Frustrated at weight loss

TeresaGoal145lbs wrote: »

Hello, I am feeling so frustrated at losing weight. I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm 164 lbs. I've gained weight even though I feel I'm eating less. And im exercising more? I feel I've put in a lot of mental effort towards losing weight and I'my still gaining not losing? Ughhhh.
I really feel at a loss right now. Though, I realize I've been drinking more red wine, and now plan to cut back on that.
About 5 years ago I weighed at my heaviest 173 lbs. I worked on losing weight gradually, and eating in a way I could maintain over time. I lost almost 30 lbs and weight 145. I know I gained weight back because I felt a started eating more...thought I didn't need to be so conscious of my eating anymore. I thought iOS,d lose the weight easily like before...I did it by eating 5 small meals aday...I'm having a hard time doing that this time around. If I'm really honest I do eat larger portion sizes and have. Couple cheat days a week. It just seems harder this time losing weight.
I need some encouragement and support. I know I can do it with making changes and I need support this time.

So there's your reason, in all likelihood.

We can cheer you on, but ultimately you have to commit. And you will when you're ready.

Also, eating "five small meals a day" isn't the secret to weight loss. It's calories in vs. calories out. It doesn't matter when you eat; it only matters what you eat. "A couple of cheat days a week" probably means you're eating too little on some days and way too much on others and it all evens out to too many calories.

Hi Guys

I feel equally frustrated. I lost about 21kg of weight 8 years ago counting calories in my head without the aid of fitness pal. I ended up down at 52kg from 73kg. I was then eating 1500 calories a day on a sedentary lifestyle (exercise 2-3 times a week) and I would easily loose 500g a week steadily - no problem.
But about 3.5 years ago when I met my partner I relaxed my eating habits again and gained 18kg since then :-(.
Now I am in my 30s with a sedentary lifestyle with exercise 2-3 times a week and I am eating 1350 calories a day hoping to loose 300g -400g which I carefully record on my fitnesspal, as I know my metabolism has slowed down, so I am not expecting the same results as in my mid 20s. I 3want to make it very clear that I check calorie content carefully before eating out and I measure at home. I know for a fact that I am not overeating. So this time starting off I lost the first 2kg very quickly in the first 10 days as expected and since then I have been stuck around 68kg for the past 2.5 weeks. I am getting very frustrated but I haven't given up yet. I am definitely eating below my calorie allowance, but nothing seems to happen and I don't know why?????!!!

'A couple of cheat days' really add up. Good luck.

The scale does not always reflect what you have done over the past week. If it is under five pound difference there could be a number of factors including bloating. The only thing to do is change your game-plan slightly (i.e. cutting out the wine) and see what effect you have in the coming week.

Hi there. You might get better answers if you start your own thread, since most people will be responding to the OP.

First, as I said above, sometimes weight loss stalls for a couple of weeks due to normal water weight fluctuations. If you've made any changes to your routine recently (especially if you've increased your exercise or increased your carb or sodium intake) you may be retaining water. It could also be due to your period (or ovulation for some women) or stress.

The next thing everyone will probably ask you is do you use a food scale. Measuring your food is great, but there's a difference between using measuring cups and using a food scale. And for some people that difference can be enough to slow down or halt their weight loss if they're eating more than they realize.

After that, I'd say to check your exercise calories. If you're eating them back (you should be if you're using MFP's calculations) then you might need to eat back 50-75% of them. Gym machines and MFP may overestimate certain activities, so you may be eating back more than you're actually burning.

Beyond that, opening your diary and/or starting your own thread so that we can get into more specifics might be helpful.

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Hi

thanks for your reply and sorry for hijacking this post. Yes, I use a food scale. I don't actually understand the concept of cups for measuring food, as I am from central Europe originally. So that's probably not an issue.

The tip about reducing the calories I am eating back is a good one - so I shall reduce that to 50%. Thanks very much.

It's difficult for me to judge the influence of TOM/ovulation, because my periods are extremely irregular. So I guess I could just be seeing fluctuations due to hormones and/or water retention and I just need to be more patient to see the results. I am also probably weighing myself too often - but definitely always at the same time of day in my PJs after going to the bathroom. At the end of the day a deficit should create weight loss eventually. I just gotta hold on to that and not give up too quickly.

Thanks again

Hi guys thanks for your help, just wanted to say that it turned out to be water retention that was masking my weight loss. And it was really helpful having your support - I nearly felt like giving up. Once I started my ToM the scale massively dropped by about 3 pounds over 5 days. Shame my period is so irregular. It's hard to know for me before my TOM starts, that it's actually just premenstrual bloating that's keeping the numbers on the scale up.