Not Losing Weight... Suggestions?

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kodigirl17
kodigirl17 Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My girlfriend and I joined the YMCA 7 weeks ago, we work out at least 4 days a week and our workout is about 90 minutes each day. It consists of 45 minutes on the treadmiill doing incline intervals ranging from 4-20, 20 minutes of weight lifting and 30 minutes in the pool. We are both sticking to our calories, however neither of us have really lost any weight, I gained 3lbs after week 2 at the gym and have now come back down to where I started. I have to say that I did lose an inch around my waist, and inch around my chest, and a half an inch around my neck, but after 7 weeks it seems like I should be seeing more of an impact on the scale. Any suggestions?

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  • puggleperson
    puggleperson Posts: 740 Member
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    INches sound good to me! The scale is evil and I don't weight myself anymore.. I can see my inches lost and I have a weight loss string that continues to get smaller. I hate the scale!! Keep up what you are doing.. What if you lost weight but no inches??? That would be wayy worse :)
  • Alacey88
    Alacey88 Posts: 487 Member
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    Most people lose inches before they lose weight....
  • foremant86
    foremant86 Posts: 1,115 Member
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    Inches before pounds but after 7 weeks you should see a drop on the scale as well.

    Opening your diary to the public can make it easier for us to give you some advice.
  • carmenfeierabend
    carmenfeierabend Posts: 1
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    I understand your frustration, I had the same experience.. It took me 4 weeks of excising everyday before I started loosing weight. In fact I gained weight after the first 2 weeks. Which apparently is "normal" because you are building up your muscles. Now the lbs are dropping like crazy.. so just stick with it and drink looooots of water and try not to weigh yourself for 1-2 weeks!!! ;-)
  • kodigirl17
    kodigirl17 Posts: 8 Member
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    Thanks everyone! I have to say I do slack on the amount of water I drink lately. I really need to work on that, I've made it my goal for the next coupl of weeks, to get back in the habit of drinking more water.
  • hkulbacki
    hkulbacki Posts: 187 Member
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    Do you by any chance, have one of those scales that gives you all the stats other than just your weight; body fat pounds and percentage, bone mass, body mass index, water percentage?

    Since you're loosing inches you must be loosing body fat, but the muscle that is building under it will weigh a bit more. And if you're workouts are concentrated on those larger muscles that build quickly and more easily they could just be responding well.
    Having one of those scales helps you see what you are loosing. And you can usually program them for more than 1 person which is nice when you're working with a partner :)

    Also as someone else said, lots of water, my weight drops faster when I'm getting lots of water. If you've got a desk job, set a reminder in your email calendar to remind yourself. I have one that simply says 'water' and it's set every 2 hrs, it reminds me to get up, refill my water bottle, and drink, drink, drink!

    Good luck, you're loosing inches so you're obviously doing something right!
  • kodigirl17
    kodigirl17 Posts: 8 Member
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    We don't currently have one, we just have a normal scale. I may need to get one if it's worth while. Thanks for the tip on the water, I will be using the calendar reminders starting Monday!
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
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    We don't currently have one, we just have a normal scale. I may need to get one if it's worth while. Thanks for the tip on the water, I will be using the calendar reminders starting Monday!

    You can get a scale or continue to use the one you have and just get an Omron Handheld body fat monitor. They sell them at Academy for like $30.00 and GNC. I think they are higher at GNC. With the Omron Handheld body fat monitor, you will have to input your weight each time.

    I have a 6 year old body fat scale and an 2 month old Omron Handheld body fat monitor and they both give me the same body fat reading.

    Once you get your body fat percentage, there's a formula you can use to see how much of your scale weight is from fat and how much is from lean body mass.

    The formula is:

    Weight x Body fat percentage = Pounds of fat
    Weight - Pounds of fat = Pounds of lean body mass

    I will not get into details, but if you want to know more, you can send me a message if you like.
  • chevy88grl
    chevy88grl Posts: 3,937 Member
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    If you're losing inches - that is great! Your body will catch up and the weight will come off.

    That being said, there are a few things you can look at to make sure you're on track ---

    Sodium. It'll cause you to retain a ton of water if your body is overly sensitive to it. If you haven't been, start tracking your sodium everyday.

    Drinking water. How much water are you drinking in a day? I found the more water I drank, not only did I feel better but I felt better. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated. Caffeinated beverages are a diuretic and can cause bloating.

    Eating enough. You guys seems to be working out pretty hard. Are you eating enough? For a lot of people, severely restricting their calories will prevent them from losing weight. Make sure you are getting your calories on this site as close to zero as possible.

    There are other things that can be hindering a loss - too many carbs. For some people, they can't eat a lot of carbs and for other people they can eat carbs all day, everyday and won't see a problem with them. Key is to figure out what YOUR body likes.


    Good Luck and stick with it!

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