When will all my work start paying off?

bumping to see what you find out. I went from couch riding to working out everyday.....I GAINED this week. Grr. Keep at it though. The changes you are making on the inside are soo much more valuable than the ones on the outside.

You can't predict it, but it will drop off at some stage.. I get discouraged too when the scale doesn't shift, then it's a nice surprise when it does

I didn't see any results at all until after day 105.

I had been exercising well, but my sodium and carb count were still high and I wasn't eating enough protein.

Took me that look to get into the hang of things and for my body to understand what I was doing.

Also, I initially hadn't been eating before my workout. I thought that I'd burn more fat that way, but I was wrong!! I needed to eat to tell my body it was ok to release a few pounds because I wasn't going to starve while pushing myself that hard.

Every body, literal BODY, is different. I hope you find what works for you. In the meantime, push through obstacles and know that this road is worth it because YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!! :flowerforyou:

I find the scale doesn't move when I first start exercising after some time off, but then it will suddenly drop. If you have sore muscles, or are building muscles, they tend to retain some water as part of the healing process. Without being able to see your diary, it's hard to tell if that's it or it may have something to do with what you're eating.

**PLEASE NOTE: YOU said it only been a WEEK**

Your body takes time to adjust, if you went from sedentary to 3 hours of working out a day your body is freaking out right now! General rule is 3-6 weeks from pattern change to START seeing results

What kind of work out have you been doing? Remember that muscle weighs more than fat so if you're gaining muscle then it can balance out weight loss or even increase weight even though you are loosing fat.

I do have to say that working out for 3 hours a day can also be detrimental depending on how you work out. Recovery is just as important as working out.

It is. You just dont see it yet!
Everyday you continue to work out and exercise you are building a better you!!! You are building self esteem, a strong will and determination!
Everyday you make healthy food choices the cells in your body thank you for the QUALITY choices you are making!!
Hang in there! Your work IS paying off!!!

It sounds to me like you're overdoing it in every area. Three hours a day is likely to result in injury, and you definitely should be eating all your calories!

Losing weight/getting in shape is a marathon, not a sprint. I know we all want to be there NOW, I do too and struggle with impatience, but we have to be smart about it. It's a lifestyle change, not a three month change.

Your scale probably hasn't moved because you're building muscle - but if you don't eat enough calories, you could be burning muscle too.

Good luck! Hang in there!

Agreed! Sounds to me like you're overtraining in every sense of the word.

Bear in mind that while a little is good, more isn't necessarily better. Exercise is a stress so while you'll peak at around 30-45 mins in your workouts....after that you're flooding your body with Cortisol (stress hormone) which will actually work Against you.

Your 3 hour workouts would be better cut back to an hour. Remember, it's not how long you spend at the gym, it's what you do when you're there.

I've taken professional athletes and regular people through intense workouts that took 30-40 mins tops (Not including stretching, warmup and cooldown). But they'd need 2-3 days recovery between workouts.

Most people neglect the most important part of fitness which is rest. That doesn't mean sleep....but meaning rest between workouts. When you're training your muscles of energy stores, you need to take time between workouts to allow your body to recover. So if you're going hard every day, you're not going to see any progress as you're not giving your body time to repair itself. General rule is 48 hours between strength training sessions and at least 1 day a week of nothing at all.

Case in point, I was injured all of last week and was unable to workout in any way shape or form. I checked the scale yesterday and I've gained 1.5lbs of lean mass and lowered my body fat by 2%.

Why? because I allowed by body to rest and rebuild from the training stresses I was putting myself through.

Less is more! :-)

Cheers!

I did the same thing. Where I live I have a fitness center. I was going out and working out every day for an hour each day and sticking to the calorie intake and everything. It didnt help. I didnt lose not one pound and if I did it was right back by the next day. I gave up and packed on another 5lbs. Finally, I told my hubby. You know im just going to start cutting back a little on what im eating. So I did. Instead of eating 2 packs of instant oatmeal in the morning I eat one. then I decided to replace all of my red meat with ground turkey. Then i replaced mayo with mustard. I gave myself 1 cheat day where I can eat what i want. Since I started up with this 2 weeks ago ive lost 10lbs. and I havent gone to the fitness center once in the two weeks. Instead I have been going swimming 3 times a week for about an hour. Dont give up I know how you feel to work so hard and not see any results. If what you are doing isnt working try something new.

The pay off starts when you start and stops when you stop. So don't stop. :flowerforyou:

For me this about changing my life up, keeping track of things, and changing old habits for new ones. I will not give up this time because this is not a 'diet', this is life. I can get frustrated, but I cannot and will not give that up. :drinker:

...not to mention hypothyroidism is not a fun battle to fight, but it is one worth fighting.

It takes a while for your body to adjust to your new routine. I don't believe you can change your metabolism in 7 days. If you eat healthy on a consistent basis, make sure you reach your calorie goal and get some rest, I'm sure the scale will turn in your favor. Weigh in on Monday and see if anything has changed.

P.S. 3 hours a day seems a bit much....slow down :-) Make sure that you are eating enough calories to cover all the exercise time you're putting in.

GOOD LUCK!!!!

This is why I can't be a scale junkie. it took me 47 years to get this fat, I cannot reasonably expect to see it drop off in 1 week.