Getting disgusted!

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jerryellis
jerryellis Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been doing everything right, tracking everything I eat, only eating half of my exercise calories back, most days, once i ate all of them back...am at the gym 5 days a week and working with a trainer so my workouts have become much more intense and when finished am drenched in sweat, I work out for an hour to 1 1/2 hours a day, so why am I disgusted? I have gained 2 lbs in the last 2 days, I know that doesn't sound like a lot but it's really hard to keep going when the scale is going in the wrong direction! I'm not quitting, ever, but still, disgusted!

Replies

  • Cdcaldwe
    Cdcaldwe Posts: 189 Member
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    Don't eat your excercise calories back for a week then step on the scales.
  • Naomi_84
    Naomi_84 Posts: 197 Member
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    Hi Jerry, well done for all your hard work, I'm sorry you're not seeing results as quickly as you'd like. I think there could be many reasons for this

    1. Your sodium intake was high on the days I viewed which could be causing you to retain more water.

    2. When your muscles tear they retain more water while they repair.

    It is probably water weight and your body getting used to your new hardcore routine. Please keep going, you WILL see results eventually. Just got to learn what'r right for your body. Good luck

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/160943-why-the-scale-lies

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10665-newbies-please-read-me-2nd-edition
  • trailrider1963
    trailrider1963 Posts: 69
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    I gained 2 pounds within 3 days after I started excercising. Someone here told me that sore muscles retain fluid, and of course muscle also weighs more than fat, and reminded me that you have to consume 3500 extra calories to add a pound of fat. I stuck with what I was doing and sure enough, 6 days later a true pound was gone. I know it's hard to see the scale go in the wrong direction, but it's probably fluid retention.
  • FifiMcFu
    FifiMcFu Posts: 7
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    Firstly, muscle weighs more than fat. Bear that in mind when you're weighing yourself. Try to gauge your progress by measurements, such as dress sizes or exact tape measurements around your waist, neck, thighs etc.

    Secondly, try to stick to your daily calorie intake. Don't starve yourself. Putting your body in starvation mode only leads to fat conservation, meaning it is much harder to shift the weight.

    Good luck, you're certainly putting the effort in and I hope you see results soon.
  • cat3nv
    cat3nv Posts: 389 Member
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    How much water are you drinking in a day? without exercise you need to drink the minimum of 8 glasses a day. If you are exercising to the point of dripping with sweat, you need to increase your water consumption to at least 12 glasses (IMO). If your sodium is high, you will retain water if you are not drinking enough.

    Good luck on this journey!



    PS.... Muscle does not weigh more than fat. That is a myth people have trouble with. 1 pound of feathers = 1 pound of bricks. weight measurements do not change, science does not work that way. It is a matter of quality to quantity. While to add up to 1 pound of bricks you may only need 5 bricks to 1,000 feathers. Same applies to fat and muscle. You will have less mass in your muscles than mass of fat to equal the same weight.
  • andallthatjazz
    andallthatjazz Posts: 7
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    Hey there,
    Don't at all be disheartened! You might be burning off fat but putting on muscle, which weighs more, especially if you are exercising so hard. This is a fabulous thing, because you are increasing your metabolism. It would be really good to monitor your body fat percentage because your results might make sense then :)
  • janiebeth
    janiebeth Posts: 2,509 Member
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    Try increasing your water intake. It sounds like you may be retaining fluids and increasing water will help you flush.

    Also, I only weigh once a week - not that I am the best model for you - but I found that the daily swings just ticked me off..

    Good luck - sounds like you are on the right track...
  • FifiMcFu
    FifiMcFu Posts: 7
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    PS.... Muscle does not weigh more than fat. That is a myth people have trouble with. 1 pound of feathers = 1 pound of bricks. weight measurements do not change, science does not work that way. It is a matter of quality to quantity. While to add up to 1 pound of bricks you may only need 5 bricks to 1,000 feathers. Same applies to fat and muscle. You will have less mass in your muscles than mass of fat to equal the same weight.

    @cat3nv By your logic then, if you took a measurement of muscle that was the same MASS as a measurement of fat, the muscle would still weigh more. If you want to be pedantic, muscle is DENSER than fat, but it still amounts to the fact that muscle will make you weigh more and thus cause you to gauge your progress incorrectly.
  • jerryellis
    jerryellis Posts: 15
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    Thank you everyone for the words of encouragement! I will never quit I am locked in for life on my fitness and health journey! To answer the question of how much water I drink I take in a whole gallon just while at work, this does not count all the water I drink at the gym and at home so I think I am getting plenty! Yes my sodium intake was high a few days this week and I really try to watch that but it is so hard to find foods that do not have much sodium naturally occurring in them! I had lost a total of 12 lbs in 2 months so I must be doing something right, up until I gained 2 back the last 2 days. I will keep on working though I thoroughly enjoy my workouts and have become a gym addict!
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    gaining two pounds in two days is, undoubtedly, a water gain. You'd have to be pretty committed to add that much real fat to your body in a two day period (eating 7000 calories?), and also, while muscle is more dense (accurate, not pedantic), it really would only grow that fast if you were some kind of strange Dr Who mutant.

    I know it's discouraging, but if you're confident you're tracking accurately, there's very little else it could be other than water weight. Have your muscles been achey the last few days? If so, that's probably where your weight gain is - in your muscles as they self repair.
  • engineman312
    engineman312 Posts: 3,450 Member
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    i worked out heavy on tuesday because i was going to a friends house for our fantasy football draft and we bbq. i tried to keep my eating day light because i knew i would over indulge at his house. there i ate two hotdogs, two burgers, two chicken wings, three skirt steak pinwheels, and two chocolate chip cookies, not to mention six regular beers. all this over the course of 6 hours. i weighed myself the next morning prepared for the worse, considering i went over my calorie goals by about 1000. to my surprise i lost a pound.

    i'm not saying that you should eat whatever you want. Sometimes your body, in preperation, will retain some fat because its storing it as someone would store food in their house in case of an emergency. Try re-eating close to how many calories you burned off. If you had a big work out, dont be afraid to go a little over (with healthy food).
  • hbrittingham
    hbrittingham Posts: 2,518 Member
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    Hi Jerry. It looks like your sodium intake is very high (I know someone else said the same thing, I'm just repeating). There are days that you are getting double the RDA of sodium and that's a lot! Processed foods are going to contain more sodium. I make it a habit now to read the labels of foods I plan on eating and not only checking calories, fat and fiber, but the sodium level, too.

    The interesting thing is, since I started really watching my sodium intake, I have lost my taste for many processed foods, like chips, frozen entrees and canned soups. They don't taste good to me at all now because they taste way to salty.

    As you age, you will start to retain more water more easily, I noticed it more after I turned 40 (I'm 44 now). Before that, I could eat anything and not have any issues with retaining water.
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
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    It's water. I looked at your diary and your sodium was over by well over 1000mg. Add the intense workouts...and you've got water weight. Just drink lots of water, and watch your sodium. It will come right off!

    And if one more person says muscle weights more than fat.......OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! :explode:
  • Delicate
    Delicate Posts: 625 Member
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    Dont obsess and stress over it

    try to find out where you are going wrong, by the looks of it possibly sodium

    However if you keep stressing yourself over it, your body will work against you because of stress hormones.
  • cat3nv
    cat3nv Posts: 389 Member
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    @cat3nv By your logic then, if you took a measurement of muscle that was the same MASS as a measurement of fat, the muscle would still weigh more. If you want to be pedantic, muscle is DENSER than fat, but it still amounts to the fact that muscle will make you weigh more and thus cause you to gauge your progress incorrectly.

    You missed the lesson about feathers and bricks I see. Let me explain it in another way. I am 5'5" and weigh about 170. Let's say there is another person who is 5'10" and weighs 170. We weigh the same, but take up different space. I am wider and shorter. Fat is wider, muscle is taller. Make sense now?
  • Mommyof3loves
    Mommyof3loves Posts: 276
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    Have you tried measuring yourself?? Sometimes you may not see anything on the scale or a slight gain but your inches change, try that. And before I read your post on the water I thought from your diary that you didn't drink any water. Try measuring yourself and see how that looks.

    Ok I took another look at your diary and your sodium intake is way over on most days, that right there will put on water weight, cut your sodium way back you don't want to go over on sodium ever.

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