Struggling

awelch616
awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 13 in Getting Started
I've been on a weight loss journey for about two months now. I'm stuck. I've lost about 12 lbs so far but can't seem to get any further. I'm eating healthier watching my calorie intake and I've started exercising 6 days a week. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong. My goal is to lose 60 lbs by next summer. Help!!

Replies

  • kayte56789
    kayte56789 Posts: 19 Member
    I'm exactly where you are. I've lost 11 pounds but won't go down any more and still have 17 pounds more. Do you want to be friends I'm trying some challenges like the squat challenge, arm challenge, lunges challenge and fitness challenge I don't know if they work started today
  • 2MuchTyme
    2MuchTyme Posts: 129 Member
    Plateaus see horrendous, keep up the work....shock your body. It gets used to the every drsy stuff...do something crazy like. hsve a free for all day...or a fastrobg day....might even try cutting all carbs for a few days....
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    If you have recently increased the exercise routine, it could be some water retention masking losses. How long has it been since you've been stuck? (that can help with figuring out what the problem is)
  • awelch616
    awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
    I've been doing insanity for the last two weeks. Cut out sugar for the most part. I try to stay below 24 grams every day. Been counting calories and really watching what I'm eating. I got just below 188 and bounced back up. It's getting a little frustrating. Don't know if I should add more exercise to my daily routine or what. My husband keeps telling me not to get frustrated and thinks that maybe I'm gaining muscle weight because of the insanity work outs. I just don't know.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    In a calorie deficit you aren't gaining muscle, but they will hang on to water to repair. That is probably what is stalling the scale. When I started lifting my scale didn't budge for a month. It was frustrating, but I was confident that I was doing everything else right. Then one day, I woke up to a huge drop on the scale, and it stayed off.

    If you are confident in your logging, then just have patience. In the meantime, take a look at your logging. Are the entries correct? Are you using a food scale for all solids (including prepackaged foods)?
  • 50extra
    50extra Posts: 751 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    I've been doing insanity for the last two weeks. Cut out sugar for the most part. I try to stay below 24 grams every day. Been counting calories and really watching what I'm eating. I got just below 188 and bounced back up. It's getting a little frustrating. Don't know if I should add more exercise to my daily routine or what. My husband keeps telling me not to get frustrated and thinks that maybe I'm gaining muscle weight because of the insanity work outs. I just don't know.

    Don't worry about it. If you are logging calories honestly and not eating back all of your exercise calories you will continue to lose weight. You are losing at 1.5lbs a week right now, that's a great pace to be at. Many people try to eat back 50% of their burned calories and I tend to agree with it. If you absolutely think you need to add something else, start going for walks in the morning to loosen up.

    You are doing Insanity and that is fantastic! It 100% works, you are curious about adding more exercise then that and I would strongly suggest not to other than the walking i mentioned above. You're in week 2 of Insanity, stick to it and by the time you do your week 4 fitness test you will realize how far you have come. I had to stop after the first month because my knee started hurting too badly.

    Twelve pounds in two months is something you should be celebrating not getting worried about.
  • awelch616
    awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
    After weighing myself this morning I am truly amazed. I have lost just about 2 pounds in the last four days. How? I have no clue. I had to stop doing my insanity because my legs ( mainly my shins) were seriously hurting. Figured i would give it a week and then get back to it.i have not exercised in those four days but the scale is going down. I did add a multi vitamin to my morning routine. Could that be why the scale is now going down? I'm so confused? Any helpful answers?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    After weighing myself this morning I am truly amazed. I have lost just about 2 pounds in the last four days. How? I have no clue. I had to stop doing my insanity because my legs ( mainly my shins) were seriously hurting. Figured i would give it a week and then get back to it.i have not exercised in those four days but the scale is going down. I did add a multi vitamin to my morning routine. Could that be why the scale is now going down? I'm so confused? Any helpful answers?

    Likely the water weight disappearing from stopping Insanity
  • awelch616
    awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
    Could be but now I'm at a dilemma. Do I start it back up or not?
  • novio50
    novio50 Posts: 778 Member
    If it's a plateau I find that throwing the diet thing out of the window for about 2 days usually kicks a platuea. But don't go too crazy. The body has adapted to your diet.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    Could be but now I'm at a dilemma. Do I start it back up or not?

    Depends on your reason for doing the exercise. If it's strictly for weight loss, it doesn't matter. If you are doing it to be stronger, faster, etc, then get back at it, but don't let the number on the scale do your head in. As I said above, when I started lifting, my weight was stuck for a full month. I knew that my calories were in line, so I did my best to ignore the scale. Then one day a whoosh on the scale. It happens that way for some people. Decide what your goals are, and set your priorities based on those goals.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    After weighing myself this morning I am truly amazed. I have lost just about 2 pounds in the last four days. How? I have no clue. I had to stop doing my insanity because my legs ( mainly my shins) were seriously hurting. Figured i would give it a week and then get back to it.i have not exercised in those four days but the scale is going down. I did add a multi vitamin to my morning routine. Could that be why the scale is now going down? I'm so confused? Any helpful answers?

    The pain was your muscles in your legs which were being asked to work much more than they had become accustomed do. This is muscle strain, which is the physical tearing apart of muscle tissue as it tries to contract more than it is accustomed to. New exercises, such as your Insanity, introduce these muscle tears and if you're lucky they are of the "micro-tear" variety. This does cause muscle soreness. Your body wants to heal, and it needs water and protein to do that. Water, protein, and rest. Don't resume Insanity until the pain is gone. However, if you do resume Insanity as soon as the pain is gone, you'll find that the same level of intensity doesn't hurt. Your muscles have repaired bigger and better and able to do the work you ask. That water, being used to heal, will be dismissed when your body is finished with it.
  • 50extra
    50extra Posts: 751 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    Could be but now I'm at a dilemma. Do I start it back up or not?

    If your body can hold up to the abuse of Insanity of course you should start back up again. I hope you aren't thinking that it was causing you to not lose weight. Insanity absolutely obliterates fat because of the crazy high calorie burns. Just because you had a whoosh of a couple pounds after you stopped doesn't mean that you shouldn't start again. The program was the whole reason that you had that four pound whoosh.

    The weight could have been anything. Last shift at work when I was doing Insanity I gained a pound a day for four days, then over the next two days I ended up losing seven. I looked back through what I had eaten and it was because I ate a TON of salt over those four days. Weight loss isn't linear.

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    awelch616 wrote: »
    Could be but now I'm at a dilemma. Do I start it back up or not?

    Its better for you to keep active, any water weight gain is temporary anyway. chart your weight on a trending app so you can see your progress, that's the way to keep a handle on fluctuations, you'll know whats caused them etc
  • awelch616
    awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
    I chart my weight on here every morning plus I keep a sticky note on my mirror with the date and my weight. I've watched it go up then down then back up again. I've decided after the holidays to jump back into my insanity gotta keep doing it otherwise I'll be right back to where I was before. I definitely don't want that I wanna stick with it and get through the whole sixty days.
  • socioseguro
    socioseguro Posts: 1,679 Member
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  • greekye
    greekye Posts: 1 Member
    Hi-Im newer to MFP but I have lost weight and kept most of it off for 7-8 years now. Through the years I have noticed a lag period what I saw in the mirror and what was on the scale. In the end you are changing your life style. The weight loss journey will sometimes be immediate and other times slow down. The key is being consistent. If you are really watching the calories and really sweating at the gym it will come. Strength training and cardio are very important.
  • domesticlydiva
    domesticlydiva Posts: 19 Member
    Did you take your measurements when you began your exercise program? Muscle weighs heavier than fat as you likely know. The scale isn't always the best measurement of weight loss...you could be building muscle therefore shrinking...the loss will be reflected at some point.
  • awelch616
    awelch616 Posts: 7 Member
    No I didn't. I should have then maybe I would see a difference. I've dropped 7 ounces and I'm hoping that once I start my workout again I'll drop more. I'm definitely going to measure myself before I start this time.
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