Trying not to be discouraged :-/

gnalani
gnalani Posts: 126
in Motivation and Support
Hi all, I weighed in today and the scale hadn't budged at all from last week. so discouraging. I have been exercising hard (burning about 1000 calories a workout with 5 workouts a week) and eating about 1700-1800 calories a day and drinking enough water. MFP has me at 1630 calories and I haven't been hitting it exactly. I don't eat back my exercise calories because I had previously tried that and it didn't work.

I have two triathlons coming up so I can't do smaller workouts right now, it's just not an option.

I lost 90ish lbs several years ago and then gained 40 lbs in the last year. Now I'm trying to lose weight again for the first time in a while and am totally stuck.

I would love advice about how to break out of this. Should I be eating more? Other calorie counters say that I should be at 2200 calories to lose weight, not 1630. Should I be eating at exactly 1630 (considering I've been a just a little over every day)? I also realized that I have been eating about 200 cals in the morning before my big morning workouts, maybe should I be eating a bigger breakfast?

Any advice would be appreciated, especially from those who have experienced similar situations. Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    1. Weight loss is not linear and it's completely normal to have some weeks where you don't lose.

    2. Good luck completing two triathlons while netting 700-800 calories a day.

    (yeah... I think you should eat a bit more. :ohwell: )
  • irivas1
    irivas1 Posts: 35 Member
    As I'm new to all of this, I can't give you direction. However, I can say that I do see some positives. Your weight is stable, you are not gaining. This is positive. From your story and your ticker, your stats are impressive and motivating to me. I do very little exercise, whereas you are active (so impressive).

    I have noticed that at times my ticker doesn't move at all. When the number on the scale discourages me (and this is often) I try on a garment from my few clothing that "used to fit" and I notice quite a difference. I am sure you have been here too!

    Therefore, as someone who has lost fifteen pounds (and it has been one of the most difficult journeys that I have elected to follow);
    I am inspired by your story and progress! I see you as successful! This is all I can offer and I wish you continued success.

    PS: I will revisit this post to see what feedback you receive, so that I may learn too. I hope that is okay with you. :happy:
  • AmyZ46
    AmyZ46 Posts: 694 Member
    I went two whole weeks at 254- then lost 8lbs the next week ? didn't change much either ? I don't know if there was too much salt in my diet while I was down home or what . maybe I exercised harder I don't know.

    Don't get discouraged , keep doing it till you get it right. Mkae sure you are tracking everything ...


    Amy
  • HideyoshiKinoshita
    HideyoshiKinoshita Posts: 46 Member
    I would worry over it. ^.^ As long as you know you're doing everything right then it'll pay off eventually.
    I've experienced this myself!
  • C12254
    C12254 Posts: 198
    its only been a week! give it more time, and net more calories!
  • bluejade11
    bluejade11 Posts: 4 Member
    I'm new to this too and don't have much advice, but just wanted to tell you to not give up, you can do this! Keep at it!
  • wamydia
    wamydia Posts: 259 Member
    How long have you been doing this intense workout program? If you just started, it is possible that you have lost fat and/or muscle weight, but it is being masked by weight gain that is not uncommon at the beginning of a new exercise push.
    http://www.shapingconcepts.com/blog/why-did-i-gain-weight-in-the-beginning-of-my-workout-program/

    I too am concerned that you are not taking in enough calories overall. It sounds like you are only netting around 700 a day and that is way too low. You should definitely be eating more, but make sure you are tracking accurately at the same time.
  • grimendale
    grimendale Posts: 2,153 Member
    Eat more to weigh less. It is not uncommon for people to stall out for months, up their calorie intake and then start losing fat again. I broke a six month plateau that way, and I was only eating at a healthy deficit, not the extremely large one you are running. Eating more would probably help. Understand that it is likely you will gain weight when you start eating more. Note I said weight, not fat. Replenishing of glycogen stores and water retention as you eat more can cause an apparent weight gain. This is why so many people say that eating more "didn't work". It did, but they saw a gain due to water and freaked out. Track body measurements. You won't see any major increases in a tape measure when you retain the water like you will on the scale.

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