Confused!

Hello All,

I've been trying to lose weight since the beginning of June. The first month all I was doing was eating really clean and healthy, staying around the 1400-1500 calorie range, not really working out. It went great, I lost 11 lbs and about 15 inches. So then in July I continued with the healthy eating but added Turbo Fire in for a workout. That's when everything came to a complete stop! I did not lose one pound or one inch in all of July. So a week ago I decided to stop working out and continue to eat healthy and see what my body would do. Today I weighed in and ended up losing 2.4 lbs in a week. So now I'm confused, how is it that when I just eat right I see great results but when I add in exercise, I see zero results? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!

I should also add, I drink half my body weight in ounces every day and I have about 100 lbs to lose.

Replies

  • ritchiedrama
    ritchiedrama Posts: 1,304 Member
    You were obviously eating more calories whilst exercising..
  • lizziecheek
    lizziecheek Posts: 65 Member
    I would need a little more information to be of any benefit to you. How much do you weight? How tall? Is 1,400-1500 calories what is recommended by MFP when all is calculated?
  • ThisIsIt04
    ThisIsIt04 Posts: 8 Member
    I weigh about 250 lbs and I'm 5'7' and yes that is what MFP recommends.
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    You should make your diary public so we can evaluate what you were doing. Several things could be going on - muscles retain water when you exercise so it could have just been water retention. You may not have been eating enough calories for your activity level. You may have eaten too many calories to compensate for the exercise. Have you calculated your TDEE for the activity level you were at when you were exercising?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    To some extent, it's water. When you work out with high intensity you tear your muscles up...they have to repair and require water for this purpose...so you retain a lot more water than you otherwise would. That said, you should still see some loss over the course of a month if you were truly at a deficit...but it is usually slower on the scale when you're working out with any intensity.

    When I take a rest week I easily drop about 5 Lbs of water...I put that back on as soon as I start cranking away on the weights again.
  • lizziecheek
    lizziecheek Posts: 65 Member
    Have you noticed any other changes that can indicate loss? Clothes looser? I'm 5'7 and my caloric intake is set at 1,651 calories per day. I am much heavier than you. For someone your height you should eat around 1,500 or so calories and really shouldn't go lower than 1,500. If you are eating closer to 1,400 that can be a reason. My experience for weight loss is 75% is diet and 25% exercise. Keep exercising and as one person said if you open up your diary others can perhaps look at what you are eating and offer advice.