Frustrated! Need to vent!

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kacollins1970
kacollins1970 Posts: 45 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really frustrated right now and need to vent! I've been journaling, exercising and making better food choices since January 1st, been on this site for 10 days and in those 10 days I have stayed within my calorie, workout goals which are set up to lose 1.5 'lbs per week. After 10 days, I gained almost a pound this week. Since January 1, I've lost only 8 lbs, with 6 of those lbs. coming off in the first week. I go to a 90 minute bootcamp 1 to 2 times a week and workout on my own at least 30 mins a few times a week. Everyone keeps telling me I'm probably building muscle and I'm sure that's true, as I DO FEEL BETTER, but some weight needs to come off too. I'm seeing my trainer for bootcamp tonight and she is going to look at my journal. My husband says not to worry about the number, that I'm doing this for myself to feel good, get in shape, etc. and he's proud of me. However, I need to lose about 50 lbs and in order to stay motivated, I need to see that scale go town too.

Sorry for the vent! I just needed an outlet to let it all go. I was almost in tears.

Replies

  • drog2323
    drog2323 Posts: 1,386 Member
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    hubby is right - as long as feeling better, the weight will come and scale will move.

    your trainer will prob have a good idea after looking at your journal as well.

    keep going, it WILL happen
  • Lindacollins73
    Lindacollins73 Posts: 3
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    Stop weighing yourself!! If your clothes fit a little better and you feel better, then it is working! Don't give up!
  • Legs_McGee
    Legs_McGee Posts: 845 Member
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    Maybe you're not eating enough calories?? I hope your trainer can offer you some insight. It'll happen!
  • tammy200678
    tammy200678 Posts: 201 Member
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    everyone needs to vent i feel the same way today in 20 days i have lost 4 lbs gained 2 back and doing everything i should be just keep up the hard work it will pay off eventually
  • kdao
    kdao Posts: 265
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    Hang in there, there are a number of things that can have you gaining almost a pound. I bet it's water, so just watch your sodium. You have lost 8 pounds and that is great! And just an FYI, building the muscle is not going to make you gain weight. It takes up more mass and helps you burn fat.
  • mistigoodwin
    mistigoodwin Posts: 411 Member
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    I'm not impressed w/ my amount of lbs lost either. I've been eating right, working out like a crazy person!!! I just expected more I guess, but everyone keeps telling me weight training makes a huge difference. IDK if your already doing it, but I started this week, and I'm hoping I will see a difference by my next weigh in. (once a week) Good Luck!
  • camjes05
    camjes05 Posts: 14
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    I am in the exact same boat and my hubby told me the same thing this morning that your told you. We just have to keep going. I have 60 more to lose but I do understand staying motivated is hard. You can do it!
  • klmmoore
    klmmoore Posts: 98 Member
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    Take your measurements. My first few weeks here the scale didn't move but I lost 3 inches.
  • kdouglas11
    kdouglas11 Posts: 185 Member
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    I wonder if you're getting enough protein. I know I plateau when I don't get enough!
  • Zuznana
    Zuznana Posts: 284 Member
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    Start measuring yourself. Inches will come off and that's great. But I know how you feel, I still rely on my scale and it is very frustrating. Stick with it, you will get there. And vent away, I do a lot and it helps me to stay calm and not frustrated. Good luck with your journey. :smile:
  • soleste
    soleste Posts: 34
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    I had a friend who lost serious inches before she lost much weight, muscel weighs more than fat. Go by how you feel not by the scale. Look for non scale victories. I gained 2 lbs, but my clothes fit better :) you can do this!
  • SeattleLady
    SeattleLady Posts: 70
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    I've been doing crossfit for two weeks and I gained five pounds! It is normal! Keep up the hard work and get off the scale for right now. No more weigh ins for a couple of weeks.

    :) Best of luck!
  • MisdemeanorM
    MisdemeanorM Posts: 3,493 Member
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    be sure, if you are eating back your exercise calories, that you are accurately logging your calorie burn. If you are going by MFP #s or the # on the machine at the gym, you might think you are burning more than you really are.
  • hpsnickers1
    hpsnickers1 Posts: 2,783 Member
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    What's your Daily calorie goal. Your body could just be adjusting to the change or you could be consuming too few calories.

    Keep your NET calories above 1200. This is a general baseline number for Starvation Mode. Some might be higher, some lower but it's a good number to go by. Eat your exercise calories (at least to the NET 1200). This isn't defeating the purpose of dieting. the more you exercise the more fuel your body needs to keep going strong.

    You might already be doing this or maybe your goal is more than 1200.

    Don't know about muscle. Depend on how much heavy weight lifting you are doing. It's very hard to build muscle. You also need a calorie surplus and lots of protein with the heavy weight lifting to build muscle.


    Any loss is progress. You're doing great. You will not lose the same every week and there can be fluctuations. Hang in there. Slow and steady is the healthy way!

    And check out the link in my signature: Links in MFP you want to read again and again...

    "Starving your body will lead to a slower metabolism, greater hunger and a deficit of nutrition. Depriving your body of vitamins, minerals and adequate protein will result in muscle loss, not fat loss. If that thought doesn’t concern you, just remember that your heart is a muscle and you certainly don’t want to lose any piece of it!"
  • PeachyKeene
    PeachyKeene Posts: 1,645 Member
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    I had a personal trainer once upon a time tell me she was going to fire me, if I keep looking at the pounds lost. How do you clothes feel? Right now you are gaining muscle. First, you build muscle, then the muscle helps your body burn fat more efficiently. You will start losing weight, just be sure you are doing it the healthy way.
  • sziemba1
    sziemba1 Posts: 34
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    I recently lost 60 pounds in 16 weeks. I still track my intake of food to make sure I do not put the pounds back on. Here are my tips. To lose weight fast avoid anything made with flour or sugar. Avoid potatos and rice. Drink 8 cups of water per daily to boose your metabolism. Eat lean meats and fish. Keep your carbs around 125 grams per day. That's what I did. Hope this advice helps.
  • cdelay2
    cdelay2 Posts: 10
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    I was in the same situation. I was only losing 1/2 lb in a week if I was lucky. I changed my goal to losing 1 pound per week instead of more. ( I had it set a 1 1/2 each week). As it turns out... I was not eating enough. I was depriving my body of the calories that I did need to eat. Now that I have changed my goal and am eating a few more calories each day, my success has been much better. Last week I lost 2 1/2 lbs and this week I lost one. Double check your goals and the calories that you need to eat each day. Also generally speaking, the days that I do exercise I do not eat a majority of the extra calories the system allows me to eat due to exercising. You may want to just give those a try. Everyone is different.

    Keep up the good work though!! Whether the scale says what you want it to or not, you are making important changes to your overall health!!
  • danibabs
    danibabs Posts: 298 Member
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    Since January 5, I've been on here almost every day and work out 4-6 days a week, both strength training and hard cardio.
    In that time I've lost 7 lbs. I was stuck between 180 and 183 for an entire month, and as of Saturday I finnnnalllly got below 180 and have been staying there. It's incredibly frustrating. But you are losing fat. You're gaining muscle and then there's water weight (drink more water!!). And yea it sucks, but the scale will start dropping if you continue. Just remember that if you stop doing what you're doing, not only will it not go down, it may start going up.
    Also, I agree with previous posts to remember to take your measurements :)
  • lcs1211
    lcs1211 Posts: 121 Member
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    Don't worry so much about the scale - how are your clothes feeling. You may be buiding muscle (which weighs more than fat) and losing those inches. I don't really care as much about the number on the scale as how I look and feel in my clothes. You are doing great and celebrate the small victories.
  • kacollins1970
    kacollins1970 Posts: 45 Member
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    Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice everyone!!!. I've calmed down a bit. LOL

    I've decided to give the scale a break for a couple weeks and just focus on my exercise and nutrition. I took measurements earlier this week and I think I'm going to take a before picture. The bootcamp and additional exercise I'm doing is circuit so there is a lot of weights involved. Its got to be the muscle thing. I'm going to talk to my trainer tonight. Hoping she can give me some additional advice. My clothes are fitting better and I feel better overall, so I need to count those as successes and build on them. :smile:

    Thanks again!

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