Frustrated! Advice?

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llbrown89
llbrown89 Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been sort of trying to lose weight for a few years, but I got serious Feb 1. I joined a new gym, logged back into MFP, and vowed this would be the year that I finally shed the extra 20 pounds I've been carrying.

I have a goal of 1300 calories per day, exercising 4 times per week.

I just looked at my net calorie report and for the past month, I have been reaching my goal consistently (sometimes 100 calories above, sometimes a 100 calories below, but never more than that).

I have been working out even more than the goal I set. I have been working out 5 or 6 times each week. I usually do about 30 minutes of strength training, followed by 20 minutes of cardio (elliptcal or stairmaster). I got my workout routine from a personal trainer at my gym, so I know it's effective.

But I'm feeling so frustrated, because even though I'm meeting or exceeding the goals I've set, the scale says I've gained a pound.

I don't know what's going on. Anyone have ideas?

Replies

  • darleneasher328
    darleneasher328 Posts: 17 Member
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    I wish someone would reply. I'm in the same boat.
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
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    Difficult to tell on limited information. How did you arrive at 1300? You may be under eating and your body is holding on to every calorie. Are you eating back exercise calories? You may be experiencing some water retention do to new exercises.
  • llbrown89
    llbrown89 Posts: 2
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    MFP gave me a goal of 1200, which I changed to 1300 because 1200 just seemed impossible.

    I am eating back exercise calories. According to MFP, my usual workout burns about 300 calories. This might not be totally accurate of course. But I usually eat 100-200 extra calories on work out days, in the form of peanut butter or veggies and hummus.

    Honestly, what I'm hoping to hear is that sometimes weight loss just takes a while to get going. The whole idea of "starvation mode" just seems silly to me. I'm creating a calorie deficit, so I should be losing weight. Maybe it will just take more time than I want it to?

    Does anyone find the "In 5 weeks you will weigh..." statements to be accurate? Or is that just meant as encouragement?
  • starsandowls
    starsandowls Posts: 55 Member
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    The "in five weeks" statements are sometimes funny and mostly just silly, a bit like reading your horoscope.

    If you just started exercising, that may be part of the weight gain. Are your measurements changing?

    Without getting into the pitched battle between people with strict diets that are low/high some macro and the people who just say "any calorie deficit will do," I find that personally, for myself, not all calories are created equal. Having more sodium and sucrose (table sugar) in my diet makes it harder for me to lose, and water weight is a problem. Even if you know it's water weight, it's still incredibly discouraging to look at the scale and see you've gained two pounds when you did everything you were supposed to.

    I'm guessing you don't have that much to lose, if MFP put you at 1200. This means that your weight loss is probably going to be slow, and it may be hard to keep your motivation up. It's a marathon... keep running and eventually you'll get to the end. :-) Good luck!

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