New and Already Failing. What's going wrong?
lawschoolsurvival
Posts: 2
Hey guys,
I'm a 24 year old female, weighing in the mid 200's, and new to MFP. I've only been a member and logging for six days now, and in these six days I feel like I've done nothing but fail. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but since I started working out I've been gaining a pound a day. Today makes a 5 pound gain. It's not only disheartening but it's killing my motivation. I feel like I'm doing everything right and instead of succeeding I'm crashing and burning.
Before I decided to start logging and making a serious life change I researched here by reading a ton of posts on the the message boards. I made a list of foods I knew I wouldn't be able to cut out or live without for long and made peace with that, I bought a food scale and I measure all my food, I also bought a HRM with a chest strap (as all the boards stressed this was more accurate) to keep a good indication of what calories I'm really burning off during a workout. I'm honest about what I'm eating and logging even down to the condiments or the littlest of bites.
I'm serious about trying to make these changes so I can be healthier version of me, i've been following my calories, and working out hard, my muscles are ridiculously sore but the scale just keeps going up and the 5 pound gain is really messing with my head.
Does anyone have advice? Has this ever happened to them? I'm not going to give up. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong and what I could be doing better.
Thanks in advance.
I'm a 24 year old female, weighing in the mid 200's, and new to MFP. I've only been a member and logging for six days now, and in these six days I feel like I've done nothing but fail. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but since I started working out I've been gaining a pound a day. Today makes a 5 pound gain. It's not only disheartening but it's killing my motivation. I feel like I'm doing everything right and instead of succeeding I'm crashing and burning.
Before I decided to start logging and making a serious life change I researched here by reading a ton of posts on the the message boards. I made a list of foods I knew I wouldn't be able to cut out or live without for long and made peace with that, I bought a food scale and I measure all my food, I also bought a HRM with a chest strap (as all the boards stressed this was more accurate) to keep a good indication of what calories I'm really burning off during a workout. I'm honest about what I'm eating and logging even down to the condiments or the littlest of bites.
I'm serious about trying to make these changes so I can be healthier version of me, i've been following my calories, and working out hard, my muscles are ridiculously sore but the scale just keeps going up and the 5 pound gain is really messing with my head.
Does anyone have advice? Has this ever happened to them? I'm not going to give up. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong and what I could be doing better.
Thanks in advance.
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Replies
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What kind of workouts are you doing? You could be gaining muscle.0
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Take a deep breath...you aren't gaining fat you are retaining water and glycogen in your muscles from the new exercise...esp since you say they are very sore...
it will go away...in about 2-4 weeks....
My only suggestion is going to be this...don't eliminate foods unless you have to...just eat smaller portions...
Drink lots of water, don't give up, keep weighing solids and logging accurately and you are already half way there...
Good luck0 -
What kind of workouts are you doing? You could be gaining muscle.
no...
You don't gain muscle eating at a deficet unless you are doing a progressive load lifting program, are getting in tonnes of protien and are very very new to lifting or very obese...0 -
Changes in scale weight over the period of days are pretty much meaningless. If you are changing your lifestyle both in amount of exercise and diet your body can change the amount of water that it retains in a way that can easily effect your weight. Scale weight over the period of days is not a good way to track progress. It becomes a reasonable way to track progress only on a timescale of months. You cannot let the scale discourage you like that.
Just ask yourself this, are you burning more calories and taking in less calories now that you are concerned with your diet and exercising than you were before? If the answer is yes then you will make progress, you just have to trust in that.0 -
you gotta give it a lot longer than six days, some of us lose weight a lot slower than others. Slow and steady and just experiment. Make sure you're eating healthy, good portions, and exercising, and you'll get there eventually.0
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What kind of workouts are you doing? You could be gaining muscle.
no...
You don't gain muscle eating at a deficet unless you are doing a progressive load lifting program, are getting in tonnes of protien and are very very new to lifting or very obese...
You also don't gain muscle in 6 days. Even with an intense weightlifting program and a surplus of calories most people can only put on a pound of muscle in a month tops and that is very good progress. Putting on muscle is difficult.0 -
^^All of this. Make sure you're taking measurements, too. Weight loss and size loss don't always happen at the same time, so you'll almost certainly have weeks when you shrink but weigh the same (and vice versa). Losing inches, even if the scale stays the same, still counts as a win.Take a deep breath...you aren't gaining fat you are retaining water and glycogen in your muscles from the new exercise...esp since you say they are very sore...
it will go away...in about 2-4 weeks....
My only suggestion is going to be this...don't eliminate foods unless you have to...just eat smaller portions...
Drink lots of water, don't give up, keep weighing solids and logging accurately and you are already half way there...
Good luck0 -
you gotta give it a lot longer than six days, some of us lose weight a lot slower than others. Slow and steady and just experiment. Make sure you're eating healthy, good portions, and exercising, and you'll get there eventually.
This is true but understand OP that it is not a matter of not losing fat necessarily, its a matter of over a period of days you will never be able to tell from your scale if you are losing fat or not due to just random fluctuations in your weight due to water retention.
Water retention can be increased by exercise, increased sodium intake, the amount of liquid you drink, your monthly cycle etc etc etc. So many variables it is hard to predict and on a day to day basis your bodyweight will fluctuate by pounds at a time.
It will take months for any weight loss to become a clear trend in your scale weight, you just have to trust that what you are doing is good for you and stick with it and be consistent for that amount of time THEN evaluate progress.
This is a long term commitment and you cannot expect results on the order of days.0 -
I'm also new and have been struggling in the last week. I don't think I've gained any pounds (although I don't even own a scale) but I feel like I'm trying so hard, yet always fall above the calorie recommendation.
I do have to say that my roommate was in your position, and told me that sometimes she'd fluctuate between a few pounds over a span of a few days, but that it wasn't until the 3rd or 4th week that she really started to see results. She lost about 50 pounds in a year...a year! Your plan sounds a lot like what her plan was, so I guess all I can say is give it another week or so and see what happens. Frustrating, I know, but I've seen it be done and I know you can do it! :-)0 -
Oh I had missed that you said you were sore. Yes then it is most definitely water retention. When your muscles are sore they are holding on to a lot of water for repair. Feeling sore from a workout is a guaranteed extra couple of pounds at least from water. But its water, has nothing to do with whether or not you are losing fat and that is the point right...not the weight you are day to day.0
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I always gain weight from water retention in my muscles if I change up my workout program - it also always comes off within a few weeks. It sounds like you're doing everything right so trust the process and if the numbers on the scale are bothering you then put it away for a while.0
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Are you sure your scale is working? I am proud of you working so hard and being so diligent! Don't be discouraged be proud!!0
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Keep it up for 90 days and then evaluate your progress.logging for six days now0 -
There's a mentor group (post) that's ideal for new members with lots of good advice,
Don't give up, 6 days is a baby step on a lifetime journey,0 -
This may help.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here
Hang in there. Keep at it. It does take time.0 -
It's easy to fall into that "what am I doing wrong" mindframe, but you've been at it for less than a week! My suggestion: don't step on the scale so often, as your weight fluctuates by up to 5 pounds on any given day. I know it's tempting, but try only weighing in once a week (for me, it's Mondays), and measure yourself once a month (on the first Monday of the month).
You'll be fine, just take a deep breath, smile, and keep moving!0 -
What kind of workouts are you doing? You could be gaining muscle.
this process is not linear. check out the link that grace provided. great info in there.
keep it up and good luck!0 -
I think your body is hanging on to water etc due to the huge increase in your exercise level from the past norm, but I totally understand how that would be discouraging - especially right in the beginning!
It sounds to be like you're very serious about this...but it also sounds like you may be setting yourself up to crash and burn. I actually believe this is why a lot of New Year's Resolutioners fail.
OF COURSE exercise is hugely important. But I think cutting calories and increasing exercise both very gung ho at the same time can cause issues. Not just pounds on the scale, but exhaustion and a routine that is not sustainable.
When I started out, I didn't increase my exercise much at first. I usually walked a few days a week for 20-40 minutes at a moderately quick pace and then went on the odd bike ride or easy hike every weekend. Eating at my MFP-suggested deficit I immediately started to lose 1-3 lb each week for the first few months before I increased exercise. I am not saying you should stop or even necessarily slow on the exercise end of things - definitely not saying my way is the right way by any means because I still don't exercise as much as I should. But I think this is why you're not seeing the change you want on the scale. If you keep this all up and try to do exercise while also eating at a deficit you WILL see results eventually. Good luck!0 -
Six days is not nearly enough time to be worrying already. If you're working out regularly your muscles are probably retaining water, which could definitely effect the weight on the scale.
I would recommend not weighing yourself every day . . . go once a week at most. I weigh every two weeks so I don't drive myself crazy with little meaningless ups and downs. Also, take your measurements and use that to track your process as well, becuase sometimes even if you're not losing weight you're losing inches.
Good luck!0 -
Take a deep breath...you aren't gaining fat you are retaining water and glycogen in your muscles from the new exercise...esp since you say they are very sore...
it will go away...in about 2-4 weeks....
My only suggestion is going to be this...don't eliminate foods unless you have to...just eat smaller portions...
Drink lots of water, don't give up, keep weighing solids and logging accurately and you are already half way there...
Good luck
This. Also watch your sodium, it's been over every day but one.0 -
Well it's still due to muscles related changes and not a fat gain haha oops. Bad choice of wording on my part. Someone explained the water retention thing to me on here which is what my head was thinking but out of habit worded it the way I have been for years. I work with kids all day. My brain is fried.0
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But it's only been six days. Give it time. It is very frustrating. Probably everyone on here has experienced this at some point. But luckily the support on here is great!0
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Take a deep breath...you aren't gaining fat you are retaining water and glycogen in your muscles from the new exercise...esp since you say they are very sore...
it will go away...in about 2-4 weeks....
My only suggestion is going to be this...don't eliminate foods unless you have to...just eat smaller portions...
Drink lots of water, don't give up, keep weighing solids and logging accurately and you are already half way there...
Good luck
yup0 -
Well it's still due to muscles related changes and not a fat gain haha oops. Bad choice of wording on my part. Someone explained the water retention thing to me on here which is what my head was thinking but out of habit worded it the way I have been for years. I work with kids all day. My brain is fried.
Shhhh
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I agree with the others saying to not weigh yourself daily, your weight will fluctuate based on water retention, menstrual cycle, and even the amount of waste you're currently carrying in your colon. If you are dramatically increasing your fiber and water intake...
Pick a day of the week, make that your weigh-in day and weight yourself at about the same time each time. You'll start to see patterns.
I wouldn't worry about losing weight straight out of the gate. Let the first few weeks be about capturing your baseline data, getting into the habit, etc. If after a month you still don't see movement or movement in the wrong direction, then take a hard look at your data and see if you can figure out where you can make changes.0 -
Take a deep breath...you aren't gaining fat you are retaining water and glycogen in your muscles from the new exercise...esp since you say they are very sore...
it will go away...in about 2-4 weeks....
My only suggestion is going to be this...don't eliminate foods unless you have to...just eat smaller portions...
Drink lots of water, don't give up, keep weighing solids and logging accurately and you are already half way there...
Good luck
This. Also watch your sodium, it's been over every day but one.
...if she has a medical reason to do so.
otherwise, sodium isn't really something needing to be focused on.0 -
Looking at your food diary, there are quite a few things you could do w/o and exchange healthier choices for especially for a beginning dieter. Red velvet cheese cake and red bull for breakfast not a good choice. Ben and jerry's ice cream, potato chips and Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough are just not good for dieting. You either didn't log, or skipped a couple lunches too. Another thing to avoid. Restricting meals will put your metabolism into a mode that thinks your starving it and try to conserve what it can by slowing it down.
What are and how much are you doing for exercise?0 -
Someone also suggested to me an app called true weight. You weight yourself everyday and it gives you your "true weight" based off of averaging the number you put in eah day. But it does ask you for your weight each day so if you think you'd rather not weight yourself everyday like alot of people suggest its not a good app. But if you are like me and must step on the scale everyday it's really encouraging to see the number it gives you as you estimated true weight0
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Hey guys,
I'm a 24 year old female, weighing in the mid 200's, and new to MFP. I've only been a member and logging for six days now, and in these six days I feel like I've done nothing but fail. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but since I started working out I've been gaining a pound a day. Today makes a 5 pound gain. It's not only disheartening but it's killing my motivation. I feel like I'm doing everything right and instead of succeeding I'm crashing and burning.
Before I decided to start logging and making a serious life change I researched here by reading a ton of posts on the the message boards. I made a list of foods I knew I wouldn't be able to cut out or live without for long and made peace with that, I bought a food scale and I measure all my food, I also bought a HRM with a chest strap (as all the boards stressed this was more accurate) to keep a good indication of what calories I'm really burning off during a workout. I'm honest about what I'm eating and logging even down to the condiments or the littlest of bites.
I'm serious about trying to make these changes so I can be healthier version of me, i've been following my calories, and working out hard, my muscles are ridiculously sore but the scale just keeps going up and the 5 pound gain is really messing with my head.
Does anyone have advice? Has this ever happened to them? I'm not going to give up. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong and what I could be doing better.
Thanks in advance.
You need to be a little more patient. As people have mentioned you are probably retaining water, because the combination of glycogen & water it is needed to repair muscle tissue, especially if a body is not used to rigorous exercise. A few weeks and you will drop that liquid as you body gets used to exercising. Also, I checked your food log and think that your salt intake from all that processed food and all those diet drinks ( which have no calories, but usually lots of salt ) make you retain a lot of liquid. This means that you have the double whammy of new exercise and too much salt to content with. High salt intake is not the health threat we used to think it is, unless you have high BP or kidney problems, but it is the cause of water retention.
Also, from looking at your food diary I would like to suggest that you eat a bit more healthy. ( Diet Red Bull and Red Velvet cake, or sugar frosted cereal is not what I would suggest as a healthful and nourishing breakfast ). While the kind of food, as long as you eat within a deficit does not interfere with weight loss, eating healthier food ( protein, complex carbs from vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts etc ) keep you fuller much longer and help people avoid cravings and with that the dreaded binges.0 -
Someone also suggested to me an app called true weight. You weight yourself everyday and it gives you your "true weight" based off of averaging the number you put in eah day. But it does ask you for your weight each day so if you think you'd rather not weight yourself everyday like alot of people suggest its not a good app. But if you are like me and must step on the scale everyday it's really encouraging to see the number it gives you as you estimated true weight
im sorry, but your advice in this thread leaves a lot to be desired.
rather than an app that offers an "estimated weight" (tells you what you likely want to hear), you and the OP are perfectly capable of just weighing in once a week or once a month (will power)....same time of day, wearing nada. as i said before, the process is not linear...there will be ups and downs. this is not failure, its just fact.
another thing to do, OP is take your measurements. you may find that as you lose fat, the scale might not move quite as much, but the loss of fat can be seen more clearly through measurements.0
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