Lost the weight I gained, but I don't look like what I looked like before? Please HELP!

Mspiggy56
Mspiggy56 Posts: 7 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

This might be a bit silly, but I just can't figure out why after losing a majority of the weight I gained, I still look heavy and not like what I looked like before I gained 15 pounds.

So here's the story. I usually weigh between 136-137, I've been this weight for almost 5 years. 136 doesn't seem skinny, but I appeared quite thin but still a little curvy. I gained about 15 pounds over the course of about 3 to 4 months. Usually I could get away with eating whatever I wanted mostly because I would go through phases of eating little to nothing at all (I don't have an eating disorder, money was just really tight). Since my paycheck increased by a large amount I started eating a lot more, not a ridiculous amount of food just a little more then I should of been eating for someone who doesn't workout much. During the 2 months of weight gain I started purposely trying to eat a lot to gain muscle. I was using light weight (20 lb) while doing squats, bridges, and other exercises. So during the 3rd month I started noticing the weight gain and I had a little fat on me and at this point I was about 140, but I wasn't to upset about it because I thought I had gain muscle too ( and my butt looked pretty good ;))). But then month 4 came and I started noticing love handles and saddlebags, and worst of all my stomach was poking out more then usual and I could fit properly into my clothes. I was at 151! That's when I decided I need to do something, but instead of cutting calories right away I was doing more strength training and a little bit of cardio. But that didn't do much so I paused muscle gains, and I started cutting calories and intermittent fasting so I could start losing fat. So far its been 5 weeks and apparently (according to the scale) I've lost 12 pounds. It's not fluctuations I've weighed my self multiple times and it says 139(I was losing 2 pounds every week).

Anyway, I don't know what to think. I look in the mirror, I look a bit smaller in the waist. I even measured it, I went from 30 inches to 28, and bit of my back fat/love handles has gone away. So apparently I really did lose weight, but not anywhere else. My pants don't fit, my arms are still flabby, my thighs are huge (partially because of muscle) and I still have (slightly smaller) saddlebags. I expected to look like what I did before only with a little more muscle definition, seeing as I am only 3 pounds off from being what I use to weigh!? What the heck!
These were my measurement before weight gain:
Waist: 26-27
hips: 39
thighs: 22-23
Weight: 136-137
During weight gain:
Waist: 30-31
hips: 42
thighs:24
Weight: 151
After weight loss:
Waist: 28-29
hips: 41.5
thighs: 24
Weight: 139
(btw I am 19 and 5'4)
Was I crazy to expect to go back to being a size 4-6 after losing 12 pounds? Is there something wrong with my scale?What do you think? I'd love to know all your opinions!!





P.S. I'm kinda new to this site. I join about month ago, but I haven't been using this site/APP for counting calories since because I prefer using old fashioned pen and paper lol. Just in case ya'll were wondering why there aren't many meal entries.

Replies

  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    What was your protein like as you were losing weight?

    Also did you do any strength training?
  • Xymheia
    Xymheia Posts: 65 Member
    It looks like you've upped your calorie intake too soon after eating very little and gained mostly fat. Also, 2 pounds per week of weight loss is quite much, most people aim for 2-4 per month to keep their metabolism happy. A 28 inch waist is not bad but at 5'4" it indicates that you may still have a little bit of fat to lose to get back into fit territory, unless you have a very muscular waist. The same holds for your hips.

    I would recommend to focus on eating healthy (basically learn portion sizes and cook fresh if possible) and regularly to keep your metabolism up from now on. Whenever you're (expected to be) low on budget again, maybe get a massive bag of dried rice and beans/lentils and add vegetables/fruit when possible. It isn't much but it should feed you during those times. Keep up the strength training and choose a weight that is challenging for you (e.g. a weight with which you can just do 8 repetitions per set properly and 3 sets per exercise). You won't build a lot of muscle with a weight that is too light for you. Make sure you train your entire body to build muscle evenly, so not just lower body but also back (lat pulldowns, rows), chest (bench press or similar) and arms/shoulders (barbell or dumbell shoulder press).
  • Mspiggy56
    Mspiggy56 Posts: 7 Member
    sardelsa wrote: »
    First, you most likely didn't gain very much muscle when you put on weight especially if you were using the same dumbbell over and over and not progressing to stimulate and challenge the muscles to grow.

    Second.. were you doing any sort of weight training during the 5 weeks while you lost ? In order to keep the muscle you have it helps to continue weight lifting while you lose. You also lost very quickly so that could all contribute to losing muscle.

    Typically.. high rate of loss, too much cardio and no resistance training and inadequate protein is a recipe for muscle loss.

    I would start following an established lifting program, look at a bodyweight one where you progress week to week if you don't have access to a gym.


    Well I heard somewhere that you're suppose to slowly work up to a higher weight. For me 20 IB was kind of challenging( I could barely go past 10 reps, but I'd limit my reps to 12 per set) especially since in the past i'd only use a 8 lb weight for all my exercises.

    I was doing a bit of weight training and resistance during the first 2 weeks because I read that's how you keep muscle when burning fat. But then I kind of slacked off for a couple weeks, because I lost all motivation. I was eating TONS of protein though, and I still am. I know I probably didn't put on much muscle, but my legs feel hard and muscular, maybe it's just fat, but I gotta say looking in the mirror, my legs are definitively not flabby like the rest of my body.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited April 2017
    I would go ahead and focus on your body fat % instead of weight. As we lose weight we inevitably lose some muscle mass, especially if we have a high calorie deficit or don't resistance train regularly.

    It doesn't really matter what happened, I think it's pretty obvious that your body fat is higher than it was before you gained weight. The only real solution is to continue to lose body fat.

    You can cut or recoup, but I'd recommend consistent strength training going forward regardless of the approach you take.
  • Mspiggy56
    Mspiggy56 Posts: 7 Member
    Xymheia wrote: »
    It looks like you've upped your calorie intake too soon after eating very little and gained mostly fat. Also, 2 pounds per week of weight loss is quite much, most people aim for 2-4 per month to keep their metabolism happy. A 28 inch waist is not bad but at 5'4" it indicates that you may still have a little bit of fat to lose to get back into fit territory, unless you have a very muscular waist. The same holds for your hips.

    I would recommend to focus on eating healthy (basically learn portion sizes and cook fresh if possible) and regularly to keep your metabolism up from now on. Whenever you're (expected to be) low on budget again, maybe get a massive bag of dried rice and beans/lentils and add vegetables/fruit when possible. It isn't much but it should feed you during those times. Keep up the strength training and choose a weight that is challenging for you (e.g. a weight with which you can just do 8 repetitions per set properly and 3 sets per exercise). You won't build a lot of muscle with a weight that is too light for you. Make sure you train your entire body to build muscle evenly, so not just lower body but also back (lat pulldowns, rows), chest (bench press or similar) and arms/shoulders (barbell or dumbell shoulder press).

    Yea, I think you're right. I know 2 pounds per week is much, but I was so depressed looking in the mirror seeing how big I had gotten I just wanted to lose it as fast as possible. Also I really don't like having to buy new pants lol.

    I have been eating fairly healthy and I make sure to get enough protein. However once in while I'll eat a unhealthy snack (like cookies, or Jello). Thank you for the food recommendations, during those times I didn't think about eating healthy I would eat anything just to get enough calories like Pizza, McDonalds, Mac and Cheese, Spaghetti ETC; So I was thin, but not healthy, now I'm fat and healthy lol. I will keep up with the Weight training and resistance training, I have been doing it this week and last week, I just fell off the wagon for a while because I was just so unmotivated.

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    I think this is one of the reasons yo-yo dieting can be damaging. You put on some fat then you diet aggressively and lose some of the extra fat but also some muscle. Then you lose motivation and put on a bit of fat, then diet aggressively and lose some of the fat but also some muscle. Each time you get back to the original weight but at a slightly higher bf%.

    Anyway, when you aren't all that heavy but you lose weight quickly (more than a lb a week or so) you are going to sacrifice some muscle, even if you eat a lot of protein. Your body can only burn so much fat at one time. I think your best bet is to eat at maintenance or a very small deficit and focus on your workouts as others have suggested. Be patient and don't expect to see drastic changes in a month. Good luck!
  • Mspiggy56
    Mspiggy56 Posts: 7 Member
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    What was your protein like as you were losing weight?

    Also did you do any strength training?


    I was eating about 70 to 100 grams of protein a day, and I was training for the first two weeks, but then I stopped for a couple weeks. Now i'm training again.
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