too much too soon?

MrsEdge928
MrsEdge928 Posts: 19 Member
in Getting Started
Hi guys! I was pretty hesitant to ask but here I am so here it goes!
Background... I've been here for 2 years though last year was very lackluster.
I've lost 60 lbs since having my youngest 2 years ago.

So I started around the 4th of this month exercising for 30 minutes a day (30DS). On the 8th I was able to get an exercise bike.
At that point I started doing the 30 DS along with 30 to 45 minutes of interval restitance cardio on the bike. I have been doing this 6x a week... some days I only do 45 minutes of cardio no 30 DS.
I feel great, and have more energy to chase my toddlers around.
But I am getting discouraged. The scale is not moving. I use a hrm and always keep track of my calories burned...
I know in the beginning your body holds on to water to help repair cells and muscles. But when does this go away?
Should I cut back on the exercise? I drink about 90 Oz's of water a day.
I watch my portions, no junk, no soda. And I have actually been doing a lot of fruit and veggie smoothies....
I am currently 152 5'4....... I would like to be 130.....
Guess I'm looking for reassurance and support... this is discouraging!
thanks Guys!

Replies

  • Kenazwa
    Kenazwa Posts: 278 Member
    Maybe your calories consumed and your exercise calories burned are not in the proper balance. Go over to fat2fit or some other site and calculate your calories and activities then make the adjustments.

    Or go back to what worked before.

    Good luck!
  • Duchy82
    Duchy82 Posts: 560 Member
    Have you measured your waist and hips you might find you're losing inches instead, with that much exercise you will be building up muscle and muscle is more dense than fat which could explain why you haven't lost anything.
  • Shuuma
    Shuuma Posts: 465 Member
    Congratulations on your great loss so far!

    Are you weighing all your foods? Maybe you're actually eating at maintenance and not aware? My only suggestions would be weigh everything, eat at a deficit, and drink lots of water. I know that if my sodium is at or even a smidge over daily recommended amounts, I retain a ton of water, so I'm always looking at sodium levels. (I realize that is a personal thing for me, but I had no clue I was so sensitive to sodium until I started tracking on MFP.)

    Hang in there! You're doing great!
  • oneloopygirl
    oneloopygirl Posts: 151 Member
    How many calories a day are you currently consuming? Do you eat exercise calories earned (or at least some of them)? If you're not eating enough, your body will fight to hold on to what it can to sustain itself... Some people think that's strange, but it is true. Eating too little can be just as bad as too much. I run or do step aerobics pretty regularly and I generally eat no fewer than 1/2 of my exercise calories (some days I don't quite make that, but generally, I do). Some muscle water retention is pretty normal after any strenuous workout, no matter how long you've been exercising regularly. That's why even experienced runners, lifters, etc, know to get not work the same parts of the body every day and to build in rest days.

    And watch your protein intake. Protein will help those muscles faster.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I see a lot of empty or incomplete days in your diary. Accurate logging is key, weighing and measuring foods whenever possible. Guessing or estimating leads to eating more than you think, and my be the reason you're not seeing any progress.

    Log everything, do your best to meet your daily goal (goal means GOAL, not something to fall well short of - eat those calories!), and pay attention to your macros as well.

    Calorie deficit for weight loss, exercise for fitness - awesome combination for a better bod! :smile:
  • MrsEdge928
    MrsEdge928 Posts: 19 Member
    I don't log on here everyday. something I am still trying to get into the rhythm of. But I estimate I eat between 1200 to 1400 cals a day. The days I do log everything, I usually eat back 50% or more of my earned calories. I eat until Iam full, not stuffed. Like I said before I have been making shakes for 1 or 2 of my meals, usually breakfast and dinner..... Thanks for the replies!
  • Shuuma
    Shuuma Posts: 465 Member
    I don't log on here everyday. something I am still trying to get into the rhythm of. But I estimate I eat between 1200 to 1400 cals a day. The days I do log everything, I usually eat back 50% or more of my earned calories. I eat until Iam full, not stuffed. Like I said before I have been making shakes for 1 or 2 of my meals, usually breakfast and dinner..... Thanks for the replies!

    I think we can greatly underestimate calories consumed. I know I can't look at something and even come close to estimating correctly. I realize I'm flawed that way, but even if I'm weighing something I can't estimate it even close to actual calories. I suggest logging everything. If you cook from home, put in your recipes and then select from there. I also log in advance and that helps immensely.
  • kaylawa
    kaylawa Posts: 1
    The first couple weeks of starting a weight loss plan I don't see the scale move at all. That's because you're building muscle which weighs more than fat. The more muscle you have the more cardio you can do with great form! After the initial muscle gain the bad stuff will start falling off. And don't forget to drink a lot of water to clean out your system!
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    The first couple weeks of starting a weight loss plan I don't see the scale move at all. That's because you're building muscle which weighs more than fat. The more muscle you have the more cardio you can do with great form! After the initial muscle gain the bad stuff will start falling off. And don't forget to drink a lot of water to clean out your system!

    False. You can't really build muscle on a calorie deficit. There is such a thing as newbie gains but especially with women given our low testosterone levels, you're not going to build enough muscle to make up for a stall or gain on the scale.
    As the OP pointed out, what actually happens is water and glycogen retention in your muscles which is part of the natural healing process.

    OP, don't stop doing what you're doing. Exercise isn't just about losing weight - again, especially for us women, it's about much more. Think of your health (cardio vascular), mobility, flexibility and bone strength - all good reasons to stay active as we age. Also, exercising helps to retain that lean body mass (LBM) so you don't end up losing muscle along with the fat.

    It does take some time to balance out and it's common for folks not to see big losses while doing 30DS. Give it more time, drink plenty of water and definitely be more strict with your logging.

    Best of luck!
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
    You are eating too much if you aren't losing.
  • MrsEdge928
    MrsEdge928 Posts: 19 Member
    Can someone recommend an affordable food scale?
  • Followingsea
    Followingsea Posts: 407 Member
    Can someone recommend an affordable food scale?

    Go to Amazon, search for food scales, filter by 4 stars and up, and find one in your price range. Make sure you find one with a Tare (zero) function, and check to make sure that it allows weight by multiple units (oz, g, whatever).
  • crystalewhite
    crystalewhite Posts: 422 Member
    This is the one I recently purchased and I love it.

    http://www.amazon.com/EatSmart-Precision-Digital-Kitchen-Silver/dp/B001N07KUE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1390843564&sr=8-2&keywords=food+scale
  • mdiaz0188
    mdiaz0188 Posts: 20 Member
    I agree, your either eating a little over your recommended calorie intake or it could be that although your doing a descent amount of exercise (time-wise), maybe the level or intensity of the actual exercise isn't as high as it should be in order to burn enough calories needed to lose the weight. If so, try pushing yourself a little harder, are you really giving it your 110% or just half doing the work I guess is what I'm trying to get to. I know I've had to sit down a few times before and really start analyzing my whole routine left to right in order to figure out what I was doing wrong..... :) With that being said, Good luck and let us know your progress!
  • Shuuma
    Shuuma Posts: 465 Member
    Can someone recommend an affordable food scale?

    I got my digital food scale from Walmart for 19 bucks. Love it!
  • MrsEdge928
    MrsEdge928 Posts: 19 Member
    Thanks... I'll be getting a food scale as soon as I can! Birthday present for myself! lol.... as for not working hard when I am working out...... When I'm doing the 30 DS... I'm on day 16 L2..... I cannot always do the hard moves but I keep moving and keep up with them. When I am on my bike I push as hard as I can, until it hurts and then more.... I wear a HRM and my heart rate is always in the middle to the higher part of the spectrum... I think my problem here is logging. I need to constitently log for a week, then reevaluate my cals.... Thanks for the replies!
  • Scuds_NC
    Scuds_NC Posts: 6 Member
    Also on the food scale piece, increment is really important for accuracy. I've seen some very cheap ones that will only measure in 5 gram increments, which to me, just doesn't cut it. The one I currently have is 2 gram, which I, personally, am happy with.
  • Colleen118
    Colleen118 Posts: 491 Member
    OP I have done the 30DS 3 times, each time I had to dump the scale and turn to the tape measure to see the results. JM is NOtorious for her routines helping to gain muscle which can be a demotivator if you are only looking at a number. You WILL LOSE on the program but you will feel a LOT better about it if you use the tape measure weekly and leave the scale alone until the end... Just my personal experience with her programs in general. I LOVE her programs!
  • michealashton
    michealashton Posts: 4
    Something to keep in mind. Muscle outweights fat. So if your doing a lot of resistance training/walking etc you are going to add muscle to your frame even as you burn fat off. So a scale is not going to be the ideal way to keep track of your progress. My friend GAINED 15 lbs and lost 2 inches off his waste going to the gym 3 times a week to give you an idea. But he LOOKED much better.
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    Based on MFP's BMI calculator, it takes 1429 calories to run your body per day, with no activity.

    If you add your exercise calories per day to that number, you'll get your approximate TDEE (this does not factor in non exercise activity).

    For example, if you burn say 500 calories per day running for 1-2 hours, your TDEE would be around 1929.

    If you eat anywhere in BETWEEN 1429 and 1929, you would lose weight.

    This is simply a guide, you will have to adjust your intake until you start to see a downward movement in weight.

    I recommend lowering intake by 100 calories every 3 weeks - 4 weeks (habits form in 3-4 weeks) until you see a loss.

    IMHO - based on my personal experience.
  • MrsEdge928
    MrsEdge928 Posts: 19 Member
    Based on MFP's BMI calculator, it takes 1429 calories to run your body per day, with no activity.

    If you add your exercise calories per day to that number, you'll get your approximate TDEE (this does not factor in non exercise activity).

    For example, if you burn say 500 calories per day running for 1-2 hours, your TDEE would be around 1929.

    If you eat anywhere in BETWEEN 1429 and 1929, you would lose weight.

    This is simply a guide, you will have to adjust your intake until you start to see a downward movement in weight.

    I recommend lowering intake by 100 calories every 3 weeks - 4 weeks (habits form in 3-4 weeks) until you see a loss.

    IMHO - based on my personal experience.
    Thank you for this. from everything I have read here and elsewhere, this is my understanding of losing.
    I just need to get my logging down and I think I will be successful using this method.
  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    Heart rate monitors do two things: they tell you how fast your heart is beating, and they use a formula to estimate how many calories you burn doing exercise.

    But the formulas were designed for steady-state cardio exercise, where you're going at a constant intensity, and any changes are gradual. They are not very accurate for interval training and they're next to useless for strength training. The partial exception are the handful of HRMs that use Firstbeat's proprietary technology, but those are quite expensive.

    Also, you're probably eating more than you think, like most of us:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    I don't log on here everyday
    you have to do this, (well, you don't have to log HERE but, you have to log somewhere) otherwise you really can't say how many calories you are eating. So may people think they can estimate, that logging it all isn't important...but the majority of successful people on this site log every day (or did for months or years until they created the necessary understanding and habits.) Plus, if you can't look at the data and see what you have been truly doing every day...then you won't know what needs to change if things aren't working.

    also as others have mentioned...weigh your food. the difference between an actual single serving of peanut butter measured by weight and what most people measure out as 2 tbsp, even using a measuring spoon...can be off by quite a bit. If you are consistently underestimating calories, you are killing your deficit. A "large" apple, as listed in the database, is a LOT lighter/smaller than what I consider a large apple by my standards.

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