Not losing weight, Not losing inches

brittanyhargett
brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
edited May 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Ive only been working out everyday for a week plus (weight lifting and cardio) but I'm gaining weight. I'm not eating any processed foods/sugar/pop/etc., and I have increased my protein. I also track my calorie intake and use my fitbit to track my outtake (I burn more than I eat and I eat clean). I asked a trainer at my gym if I should expect something soon, she said yes but not on the scale and seemed surprised that I haven't lost anything off my waist line. Obviously with the weight training, I will gain some and the calories burned will offset the muscle built, but what gives with the inches?! I'm I even burning fat? Do I have to keep up this meal plan and workout plan for a month to see any results? Am I doing something wrong?

Replies

  • LaMartian
    LaMartian Posts: 478 Member
    Do not change anything yet. You're probably gaining a little water and glycogen because your body is demanding it. If you're still gaining weight after a month, decrease your intake.
  • hhazzouri
    hhazzouri Posts: 103 Member
    Fitbit usually overestimates the calories burned. Drop your calories more and count everything and the magic will happen
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    One week is way too soon to get impatient, especially since you have started an exercise routine. Your muscles are probably retaining some water to help with recovery. Be patient.
  • brittanyhargett
    brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
    I usually intake about 1200-1500 calories and 'fitbit" says I burn about 2500+ in a day when I exercise (estimated 400-500 cal).
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    brittanyhargett wrote: »
    I usually intake about 1200-1500 calories and 'fitbit" says I burn about 2500+ in a day when I exercise (estimated 400-500 cal).

    What exactly are you doing in those workouts? It sounds like a pretty high calorie burn estimate, but I don't know your weight and what you're doing exactly.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited May 2016
    hhazzouri wrote: »
    Fitbit usually overestimates the calories burned. Drop your calories more and count everything and the magic will happen

    ^^^^^

    I am going to interpret that he meant lowing the calories you eat back from exercise, not your allotted calories MFP gave you eat to loose X pounds a week not including exercise calories..

    You have a while to go before muscle gains will affect your weight. You will not gain very much muscle if any, during weight loss deficits. You will maintain your current muscle and can grow what is called "newbie gains" in muscle size, when just starting to strength train, but these taper off after about 5 - 6 weeks. Do not panic this is normal.

    Lifting weights does provide the body with the need to store water into the muscles, replenish glycogen etc. hense water weight gain. This is going to be a trend you need to adhere to during your weight loss and it is completely normal.

    Do not think that you are not burning fat at this time. One week is way too soon to panic. It can take any one's body a week or two to start adapting to changes in lower calorie intake as well and exercise and activity increases.

    If after three solid weeks you are not noticing any body measurement changes, some scale weight, or even changes in the fitting of your clothes, you need to reasses the calorie intake by double checking the accuracy of your food logging... are you weighing your food each day??

    If you do not have a food scale, now is the time to buy one and start using it. It is a game changer in any one's weight loss sucess. If you do not log food, check this video out as to why you should...

    https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY

    A work of huge caution here, fitbit or any activity tracker for that matter, fitness equipment computers or apps for exercising will not have exact calorie burns.. these are all estimates even when using an Heart Monitor.. so be careful when eating back your exercise calories, you can cut into your "deficit" easy by eating back too much.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    You're going to lose weight from all over your body, not just your waist. If you want to track inches lost, track these measurements:

    waist @ smallest part between navel and ribcage
    waist @ navel
    hips (largest part around butt)
    thigh
    calf
    ankle
    upper arm/bicep
    forearm
    wrist
    neck
    shoulders (circumference)
  • brittanyhargett
    brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
    When I workout, I do 1 hour on the elliptical, (heart rate bt 140-165). I'm 29. Before the elliptical, I do about 2-3 sets of 10 reps on about 5-6 weight training machines in the gym, targeting all different muscles. I pretty much do it until I dont have the strength to do it again with good form.
    I dont know if I need to keep going, rest a day, keep going until I see changes, etc. I go to the gym everyday, sometimes twice.
    When I measure my calorie intake, all I do is use MyFitnessPal. Even if the Fitbit is over calculating my burned calories, I'm still eating 500-1000 less than my total burn which would be plenty enough considering an overestimate I would think.
  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
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  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    Are you weighing your food or just going by the database in MFP? Having eliminated the possibility of overestimating burn the only logical assumption is you are eating more than you think.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    edited May 2016
    If you've just started a new workout routine, it's likely water water. But....
    brittanyhargett wrote: »
    When I workout, I do 1 hour on the elliptical, (heart rate bt 140-165). I'm 29. Before the elliptical, I do about 2-3 sets of 10 reps on about 5-6 weight training machines in the gym, targeting all different muscles. I pretty much do it until I dont have the strength to do it again with good form.
    I dont know if I need to keep going, rest a day, keep going until I see changes, etc. I go to the gym everyday, sometimes twice.
    When I measure my calorie intake, all I do is use MyFitnessPal. Even if the Fitbit is over calculating my burned calories, I'm still eating 500-1000 less than my total burn which would be plenty enough considering an overestimate I would think.

    If after a few more weeks your weight doesn't go down, you're problems are bolded above. "When" you measure calories makes it sound like it's an occasional practice. If this is the case, you don't know how much you're eating. And as for the second part...not necessarily, especially if you aren't counting calories accurately. (and you're not)
  • brittanyhargett
    brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
    I'm not using a food scale but I'm about to go buy one!
  • brittanyhargett
    brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
    I use my fitness pal to calculate everything I've been eating, down to the vitamins I take in the morning. I am interested in the food scale. Especially for the oatmeal and meats I've been eating.
  • brittanyhargett
    brittanyhargett Posts: 6 Member
    So when I get my calorie intake more accurate, how do you know exactly how much you're burning per day if trackers aren't reliable?
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    brittanyhargett wrote: »
    So when I get my calorie intake more accurate, how do you know exactly how much you're burning per day if trackers aren't reliable?

    Trackers CAN be accurate, but anything that tells you how many calories you burn is just an estimate. I find my Fitbit to be accurate, because I eat the amount of calories I burn according to my Fitbit and maintain my weight. It's all about trial and error. Get your calories on track, see if you lose weight using your Fitbit burns. If you do, you're good! If not, readjust. Still, you've only been at this one week. The whole...water weight gain when starting an exercise routine is real. It happens to me every time I take some time off from working out. I start lifting, the scales goes up a few pounds, and then it goes back down.
  • LeslieB042812
    LeslieB042812 Posts: 1,799 Member
    brittanyhargett wrote: »
    So when I get my calorie intake more accurate, how do you know exactly how much you're burning per day if trackers aren't reliable?

    Well, you don't know EXACTLY how much you're burning unless you're hooked up to complicated and expensive medical machinery, but you can get a pretty good estimate by using multiple sources of information. I recommend doing some research (there are places with estimates of burns based on your factors for different activities) and comparing it to your fitbit, as well as your own hunger and weight loss (or lack thereof). If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. To be safe, maybe just eat back a portion of your burned calories--there's no law that you need to eat them all, just enough to keep your body fueled from the workout. It's very easy to over-compensate for your workout by eating more than you've burned. Fortunately, you don't need to know exactly how much you've burned to be successful!

    It's important to remember that you've only been doing this a week. It takes a lot more time to see real results and to learn what works best for you!
  • JenHuedy
    JenHuedy Posts: 611 Member
    brittanyhargett wrote: »
    Ive only been working out everyday for a week plus (weight lifting and cardio) but I'm gaining weight. I'm not eating any processed foods/sugar/pop/etc., and I have increased my protein. I also track my calorie intake and use my fitbit to track my outtake (I burn more than I eat and I eat clean). I asked a trainer at my gym if I should expect something soon, she said yes but not on the scale and seemed surprised that I haven't lost anything off my waist line. Obviously with the weight training, I will gain some and the calories burned will offset the muscle built, but what gives with the inches?! I'm I even burning fat? Do I have to keep up this meal plan and workout plan for a month to see any results? Am I doing something wrong?

    It's only been a week. Even if you see scale weight loss in a week, you are not going to lose enough to make a measurable a difference in your waistline.

    Plus you started working out. I gained 4 pounds after my first day of Stronglifts 5x5. Be patient. Keep plugging away. You'll see results over time.

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