Former ED, frustrated and confused after MONTHS of hard work

I'm no expert, but I'd bet anything that those weekly splurges and special occasions have probably been partly to blame. I also wonder if you're tracking your calories accurately and/or if maybe you're eating too may calories back after exercising.

I know for former EDs weighing can be a trigger but it's really hard to get the scale moving in a down direction if you're not even tracking your weight.

I know how you feel, I worked out for over 2 years and stayed on a plateau of 188lbs. the entire time! In fact, I started to get bulkier because I was lifting weights too strenously...the problem was though is that I was not logging my food, I thought I could guess things pretty accurately and I was either undereating (which slowed my metabolism) or overeating (not realizing how much I ate and thinking I was doing good) Now I AM NOT knocking weight training, if it hadn't been for that I would of gained fat and not muscle but because I was unintentionally overeating I was bulking up and not loosing any fat. It's easy to think that you are entitled to a lot of extra food because you worked out so hard. You are entitled to some food in moderation, yes, but it's easy to overlook a snack here and there and a little cream in your coffee...but it all adds up! And it can pretty quickly use up your calorie deficit that you worked so hard to get. Once I started to log my calories accurately on MFP, I slowly began to loose weight at the rate of about 1lb. a week and I am down to 176lbs. for a total of 12lbs. lost. in 21/2 months. (I lost 12lbs. also before I hit my 188lbs. plateau, I was 200 lbs. for an overall total of 22 lbs.) I know what you are going through, I thought I had a thyroid problem too. The weight wasn't coming off as easily as it had in the past and I was working sooo hard. But no, thyroid checked out okay when I went to the doctor. There are several things going on here that you have probably heard before...first of all, muscle weighs more then fat, so if you're lifting weights you can expect to gain muscle weight, (that's good because muscle burns fat in the long run) You may loose inches in your butt, legs and stomach, yet gain inches on your arms, shoulders and back. So as you said, you feel smaller but you weigh more. Your body is now more dense because of the muscle. Also, you may need to buckle down harder and be more accurate with your logging food. Unlike when you are "dieting" in an unhealthy fashion (where you loose water and lean muscle tissue and see a quick weight loss) when you are doing it in a healthy fashion, strength training, eating right and so on you are going to gain muscle weight at first which slows down the weight loss on the scale...sometimes even adding weight at first...but then comes the hard part, after the intitial weight gain (muscle) if you are eating at a calorie deficit of 3,500 a week (no fudging) you will slowly loose a pound of FAT a week. Yes, it is slow and not what you are probably use to but it WILL happen. Keep in mind when you strength train your muscles will retain some water weight, this is normal. Watch your measurements and BMI for a more accurate assessment of your progress. I would suggest you get your thyroid checked to put that question to rest first and then put yourself in a new mindset...this is a lifestyle change, not a quick fix. Keep working out diligently, ACCURATELY LOG ALL CALORIES (be mindful of EVERYTHING you put into your mouth so you can get an idea of where the "leaks" are, if any) and you should start to see slow but steady progress. Remember, a pound a week is only 4 a month, this can easily be masked by water retention and you think you aren't progressing even when you are! Have your trainer do a BMI for you and if you can get a nutritional plan that would do you well too. I hope this helps you in some way. I took the time to give a detailed response because I really do know the frustration you are feeling...it almost made me give up my commitment to a healthy lifestyle and I sense you are on the verge of that, please don't give up! You are on the verge of a breakthrough if you persist...don't let all your hard work go to waste!!! The change will come! P.S Pleased to report I've lost 3 more pounds when I weighed in today, so about 11/2 pounds a week since 2 weeks ago. for a total of 25lbs. P.S.S Also check your reports tab for weight loss so you get an idea of how long it's taking you to loose weight. Good luck!

....it always amuses me - a lbs of muscles is heavier then a lbs of fat - It is an oximoron in itself. :laugh: A lbs of muscles has less volume then a lbs of fat, that's why you may not loose weight, but slim down some..:glasses:

...after your workouts chicken wings and pizza......you know how long of a work-out you gotta have to run that off. So, you may eat more then your exercised calories back and with your "splures" just eliminated your hard earned deficits of the week. often people underestimate how much they take-in with calories and overestimate how much they burn during exercise :indifferent: :grumble:

As someone else stated, without a deficit you will stall or even gain weight even with a rediculous amount of exercise.

God luck!

As others have said, I would go to the doctor and do some tests just so you can at least rule that out! If nothings wrong there, I really have no idea why you aren't losing weight though. However, don't get discouraged- think of all the wonderful benefits you are giving your body in terms of health! Keep it up! Weight loss will come eventually (just make sure you don't undereat- 1300 is quite low). You can do it