I started lifting now the scale won't budge?

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jacki865
jacki865 Posts: 122 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Im 5'2 and 200lbs. Started at 235 and My goal is to get to 125-130. I weigh myself daily to keep track. I hit ONEderland last friday at 199.8 and have started adding more weight training and toning.

Yesterday was leg day so I worked on squats, leg curls, leg extensions, leg presses, etc. Now I wake up and my weight increased to 202.8 yet I'm not extremely sore at the moment. This happens every time I use weights and I seem to be fluctuating like this for the past 3 weeks where my weight will drop after cardio days but it spikes back up after doing any sort of lifting. I know its the water retained from using these muscles but I have now gone 3 weeks without any drop.


I think I may be losing inches and I can tell my body is getting more toned. But obviously me being only 5'2, Its impossible for me to be lean and 200lbs so more weight must come off. Im not entirely sure how to get the scale to go down without stopping the lifting? How can I minimize this impact or get out of this plateau?
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Replies

  • Dr1nkbleachndye
    Dr1nkbleachndye Posts: 441 Member
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    You need to re-evaluate your cal intake. If you have stayed the same weight for 3 weeks, plus u added in more activity, it sounds as if you were eating too much as it were, and now with the added activity you are eating at maintenance. You either need to add in more activity, or lower your cal intake if you want to continue to lose weight.

    Sounds like u over-estimated your overall activity level, or you aren't tracking your calorie intake correctly
  • Allmyusernamesaretakengeeze
    Allmyusernamesaretakengeeze Posts: 146 Member
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    Fat loss starts and ends in the kitchen. Period. Your body must burn more than you eat. You didn't mention your current TDEE, so I'd say that is the very first thing you need to look at.

    I am glad you started to lift - most girls don't. It was a good choice and you shouldn't stop. Your efforts in the gym will help shape what the smaller you looks like in the mirror rather than on the scale. Lifting will likely slow the weight loss BUT, you are replacing light-fluffy fat with sleek segzy muscle. THIS IS A WIN. The scale might not be moving as fast but those jeans that won't slide over your thighs will suddenly fit.



  • ArmyofAdrian
    ArmyofAdrian Posts: 177 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Eat less. Your current TDEE is not the same as it was when you were 235.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    Allmyusernamesaretakengeeze wrote: »
    Fat loss starts and ends in the kitchen. Period. Your body must burn more than you eat. You didn't mention your current TDEE, so I'd say that is the very first thing you need to look at.

    I am glad you started to lift - most girls don't. It was a good choice and you shouldn't stop. Your efforts in the gym will help shape what the smaller you looks like in the mirror rather than on the scale. Lifting will likely slow the weight loss BUT, you are replacing light-fluffy fat with sleek segzy muscle. THIS IS A WIN. The scale might not be moving as fast but those jeans that won't slide over your thighs will suddenly fit.



    you dont replace fat with muscle it doesnt work that way. you can burn the fat over the muscle.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Considering you're lifting, some of that weight gain after a workout will be water retention to help heal your damaged muscle. Even if you're not that sore, you will still retain some water from lifting. I always see a small increase the day after I lift, in the beginning (first month) it was sometimes 2lbs, currently it's between .4-1lb.
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    Keep track of your measurements and take progress pics. It's not all about the scale. Take a peek at this girl's post from yesterday. It's not all about the scale!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10381412/its-taken-4-months-but-10-pounds-are-gone-comparison#latest
  • sanfromny
    sanfromny Posts: 770 Member
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    Keep track of your measurements and take progress pics. It's not all about the scale. Take a peek at this girl's post from yesterday. It's not all about the scale!

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10381412/its-taken-4-months-but-10-pounds-are-gone-comparison#latest

  • jacki865
    jacki865 Posts: 122 Member
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    ArmyofAdrian wrote: »
    Eat less. Your current TDEE is not the same as it was when you were 235.
    I'm on a1200 calorie diet and have been within it for these weeks
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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    yeah dont eat less if on a 1200 calorie diet.
  • shagerty777
    shagerty777 Posts: 185 Member
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    Sometimes you have to trust the process. If you are eating right and logging accurately along with doing the exercise you'll get there. It's a marathon not a sprint. Keep up the good work!

  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
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    jacki865 wrote: »
    I'm on a1200 calorie diet and have been within it for these weeks

    are you weighing and logging everything you eat?
  • Dr1nkbleachndye
    Dr1nkbleachndye Posts: 441 Member
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    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    yeah dont eat less if on a 1200 calorie diet.
    This is the advice above everything else you need to listen to.

  • Dr1nkbleachndye
    Dr1nkbleachndye Posts: 441 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    jacki865 wrote: »
    ArmyofAdrian wrote: »
    Eat less. Your current TDEE is not the same as it was when you were 235.
    I'm on a1200 calorie diet and have been within it for these weeks
    So your BMR is approximately 1700 and with whatever you do for regular day plus exercise, I'm betting it's about 2400 for your TDEE minimum.
    The body can go into homeostasis when it adapts to how much you feed it versus how much you burn. Many times people who eat such low calories will find they stall alot even when exercise is added.
    Try eating 1400 and see what happens.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
    lol follow this advice too. good advice dude

  • ArmyofAdrian
    ArmyofAdrian Posts: 177 Member
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    jacki865 wrote: »
    ArmyofAdrian wrote: »
    Eat less. Your current TDEE is not the same as it was when you were 235.
    I'm on a1200 calorie diet and have been within it for these weeks

    If you weigh 199 and aren't losing weight then you are almost certainly eating more than 1200 calories whether you know it or not
  • afatpersonwholikesfood
    afatpersonwholikesfood Posts: 577 Member
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    Copied from another thread I posted in. Might apply here.

    For the last 3 months, I have started "whooshing." I was a consistent loser before that. I go 2-3 weeks with maintains/fractional losses (like 0.2)/small gains and then lose 7 pounds at my next weekly weigh-in. I'm still 40ish pounds from normal BMI.

    I haven't looked through your diary, but maybe you're experiencing the same. If another week or 2 goes by with absolutely nothing, then you're eating at maintenance.

    I sat down and ran the numbers today for the last 3 weeks because I am currently in a stall. Even with 20% off the burns estimated by my Fitbit and with 10% added to my intake recorded in my food diary, I should still be losing. So, I continue. Last month, I also stalled for 3 weeks before suddenly being 7 pounds down.

    Now, if 4+ weeks were to go by, I would be reevaluating my intake. It is worth knowing one thing, though. Do you weigh, on a digital food scale in grams, 90%+ of what you're eating?
  • smileymaxine
    smileymaxine Posts: 275 Member
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    Firstly those above have pointed it out log properly , weigh food , log everything.
    Secondly you are weighing yourself every day ? Doesn't that drive you insane , maybe use other measurement techniques, the scales for me sometimes knock me up higher one week to the next due to TOM water weight stress pretty much anything , I get BF measured once a month and waist measurement etc

    I started at 195 way back when and did the whole 1200cal-1500 a day as well as exercising 5/6 times a week , I was down right miserable that low on cals but I dropped 35lb in 3 months.
    Keep logging and swap up your lifting program if you aren't making any gains

    Good luck
  • mcmahoj3
    mcmahoj3 Posts: 13 Member
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    Find a good personal trainer who knows nutrition. I'm currently doing contest prep for a fitness model comp and my trainer has increased my calories to 1800 per day (I was inadvertently around 1600) with 40% protein, 30% carbs & 30% fat. I'm 5'9 and 64kg (approx 141lb) and I'm losing fat measurements on this diet. If you're lifting and only eating 1200 your body is probably in starvation mode and storing fat as protection. Good luck.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    If the weight lifting is a new activity give it a couple weeks...

    and I agree if you are truly (and that mean logging accurately and consistently using a food scale)eating 1200 you should probably increase that esp with lifting.

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