Not lost a pound in 2 weeks

Like many other people who have posted in this thread before me, I assume you’re looking for a lifestyle change (where after you get to your goal weight, you want to maintain it), which isn’t a sprint, but rather a marathon. Enjoy the process, you talk about how you’ve made such drastic changes like it’s torture. Make smaller, sustainable changes and work your way up, and definitely enjoy the journey. Have fun working out, being healthy and getting fit! You don’t have to throw yourself in the deep end and go cold turkey on everything you once loved to do to see results.

I’d say with all the exercise you’re doing, the reasons why the scales aren’t moving could be because:
1. Water retention and inflammation from muscle hypertrophy - muscles can swell for up to 2 weeks(about how long you said you weren’t noticing a difference in the scales!) after a strength workout until those small tears in the tissue are repaired. You mentioned you only recently started incorporating a larger amount of strength training into your workouts, so this may be the primary reason for the lack of visible and scale changes.
2. You’re building muscle which is much denser than fat (which is why people say it weighs more). Even though you don’t notice changes in the mirror, I’d say you’ve definitely built some muscle in the last couple weeks and toned a little (reason 1 would explain lack of visible change though)
3. Your body might be trying to retain more fat as 1200 cals a day when you’re doing so much exercise seems low and might put your body in starvation mode (I’m unsure of your measurements and how long you’ve been at this much of a deficit, so this is a maybe).
4. Lack of sleep and your stress increases your cortisol levels, which helps control your weight(appetite), how nutrients are used in the body (body might store more fat as a result), your energy levels etc
5. Hormones – not really much you can do about these, you’re a female, and so many hormones can affect your weight (e.g your menstruation cycle).

When I had a trainer (3 times a week), she assessed my fitness level and made sure I knew my way around every exercise before beginning to push me and my fitness to its limits. You mentioned you’d be lost in the gym without your trainer, so maybe that’s why he’s starting slow and steady at first to make sure you’re getting a grasp on everything first. However, if you do want that extra push now from your trainer, you should ask him. It’s his job to be able to provide a type of training style that each client prefers (as everyone is different). If he’s any decent, then he’ll switch up his training style to suit what you want, and if not, then I’d say find a trainer that can (as I’m sure anyone that works out frequently can tell you to do x amount of sets of an exercise and watch your form).

My biggest suggestion for you to do is relax!! You can definitely do it and reach the goals you’re aiming for😊 You should be proud of your progress thus far!

Jflowwers wrote: »

I used this week as an expirment. I was extra strict. Gallon of water. Meticulous. Didn’t eat out once. Orange theory, the gym, yoga. GAINED. This makes 3 lbs in a month of a average of 800-1000 calorie deficit and continous workouts. Just about to give up.

Does this resonate with you?

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/dietary-restraint-and-cortisol-levels-research-review.html/

...a group of women who scored higher on dietary restraint scores showed elevated baseline cortisol levels. By itself this might not be problematic, but as often as not, these types of dieters are drawn to extreme approaches to dieting.

They throw in a lot of intense exercise, try to cut calories very hard (and this often backfires if disinhibition is high; when these folks break they break) and cortisol levels go through the roof. That often causes cortisol mediated water retention (there are other mechanisms for this, mind you, leptin actually inhibits cortisol release and as it drops on a diet, cortisol levels go up further). Weight and fat loss appear to have stopped or at least slowed significantly. This is compounded even further in female dieters due to the vagaries of their menstrual cycle where water balance is changing enormously week to week anyhow.

And invariably, this type of psychology responds to the stall by going even harder. They attempt to cut calories harder, they start doing more activity. The cycle continues and gets worse. Harder dieting means more cortisol means more water retention means more dieting. Which backfires (other problems come in the long-term with this approach but you’ll have to wait for the book to read about that).

When what they should do is take a day or two off (even one day off from training, at least in men, lets cortisol drop significantly). Raise calories, especially from carbohydrates. This helps cortisol to drop. More than that they need to find a way to freaking chill out. Meditation, yoga, get a massage... Get in the bath, candles, a little Enya, a glass of wine, have some you-time but please just chill.

Jflowwers wrote: »

I used this week as an expirment. I was extra strict. Gallon of water. Meticulous. Didn’t eat out once. Orange theory, the gym, yoga. GAINED. This makes 3 lbs in a month of a average of 800-1000 calorie deficit and continous workouts. Just about to give up.

I recognize this attitude from many of my past rage quits. I would get frustrated then keeping getting more and more strict until it broke me. I had to change my attitude in order to be successful and it took me way too long to figure that out.

The answer is to focus on being happy-ish each day so that you don't mind how long it takes in between results. You have to be kind to yourself because weight loss takes a long time. I routinely go weeks before seeing losses but they always come as long as I stay in a calorie deficit. You absolutely cannot force results out of the bathroom scale and the more you try the more stress you will feel and the more likely they won't show up for even longer.