Really frustrated with slow weight loss

jgerard83
jgerard83 Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
Ok so I am really frustrated.. I started working out again about a month ago at 158 pounds, I have yoyoed in weight for years and I am trying to get it off again and keep it off. I have been going to the gym 4 days a week and I usually workout for 40-50 minutes total including warm up and cool down. I am only thirty years old, I know as you age it gets harder to lose weight. I just turned 30 on Dec 28 and its so much harder than it was in my twenties to lose weight. So.. I started out at 158 and weighed in this morning.. although my eating habits still arent the best I have been trying to eat better and continue to work out but when I weighed in this morning it said 157.5.. really frustrating and didnt seem right to me because my fiance said my face looked thinner and my chest looked smaller as well, but of course my shorts are still extremely snug so I know I am definitely not into the 140 yet. When I reach 140s in weight my clothes fit nicer. I am wondering if I could be retaining alot of salt and or water and that could be why the scale is still as high as it is. I try to eat 1500 calories or less every day and I usually try to record what I eat in the my fitness pal app but lately counting every calorie is driving me insane so I have taken a break from logging. I am so frustrated. I do still occassionally eat fast food in small quantities and I do eat alot of foods high in salt. I also sometimes go over in my calories but then I usually work out harder the next day or add more time to my workout. I am going to be starting to lift this week so I am hoping that will help but my weight just wont budge. How did I only lose a half a pound in a month? its so frustrating, I have really been trying to eat better and some days I go over in nutrients and calories but I feel like I work out enough to be losing. The good news is at least I didnt maintain or gain any weight. I am getting married May 22 its a beach wedding at the outer banks NC and I am trying to get down to 140 145. I am 5 5 so that is a good weight for me. I am soo frustrated. Could it be water weight and salt retention? Do diuretics help to reduce alot of water weight so that you can get a better more accurate reading on the scale? I also just came off of my cycle about 2/3 days ago so I am wondering if I could be holding water there. I am so frustrated but I am not going to give up because I enjoy working out and I really want to lose the weight and feel good again. I am so unhappy and frustrated with the scale reading today. Please help! :(

Replies

  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    Accurate and consistent logging is key. Measure and weigh your foods as much as possible (get a food scale if you don't have one - they don't cost much!), and log everything you eat, every day.

    Even after two years of consistent tracking I find I quickly go overboard if I'm not accurately logging my foods throughout the day, and end up well over my goal.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    I try to eat 1500 calories or less every day...

    Your diary is not consistent with this.
  • jgerard83
    jgerard83 Posts: 20
    yes I am aware. There are days that I go over, but for somebody that has major issues with eating healthy foods, it is very hard to change.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    Working out is all well and good but its how much you eat that will make a difference, period. Adhere to your goal as set by MFP, measure your liquids and weigh your solids, eat back 50-80% of your workout calories to account for any potential inaccuracies.

    Taking a break from logging when you aren't consistent as is isnt going to help. If you want it then woman up and commit.

    Weight loss isnt fast. You didnt out in weight all at once and you won't lose it all at once.
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
    things like ''small quantities'' of fast food are going to add buttloads of calories to your day and if you're not logging it, chances are you are consuming more than you think you are.
  • Sunitagt
    Sunitagt Posts: 486 Member
    yes I am aware. There are days that I go over, but for somebody that has major issues with eating healthy foods, it is very hard to change.

    How do you know? You don't even have anything logged for many days. Start by consistently logging your food, and weighing/measuring it out. That should start to help right away.
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    things like ''small quantities'' of fast food are going to add buttloads of calories to your day and if you're not logging it, chances are you are consuming more than you think you are.

    Because all fast food is calorie dense? Nonsense.
  • Kevalicious99
    Kevalicious99 Posts: 1,131 Member
    First of all .. ditch the scale and take your measurements if you haven't already done that. That is a much better test of success than the scale.

    The scale is great for weighing all of you .. water. organs, fat and muscle etc but it sucks at measuring success. It cannot tell you if you are losing or gaining muscle or body fat. Sorry .. I know there are scales out there that claim to do this ... but they are really inaccurate for the most part.

    Good luck
  • Sreneesa
    Sreneesa Posts: 1,170 Member
    First of all .. ditch the scale and take your measurements if you haven't already done that. That is a much better test of success than the scale.

    The scale is great for weighing all of you .. water. organs, fat and muscle etc but it sucks at measuring success. It cannot tell you if you are losing or gaining muscle or body fat. Sorry .. I know there are scales out there that claim to do this ... but they are really inaccurate for the most part.

    Good luck

    IM Confused. How can she gain muscle in a deficit? Maintain, change the shape and strengthen, perhaps but gain? Thought that was impossible on a deficit. ?
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
    First of all .. ditch the scale and take your measurements if you haven't already done that. That is a much better test of success than the scale.

    The scale is great for weighing all of you .. water. organs, fat and muscle etc but it sucks at measuring success. It cannot tell you if you are losing or gaining muscle or body fat. Sorry .. I know there are scales out there that claim to do this ... but they are really inaccurate for the most part.

    Good luck

    IM Confused. How can she gain muscle in a deficit? Maintain, change the shape and strengthen, perhaps but gain? Thought that was impossible on a deficit. ?

    She is not gaining any appreciable muscle at a deficit.
  • jillby6666
    jillby6666 Posts: 13 Member
    I am right there with you! I have been logging for 21 days and have not lost a full pound. I am trying to keep to 1200-1500 cals and all of the other numbers are within range most of the time. Sodium tends to be the one I go over on. I am consider doing a few weeks of fasting for 2 days per week to get my metabolism going. I am 47 and have been at my present weight within 5 lbs for several years, but I'm tired of not wanting to look at myself in pictures. I am trying to lose 25-30 lbs. Any suggestions?
    Oh, I do work out very regularly, 4 times a week or more.
  • evileen99
    evileen99 Posts: 1,564 Member
    You can't out-exercise a bad diet. Weight loss is probably 80% what you eat and 20% what you do. If you're not going to track calories, you're going to have trouble reaching your goal.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    yes I am aware. There are days that I go over, but for somebody that has major issues with eating healthy foods, it is very hard to change.

    you dont need to eat healthy foods to lose weight you just need to stick to your calorie goal

    obviously there are health benefits to eating fruit and veg, but essentially the main thing for weight loss is a calorie deficit and patience.
  • zapampnmp
    zapampnmp Posts: 21
    If you are working out you are building muscles. Muscles weigh more than fat. You could be losing inches but the scale could be at same spot. Take out a tape measure. Your fiancee says you can see the difference in your face and your chest so I can only assume you are getting smaller. Some of us lose our guts last… you said your pants are still tight and that could be true for many many inches {I know I can stretch a waist band like a bandit!} so go by your belt if you wear one. Are you still struggling to get it into that certain hole or is it easier? Have you moved down a hole? If no, and going by what your fiancé said {face & chest} how easy is it to button the top button of a dress shirt {i know not everybody wears them but if you do….} My Beloved One sometimes will put on a shirt and feel like he is being choked and that is how he knows he is gaining. The opposite holds true… he knows he is losing when he is no longer being strangled.

    I am not working out {yet!} but if I were I would probably ditch the scale entirely
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    yes I am aware. There are days that I go over, but for somebody that has major issues with eating healthy foods, it is very hard to change.

    Well you won't lose weight until you decide to change your diet. Weight loss happens in the kitchen, fitness happens in the gym. No workout can cancel out a bad diet.
  • cafeaulait7
    cafeaulait7 Posts: 2,459 Member
    When it's early on and someone started an exercise program, I think it's just hard to tell exactly what is happening. What helped me tremendously when I lost zilch at first was looking at my very accurate logging (that I still do on an old site for their awesome graphs -- sorry). I KNEW I was eating less and moving more and the math involved helped me trust that.

    It turns out that I did want to bump my calories down a bit because I was only losing 1/3 of a pound a week (which looked like not losing at first). Even with the water weight possibilities, I figured over 8 weeks was too long to only lose that little (for me). So I bumped them down a bit. Voila! Faster weight loss, without dropping into calorie levels that would drive me batty.

    So logging extremely accurately really is so helpful, imho. I take a daily weight and average it for the week, have a column for gross calories and net calories and average them separately for the week, etc. My TOM days are all in red, lol. I put exercise days out in another column for each day. I mean, I know what's going on to the best of my ability. I definitely compare what I should have lost to what I did lose, and it'll take a little while to catch up sometimes, but it does catch up and fit really nicely. I just do it in Excel, so it's not as complicated as it might sound and just takes a second to log :)

    I definitely recommend a tape measure, too. I haven't had that stall as often as the scale does. But sometimes it does, too (especially during TOM).

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