I'm losing my mind!!

Ok, I have been doing crossfit type training for the last 5 weeks, going on 6, at least 3 days a week and I have hardly lost ANY weight. I am at about 5 lbs lost, and 5 lbs of muscle gained. I am a pretty heavy gal too lol. I am getting frustrated to the point of quitting. My trainer told me because of my size, I would lose 30 lbs the first month. Yep, month has came and gone and here I am, hungry and mad! I am honestly eating very clean. Very little fat, pretty much no carbs as well. As a nurse, I had all my labs done prior to diet. Thyroid was fine. I have never had any major health issues, etc. I don't know what I could be doing wrong! And to top it all off, for the last week my shins, ankles, and feet have been swelling. Like pitting edema. I have never ever had this happen before. Any idea what I am doing wrong?? thank you in advance for what I hope are kind, and helpful responses lol

Measure yourself, that's all I can tell you...I've lost like maybe 10 lbs since October but I've lost 4 inches off my waist!

You definitely need to eat more - I started about 6 weeks ago with 150ish pounds to lose and my calories are set to 1440 plus exercise calories. I would not be happy eating 1000 calories and exercising! It would affect my ability to function well....

Please please please ditch the trainer. If his plan was 800 calories and you upped it to 1000, he's an idiot. Sorry to say...

You're getting ripped off, plain and simple. 30 pounds in a month should have sounded too good to be true, and it most definitely is. Also, it's extremely difficult to build muscle when you're eating at a calorie deficit, especially as big of a deficit as you're eating at. Muscles become more defined as we lose the fat that was covering them, but there's no way you put on 5 pounds of muscle. Maybe the scale showed your body fat percentage went down, but that doesn't mean you built muscle.

Trainers are rarely qualified to give nutrition advice, unless they can document that they've taken nutritionist certification courses or studied nutrition in college. Eating 800-1000 calories a day and exercising on top of that could create long-term health problems for you. See a doctor to find out what's going on with the swelling and also to make sure that your VLCD (very low calorie diet) hasn't affected your health. After that, I'd complain to your trainer's supervisor. His or her practices sound dangerous.

If you have 140 to lose, you are at least in the 200-300 lb range. 1000 calories is maintenance for someone in the 115-130 range, not counting workouts. If you are starving yourself, and not eating when you should, that is telling your body to hold on to what it has, because it will have to make it last. The body's ONE job is to work in the most efficient way possible, and it is ALWAYS trying to do so.

I am 220 lbs, and I eat about 2k-3k calories per day, contingent on workout level. I am losing weight because my TDEE is about 2500-3500 calories. For a woman that is as big as me, she should probably eat about 2/3 of that, or 1400-2000 calories to lose weight. Of course, this doesnt apply to the bodybuilder types lol.

Gauge where you should be based on that, and start eating (healthy, or there-thereabouts) when your stomach grumbles, but don't over-eat (eating til your stomach hurts). Any one here will tell you...that speeds up your metabolism, and aids your body in using those nutrients in a healthy way. After a few weeks, you will see results, even if you don't work out.

You can do it. Just do the research. Use websites that have credibility. Many university sites have great information on nutrition. NONE of them tell you to eat less than 1000 calories. Guaranteed.

As an echo...I would fire your cross-fit trainer. He is definitely under-educated.

Josh

I am giggling at myself because yes, us nurses are the worst! BUT I havwe had a lot of shin pain lately, and I know shin splints cause edema. They will go down, then after I excersize, I get swollen again. I did make an apt for tomorrow!

ive never heard shin splints cause edema (I'm a nurse too)

If you're working out that much, you're probably drinking a lot of water and retaining some of it, which could account for you not losing any weight. Are you taking your measurments too? That's a better indicator of progress IMO . . . I weighed in a few days ago after two weeks of doing really well and had gained 2 pounds but lost almost 3 inches on my waist.

Also, 30 pounds in a month is kind of ridiculous, no matter how big you are. I'd find a new trainer who's going to be honest with you and help you to set realistic goals.

drinking water does not cause you to retain it, unless there are kidney issues.

"and 5 lbs of muscle gained"

Impossible over that amount of time and at a caloric deficit

Whats going wrong is your trainer is feeding you over-inflated ideas of what is possible. If they are telling you to expect to lose 30 pounds and that you have put on 5 pounds of muscle they are doing you a disservice.

Champion bodybuilders juicing with steroids can't put on 5 pounds of muscle in 6 weeks. I doubt that you have eaten enough protein in grams to account for 5 pounds of muscle gain even if your body was capable of turning 100% of your protein intake into pure muscle.

I'm not just happy...



I'm TRex jump roping happy!

I heart this gif!!!

Yeah to you OP for firing your trainer!!! I think I'd maybe ask for a refund or something because the info they gave you was dangerously unhealthy.

FIFY

I drink a 100 cal whey protein shake, eat 3 oz. boneless skinless chicken, 2 cups green veggies, and then I repeat that meal again, 1 apple. That's my boring meal day lol

Read any links provided (guide to sexypants is my favorite for information). This sounds like you aren't eating enough and therefore aren't getting enough nutrients. I started having at least 126 pounds to lose, and I can even stretch that to 136 pounds to lose before I believe I'd look anorexic even though BMI states I can lose even a bit more weight. I'm going to be 45 in a few weeks and if you looked at my diary, you'd see both good and bad, lower fat and carbs, higher fat and carbs. I suspect a sensitivity to wheat but nothing major so I've cut it back (and feel better because of cutting it back) but not cut it out. Actually slowly trying to reintroduce a bit more back in to see if wheat was really the culprit behind the way I was feeling or if it was actually the gallstones that increased in size and frequency until I recently had the gallbladder removed.

I agree with others, if you suspect a problem (edema) get checked out again. Also, if the trainer has you doing the exercises correctly for your size, you shouldn't be experiencing shin splints. That's my uneducated opinion based on my own experience with shin splints, knee issues and weak ankles that twist extremely easily. When I've learned and performed the exercises correctly, no problems with shins, knees, ankles nor any other part of my body.

Your trainer sounds like (s)he's trying to sell you something. The pitch may not have happened yet but it's on the horizon. Everyone that I've met that has lost so much weight so quickly (30 in 30) has either had weight loss surgery, been on a doctor prescribed plan so that they reversed diabetes or pre-diabetes or have achieved their weight loss goal and/or gained it all back plus another 20 or 30 pounds for good measure (yes, I know of someone who's had the weight loss surgery and gained a majority of the weight back). That is again my experience educated opinion.

Other than that, I agree with others. Weighing and measuring everything makes a difference. I know a lot of countries have issues with what an actual serving size is but I also know that the United States is the worst on that knowledge list. We're definitely the home of big portions and being duped to believe that the portion sizes we are getting is an actual portion size, not 2 to 3 times the portion.