Sososo frustrated!!

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So right after Christmas I signed up for a trainer at the gym. Since then, I have been working out with him 2-3 times a week for an hour, plus another 3-4x a week by myself (generally do 1hour classes, either physique 57 or aquafit). I felt like I was doing well for the first few weeks and I hit the 8lb lost mark at the end of January.

Since then, my weight has been fluctuating between 8lb lost and 10lb lost; it just will NOT dip past the 10lb mark. I'm in a friend's wedding in May, and she's a really competitive person (so am I, I guess, or this wouldn't be so frustrating!)... she goes to the gym maybe 1-2 times a week and tells me she does the Wii Fit free run at home if she can't make the gym. She's on that 17-day diet at the moment and I think done the second cycle now, whatever that is.

I myself haven't really been dieting... just cutting back on the things that are bad. Personally, I don't feel uber guilty splurging on some cheesecake once in a while because I know I'm pushing myself physically and generally being "good".
My friend has lost 14lb in the past month.
wtf.

Honestly, is all my hard work in vain??? Should I just be starving myself instead of working my *kitten* off??
Now I mean, I have a lot more muscle, my stamina has improved tenfold, and I feel better. But really???

I know that once she goes off the diet she will fall off the wagon and gain it all back, and that half of what she's losing is water weight. I just really need a rant session, to be honest.

Feel free to join me as I shake my fist at life right now
*shake*

Replies

  • RichB77
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    LOL !!!!
    :explode:
    Just take some deep breaths ;-)
    However, i will join you in shaking a fist !
  • skinimin
    skinimin Posts: 252 Member
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    Hahaha I'm a bit competitive like that too! I HAVE to be the skinniest/sexiest haha.

    Is your friend bigger than you? Because the bigger (okay fatter depending on how frustrated you are haha) person lose more weight more quickly, obviously because they have more to lose. (Hey sounds similar to that show about big people who lose to win haha). And YES muscle weighs aloootttt more than fat, stop looking at the scales and look in the mirror. What you actually see in front of your face can be incredibly satisfying and uplifting compared to what you see on the scales, especially when a person has been exercising as much as it seems you have been. I bet in the mirror you will see a killer body emerging!

    And yoouu will get to stay on the bandwagon and continue to look good, and stuff looking good because exercise and healthy eating makes you feeeeeell good, really good, better than a large cheeseburger meal. Go for a walk, you'll feel even better (and work off steam haha)
  • traceytoo
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    HI, I lost a lot of weight a couple of years ago around 84 pounds and got down to that dreaded last stone to get off .. at that time I was seeing a trainer and working really hard at the gym and though I never lost anymore weight, everyone kept saying to me are you losing more weight and though I was 10 stone 3 I actually looked way, way slimmer, around the 9 stone mark, and that was becuase everything was toning up and clothes were falling off me ... so though you may not lose weight you are doing something much better and that is toning up and thuogh the scales may not show a loss, people will definitely think you are losing .. so it's much better, check out the tape measure, it will tell you a whole different story when you are training hard.

    xx:bigsmile:
  • kimwig
    kimwig Posts: 164
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    So right after Christmas I signed up for a trainer at the gym. Since then, I have been working out with him 2-3 times a week for an hour, plus another 3-4x a week by myself (generally do 1hour classes, either physique 57 or aquafit). I felt like I was doing well for the first few weeks and I hit the 8lb lost mark at the end of January.

    Since then, my weight has been fluctuating between 8lb lost and 10lb lost; it just will NOT dip past the 10lb mark. I'm in a friend's wedding in May, and she's a really competitive person (so am I, I guess, or this wouldn't be so frustrating!)... she goes to the gym maybe 1-2 times a week and tells me she does the Wii Fit free run at home if she can't make the gym. She's on that 17-day diet at the moment and I think done the second cycle now, whatever that is.

    I myself haven't really been dieting... just cutting back on the things that are bad. Personally, I don't feel uber guilty splurging on some cheesecake once in a while because I know I'm pushing myself physically and generally being "good".
    My friend has lost 14lb in the past month.
    wtf.

    Honestly, is all my hard work in vain??? Should I just be starving myself instead of working my *kitten* off??
    Now I mean, I have a lot more muscle, my stamina has improved tenfold, and I feel better. But really???

    I know that once she goes off the diet she will fall off the wagon and gain it all back, and that half of what she's losing is water weight. I just really need a rant session, to be honest.

    Feel free to join me as I shake my fist at life right now
    *shake*
    Unless you are monitoring what you actually eat (including accurately knowing amounts) as well as what you really burn in exercise you can't understand what you will lose. "Generally being good" doesn't help. The cheesecake could have been 800 cals and you burned only 500 cals in your work out (for example). Unless you measure you will not know.

    As the saying goes "Abs are made in the kitchen". What you eat is critical.
  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 192 Member
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    Your diary isn't open, but are you logging everything you eat? Yes, you can eat cheesecake, and I salute your attitude of 'everything in moderation'. You certainly shouldn't starve yourself.
    However you should make sure that the cheesecake fits in your daily calories allowance. You will only lose weight if calories burned is greater than calories eaten. I just ate a huge melty chocolate croissant, but I know it fits in my calories for today. If you don't log EVERYTHING, you'll never work out why your weight loss is stalling.
  • BakingGranny
    BakingGranny Posts: 112 Member
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    You haven't shown your diary so we can't see how you're eating. My question-are you eating 1200 cal at the least. It's required to eat at the least 1200 a day. That might be your problem. I went public and I was having the same problems. My friends on MFP told me I wasn't eating enough. I upped it and that wk I lost 5#. Just saying maybe this might be an option.Good luck:)
  • scagneti
    scagneti Posts: 707 Member
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    A good percentage of weightloss (I'm not going to make up a stat) is in the kitchen over the gym. No one here would recommend "starving yourself" but if you're eating cheesecake regularly (unless you're foregoing those several hundred calories elsewhere) is not going to help you win this thing!

    Try to clean up your diet for a month. It's just a month. Stick within your caloric requirements but eat a good percentage of your exercise calories and I doubt that you'll be starving. Whole grains, lots of protein, veggies and fruits with the OCCASSIONAL treat (i.e. not a daily thing!) and I'd be willing to bet in a month your weight loss will be moving along nicely.

    If I challenge that you CAN'T do it, will that make you more likely??? :laugh: :flowerforyou:
  • keepitoff99
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    I myself haven't really been dieting... just cutting back on the things that are bad. Personally, I don't feel uber guilty splurging on some cheesecake once in a while because I know I'm pushing myself physically and generally being "good".
    My friend has lost 14lb in the past month.
    wtf.
    Honestly, is all my hard work in vain??? Should I just be starving myself instead of working my *kitten* off??
    Now I mean, I have a lot more muscle, my stamina has improved tenfold, and I feel better. But really???

    One piece of advice I can give that I've learned along the way is not to compare yourself to anyone else. Everyone loses weight at a different pace. Maybe she is starving herself at times and is losing muscle mass or water, not gaining muscle/becoming healthier along the way to maintain it. It's okay to eat things you love once in a while, as long as you are logging the calories. I saved last night for three Lindor chocolates as I have been craving them. Keep exercising, eat your exercise calories and it will come off. I have good and bad weeks - sometimes I go up and down by 3-4 lbs and I've been doing the same things I should be. Weight is just one indicator - measure yourself as well.

    Keep it up. Do it for yourself. She is not the person to measure yourself against. You have to be in control and happy with your own self, not in comparison to her. The weight will come off, just keep on track! Good luck.:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:
  • Mamoonie
    Mamoonie Posts: 328
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    Hey,

    don't be frustrated. There sure are some reasons behind this!

    I have made the same experience these past few weeks. Have a personal trainer since January 4th. The first 3 weeks, I lost 3 lbs, all perfectly fine, just like I set up my preferences on here. Then, for 3 weeks, nothing at all :-( Last week I lost 1.5lb again.
    2 things happened though during that time:
    1. I lost quite a few inches around, my jeans are loose, my sweaters are too big.
    2. I checked my calorie intake because I thought I was doing sooooooooo well... apparently I didn't! Those 3 weeks I didn't lose weight were the weeks I was very close to my calorie goal, within 50 over. Before I usually had some 200 over. Last week I had 200 calories over again... and started losing again. So actually I was not eating enough for the amount of exercise I do.

    I actually eat ALL of my exercise calories, and now that I understood this, I will try to stay a bit over my allowed calories, rather than under. I burn some 500-600 calories 3-4 times a week. I am allowed 1630 calories a day, and I try to have around 1800 net calories. I really thought being under 1700 net calories was really really doing well, but apparently it wasn't.

    Well, this is what happened to me. You might want to try this out for yourself?! Up your calories a bit for a week or 3 and see what happens. There's still enough time until May to react if it doesn't change anything.

    Good luck

    MM
  • triannataylor
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    I am logging everything, with the occasional missed day.
    The cheesecake was an example - we had it for valentine's day while my friend complained over fb about not having candy.
    I generally have good days and bad days - eg. Tuesday I was 316 calories UNDER, Thursday I was 250 calories over, Sunday 500 under, last Friday (gulp) 550 over (damn you multigrain tostitos and salsa!!! And skipping the gym that day!!!)
    But basically I try to make good choices, ie. No fast food, USUALLY no cheesecake and tostitos (lol), and more veggies and lean meats, less frozen garbage.

    Basically it's just really frustrating is all.
  • triannataylor
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    On a happy note the gym scale finally broke the 10lb mark today. It's like the gym gods read my rantfest and replied.
  • triannataylor
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    On a happy note the gym scale finally broke the 10lb mark today. It's like the gym gods read my rantfest and replied.
  • triannataylor
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    Hahaha I'm a bit competitive like that too! I HAVE to be the skinniest/sexiest haha.

    Is your friend bigger than you? Because the bigger (okay fatter depending on how frustrated you are haha) person lose more weight more quickly, obviously because they have more to lose. (Hey sounds similar to that show about big people who lose to win haha). And YES muscle weighs aloootttt more than fat, stop looking at the scales and look in the mirror. What you actually see in front of your face can be incredibly satisfying and uplifting compared to what you see on the scales, especially when a person has been exercising as much as it seems you have been. I bet in the mirror you will see a killer body emerging!

    And yoouu will get to stay on the bandwagon and continue to look good, and stuff looking good because exercise and healthy eating makes you feeeeeell good, really good, better than a large cheeseburger meal. Go for a walk, you'll feel even better (and work off steam haha)


    Oh also.. no she does NOT weigh less than me. My starting weight was 193; hers is 155 or so. Which means apparently she's like 140-ish now. So figure that out.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    Gaah.gif






    I feel that way a lot myself.:wink:
  • marniehodges
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    Are you tracking your sodium? Sodium can be killer on the scale, and the bod! Definately watch that. And definately measure yourself. The scale can be rally frustrating and fluctuate 2-5 lbs any given day, but the measurements don't lie! I've lost 26 lbs, which in the scheme of things isn't huge compared to some. But, I've lost 24 inches overall and gone down 3 pants sizes! Inches lost are sooooo much better! Hang in there! You are doing a great job! :flowerforyou:
  • Evag6828
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    I hear yea...I'm also in a wedding in 5 weeks. I've lost 6 lbs on my own and 3 with MFP. I haven't been able to shake the last 5lbs i need. I want to give up so bad. But I'm going to ride it through good or bad. BTW I bought my dress 2 size too small it fits and zips but i guess i do need to breath some time during the day right? LOL Hope it helps your not a lone.
  • triannataylor
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    Gaah.gif






    I feel that way a lot myself.:wink:
    : )