Stubborn Weight

sierrasmith820
sierrasmith820 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve been working out faithfully for a month (my brother in law created a plan for me) it consists of weight training, calisthenics and 10 min on the treadmill for warmup and cooldown I feel that I haven’t been eating as much as I used to but I have actually gained 2lbs and I’m starting to get very discouraged. Any tips would be appreciated?

Replies

  • mdns21935
    mdns21935 Posts: 4 Member
    Make sure you are consuming 1200 cal or less per day. You have to remember that you have to reduce your current calorie intake by 3500 per week in order to lose 1 pound per week. And it’s not just your caloric intake. It is your fats, cholesterol, sugar, salts, etc. Sugar is the number one evil in our diet and it’s hidden in many things that we don’t think about such as ketchup, our coffee creamer, etc. When it comes to your workouts, switch them up if you do the same workout repetitively over and over your body gets used to it. You also have to remember that, even though a pound is a pound, regardless of if it is fat or muscle, you can actually have a fluctuation and weight and be healthier. Always track your measurements. Hope this helps.
  • tomcustombuilder
    tomcustombuilder Posts: 2,303 Member
    mdns21935 wrote: »
    Make sure you are consuming 1200 cal or less And it’s not just your caloric intake. It is your fats, cholesterol, sugar, salts, etc. Sugar is the number one evil in our diet and it’s hidden in many things that we don’t think about such as ketchup, our coffee creamer, etc. When it comes to your workouts, switch them up if you do the same workout repetitively over and over your body gets used to it. You also have to remember that, even though a pound is a pound, regardless of if it is fat or muscle, you can actually have a fluctuation and weight and be healthier. Hope this helps.
    ouch

  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,765 Member
    Probably part of your weight gain is water weight, since the body can retain water to help repair muscle. OTOH, people often overestimate how many calories they are burning when they start an exercise program and think they can eat whatever they want. Not so. A restaurant meal can easily have more calories than you would burn in a 2 hour workout. Track what you eat carefully to make sure that you are not eating more calories than you think.
  • tobinross
    tobinross Posts: 34 Member
    @sollyn23l2 and offer two valid points...make it measurable in terms of actually calories consumed (yes - buy an inexpensive digital scale (~ $12 on Amazon) and be diligent to track consumption for a couple of days to see what you are actually taking in)...and you could very well have put on some muscle from your workouts which will be much more dense than fat - nothing to be discouraged about at all!

    @mdns21935 makes good points about changing up workouts so as to not get stale and the amount of hidden sugar in virtually any processed foods.

    @yirara makes an excellent point that your calorie needs are unique to you and your activity level....https://tdeecalculator.net/...has a basic calculator to give you some guidance on calories needed to maintain or lose weight for your age, gender and overall activity level. Gives you a better starting point I think.

    Also you do not mention whether or not you consume alcohol...those calories add up quickly and you may not realize it (speaking from personal experience - doing a dry January, tracking calories for first time ever and currently down 6lbs while attempting to hit macro targets on protein, fat and carbs plus working out)

    Don't get discouraged! You are developing a valuable habit by staying with regular workouts...just need to gain more insight into eating habits...you may be at your ideal weight for all we know...

    Have a great day!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,147 Member
    OP, are you logging food? That's one way to know whether you're eating sufficiently fewer calories to trigger fat loss.

    Calorie balance is what determines fat loss, and focusing on the food side is usually necessary to accomplish that. I stayed obese for a dozen years training pretty hard 6 days most weeks, even competing as an athlete. Once I got the eating side where it needed to be, weight loss happened.

    Sadly, exercise burns substantially fewer calories than most people imagine.

    Also, OP, if you have menstrual cycles, compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least 2 different cycles. It's not the most common pattern, but some women here have reported only seeing a new low weight once a month at a particular point in their cycle. Hormonal water weight shifts can be that weird.
    mdns21935 wrote: »
    Make sure you are consuming 1200 cal or less per day.
    Not universally necessary, and too few calories for many.

    I lost at a good pace at 1600-2000 as an average height 59 y/o woman who was by then only overweight BMI, not obese anymore.

    That was after 1200 (plus exercise calories) made me weak and fatigued so I had to increase.

    Individuals vary.
    You have to remember that you have to reduce your current calorie intake by 3500 per week in order to lose 1 pound per week. And it’s not just your caloric intake. It is your fats, cholesterol, sugar, salts, etc. Sugar is the number one evil in our diet and it’s hidden in many things that we don’t think about such as ketchup, our coffee creamer, etc.
    Study after study has demonstrated that it's the calories that determine fat loss.

    Fats, cholesterol, sugar, salts etc. can affect appetite so we can't stick with the calorie goal, can affect energy level so we move less, can be things we overlook or log inaccurately, can cause water retention fluctuations that mask fat loss on the scale.

    Those things indirectly affect weight loss, but the direct mechanism for fat loss is still calories.
    When it comes to your workouts, switch them up if you do the same workout repetitively over and over your body gets used to it.
    False.

    If it were true, elite endurance athletes - who've done the same exercise for many years - wouldn't require massively more calories than other people. But they do.

    I've done about the same workouts for 22 years, a dozen of which years I was still obese. They still burn calories now.

    Some activities may have mild efficiency improvements through increased skills over time, but the effect is relatively small in most cases.

    Regular people don't need to switch up their exercise routines to keep burning calories. They need to increase the challenge in order to keep improving fitness even more, sure.
    You also have to remember that, even though a pound is a pound, regardless of if it is fat or muscle, you can actually have a fluctuation and weight and be healthier. Always track your measurements. Hope this helps.

    As a rough rule of thumb, quick multi-pound scale changes over a day or few tend to be about water retention shifts or waste in the digestive tract.

    Sensibly moderate weight-loss fat changes will usually take a few weeks to show up clearly amongst the larger water/waste fluctuations.

    Outside of truly dire disease conditions, observable muscle mass weight changes take many weeks to months or maybe even years.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,341 Member
    working out will make you gain false weight. Stick with it.. get a pair of your tightest jeans.. and try those on every three days.. as long as they start fitting better.. you're on the right track. The scale can kill you.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,621 Member
    mdns21935 wrote: »
    Make sure you are consuming 1200 cal or less per day. You have to remember that you have to reduce your current calorie intake by 3500 per week in order to lose 1 pound per week. And it’s not just your caloric intake. It is your fats, cholesterol, sugar, salts, etc. Sugar is the number one evil in our diet and it’s hidden in many things that we don’t think about such as ketchup, our coffee creamer, etc. When it comes to your workouts, switch them up if you do the same workout repetitively over and over your body gets used to it. You also have to remember that, even though a pound is a pound, regardless of if it is fat or muscle, you can actually have a fluctuation and weight and be healthier. Always track your measurements. Hope this helps.

    This is atrocious advice. Please educate yourself before telling people to do silly, dangerous things.

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