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Gingermakena
Gingermakena Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started
My name is Karen and I’m 64. I weigh 190 after starting the Mediterranean Diet 6 weeks ago. I started at 185. I should weigh 140 but would be thrilled to be 160. I’m also going to a personal trainer who says I’m gaining muscle, which I am. Is anyone else here on the Mediterranean diet? I’d also like to meet some online buddies for support. I play guitar, sew, read, and now I work out 3-4 times per week, mostly lifting weights. Please I need buddies!

Replies

  • candylilacs
    candylilacs Posts: 614 Member
    I know about the Mediterranean diet. I do the portion control is crucial, and the veggies and meat ratio is 3 to 1.

    So add your food and add me!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    You are not losing weight because you're eating too much good food~ or you have some kind of water retention going on due to any number of things.

    This is a good explanation: (read the link in the first post...) https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1


    You didn't gain five pounds of muscle in six weeks, sorry.
  • Amygeorgia1509
    Amygeorgia1509 Posts: 13 Member
    Welcome Karen! Best of luck
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    are you weighing, measuring and logging your food, counting to a specific goal per day?
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,223 Member
    edited July 2023
    If you stopped losing rather suddenly, it's more than likely some kind of water weight weirdness. Healthy bodies drop and and multiple pounds of water from one day to the next for a variety of reasons. That can mask fat loss on the scale for a surprisingly long time, sometimes. Our bodies know what they're doing, so our best bet is to be patient, understand our personal patterns by observing them for a while, and not let it stress us.

    If your loss tapered off slowly over weeks, you're probably eating at maintenance calories, or very near. That can happen for a variety of reasons: The statistical estimate of calories you started with could be imprecise for you; learning to log food has a learning curve, and there are usually some major face-palm moments along the way; it's easy to over-estimate exercise calories; and more.

    Speaking as a long-time active woman of 67, I'm sorry to say that I'm pretty sure you haven't gained a large amount of muscle mass in 6 weeks. A pound of mass gain would be a great result, surprisingly good, even. When starting out, it's normal to gain strength very quickly at first (good stuff in itself!). That initial strength gain is primarily from better recruiting and using existing muscle fibers: Neuromuscular adaptation (NMA).

    If we lose a little overlying fat, and maybe retain a bit of water in the muscles for muscle repair, we can look more defined muscularly. Those things can combine to look and feel like we've added muscle. But adding muscle fibers is a slow thing.

    For muscle mass gain to happen, a lot of factors need to coincide, one of which is mostly getting through the phase where NMA is making major strength gains . . . that's likely to be part of what clues your body to start building new muscle fibers. Even then, those gains will be very slow, requiring hard work and patience (plus the right program and good nutrition, especially but not exclusively adequate protein). Strength training is well worth doing, though, for many reasons . . . not least, in order to keep as much existing muscle as possible alongside losing fat.

    I wish gains were easier/faster . . . I wish it so, so fervently, just for selfish reasons ;) .

    Sounds like you're doing the right things: Improved nutrition, exercise program. Hang in there, good things will happen. I'm cheering for you!

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