pictures
    -Take Measurements

    I weighed daily from April 10 to June 4. This is what it looked like in excel (weight is the rainbow line):

    ^^
    This. It's instructive to keep track of your weight over time and plot it. The up and down on the graph is called "noise" in engineering math, and it's the long-term trend that counts, not the day-to-day fluctuations.

    The scale hasn't gone down for me for 3 weeks; I usually weigh myself about once a month. However, my pants are a little looser than they were a month ago.

    Don't let yourself be a slave to a number on a dial ... your home scale isn't that accurate, anyway.
  • jasn1972
    jasn1972 Posts: 2
    Whenever you start exercising you will gain at first. Part of it is muscle building and sometimes you can retain water because you have sore, fatigued muscles. They aren't used to this kind of activity. Give it some time and it will totally pay off! And make sure you do measurements because muscle weighs more than fat. Changing the shape and health of your body means more than the number on the scale. Are you staying within your calorie range despite the exercise increase? That is key.
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
    If you've only been doing it for one week, try to be more patient. It could be ANYTHING.

    Also, if you're FEELING better, shouldn't that be worth something? What does the scale matter if you're stronger and you're not needing so much of your medication?
  • callandert
    callandert Posts: 26 Member
    Ditto what everyone else is saying...take measurements and take photos! While I hadn't lost much weight in my first 6 weeks(5lbs)...all my pants became way too big...so big I couldn't even wear them!

    Patience....that is the first thing my trainer told me when I first started...so I learned quickly not to live by the scale!

    Continued perserverance and hard work and you will reap the rewards you are looking for! Trust me and Good luck!
  • hookilau
    hookilau Posts: 3,134 Member
    What are your bg targets? If my bg's run too high (around 120mg/dl to 140mg/dl) I don't lose weight regardless of my caloric deficit. With metabolic disorders, it's not always exercise + caloric deficit = weight loss.

    When I'm able to keep my bg's tightly btw 100mg/dl & 120mg/dl and maintain a deficit, I can count on that resulting in a loss for the week.

    There are many more reasons that make weight loss difficult for folks with metabolic dz. I've only been dx'd for about 9 wks but I've been able to lose weight only since keeping my bg's as low as possible by eating to my meter, increasing fat, and exercise.
  • JessHealthKick
    JessHealthKick Posts: 800 Member

    I checked your exercise diary from yesterday. I highly doubt you burned THAT much from dancing. You're over-estimating your calories burned and eating them back. The only exercise I would even consider eating back are the ones burned from your insanity workouts.

    The dancing is legit, I swear. I weigh 250 lbs and my HR was around 140 - 150 for about 2.5 hours straight. It even got around 170 for a moment when I jumped around to some 80's music. (I had to settle down a bit after that, though, because I didn't want to get overly fatigued.) I wore a HRM the entire time and was moving for the sake of the burn, not just for fun. I didn't stop or sit at any time and my butt burns like a mother today. ;)

    I personally would NEVER add in more thant 100cals/minute of exercise. 2.5hours would be 1500cals at best. I do hill sprints and work my heart up to 180-190 at times, and I never have had my HRM give me more than than a burn of 10cals/minute. You gave yourself 2600cals from exercise, so unless you are legitimately working out for over 4 hours (which I think would be RIDICULOUS) there is no way you are burning that much.

    I use a Polar FT4.
  • Reepir
    Reepir Posts: 32 Member
    Looking over your profile with the medical issues you have that can cause water retention to be higher then normal especially when you start moving a lot more then you were before ( like with insanity). Give it around three weeks to see a change on the scale. Until then get a cloth measuring tape and take some body measurements and I am sure you will see a change there first! Also make sure you are drinking enough water before and after the work out. Drinking at least 1 liter before working out is best for your body because it will soak it up and sweat it out instead of using what you have and dehydrating you even as you drink more while moving! Make sure to drink at least 1 liter of water after as well to balance what you burn out. This is the best practice for high intensity work outs such as Insanity.

    But seriously I have been at this for 10 days lost 5 pounds in the first 4 days and haven't lost a pound since but have dropped an inch across my entire body.

    I sent you a friends request cause I have PCOS as well and I feel we can relate on a number of things!
  • CysterWigs
    CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member
    I did Insanity, and the first month I lost over 10 inches and ONE pound. I looked way different, but on the scale it only said a one pound loss. So yes, take measurements and photos. Don't worry about the scale, the scale doesn't say anything about they way your body looks.

    I followed your advice - and the advice of a few others - and took my measurements. I've lost 4.5 inches (total) from my waist and hips!!! That's crazy! :D

    I am so shocked by this!
  • CysterWigs
    CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member
    I personally would NEVER add in more thant 100cals/minute of exercise. 2.5hours would be 1500cals at best. I do hill sprints and work my heart up to 180-190 at times, and I never have had my HRM give me more than than a burn of 10cals/minute. You gave yourself 2600cals from exercise, so unless you are legitimately working out for over 4 hours (which I think would be RIDICULOUS) there is no way you are burning that much.

    I use a Polar FT4.

    I am using a MIO watch of some kind. I don't remember the model. It's pretty accurate, though, because I am enrolled in a metabolic study at UGA for the effects of aerobic exercise on fatty liver and I was able to compare my results to the ones on the monitor they have me wear for the study. It's pretty right on.

    A big reason why I burn more calories is my weight. Try doing your current routine with enough weights strapped to you that you end up weighing 250 lbs. Then you'll get why my burn rate is so much higher. Fatter people actually have faster metabolisms (on average) than people of a normal weight. Our bodies have to work a lot harder to do basically anything because we also have to support our weight.

    I don't normally work out such a "ridiculous" amount. If you look at the rest of my journal, you'll see that I average about 40 minutes or so a day. Yesterday was different because I went dancing. And you bet your sweet bippy I counted that as exercise. All 2.5 hours of it. I was sweating like a hog and had a great time doing it. (And, if any of y'all live near Athens, GA, I would be happy to have you join me next Saturday.) :)
  • kanadian_bear
    kanadian_bear Posts: 70
    Are you absolutely sure there are only 176 calories in a 32 oz chocolate shake from Sonic? I would guess it to be somewhere between 840 and 1,410 myself.
  • CysterWigs
    CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member
    Are you absolutely sure there are only 176 calories in a 32 oz chocolate shake from Sonic? I would guess it to be somewhere between 840 and 1,410 myself.

    I only had a sip of my boyfriend's shake. I did not consume one to myself. I thought I was actually over-estimating to be a tad conservative.

    Likewise, the sampler from the day before was just 1/2 a fried cheese stick, but it's hard to account for calories when you go out to eat. I always try to over-estimate a tad just to play it safe.
  • nikilis
    nikilis Posts: 2,305 Member
    you have some good advice above so I so I wont go over it.

    I'm not sure what a lunar bar is, but I'm guessing its a processed cereal bar. for 190 calories you could have an egg with a piece of toast and a pretty big serve of mushrooms with some spinach. personally, I'd say that lunar bad is doing nothing for you.

    a little bit of googling and I found a 5 best / five worst nutrition bars, luna ranked no1 worst.

    "Just because it’s advertised as a “woman’s bar” doesn’t mean it should have a place in your purse. These bars are filled with difficult-to-absorb minerals and vitamins (like Vitamin D2) that will slow your body down instead of giving you that desired burst of energy, says Hundt. We're also nervous about the amount of soy and the presence of vegetable glycerin in it, too."

    http://www.wellandgoodnyc.com/2012/07/16/the-5-best-and-worst-nutrition-bars/#the-5-best-and-worst-nutrition-bars-7

    there are 5 good options there. but you could probably do better for breakfast than something like that.

    not tryin to be a hater, just tryin to help :)
  • CysterWigs
    CysterWigs Posts: 136 Member
    not tryin to be a hater, just tryin to help :)

    I totally appreciate it. I will have to check into that. Thank you for looking that up for me. I would have never thought that would be an issue!
  • scubar17
    scubar17 Posts: 43
    You've gotten a lot of good advice and I'll just add my own experience: I've been doing a Brazil Butt Lift/Insanity/Hip Hop Abs hybrid program for 30 days now but have only lost 3.8 pounds--what a disappointment for all that sweating I've been doing! I too was asking myself, "What am I doing wrong?" "How could I not be losing more weight?" But at the same time, I've lost 9 inches; people are starting to call me skinny; and I've gotten into clothes I haven't been able to wear in years!

    I've stopped weighing myself every week--now it's only monthly and I take measurements (and photos too!). The scale really doesn't tell you the whole story so keep doing what you're doing--never give up and you'll eventually reach your goals.

    (Your fellow Georgian)
  • kanadian_bear
    kanadian_bear Posts: 70
    Are you absolutely sure there are only 176 calories in a 32 oz chocolate shake from Sonic? I would guess it to be somewhere between 840 and 1,410 myself.

    I only had a sip of my boyfriend's shake. I did not consume one to myself. I thought I was actually over-estimating to be a tad conservative.

    Likewise, the sampler from the day before was just 1/2 a fried cheese stick, but it's hard to account for calories when you go out to eat. I always try to over-estimate a tad just to play it safe.

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