feeling discouraged. what else can I do?

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ducky653
ducky653 Posts: 20 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hey fitness friends!

I am a 5'6'' 19 yo female who has been hovering at 165 pounds for a few years now. I have just moved out on my own, so I got a new motivation to be healthy! For the past month, I have walked 1.5 miles to and from work, kept a strict&balanced 1,200 calorie day, and I work out 3-4 times a week by doing 30-60 mins on the elliptical.

I felt like I was making progress until I went to H&M to shop for a wedding guest dress this evening. I felt fatter than ever before, with horrible back rolls and love handles. I feel like I've gained weight!!

I feel like obsessing over my calories and waking up early to work out before my walk to work isn't even worth it. What else should I do??

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  • craveweights
    craveweights Posts: 4 Member
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    Find a good strength training program that incorporates hiit cardio. Clutch cut or something of the sort.

    Cardio burns during workout, strength training burns calories from 48-72 hrs after session.

    Hoping the best during your fitness journey.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    You feel like you gained weight? Have you gained or lost weight or what? Feeling fat is not the same as gaining fat.
  • masihbelum
    masihbelum Posts: 8 Member
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    Congrats on moving out on your own! This is a great time to really learn to live the life you want: fitness-wise, food-wise, health-wise.

    It sounds like you're starting some great habits of building exercise into your day and paying attention to what and how much you eat. Sorry about the dress disappointment--fitting rooms can be horrible places of judgment. And just because you don't look great in the dresses you looked at doesn't mean you're not making progress. But it does give you an idea of where you'd like to go with your appearance and feeling good!

    My advice: keep up the good work! Don't take cheat days, but do increase your movement when you're planning to eat more than you usually do. Find a dress for the wedding that fits and flatters you now so you can relax and enjoy the wedding. I'll let the fitness experts weigh in on exercise to add, but my encouragement to you would be to learn to live and eat and stay fit in a way that enriches your life now as you move forward. Keep us posted, eh?
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
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    Are you weighing all your food on a digital food scale?
    Measuring caloric liquids in measuring cups?
    Eating back only half your exercise calories?
  • ducky653
    ducky653 Posts: 20 Member
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    Thanks for the advice, craveweights! I have gained weight, according to my scale at home. :s thanks for the encouragement masihbelum! I really appreciate it! :)

    I don't measure my food on a digital scale, no. I'm going to go ahead and download the weed scale app for that so I can do it on my phone! B) good advice!

    As far as net calories, should I have a lot of calories left in the green at the end of the day or eat all 1200 + exercise?
  • masihbelum
    masihbelum Posts: 8 Member
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    Happy to help!
    ducky653 wrote: »
    As far as net calories, should I have a lot of calories left in the green at the end of the day or eat all 1200 + exercise?

    Here's a helpful article on that: https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/ask-the-dietitian-should-i-eat-back-my-exercise-calories/

    Cheers!
  • JustLoveYes
    JustLoveYes Posts: 10 Member
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    I've been having a similar problem of eating healthy and working out, yet gaining weight! I saw a nutritionist and turns out things I thought were healthy are not, like cutting out carbs, turns out you need them, just the healthy ones and in small amounts. 1200 calories sounds too little if you're working out. I would make sure you eat all your calories and just eat healthy filling foods. You should also try weights! I work out a lot but weights is supposed to really make a difference so I'm going to add that in twice a week.

    Good luck!!

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