New and Confused

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Zehla89
Zehla89 Posts: 9
in Getting Started
Hello all, my name is Danielle. I am currently 144 pounds (148 with clothes on) thanks to video games and pizza. My goal is to get back to my old weight of 115 lbs.

I think either my scale is a bad scale or I am doing it incorrectly. I've been following my calorie suggestion for about two weeks now. Every night I go for a 50 minute or so swim (but the goal is to do 20 laps). On days where I'm feeling "fat" I also do 60 minute speed walks (about 3.0 mph) on the treadmill at a 4.5 incline. I am often under my calorie limit and never go over it, which I am proud of. I am supposed to be losing a pound a week as suggested and estimated, but my scale has told me the following weights, sometimes in the same day:

141.6
143.2
144.8
144.6

And so on. How am I suppose to track my weight if I get a different read every time?! My problem here is that I'm unemployed. I can't go to a regular gym, or buy expensive weights, I rely on my apartment's included fitness center. I can't buy expensive supplements, I have to do this the good old fashioned way by just eating better and working harder. The weight training machines in there are mostly for upper body workouts and I'm trying to trim my stomach and thighs, hence my focus on swimming, which works out all your muscles and helps trim down everything.

I have cut out soda, I rarely eat sweets (when I get a craving for candy or something, I eat an apple or other fruit), I stopped drinking milk as much (high fat content), and almost exclusively drink water - the only other things I drink are fruit smoothies and Kefir. I avoid high fructose corn syrup like the plague - but at best, I've lost 3 pounds, which is WAY too fast, and at worst I've lost *nothing*. It feels like nothing. My thighs still touch. My stomach is still gross. My pants are still tight.

I keep seeing "eat your exercise calories" threads, and I don't understand. If at minimum I need 1200, MFP says I can have up to 1760, and at the end of the day I net 1550, is that not better for me? Why would I, after burning 300 calories, want to undo ALL that work I did by putting it right back into my body? I am not tired outside of right when I finish a workout. I don't feel lethargic for not meeting my 1760. I feel amazing actually, but I am NOT seeing results. I hate this body I've created for myself and I want to get rid of it ASAP, be the old me again, and get on with my life and keep being active like I used to be.
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  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    Are you weighing yourself at the same time every day?

    How are your clothes fitting?
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    You should stop weighing yourself multiple times a day.
    Your body can fluctuate 5 +/- lbs a day.
    Do you have a food scale and do you weigh your foods?
    How are you calculating your exercise burns?

    If you eat 1500 and burn 300, then you netted 1200. You wouldn't be undoing any of your work. Unless you aren't logging your food accurately.

    We can't see your diary so can't advise you on that.

    You want to work on your stomach and thighs - well you can't spot reduce, it'll come off where it wants when it wants.

    It's not a race, these things take time. It will take more than a couple weeks.

    These might help

    Read these:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/975025-in-place-of-a-road-map-short-n-sweet

    If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
    If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

    Want to lift heavy things?
    http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/

    Stronglifts Summary
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/560459-stronglifts-5x5-summary

    Stronglifts Womens Group
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/4601-stronglifts-5x5-for-women
  • mnashp
    mnashp Posts: 19 Member
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    i don't know much, but i do know that water weighs 8 lbs/gallon and varies during a day per so many factors i won't bore you with listing them. And muscle weighs a LOT more than fat. I mean, fat floats, right?

    so i'm with TheVirgoGoddess: the fit of the clothes is SO much more accurate than obsessively weighing. The weight is best taken as an average over time. It requires a bit of patience ;-)

    if you want to obsess (like i do), do it with a tape measure!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    Muscle doesn't weight more than fat. 1 lb of muscle = 1 lb of fat = 1 lb of bricks = 1 lb of cheese. However, muscle is a lot more dense.
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    @Virgo:
    I can't say I am. I'd say that I might be doing it in the ballpark range - I usually get done swimming at around 10:30-ish and weigh in before I get into pajamas. I'll have to set a specific time for more consistent results. As for my clothes, they fit the same unfortunately.

    @Grace:

    Wow, tons of info here :D

    I didn't know your body weight could do that during the course of a whole day, at least not to that gradient haha. I don't weigh my foods, and I use MFP to track how many calories I burn. The treadmill tells me how many I burned but I trust MFP more since it knows my weight and diet.

    I am trying to log my food as accurately as possible without becoming obsessive. I have an addictive personality so I don't want to end up being that person that counts every grain of rice, meticulously measures cereal out of the box, etc, haha. It's super easy to log most of it though - granola bars, my power packs, the Kefir, etc, so I would say it is about 95% accurate when it comes to that. I haven't really had to change my diet that much, and the things I did cut were bad for me anyway and I am living fine without them :D

    I'm glad that I'm not necessarily doing anything wrong at least. I really wanted the "It just takes more time than that" answer haha.
  • claireanne2
    claireanne2 Posts: 4
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    Hi Zehla, what you describe has happened to me also, and it is incredibly frustrating. the more you work, the less it seems to work! My feeling was sometimes the body just gets into a holding pattern and pushing it doesnt seem to make things any better. It seems like the metabolism simply stops burning fat and uses the fuel you put in for everything it needs. The body has its own wisdom. I think in this case it works best to take your mind off it (the weight loss) and keep doing what you are doing which sounds great, and relax! After a while the body will catch on and start burning the fat. (Also you might want to add some more good fats to your diet, it helps the body to feel like there is enough coming and to stop freaking out ) . good luck!
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    It's best to weigh yourself first thing in the morning!

    I have a similar personality - the first time I tried MFP it overwhelmed me because I was ridiculously obsessive about everything.

    Good luck to you!
  • dmariet116
    dmariet116 Posts: 530 Member
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    Pick one day a week to weigh in. Weigh first thing the morning only. Wear the same clothes or nothing if so desired. Don't sweat day to day fluctuations. And invest in a good scale. I just bought a new one myself because I could step on and off my old one 10 times and get 10 different weights!!!
  • fastracker
    fastracker Posts: 11 Member
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    Don't drive yourself crazy weighing in every day. Try 1 time per week. A half lb down a week is great. As long as its not up. That's probably how it got there.
  • catruledquilter
    catruledquilter Posts: 48 Member
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    I find that I have more consistency with weighing by weighing in the morning...after going to the bathroom and before my shower. It's easiest for me to remember since it is when I feed my cats. Some people weigh weekly and others weigh daily. Right now, I am trying to weigh daily to watch the overall trend. If I go back a few months and look at the 'report" on weight, I see a consistent downtrend in my weight. There are little ups with the downs but I'm okay with that. I am not always under on my calories and I am finally getting to where I am more regular at tracking. The scale says I've lost about 5kg (about 11#). What I really notice is how my clothes are starting to become looser. I am 62 and know that weight can be more stubborn as you get older. I just take it a day at a time. A pound of muscle takes up a lot less space than a pound of fat. The general weight trend over a period of weeks/months is what to watch...much more so than day to day or hour to hour. All I really get from weighing most days is more tracking points over the time frame so I can see the trend. I weighed 92.4 (203) shortly before Thanksgiving. I've made progress and know I'd do better with more regular exercise.

    If you Google "visual: pound of fat v pound of muscle" (without the quotes) you will see several pictures that represent the difference in the space they take. Keep doing what you are doing. Since you are concerned about becoming obsessive about weighing food, try doing it every other day or every third day for things not prepackaged and pre-weighed. It won't take too long to get a sense of how much something weighs just by looking at it. I'm not there with some things but I am with others.
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    Your weight fluctuates throughout the day because of the amount of water and/or food that you have consumed, then you eliminate some of it. The accurate way to weigh yourself is to pick one time of day and stick with it. The best time of day will probably be right after you wake up and pee. In the nude is also best so you don't have to worry about your clothes messing up your weight.

    I didn't read where you said how tall you were. Maybe I missed it. But if you didn't say already, how tall are you?

    You mentioned that your "thighs still touch". That makes me worry for you a little bit. Not the fact that your thighs still touch, but the fact that you are upset about it. Seems like you are shooting for an ideal instead of a healthy weight. Can I also ask how old you are?

    Edited to make sure op knows I am not trying to be rude. I am sincerely wanting to help.
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    Ah, the morning. My problem is that I've always been kind of an insomniac and I uuuusuallly sleep through morning, lol. Should I just weigh when I first wake up then or does the time of day come into play there?

    I see a lot of posts as well about weighing your food and such and - doesn't that help lead to obsessive behavior lol? I mean, I want to lose weight and all, but I don't want to be at a dinner and whip out my portable scale in the middle of the meal or meticulously log everything I eat in terms of how much it weighed, etc, I dunno it just sounds like the kind of behavior you see people with eating disorders exhibiting :X. Before all these types of things were invented, after all, people were still able to keep fit. As I said I have a very addictive personality and I really don't want to start doing that kind of thing - I'm already worried about, if I do lose all this weight, not being able to stop dropping pounds.
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    OH also I'm 24. I missed that question, sorry. I'm also 5'3. As for my thighs touching, well, they really aren't supposed to. Like, a girl isn't supposed to have tiny twig legs (though it's not her fault if she had them naturally of course) but having that much fat around your thighs just seems to be more than recommended. I'm sick of the inner thighs of my pants slowly being worn down (it's almost a HOLE in my oldest pair of jeans) and I'm also sick of the chafing. I'm not shooting for a Barbie doll "thigh gap", even a paper thin gap would do; give my pants a rest and my skin would feel better after a workout, haha.
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    How tall are you?

    Using a food scale is no more obsessive than weiging every day (or multiple times a day), exercising every day, or cutting out food or drinks that you love. Weighing your food is the best way to ensure that you aren't eating more than you should. And it really isn't as time-consuming or hard as people make it out to be.
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    Hrm...if there's no way around having to weigh everything I eat I'm not sure how effective my efforts are going to be then unfortunately. This whole weight loss thing is becoming more and more complicated by the minute. My original idea was that I just stop eating crap food, start being active again, and as time draws on I'll benefit from it - but now as I'm doing more and more research on the info you guys are so kindly giving me there's a lot of complex math involved (which I suck at haha), have to weigh EVERYTHING you eat no matter what, track protein, track fat, track sugar, track everything...yikes.

    I really need to find a job. I think I just need a personal trainer, lol. Though I'm bookmarking alllll of this and I'm gonna make my boyfriend help me with all the math stuff (he's already my swim buddy). Maybe HE can be my trainer.

    Oh and I'm 5'3.

    OOH I *have* a food scale already that I was using to weigh and price bags of loose leaf tea for his business. Hard part done for that hurdle.
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    Don't worry. It's not as complicated as it sounds. If you're putting everything into MFP, it keeps track of the macros for you. Over time, you'll be able to see what you may need more of and you'll figure out ways to add protein, fat, or carbs to your diet. Your stats are actually very close to mine. I'm 5'2" around 140 pounds (haven't weighed in a couple weeks). I have a goal of 1400 calories, plus exercise cals. I know it sounds counter-productive, but the deficit is already set up in the calorie goal MFP gives you. So burning cals through exercise is making the deficit even bigger. Not eating exercise cals back every once in a while won't be a big deal. But being in a very large deficit every day will harm you in the long run.

    As far as using a food scale goes, if you're dead set against it, don't use it. People have lost weight without them. But for me, and lots of others, it's just a tool. Just like my measuring tape. Or my treadmill. Or my weights. Unless you have a history of ed's, you probably don't have to worry about it hurting you to use it. Once you get the hang of it, it will be a piece of cake!

    The problem with just deciding to stop eating crap as your method of weight-loss is that you can overeat on non-crap, too! And at the end of the day, it's all about burning more than you take in. Yes, there is a lot to learn, but think of all this learning that you are doing as an investment in the rest of your life.
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    Ah, I see now, I didn't know the deficit was already factored. Though I think I chose the wrong activity level. I picked moderate, but I literally swim hard laps every single day and sometimes do extra cardio if I've eaten something I regret (lol). How do I change it so I am not under-fueling?

    I'm gonna try out the scale, but I don't think I'd end up using it 100% of the time - such as if I go out to dinner (which is suuper rare) and I'm going out of state in August for a week for a wedding and...you know how that goes, mostly eating out, etc. That's gonna be my "Regret Week" for sure >_>. I need to find a local pool while I'm there or just take a nice walk. It's in San Francisco, so I should utilize those steep hills, haha.

    I'm lucky that my boyfriend owns a gourmet olive oil shop, I get to put the good stuff on my salads, haha. I totally get what you're saying there - I know WAY too many people that must eat 3000 calories worth of health food a day and think they're gonna lose weight. Even olive oil, for all it's benefits, is pure fat - putting it on everything isn't going to help, it's just a better alternative to dressings and butter, haha.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    i don't know much, but i do know that water weighs 8 lbs/gallon and varies during a day per so many factors i won't bore you with listing them. And muscle weighs a LOT more than fat. I mean, fat floats, right?

    so i'm with TheVirgoGoddess: the fit of the clothes is SO much more accurate than obsessively weighing. The weight is best taken as an average over time. It requires a bit of patience ;-)

    if you want to obsess (like i do), do it with a tape measure!

    op is not building muscle swimming lapss and going for a 'speed' walk ...
  • 120by30
    120by30 Posts: 217 Member
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    Ah, I see now, I didn't know the deficit was already factored. Though I think I chose the wrong activity level. I picked moderate, but I literally swim hard laps every single day and sometimes do extra cardio if I've eaten something I regret (lol). How do I change it so I am not under-fueling?

    I'm gonna try out the scale, but I don't think I'd end up using it 100% of the time - such as if I go out to dinner (which is suuper rare) and I'm going out of state in August for a week for a wedding and...you know how that goes, mostly eating out, etc. That's gonna be my "Regret Week" for sure >_>. I need to find a local pool while I'm there or just take a nice walk. It's in San Francisco, so I should utilize those steep hills, haha.

    I'm lucky that my boyfriend owns a gourmet olive oil shop, I get to put the good stuff on my salads, haha. I totally get what you're saying there - I know WAY too many people that must eat 3000 calories worth of health food a day and think they're gonna lose weight. Even olive oil, for all it's benefits, is pure fat - putting it on everything isn't going to help, it's just a better alternative to dressings and butter, haha.

    Just go back into your settings and you can easily change your activity level. Don't worry - no one expects you to load up your food scale when you done out. :) You will find as you begin to weigh your food, you'll learn what a proper portion looks like and you'll be able to eyeball and estimate a whole lot better for meals not eaten at home. You'll get the hang of all this. No worries!
  • Zehla89
    Zehla89 Posts: 9
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    Thanks :D

    @Ndj:

    Oh, I know I'm not building muscle. At least not actively. Swimming actually sculpts a body rather well though, but my focus is not to "beef up", just to slim down. I chose swimming over weight training because lifting is hell on your joints and my family has a history of bad knees, etc. I might work on toning later on if I feel that's how I want to look, but I'm happy just being a healthy weight.

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