Why is this so hard?
carbons2k
Posts: 383 Member
Im 3 weeks into trying to lose weight. (im probably going to catch flack for this but...) I weigh myself every morning after my morning routine. I record my weight every Monday however. Im 5'-9" 240lbs (I don't know bf%) Im trying to lose 40lbs to be at 200 with some muscle. I started weight at 245 Im now 241 at the end of week 3. I have a very sedentary office job so my caloric intake has been 2000 or less and I hit my macros (protein/carbs/fat) I run 3-4 miles 2x a week outside and do a basic push pull lifting routine for my upper body 2x a week also. I focus on my upper body bc I have really small arms and all my fat is in my stomach and chest area. I have a supplement stack I take for weight loss to help with hunger and seems to be working. Size wise I don't feel my clothes fitting any different and the scale moves up and down everyday! Why is cutting weigh so hard? Should I add another day of running? This is really depressing me!
my stack (I don't take the c4 on days I take the burn)
me after my workout (242lbs)
my stack (I don't take the c4 on days I take the burn)
me after my workout (242lbs)
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Replies
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It's SO hard, I feel you. But if it were easy, everyone would be hot, right?
Sounds like if you're frustrated by your lack of loss, you should add more cardio. I've had wonderful success with swimming, running kills my knees and the water is great for resistance training everything.
You're also lifting- that means you're adding muscle! Your body will hoard water to repair your stressed muscle tissue, so your number on the scale WILL be higher. Plus, any added muscle will add weight. So even if you're losing a ton of fat, the water and new new muscles will make your numbers go up. But that's okay. Try tracking how many inches you lose instead, it will tell a different story if you stick with this.
That being said, 4lbs in 3 weeks is perfectly normal progress! I envy your consistent loss. Sounds like you've got a great plan, just keep going
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Are you logging those suppliments for whatever calories they may have? Four pounds in three weeks is awesome.0
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So am seeing fat burners. spot reduction, frustration at lack of progress in 3 weeks.
Eat less move more accept the cico.0 -
It's SO hard, I feel you. But if it were easy, everyone would be hot, right?
Sounds like if you're frustrated by your lack of loss, you should add more cardio. I've had wonderful success with swimming, running kills my knees and the water is great for resistance training everything.
You're also lifting- that means you're adding muscle! Your body will hoard water to repair your stressed muscle tissue, so your number on the scale WILL be higher. Plus, any added muscle will add weight. So even if you're losing a ton of fat, the water and new new muscles will make your numbers go up. But that's okay. Try tracking how many inches you lose instead, it will tell a different story if you stick with this.
That being said, 4lbs in 3 weeks is perfectly normal progress! I envy your consistent loss. Sounds like you've got a great plan, just keep going
Fyi muscle doesn't weigh more than fat0 -
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Im 3 weeks into trying to lose weight. (im probably going to catch flack for this but...) I weigh myself every morning after my morning routine. I record my weight every Monday however. Im 5'-9" 240lbs (I don't know bf%) Im trying to lose 40lbs to be at 200 with some muscle. I started weight at 245 Im now 241 at the end of week 3. I have a very sedentary office job so my caloric intake has been 2000 or less and I hit my macros (protein/carbs/fat) I run 3-4 miles 2x a week outside and do a basic push pull lifting routine for my upper body 2x a week also. I focus on my upper body bc I have really small arms and all my fat is in my stomach and chest area. I have a supplement stack I take for weight loss to help with hunger and seems to be working. Size wise I don't feel my clothes fitting any different and the scale moves up and down everyday! Why is cutting weigh so hard? Should I add another day of running? This is really depressing me!
my stack (I don't take the c4 on days I take the burn)
me after my workout (242lbs)
you're doing great man! down 4lbs in 3 weeks? that's a nice start. that's the healthy way to lose it and keep it off. just 1lb a week. Don't get frustrated just stick with it. Add me if you want I'll be here to pick you up 0 -
Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.0 -
Sure it's hard. But when you make a lifestyle change, you don't have to worry so much about the scale. Just concentrate on being healthy. The rest will come.0
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Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.
Muscle has more density but it doesn't physically weigh more 3 pounds of fat and 3 pound of muscle weigh the same 3 pounds, if he lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 10 pound of muscle he would still be 10 pounds lighter!0 -
belleamore1234 wrote: »Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.
Muscle has more density but it doesn't physically weigh more 3 pounds of fat and 3 pound of muscle weigh the same 3 pounds, if he lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 10 pound of muscle he would still be 10 pounds lighter!belleamore1234 wrote: »Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.
Muscle has more density but it doesn't physically weigh more 3 pounds of fat and 3 pound of muscle weigh the same 3 pounds, if he lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 10 pound of muscle he would still be 10 pounds lighter!
You're absolutely right, I could have worded that better.0 -
I only wanted to clarify for the op because he may believe his scales are higher because he's gaining muscle mass and that can be misleading it's very hard to build muscle and will usually take longer than three weeks, he's on a normal progression with 4 pounds in 3 weeks but may need to look again at logging and consumptionbelleamore1234 wrote: »Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.
Muscle has more density but it doesn't physically weigh more 3 pounds of fat and 3 pound of muscle weigh the same 3 pounds, if he lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 10 pound of muscle he would still be 10 pounds lighter!belleamore1234 wrote: »Congratulations on getting started! I would agree that some more cardio could be beneficial. If you don't have access to a pool as Kkallisti suggested maybe an elliptical or arc trainer to lessen the impact on your joints.
Remember that muscle is more dense than fat and so it will weigh more. That being said, muscle burns more calories than fat at rest. 1 lb. of muscle is going to burn about 6 calories per day while at rest while 1 lb. of fat will only burn about 2 calories. It may not sound like much but at the end of the week it will add up. Try incorporating full body strength training rather than just upper body to get the most 'burn for your buck'.
Either way, great start and keep a positive attitude. It takes time, if being healthy were easy we wouldn't be here, encouraging each other.
Muscle has more density but it doesn't physically weigh more 3 pounds of fat and 3 pound of muscle weigh the same 3 pounds, if he lost 20 pounds of fat and gained 10 pound of muscle he would still be 10 pounds lighter!
You're absolutely right, I could have worded that better.
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If you are not already weighing and measuring your food, I would start. You may be eating more than you think. Good luck and hang in there. You will win in the end!0
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4 pounds in three weeks is nothing to feel bad about. Take a couple of minutes and check out this thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
Take special note of the "Tracking" part. I kinda suspect you aren't providing yourself with some of the key information you can get from weighing and precisely logging your food.
Thanks for sharing that thread. I think it was well written and had a lot of common sense.
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Your stats are similar to mine, I started at 262 lbs. (currently 165) have an office job and lead a sedentary lifestyle. I realized about a month into my weight loss that I had unreasonable expectations of how long it would take to lose. It too years to put it on, and you won't lose it in a couple of weeks. it took me 7 months to lose the 1st 60 lbs, another 5 to lose the next 25 and 4 more to lose the last 12. If you want to lose faster eat less calories or exercise more. I ate between 1200-1500 calories a day for almost a year. I personally didn't eat exercise calories back until I was close to my goal weight. I'm not sure about all the supplements. I started doing a protein powder once I lost all the weight, because I was skinny fat. I don't know if the fat burners do anything for weight loss, I never used them.0
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You should be proud of any loss : )0
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I understand how frustrating it is. It's takes so much time and effort to lose weight. It's has taken me almost 6 months to lose 38lbs and I still have 120lbs to go. Don't get discouraged. Keep it up and good luck!0
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Use a food scale, and weigh and log everything. My MFP primer:
Buy a food scale, weigh and log everything.
Do cardio if you want, and if you do, only eat back 50% of your calories (if you are losing faster than expected after logging for a few weeks, then up the % you eat back). Lift weights and hit your protein goal to help maintain muscle mass while losing.
Cheat meals that take you over maintenance will sabotage your efforts. Log the cheat meals too (falls under the 'log everything' rule).
Eat anything you want in moderation, keeping in mind that your diet will be easier to stick with if you chose foods that make it easier to stay under your calories without feeling hungry.
Also it would be a good idea to read some of the best forum posts such as:
Calorie Counting 101
Logging Accuracy, Consistency, & You're Probably Eating More Than You Think
A Guide To Get You Started on Your Path To Sexy Pants0 -
I think the point is OP I see all those supplements, but really you need to focus on your consumption first, so more or less what blankefinder said. Youd really help yourself if you learned how weight loss works and then youd see it for what it is and could adjust your plan accordingly.0
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