Scale Stalling, Need motivation!

choonchez
choonchez Posts: 5 Member
in Motivation and Support
A little bit of background, I started MFP this past October and have been extremely pleased with the results. I decided it was time to ramp things up and I joined a gym about two weeks ago. I am in love! I look forward to going every evening and do about an hour of cardio and a little bit of strength training (I'm still learning) and stretching. I thought it would be the perfect thing to really get serious and kick things into gear for looking great!

Well as of right now, I am GAINING weight. I know that to a degree this is normal due to water retention and possibly newly formed muscle (I was really out of shape) but it's been two weeks and I thought that I should be steadily dropping off again like before. Please please please someone tell me I will continue to lose! I do eat back most of my exercise calories because I'm already at a pretty high deficit. Should I not be eating them? HELP!

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    Eat them, you are not gaining fat. Toss the scale and buy a tape measure. Be patient.
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    Congratulations on taking this step to a healthier you!

    Measure and log your food, drink your water, do your workouts and stay off the scale for a couple of weeks.
  • wenatplay
    wenatplay Posts: 6
    A little bit of background, I started MFP this past October and have been extremely pleased with the results. I decided it was time to ramp things up and I joined a gym about two weeks ago. I am in love! I look forward to going every evening and do about an hour of cardio and a little bit of strength training (I'm still learning) and stretching. I thought it would be the perfect thing to really get serious and kick things into gear for looking great!

    Well as of right now, I am GAINING weight. I know that to a degree this is normal due to water retention and possibly newly formed muscle (I was really out of shape) but it's been two weeks and I thought that I should be steadily dropping off again like before. Please please please someone tell me I will continue to lose! I do eat back most of my exercise calories because I'm already at a pretty high deficit. Should I not be eating them? HELP!

    Thanks in advance!

    i will admit to opening your thread because i had hoped to see an answer. i've lost about 4 lbs in 4 weeks and when my scale stalled i panicked. looking back i think it was because i had been consuming more 'bad' calories but at the time i did a panic search on google. lots of differing opinions. cut back a bit, exercise more, etc. cutting back seems a bit dicey because most as likely the scale will stall again another time & are you supposed to drop the cals even more??? seems kind of unhealthy.

    the one suggestion that seemed like it made sense was upping the cals just a bit. it **seems** we should up our cals a bit BUT eat smaller more frequent meals. supposedly those 2 things in tandem should re-rev the metabolism. i don't know for sure because i didn't try it. altho if the scale is mean to me on monday i think i will be doing just that

    feel free to add me as your friend as i would be very interested to hear what eventually works for you & getting the mean scale to start moving back down :smile:
  • Ferrous_Female_Dog
    Ferrous_Female_Dog Posts: 221 Member
    Eat them, you are not gaining fat. Toss the scale and buy a tape measure. Be patient.

    This. Your body is still adjusting to new activity. Plus your period could be coming up, and that causes water retention. So many factors.

    Measuring tape > scale
  • choonchez
    choonchez Posts: 5 Member
    A little bit of background, I started MFP this past October and have been extremely pleased with the results. I decided it was time to ramp things up and I joined a gym about two weeks ago. I am in love! I look forward to going every evening and do about an hour of cardio and a little bit of strength training (I'm still learning) and stretching. I thought it would be the perfect thing to really get serious and kick things into gear for looking great!

    Well as of right now, I am GAINING weight. I know that to a degree this is normal due to water retention and possibly newly formed muscle (I was really out of shape) but it's been two weeks and I thought that I should be steadily dropping off again like before. Please please please someone tell me I will continue to lose! I do eat back most of my exercise calories because I'm already at a pretty high deficit. Should I not be eating them? HELP!

    Thanks in advance!

    i will admit to opening your thread because i had hoped to see an answer. i've lost about 4 lbs in 4 weeks and when my scale stalled i panicked. looking back i think it was because i had been consuming more 'bad' calories but at the time i did a panic search on google. lots of differing opinions. cut back a bit, exercise more, etc. cutting back seems a bit dicey because most as likely the scale will stall again another time & are you supposed to drop the cals even more??? seems kind of unhealthy.

    the one suggestion that seemed like it made sense was upping the cals just a bit. it **seems** we should up our cals a bit BUT eat smaller more frequent meals. supposedly those 2 things in tandem should re-rev the metabolism. i don't know for sure because i didn't try it. altho if the scale is mean to me on monday i think i will be doing just that

    feel free to add me as your friend as i would be very interested to hear what eventually works for you & getting the mean scale to start moving back down :smile:

    I'm not sure that it's a metabolism issue because I have been stimulating it quite a bit… I never had a stall when I was just dieting… We shall see
  • choonchez
    choonchez Posts: 5 Member
    Eat them, you are not gaining fat. Toss the scale and buy a tape measure. Be patient.

    This. Your body is still adjusting to new activity. Plus your period could be coming up, and that causes water retention. So many factors.

    Measuring tape > scale

    Hehe my TOM is coming up in about a week… I know I should ditch the scale. It's just hard dealing with its betrayal after being useful so far, ya know?
  • SwedishMel
    SwedishMel Posts: 95 Member
    I agree with ignoring the scale for a little bit. I'm obsessed with the scale right now, but I do understand that you can stay the same weight & lose inches at the same time. :smile: You might not notice it since it's still new to you (the gym), but you're probably losing a little here, and a little there. If you keep doing what you're doing you'll wake up one day to put on your pants and wonder why they're suddenly so loose. Even if the scale doesn't move. Don't stress over it. You seem to be doing fine.:wink:
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    Be patient. Scales lie. My scale didn't budge but I knew I was doing something right when my pants started to fall off. Don't be a slave to the numbers.

Categories