Absolutely baffled... :(

BeckiCharlotte13x
BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm a 19 year old female university student. I'm. 5 ft 10 and weigh 195lbs. I've lost 15 through diet alone and was feeling really great. I joined the gym to get fit and thought it would do nothing but help he situation. I use the gym 4 times a week and usually do about between 40 and 60 minutes of cardio spread across a couple of machines (treadmill, cross trainer and rowing) and then I do some strength training too. Before, I was pretty inactive so was eating 1250 calories a day and my scales say my RMkal is about 1500.

A typical day
Breakfast: 1 whole egg and 1 egg white scrambled on 2 whole meal toast.
Lunch: Boots Shapers sandwich and snack under 400 calories / salad etc / pitta and humous
Dinner: chicken and veg, fish and veg, casserole, soups, tortilla with lots of healthy toppings.

My weight rate monitor says I burn between 250 and 400 calories a day at the gym (depends how much I'm feeling it)

For the last two weeks, I've not budged on the scale... Nor in inches. My scales tell me BMI, Muscle, Fat, Visceral Fat and all that jazz and this week, I lost no fat and gained no muscle. (I did have two cheats days at like 2000 calories but that doesn't usually happen so maybe I'll get more accurate reading next week.

I'm really gutted, I mean, I understand that it's not all about the scale and I know that by exercising I'm doing other benefits to my body but let's face it, we all want to see the scale move or see a difference in measurements.

Is this just a coincidence that I've plateau'd after joining the gym? (Can you even plateau when your 40lbs from your goal?) or am I doing something wrong?

Replies

  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
    Bump
  • DJMIKEY1
    DJMIKEY1 Posts: 523 Member
    Only advice I can give is to look at the scale rarely, just keep doing what you are doing. Eat healthy and continue your workouts then in a few weeks maybe check the scale. Just listen to your body, do you feel better, stronger, more energetic? These are the important things.
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    Don't rely too much on the scale - as previously stated you are doing the right things - if you are feeling discouraged try measuring yourself to see the difference in inches lost and weigh yourself less frequently - just keep doing what you are doing! Congrats on your loss so far!
  • action_figure
    action_figure Posts: 511 Member
    So I'm a 19 year old female university student. I'm. 5 ft 10 and weigh 195lbs. I've lost 15 through diet alone and was feeling really great. I joined the gym to get fit and thought it would do nothing but help he situation. I use the gym 4 times a week and usually do about between 40 and 60 minutes of cardio spread across a couple of machines (treadmill, cross trainer and rowing) and then I do some strength training too. Before, I was pretty inactive so was eating 1250 calories a day and my scales say my RMkal is about 1500.

    A typical day
    Breakfast: 1 whole egg and 1 egg white scrambled on 2 whole meal toast.
    Lunch: Boots Shapers sandwich and snack under 400 calories / salad etc / pitta and humous
    Dinner: chicken and veg, fish and veg, casserole, soups, tortilla with lots of healthy toppings.

    My weight rate monitor says I burn between 250 and 400 calories a day at the gym (depends how much I'm feeling it)

    For the last two weeks, I've not budged on the scale... Nor in inches. My scales tell me BMI, Muscle, Fat, Visceral Fat and all that jazz and this week, I lost no fat and gained no muscle. (I did have two cheats days at like 2000 calories but that doesn't usually happen so maybe I'll get more accurate reading next week.

    I'm really gutted, I mean, I understand that it's not all about the scale and I know that by exercising I'm doing other benefits to my body but let's face it, we all want to see the scale move or see a difference in measurements.

    Is this just a coincidence that I've plateau'd after joining the gym? (Can you even plateau when your 40lbs from your goal?) or am I doing something wrong?

    The first two or three weeks after I started working out the scale didn't move a bit. Then everything whooshed off and weight loss resumed like normal. First of all, cheat days make you retain loads of water generally, so cut that crap out. Second, when you start something new with workouts your body has an inflammatory response where it retains water, and builds up glycogen stores and all kinds of stuff to deal with the new demands placed on it. Trust your process, and continue working your plan. See what happens in a month.
  • jasonheyd
    jasonheyd Posts: 524 Member
    The first month after starting into exercise routines can be wonky. Your metabolism's likely changing, body's burning calories differently, muscles are going to retain water for repair and so on.

    Not all of those changes will be easy to accurately record through most methods of measurement (e.g. body-fat scales, etc), building muscle goes more slowly than losing fat, and a plateau as you switch gears from one to the other isn't uncommon.

    You're doing the right things. Keep at 'em and you'll see improvements.
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
    So I'm a 19 year old female university student. I'm. 5 ft 10 and weigh 195lbs. I've lost 15 through diet alone and was feeling really great. I joined the gym to get fit and thought it would do nothing but help he situation. I use the gym 4 times a week and usually do about between 40 and 60 minutes of cardio spread across a couple of machines (treadmill, cross trainer and rowing) and then I do some strength training too. Before, I was pretty inactive so was eating 1250 calories a day and my scales say my RMkal is about 1500.

    A typical day
    Breakfast: 1 whole egg and 1 egg white scrambled on 2 whole meal toast.
    Lunch: Boots Shapers sandwich and snack under 400 calories / salad etc / pitta and humous
    Dinner: chicken and veg, fish and veg, casserole, soups, tortilla with lots of healthy toppings.

    My weight rate monitor says I burn between 250 and 400 calories a day at the gym (depends how much I'm feeling it)

    For the last two weeks, I've not budged on the scale... Nor in inches. My scales tell me BMI, Muscle, Fat, Visceral Fat and all that jazz and this week, I lost no fat and gained no muscle. (I did have two cheats days at like 2000 calories but that doesn't usually happen so maybe I'll get more accurate reading next week.

    I'm really gutted, I mean, I understand that it's not all about the scale and I know that by exercising I'm doing other benefits to my body but let's face it, we all want to see the scale move or see a difference in measurements.

    Is this just a coincidence that I've plateau'd after joining the gym? (Can you even plateau when your 40lbs from your goal?) or am I doing something wrong?

    even though you might be burning stored fat, you can easily be retaining water in sufficient amounts to offset the fat loss on the scale. stick with it. the scale just gives you data points. you need lots of data points over a long period of time to see the actual trend in your weight. right now, you're too "zoomed in" on the data and can't see the big picture.

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    All I can say is that weight loss is not linear at all. Early on I lost pretty steadily, but as things went along, it became much more sporadic with whooshes and stalls and even small gains (due to water, etc) along the way. You just have to keep doing what you're doing and focus on the bigger picture...your health and wellbeing. Keep rockin' your nutrition and fitness and everything will fall into place over time. Remember that there is no finish line...your nutrition and fitness are life long endeavors. Even when you reach that goal weight, it means you've really just arrived at the starting line of a much longer and more vigorous race that is maintenance.
  • nkovacs1954
    nkovacs1954 Posts: 64 Member
    Take the battery out of the scale, don't use the scale at the gym and just keep working. A shift in your body tone and composition will happen, over a period of time if done correctly.
  • ofccat
    ofccat Posts: 284 Member
    Plauteaus are common and will occur. One thing you can do is play around with your caloric intake. Reduce it by 100 calories at a time and see if that helps. We all hit these walls.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    Personally, I only use the scale as a guide, and I don't put much faith into it's estimates of body fat and all that. They are notorious for being inaccurate.
    When I first started, I lost some weight just by dieting, and then I joined a gym. I also thought this would get my weight loss moving faster. But it didn't at first. It actually took about 8/9 weeks for the scale to really start moving. I have no idea why, but my weight loss stalled when I started exercising frequently. After that 8/9 week time frame, it started moving again and I was fine. so just keep with it, make sure your measuring all your foods accurately and you'll be fine. Just don't give up.
    I weighed 202 after giving birth to my Son, today I weigh 135 :-)
  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
    Thank you to everyone who has replied and also congratulations on all of your losses.

    Did any of you guys have to up your calories in order to see the scales budge? I don't really agree with eating back calories but have been told it might help?
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
    Thank you to everyone who has replied and also congratulations on all of your losses.

    Did any of you guys have to up your calories in order to see the scales budge? I don't really agree with eating back calories but have been told it might help?

    read all of the threads linked here. lots of good information so that you can make informed decisions and calculations to make sure your calorie goal is appropriate.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833026-important-posts-to-read
  • knra_grl
    knra_grl Posts: 1,566 Member
    Thank you to everyone who has replied and also congratulations on all of your losses.

    Did any of you guys have to up your calories in order to see the scales budge? I don't really agree with eating back calories but have been told it might help?

    I eat back some of my exercise calories but not all - double check your settings from when you started - if you set it at sedentary definately enter your exercise and eat some back. I am also usually over on protein (I like protein) I should actually reset my macros but I haven't I am seldom over on carbs and fat is iffy some days. If you look at my diary ignore yesterday (was a bad day I wrote off as a cheat day) :blushing:

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