What is going wrong with my workout plan?!?!

theguy12
theguy12 Posts: 156
in Fitness and Exercise
Uggg - been working out and eating right since August 8th.

Stepped on scale for first time today - 2 pounds heavier than when I started. Very disheartening.

Not sure how this can be considering I have cut about 7500 calories per week from my old unhealthy diet to my new healthy diet and started working out three times a week for an hour (30 minutes interval training on treadmill + 30 minute hard core circuit training workout). I am pouring sweat when I leave - I work hard - people even walk by and comment on how heavy I am breathing and how much I am sweating.

What could be going wrong? Any ideas?

I will just keep it up and see what happens. Sucks to not see results though.

Replies

  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    are you measuring your actual size?

    How are you're clothes fitting?

    4 weeks isn't that long of a time depending on how great of a deficit you are running and how over weight you are.

    Also- sweating is a terrible indicator of how hard you are working- some people just sweat more than others. IF you really want to know about that- invest in a heart rate monitor.

    Also if you don't have a tremendous amount of weight to lose (like cutting BF from 15% to 13%... takes a while- and it's really hard- much easier to cut 30 lbs off of someone who is 100 + lbs over weight)... it's going to just plan flat out take longer.

    A month is nothing- relax. Take your time- remember-it's an ultra marathon not a half marathon- not a sprint.

    Weight loss is also primarily a function of diet- so you may need to re-evaluate your TDEE at this point- I had to redo mine after losing size. the difference was almost 500 calories (sad panda)
  • theguy12
    theguy12 Posts: 156
    Yes - I am a big boy. Started at 302 and lost like 8-9 pounds pretty fas in July.

    Then I got with my personal trainer and developed a weight busting routine and every since have ended up gaining weight. That started Aug 8th.

    I will obviously stick with it and keep trying.

    Last year I lost 30 pounds. I obviously gained it all back - boo. I guess I am just used to seeing like 5-10 pounds fall off each month like last year. Not gaining weight like this year.
  • ElliottTN
    ElliottTN Posts: 1,614 Member
    Probably should open that food diary up if you are going to asks these kind of questions.
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
    Step away from the scale and get yourself a measuring tape!!! Especially if you are working with weights. Stick with it and the weight will fall off. When IT wants to.
  • theguy12
    theguy12 Posts: 156
    Not sure how to open my diary....
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,589 MFP Moderator
    I was able to see your diary - it seems very up and down - you seem to go way over some days and starve yourself otherdays which is probably not too good for you - also might want to think about learning to cook and provide some of your own meals- seems like you eat out all the time which usually adds up to lots of fat, salt, and calories
  • NataBost
    NataBost Posts: 418 Member
    I think you opened it as I can view it. Do you track your water at all? The past few days I viewed, your counter = 0.
  • kywatts
    kywatts Posts: 3 Member
    Perhaps you should measure your arms/legs to see if you notice a different. Do your clothing feel different? When I started it was inches before pounds!!
  • theguy12
    theguy12 Posts: 156
    I do not track water - didn't know that mattered.

    I do not eat out unless it's a rare circumstance like last weekend we had a pizza party for my fiance's dad. Another time recently I was stuck in a strip mall 4 hours waiting for our wedding ring to get done - only food option was a restaurant.

    All week I never eat out - it happens rarely on weekends. Haven't been to fast food place in forever. I thought the goal was to stay at or under my calories which I do nearly every day - only gone over a few times from what I can see.
  • CoachDreesTraining
    CoachDreesTraining Posts: 223 Member
    If you just started with the weights, your muscles are probably retaining more fluids than you're used to.
  • froeschli
    froeschli Posts: 1,293 Member
    if you only just started with strength training, it can take a while for the weight to catch up. you'll probably see a difference in the mirror before you see one on the scale...

    water is important because it helps your kidneys function properly, which then allows your liver to break down fat. if the liver is busy picking up slack because the kidneys aren't able to function properly, then the fat breakdown isn't a priority... or something like that. (says the one who doesn't log water either :tongue:)

    just make sure you measure your food, not guesstimate, and stay consistent. if things don't start changing after a few weeks, re-examine what you are doing (maybe you're being too optimistic with exercise calories?) and change things up accordingly.
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
    Here's a few things I would suggest:

    1. Since you are lifting, how many days a week? You are not logging it consistently. I would significantly up your protein to feed your muscles. Ditch the weight loss shake and have a protein shake instead for breakfast.

    2. Track your water!! I would bet you are not drinking enough.

    3. Watch your sodium better. I noticed in your diary there are some home made items that don't have sodium accounted for. Soups are great for low calorie lunches but are loaded with sodium, so are most of the frozen meals.

    4. I'm not sure about all the snack bars you are eating. Some of them are really good, some are loaded with sugar. Be careful said the one who eats a lot of snack bars. I also snack on a lot of nuts, and have fruit with lunch.

    5. I see no fruit and hardly any vegetables in your diary. Fruits and vegetables are great to fuel your workouts and to refuel your body post-workout.

    6. Add more protein rich meats such as chicken, turkey, salmon, other fish, etc.

    The workouts are the easy part, eating is the hard part. I'm on a very tight grocery budget, heck some weeks I have no grocery money at all, but I always make it a priority to have protein powder, peanut butter, almond butter, some nuts, fruit, and some frozen vegetables (the ones you can steam with no sauce) in the house. When I go out I plan ahead and look up what I want before I order it so I know what I'm getting nutritionally. When I do eat pizza, it's one or maybe two slices with a huge salad and I dip my fork in the dressing. Do I eat healthy? Heck no, not all the time, not even 75% of the time. But I make it work. It's about balance and learning how to control what you eat and how to make good food decisions. Learn how to read labels, not just calories but the entire label. Remember you are making a lifestyle change if you want this to be permanent.

    Good luck.

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