Frustrated at weight loss

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TeresaGoal145lbs
TeresaGoal145lbs Posts: 57 Member
in Motivation and Support
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.

Replies

  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    TeresaGoal145lbs wrote: »
    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?

    1. What do you mean you "feel" you're eating less? You either are eating less calories or you're not. The only way to know is to log what you eat. If you're not losing, you're not eating less calories than your body is burning. Period.
    2. "Mental effort" is fine, but it's physical effort that gets you results. Not just working out, but taking the time and effort to weigh/measure what you eat, plan and log your meals, etc. If you're not logging calories, then you have no clue what you're actually eating.

    Short Answer: Start logging. Eat at a deficit. Weight loss shall happen if you do what you need to do.

  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    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.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited December 2014
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    You feel you're eating less or you are eating less? Are you accurately logging everything you're eating and drinking? Do you have a kitchen scale and are you using it to weigh your food to make sure you're getting the portions right?

    A couple of cheat days per week will definitely derail any progress you might be making on the other days. I don't have cheat days. One because that term implies guilt and two, because I know that the only person I'm cheating is myself. Instead, I have days where I plan a few more calories into my day, no guilt involved. Or I work out longer to give myself extra calories if I want to eat out or have a treat.

    You'll want to start logging your food and being accurate about it if you want to start consistently losing weight. If you want a day where you eat more than your calorie goal, have one, but don't go overboard, and I'd really limit them to one a week or so. Try to keep your goal reasonable, don't make your weight loss goal so aggressive that you aren't giving yourself enough calories every day and you probably won't even feel the urge to "cheat".
  • _lyndseybrooke_
    _lyndseybrooke_ Posts: 2,561 Member
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    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.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    How much weight have you gained and over what period of time? I'll echo the others that it sounds like you aren't tracking and are having some problems with consistency, but I also want to add that one weigh-in with a gain is almost meaningless in the grand scheme of things. Even when you do everything right your weight will fluctuate from day to day and week to week. You could be retaining water due to many factors (increased exercise, sodium, stress, hormones, TOM, etc) which can throw off your scale weight for a week or two.
  • scs2de
    scs2de Posts: 5
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    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?????!!!
  • phungpat
    phungpat Posts: 32
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    What kind of workouts are you doing, any strength training? Building muscle can actually make the scale go up even though you're losing fat and possibly inches. I'm also in the camp that believes you shouldn't weigh yourself too frequently. I think once a week or every two weeks is sufficient so you're not obsessing about daily fluctuations. And when you do weigh yourself try to be consistent and weigh around the same time of day and with similar outfits. If you weigh one day with shoes and clothes and the next day in your underwear obviously you'll see noticeable differences. Stick with exercising and managing your calories and you'll get to where you want to be.
  • arrrrjt
    arrrrjt Posts: 245 Member
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    'A couple of cheat days' really add up. Good luck.
  • VeryKatie
    VeryKatie Posts: 5,931 Member
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    arrrrjt wrote: »
    'A couple of cheat days' really add up. Good luck.

    True, when I splurge, my cheat days are at least 4000 calories and I'm still hungry for more... So I don't do that any more.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    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.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    scs2de wrote: »
    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?????!!!

    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.

  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
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    Have you done any kind of research into what happens to your biological systems when you start moving more and eating less? what stages you go through and what causes water retention and how long to expect it to last, etc?
  • TeresaGoal145lbs
    TeresaGoal145lbs Posts: 57 Member
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    LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »
    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.

    Thanks you for your reply. It's encouraging to hear it's how many calories not when you eat them, though I try not to eat late since that's not a good time to eat. I'm going to focus more on tracking what I eat, and limiting the cheat days. Or like one other responder said increase calories but track it and maybe workout more to sweat out the extra calories:)
  • scs2de
    scs2de Posts: 5
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    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.

    [/quote]

    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
  • jw7522
    jw7522 Posts: 6
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    Hi! I am super frustrated as well. I am working on losing weight and seem like I am getting stuck. I count everything I eat and I work out about 5 days a week. I do log that and don't eat back all of those calories all though I usually eat some. My scale feels like its not moving at all. I weighed today and it didn't even move 0.1. So discouraging. When I was 26 I lost 70 pds fairly easily using weight watchers and working out. Of course gained it back and then some. Now I am 33 and it seems to be so much harder this time around. If you are looking for a friend you can add me. Maybe we can help motivate each other. Sounds like you are feeling similar. Anyone who wants a buddy feel free to add me. I could definately use some friends talk to and motivate each other.
  • scs2de
    scs2de Posts: 5
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    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.

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