Need help! Depressed over weight gain despite exercise

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bedrockpebbles
bedrockpebbles Posts: 50
in Motivation and Support
Hi! I am getting very depressed--I stepped on the scale today expecting a loss and I gained. I am now at my heaviest ever--139.8 and I'm only 5'2". This despite watching my intake (or so I thought) and running 3 miles 5 times a week. I got so down looking at the number on the scale that I ate a whole box of Cheezits (1300 calories) because I was feeling mad, frustrated and hopeless. I am a 50 year old female and am worried I'll never lose the weight. I've never had this much to lose. Any advice? Any buddies out there to help motivate me? Thanks!

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  • ren_ascent
    ren_ascent Posts: 432 Member
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    Hi! I am getting very depressed--I stepped on the scale today expecting a loss and I gained. I am now at my heaviest ever--139.8 and I'm only 5'2". This despite watching my intake (or so I thought) and running 3 miles 5 times a week. I got so down looking at the number on the scale that I ate a whole box of Cheezits (1300 calories) because I was feeling mad, frustrated and hopeless. I am a 50 year old female and am worried I'll never lose the weight. I've never had this much to lose. Any advice? Any buddies out there to help motivate me? Thanks!

    Well, we both know downing cheez-its aren't the way to deal effectively. It's also going to be hard for anyone to give you advice if your diary is closed. Some people would recommend checking into a TDEE calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating, add weights to your exercise regime, weigh your food and log absolutely everything even if you pick up a single M&M from a candy dish. Best of luck to you.
  • establishingaplace
    establishingaplace Posts: 301 Member
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    Required reading:

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here

    How long have you been doing this? How much have you gained? Often when you start a new exercise routine, it's common to retain water for a couple of weeks before the scale starts to move.

    Are you accurately measuring your food, food scale and all? If you're estimating, you're likely to be over on your calories.
  • bedrockpebbles
    bedrockpebbles Posts: 50
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    Thanks! I'll open my diary.
  • bedrockpebbles
    bedrockpebbles Posts: 50
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    I've opened my diary. Feel free to add me as a friend and thanks for the advice!
  • bedrockpebbles
    bedrockpebbles Posts: 50
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    I've opened my food diary. Feel free to add me as a friend and thanks for the advice!
  • _cdaley
    _cdaley Posts: 79 Member
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    Just remember that you can't out exercise a bad diet. When I say bad I mean excessively over calories. It helps me to separate diet and exercise- eating at a calorie deficit is all you need to lose weight. I think deficit for weight loss, exercise for health and fitness. Of course there is overlap, like if you burn 400 calories exercising you can eat half or more of those back. But just exercising while eating a huge excess of calories isn't going to help you lose weight. Best of luck!
  • spicegeek
    spicegeek Posts: 325 Member
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    How exactly are you watching your intake because you do not seem to be logging it here ?
  • vanhoosedesign
    vanhoosedesign Posts: 12 Member
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    Remember that the scale isn't an accurate measure of health. You are better off doing body measurements and/or fat calipers to track your progress. I have been working out for 2 years now and there are weeks when the scale doesn't move but when I check my measurements they have gone down. Building muscle weight can counter the weight lost from fat but you are healthier and stronger. Go based on clothes and how you feel instead of a scale. And we all have days where we slip, but think of how much harder it is to start from scratch than it is to just say "oops" and get right back on track again. Or better yet, instead of making the cheez-its a huge slip up, just have a single serving and count it as part of your daily calories instead of getting upset and self-sabotaging all of your hard work. You can do it!
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    Step 1: Get a digital food scale
    Step 2: Weigh all of your solid food, measure all of your liquids. Measuring cups are not accurate for solids
    Step 2: Eat a well balanced diet, set your macros at a reasonable distribution. No food is the devil or enemy, it's just food.
    Step 4: Set reasonable weight loss goals, according to your ticker you only need to lose 13lbs, you should only be losing 1/2 to 1 lb a week but 1/2 lb is optimum.
    Step 5: Invest in a heart rate monitor with a chest strap (I used a polar ft4) to track your calories burned running
    Step 6: Add weight training in to your exercise routine

    You had a bad day today. Tomorrow is another day and a new start. The scale will fluctuate for a million reasons, water weight, didn't poop yet, gycogen stores in the muscles change, etc., hormonal changes, etc. and this is normal. Weigh yourself first thing in the morning after you use the restroom with no clothes on, then put the scale away for a week.

    The next time you're disappointed in the scale go for a walk, not for a box of Cheez-Its. Don't get stressed about it. When you are first starting out you need to learn how your body works. This is a learning process.

    Spend a lot of time reading through the links another used provided and you will learn a lot. Also, read through the forums and you will also learn a lot. Find a group of friends with similar goals who will support you and you can support in return.

    Good luck.

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