Gained an Inch using MFP and P90X. WTF?!

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neesono
neesono Posts: 61
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm doing my best to stick with MFP and I'm working my butt off on P90X. I lost an inch last week and today I measured myself to find that I had gained an inch.

I'm not obsessed with losing weight but I HAVE to lose around 5 inches off my gut. I'm eating clean, following MFP as best as I can, watching my portions, and exercising at least 5-6 days a week.

I see so many posts like this and I'm embarrassed that I am posting about this. I don't expect the inches to magically melt off. I know these things take time. But to gain an inch when I am doing everything that I am "supposed" to do is very very frustrating and discouraging.

There is so much info out there to try and make sense of it's overwhelming: Eat your exercise calories back, don't eat them back. Carb up before bed don't eat 2hrs prior to bed time. There is starvation mode there isn't starvation mode.

Before I started on MFP and P90 X I went on a fast to prove a point to someone. Stupid I know. I only ate 3 mini-bagles a day in addition to drinking only water and taking one multi vitamin. That's it. No exercise and only an occasional topping for the mini bagel. In 4 days I lost 7 lbs.

I am on week 3 of P90X and MFP and not only have I not lost much weight but I've actually gained an inch on my gut. Those bagels are looking mighty good right about now.

Replies

  • heathhumble
    heathhumble Posts: 178
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    Stay Focused! continue to work hard and follow your MFP.Things will turn around for you.Feel free to add me as a friend we can help motivate each other along the way.Good luck to you.
  • LuckySe7en
    LuckySe7en Posts: 49
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    I haven't done P90x but my best guess is that you are growing muscle. You could be losing fat and replacing it with muscle. You wont be able to see all of the muscle you are gaining until after the fat burns off. Don't give up though it sounds like you are on the right track!
  • Rhaamses
    Rhaamses Posts: 9 Member
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    Don't get discouraged. Sometimes it is not just the calories, but when and what you are eating. If you are doing P90x, understand that its a 90 day plan. See where you are after the first 30. I see myself in a similar position. I really needs a Nutrition for Dummies book, to better understand what I am eating. I feel that I can do 1200 - 1800 calories a day and drink at least 8-10 glasses of water, but I must do 90 minutes of Cardio to lose weight. Doc says someone my height should weigh 167 (maybe with a boat load of cash and a crackpipe), I dropped 14 and can get to 190 by Easter. Focus has kept me there.
  • emaybe
    emaybe Posts: 187 Member
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    Mini-bagels aren't a fast. Fasting is used either to cleanse your system or for spiritual enlightenment via deprivation (if you buy into that). That's starving yourself, and obviously you're going to lose a few pound by depriving your body of fuel, which actually does far more harm than good.

    As a ritual faster (for a combo of the reasons mentioned above), I can safely say that fasting (whether depriving your body of calories for the sake of a bet or for any other reason) is not safe, healthy or feasible for everyone.

    Keep working out and keep eating within your calorie goal and the results will show up. Proving a point to someone isn't gonna help you out in the long run... and if you're doing it that way, it's only gonna destroy your metabolism.

    When I fast my calorie intake is still ~500 for the sake of not destroying my metabolism (based on an olive oil, lemon and cayenne shot that keeps my intake steady while my body cleanses toxins -- as recommended to me by a holistic doctor, so again--this will not work for everyone).
  • ljd0693
    ljd0693 Posts: 289 Member
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    In my experience you will tend to not loose weight in the first month (or two) of P90X since you are putting on a lot of muscle.

    You'll actually gain weight in the first month. I know I did.

    Even though the scale won't show it, you'll see the difference in your body. Ignore the scale and trust the mirror!

    My waist went down 2 pants sizes without the scale having any big changes.
  • neesono
    neesono Posts: 61
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    Thanks everyone. I'm not going to give up. No matter what. I will not quit, it's not in my nature. But damn am I frustrated!

    My #1 goals was to go from a 42in waist to a 37in waist or better by April 30th. After 3 weeks I'm rocking a 41in waist and short of doing something drastic/unhealthy there is no way I'll be at 37in by my goal day.

    And I am fully aware how stupid my "fasting" was. The reasons behind it are part of a lengthy story. Suffice it to say that I have no desire to do that sort of thing.

    I'm think what's really killing me is that I have no accurate way to measure anything. No scale for measuring food and no heart rate monitor to measure my calorie burn.

    So I have 20 days to lose 4-5in. I don't see that happening.
  • neesono
    neesono Posts: 61
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    In my experience you will tend to not loose weight in the first month (or two) of P90X since you are putting on a lot of muscle.

    You'll actually gain weight in the first month. I know I did.

    Even though the scale won't show it, you'll see the difference in your body. Ignore the scale and trust the mirror!

    My waist went down 2 pants sizes without the scale having any big changes.

    I expect weight gain. Personally I don't even care about my weight. It's the inches around my gut that are effing me up at the moment. I expected a slow loss of inches but I didn't expect a gain. Inches gained to my arms and chest yes...but not to my gut. That's the heartbreaker.
  • neesono
    neesono Posts: 61
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    Don't get discouraged. Sometimes it is not just the calories, but when and what you are eating. If you are doing P90x, understand that its a 90 day plan. See where you are after the first 30. I see myself in a similar position. I really needs a Nutrition for Dummies book, to better understand what I am eating. I feel that I can do 1200 - 1800 calories a day and drink at least 8-10 glasses of water, but I must do 90 minutes of Cardio to lose weight. Doc says someone my height should weigh 167 (maybe with a boat load of cash and a crackpipe), I dropped 14 and can get to 190 by Easter. Focus has kept me there.

    You know...most crackheads are pretty slim. I wonder if there's a crack supplement we could take ;-)
  • hemlock2010
    hemlock2010 Posts: 422 Member
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    No help here, but thanks for asking the question. Nineteen pounds down, and I'm seeing NO CHANGE in the measurements that matter. So frustrating. I know, I know--stay the course, but still.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Are you sure you're measuring yourself in the same place?

    Plus, as we lose fat, our body shapes change and shift a little. My waistline - the smallest part of my waist, anyway - is lower now than it was three months ago, now that I don't have love handles. I don't notice that in the mirror, but I see it in my swimsuit progress photos.
  • neesono
    neesono Posts: 61
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    Are you sure you're measuring yourself in the same place?

    Plus, as we lose fat, our body shapes change and shift a little. My waistline - the smallest part of my waist, anyway - is lower now than it was three months ago, now that I don't have love handles. I don't notice that in the mirror, but I see it in my swimsuit progress photos.

    I'm measuring myself at the widest point on my gut. Bellybutton level. This is what is keeping me from reaching my goal.

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