What am I doing wrong? 2 months

DON'T GIVE UP..... How does your food diary look?

the only way to tell if its really muscle is to go to your local GNC and pick up a fat loss monitor for around 40 bucks... or ask a personal trainer at your local gym, they usually have one.

it sends electro currents through your body to measure your fat to muscle ratio then gives you a body fat %. so lets say one monday you weight 120 and are 25% body fat then next monday you are still 120 but your body fat % is 24% you know that you have gained some muscle...

see what im sayen? I would die without mine

what would be a typical day for you food wise ?

When I started MFP on Nov. 30, I started to lose weight right away. I lost a pound a week until the end of december. Then I was stuck for like 4 weeks, then I lost 0.6 pounds, and then this week I gained 0.4 pounds.

December 20 weight 126.6
Jan 1 126.6
Jan 8 126.6
Jan 17 126.0
Jan. 24 125.0
Jan. 31 125.4

Not only have I NOT lost any inches, but I have gained inches in my hips, arms and belly. Here's what I do:

I have a net of 1200 calories. I eat my exercise calories so that I always net 1200.

I bought a HRM to get more accurate calorie burn amounts.

Week 1 and 2, 30 minutes cardio/3 days
Week 4 and 5. 35 minutes cardio/3 days
Week 6 and 7, 40 minutes cardio/5 days
Week 8 and 9, 45 minutes cardio/6 days

Strength training 3 days/week throughout the entire time.

This has really got me on the verge of wanting to give up. I've given it 9 weeks and my clothes are just as tight as ever. My tight jeans still don't fit right. I really don't think after this amount of time I could just be gaining muscle, and why am I gaining inches?

Any help?

What kinds of foods are you eating, and are you getting enough water? If you eat a lot of processed foods that are high in sodium, and don't drink sufficient fluids, you will puff out both in inches and lbs, regardless of your calorie intake.

Take heart, I know it's frustrating. My weight loss has by no means been linear. I can go 3 weeks and see zero improvement, and then all of a sudden some muscle will appear. Then I'll gain a pound, then the scale won't budge for a month, then I'll lose 2 lbs. It's annoying, but it's a marathon. Do this for your health first, and your body will follow.

*Oh I didn't see you weight 126. That's pretty slim for most heights, are you looking to just tone up or lose much more?

I'm in your boat, except I'm almost 240, female, working out daily for at least 30 minutes, eating back to exercise calories to net 1200-1300, staying under my calorie goal, staying relatively under my fat, watching my sodium and drinking at least 12-15 cups of water a day. Not losing inches, not losing weight. In fact, I gained 3 pounds and in fact, now weigh more than I did when I started this whole eating right/working out business.

Sounds like a serious plataue!

First and foremost... DON'T GIVE UP! We all go through this! And though it can be discouraging just keep going! YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

Have you tried increasing your caloric intake or changing your routine? If you are doing the SAME exercises for the most part, your body may be bored. Time to wake it up!!! Try a new class or different weight training exercises. Anything to confuse your body.

Again Keep at it and DON'T give up! You deserve to have a healthy body AND you will if you just keep at it!

I'm in your boat, except I'm almost 240, female, working out daily for at least 30 minutes, eating back to exercise calories to net 1200-1300, staying under my calorie goal, staying relatively under my fat, watching my sodium and drinking at least 12-15 cups of water a day. Not losing inches, not losing weight. In fact, I gained 3 pounds and in fact, now weigh more than I did when I started this whole eating right/working out business.

When you first start a new program, your body has to remetabolize and often times you gain before you start to lose. This is just your body balancing itself out. Hang in there, you'll lose.

I just took a look at your profile, and see you're about the same height as me (I'm 5'3") Your weight is within our healthy weight range, so maybe this is the weight you're supposed to be? Remember, as a relatively slim person, your BMR will be lower than most people's, so the calorie deficit you will need to enable you to lose weight (1lb = a deficit of 3500cals between your BMR and actual intake) will be significantly higher than someone larger than you.

Don't give up, even if you're not losing weight, you are gaining health :flowerforyou:

Your body is probably meant to weigh about 125 pounds.....so from here on out you will just be maintaining. You should eat probably about 1600 calories to maintain ( look up the exact amount) And you will see slight fluctuations in your weight because of water retention ( PMS) and muscle gain.
Eating less calories would put your body in survivol mode, causing it to store fat.

Good luck!

It's hard bull**** to lose weight. I am convinced there is no rhyme or reason to anything!!! Some people do nothing, make the smallest of changes and get the biggest results. Others kill themselves to lose the smallest amount of weight, only to have it come back 10x faster than it was gone.

Why are you doing so much cardio if you want to tone? It seems like you're already at a good weight, you should be lifting weights and working on muscle building, not losing fat! Trust me, any problem you have with definition will vanish when you fill that skin out with some muscle underneath.

A lot of women avoid lifting weights because they're afraid of looking masculine. What they don't realize is that unless you pump the iron seriously hard (hours a day w/ supplements, and even then you're lucky to maybe build .5 to 1lb of muscle a week compared to 1.5 to 2lb for a man), the results you'll see are going to make you look healthy, lift and fill out your sags, and give you more strength than you've ever had before.

Building lean muscle will also help you lose those few stubborn pounds.

So, as you can tell, I'd advocate lifting weights in your case . You don't have to give up cardio, but I really do think it'd be the most 'bang for your buck.' If weights aren't your thing you can try calisthenics, P90x/Insanity/BeechBody/DVD #152, etc, or any resistance training set; but they key to your fitness is muscle. Don't be scared of the weights!

I would def look into what you are eating first of all. Second I would look into how hard you are working out. I could walk for 35 mints at a 3.0 and see nothing. I would eat a lot better and push yourself even harder in your workouts. I would maybe even cut back to doing weights 2 a week instead of 3.

I've been where you are. My problem was three-fold. First, I had been dieting for too long and needed to take a couple months and eat at maintenance (might not apply to you). Second, the exercise calories per MFP/Gym were much higher than I actually burn. I use a fitbit now and know what I burn. Third and most important, measure/weigh every single thing. Peanut butter? Measure it. Olive oil in the pan? Measure it. Boneless chicken breast? Do not assume 4 oz, get it on a scale!! (some of mine were 10+ oz's). Sauces, jams, cheese....weigh it/measure every bite you take. If you can't eat the regular portion size of something...get rid of it. My weakness was ice cream and I would assume/log 2 servings....not so much :noway: . More like 3-4 1/2 cup servings. So no more ice cream. No cheat days. A cheat item once or twice a month, maybe. Not a meal, not a day. One thing...maybe. If you're diligent.

Chart your intake and weight. See where you've fallen off the plan and see how you should be losing compared to what is really happening. And be patient. Most of all, be patient.