not happy bunny

sorry to hear that but dont get discouraged. If you do have hypothyroidism...you will have a VERY HARD time losing weight. Being put on the right meds will surely help.....

I lost 13 pounds without trying once the dr put me on the right meds..and now..I am eating right and exercising

Hi Robyn,

Welcome fellow Brit.

It's difficult to say why as I can't see your diary but here are some thoughts:
- If you are exercising a lot you will be building muscle. This weighs more than fat so don't just use weight to monitor, also measure yourself and record it. You may be gaining weight through muscle but losing inches through toning!

- I would suggest that you look at your diary thoroughly and see if all your decisions are good, healthy ones. Are you staying within your targets for fat, sugar, sodium?

- Also, ensure that you are keeping out of starvation mode as being in starvation will prevent you from losing weight.

Hope this helps a little.

x

PS: Stick with it....(feel free to add me as a friend - I'd encourage you to open your diary up to friends if you haven't already)

i need some ideas of how to tone not just to excercise and burn calories

There's no such thing as "toning" you either exercise your muscles or you don't. It is highly unlikely that even someone with severe thyroid trouble can put on that much fat in such a short space of time.

Also, while your muscles might be retaining a bit of water, you won't have built a significant amount of muscle in a few weeks, if you work really really hard you might build maybe 10lb in a year. If you're lucky.

Do you weigh yourself at the same time every day? Did you weigh yourself after eating / drinking? Are you constipated?

if i do too much i could have a heart attack as i may have thyroid problems

May???

Nobody should advise you on here, you need to see a doctor and find out for certain whether or not you have thyroid problems. If you do that could also be causing your depression.

Your mother had problems with her doctor, many many people do not.

Even if you do have thyroid trouble, that doesn't mean you can never exercise again.

so what your saying is its not my thyroid thats making me gain weight its my fault?! i have worked my *kitten* off for a week n a half n watched what i eat how the hell can i gain half a stone in that time? i have been the Dr i have to wait 3 weeks for a blood test n another 10 days till i get my results i no it doesnt mean i can never exercise again ive been working hard and making a huge effort to make sure i do at least 30 mins if i cant do 2 hours which is what i want to be able to do but i cant always do it. im touchy about my weight i have a ***** of a mother who says im and i quote "fat slag" constantly and i dont comfort eat when im angry i go out for a walk so i shouldnt be as over weight as i am really, im not an anorexic so no i dont weigh myself every day thats a little excessive n a little odd i think i exercise all week n watch what i eat then i weigh myself, and am i constipated? im a very private person so im not likely to share that with anyone but my Dr.

First of all, I don't think they meant it is your fault. They were just trying to give you some ideas of why you may have gained. Granted it wasn't the best way to word it so that it didn't sound like they were assigning blame.

Anyway, some things to consider that might help you out. When you first start an exercise program, specifically if you are lifting weights, your body will make some physiological changes to adapt to the added exercise. The first one we see, unfortunately, is weight gain because the body starts storing more glycogen in the muscles you're using and that glycogen is stored in 3 times as much water as glycogen. If you store a pound of glycogen, you'll store 3 pounds of water, which will give a 4 pound increase on the scale. This is a normal biological reaction to added exercise to provide the fuel for the activity. The other thing is that when you start a healthy eating plan, typically people start drinking more water then they are use to drinking. At first, the body will hold on to more of it because its not sure when it will get that much water again. Until the body gets use to drinking the extra water, it will hold on to more water and appear heavier on the scale. That's why I tell my clients not to weigh for at least 4-6 weeks when we first get started. I don't want them to check their weight after a week or two and get discouraged like you are now. You're eating healthy and exercising, so it's 99% likely that it is not fat. That 7 pounds is mostly water with a little glycogen. In order to gain 7 pounds you have to eat an excess of 24,500 calories. I seriously doubt you did that in a week and a half. So, don't stress the scale. Keep up your healthy habits and relax a bit. As for the other poster asking about constipation, that is also a side effect of some eating plans and can increase the number on the scale. I'm sure they weren't trying to be rude, but trying to figure out if that could be a problem for you. As a health professional, though, I've had to learn some strange facts. There have been people who have been so backed up that they had 45 pounds of fecal matter in their intestines when they died. (They weigh it during autopsy.) Personally, in dealing with a bad bout of IBS (the constipation version), I lost 7 pounds in 4 hours when I was finally able to clean it out. So, they had a valid point in asking if you could be carrying around some extra weight from constipation. Again, not trying to be rude, but trying to give you some options of what could be causing the scale to go up. You don't have to disclose it to us, but think about it for your own peace of mind about the scale.

As for your thyroid, you need to change doctors. If you aren't comfortable with this doctor because of the care they gave your mother, then you need to do whatever you can to find a doctor you are comfortable with. Also, I don't know about the health care system in Britain, but even our screwed up health care system in America is faster then that. I suspected a thyroid issue for my daughter and they had her in the office within a week. They did her blood work the same day and called me with the results the next day. So, I know they CAN be faster if they want to be. The technology is there, anyway, but I don't know about the bureaucracy of health care in your country to know if the paperwork part of it can be done that fast. But it is well worth calling another doctor to see if it is possible.

Finally, to your original question. You need to do a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular training. The resistance training should be done with a weight that is heavy enough that the last rep of a set of 10-12 is difficult. This will build muscle size (from that glycogen as described earlier and eventually from increasing muscle fiber size), which will give you some definition once the fat is burned. The cardio will help with fat burning and also decrease your risk of cardiovascular diseases and heart attack. You've gotta strengthen the heart just like any other muscle! I recommend starting with 10-20 minutes of weights followed by 10-20 minutes of cardio. Start with 10 of each and build up to 20 of each as you feel comfortable. Be sure and stretch afterward so you don't get sore. Also, when doing your weights, be sure you don't hold your breath. It's the natural reaction to hold the breath and 90% of my clients do it at the beginning. Unfortunately, that can raise the blood pressure which you don't want, so be careful.

And if there is anything I can do to help you with a program or workouts or limitations based on your metabolic conditions, PM me and I'll be glad to help.