a little discouraged

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peacelily0507
peacelily0507 Posts: 114
in Health and Weight Loss
ok so I've been at this for almost 3 weeks ...the first week i lost 3 lbs wahoo..i only exercised maybe once or twice...since then i've been working out 6 times a week...doing jillian michaels dvds and more recently a zumba class. my daily calorie intake is suppose to be 1200 and I almost never eat back my exercise calories because I am really not sure how many I am really burning so I don't feel all to comfortable consuming more that I may not have really burned. I do plan on getting a hrm but until then I don't really think I should be eating back my calories just yet. anyway, I not only haven't lost since my first week but I gained back 2 of the 3 I originally lost...I JUST measured last night so I will continue to do that but for right now all I know is I'm working my butt off and eating right and the scale won't budge.

I am well aware I am in no way really overweight but I AM uncomfortable and have been 10 lbs lighter in the past and have felt better would also like tone up. We have a trip coming up in march (first one in 10 yrs) and I want to feel good about myself and not at all self conscious like I am now...sporting a bathing suit is a scary thought to me at themoment... I have two kids...one of which is 16 mos old so my body def needs toning. I have seen a small change in my body but still would like to get rid of the fat covering my muscles...I will unlock my diary...and am open to any suggestions..thanks guys...and gals :)
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  • nyspotlight
    nyspotlight Posts: 124
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    How long have you been exercising like that? Is it only your second week?

    If the 6x/ a week has only been going on for a week or two, that's probably what it is. I'm not gonna be 100% science-perfect, but when we exercise really hard, or do something new, or start exercising way more, our bodies hold on to water. I think it has something to do with glycogen or simple dehydration. I can't remember. But this is why marathoners are often a few pounds over normal weight for a few days after running a marathon. Then it goes down.

    When I ran a marathon, this was definitely true for me. And everytime I try a new (if it's harder) workout. Also happened to my sister when she went from nothing to kickboxing.

    Also, not enough calories when exercising can cause you to hold onto water weight. Glycogen in muscles needs water... etc. (I think. feel free to correct my science, people).

    So, don't worry yet. You might see a sudden drop.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    Hmmmm yea I pretty much went from nothing for a long time to 6x/week so you could be right. I hope you are ;) thanks for the input....something to think about. So when will it stop if that IS it????
  • jsolar79
    jsolar79 Posts: 8
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    I am having the same issue. I have been hitting the gym 5 days a week for 2 weeks and it hasnt moved since the week before when I only went 3 times. I have a HRM so I know what I am burning and Im not eating all the calories back at all. Its so frustrating!!!
  • runner_girl_120
    runner_girl_120 Posts: 47
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    Same thing happened to me. I went home for Christmas break, didn't do anything, ate 2000+ calories a day, and maintained my weight. Came back to school, started training 2x a day for track and eating 1800 calories a day, and gained 4 pounds. It came off in a week though once my body got used to the exercise and I upped my calories.
  • sassyann0619
    sassyann0619 Posts: 2
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    What is an hrm? I am also feeling discouraged. I work out 7 days a week and my Wii Jillian Michaels and my Wii Biggest Loser say I burn way less calories than what I see other people are burning. I have not lost any weight at all as a matter of fact when I did my weekly weigh-in on the Biggest Loser game it said I gained 2 pounds this week.
  • Manda_H
    Manda_H Posts: 80
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    eat more.. its better not to see how close you can thrive on low cals. In the long run its best to eat the amount you want to live on and exercise the rest off.. otherwise your weight will come back when you go back to normal eating and/or quit exercise
  • denise_earheart
    denise_earheart Posts: 354
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    I think our bodies are just weirdos!!! I notice when I start something new I will lose a lot at first then gain or maintain before I start to lose again... frustrating I know.. A good friend of mine though works out super hard core 2-3 hours a day and when she is done sweat just drips off of her. she eats almost whatever she wants within reason and is loosing around between 2-5 pounds a week... I don't get it :-/
  • IvoryParchment
    IvoryParchment Posts: 651 Member
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    Two weeks is not enough time to draw conclusions. Your weight goes up and down by several pounds every DAY -- with only two weeks, you don't know where you are in that up and down zigzag when you weigh yourself each time. It takes over a month to see a trend.

    The three pounds you lost at the beginning is water. Real weight cannot come off that fast. Not physically possible. It means nothing and shouldn't figure into your assessment of your progress.

    When you exercise, you can lose fat, but you're trying to build muscle. That's heavier than fat. Also, a plumped up post-exercise muscle, or a stiff next morning muscle have more fluid in them. They also weigh more.

    To build muscle instead of fat, you need enough protein, calcium, vitamins, iron, etc. If you don't have all those nutrients, you will be building fat instead of muscle regardless of exercise. You'll just be building less fat with the fewer excess calories.

    How much did you expect to lose per week? MFP won't let you set your calories to less than 1200, so that may not be low enough to lose as many pounds per week as you wanted. 1200 is only enough for 1/2 lb a week for me, because of my age/size/gender. Them's the breaks. I just have to be patient.

    My zigzag graph now looks like a pretty straight downward line, but if you blow up a small section of it, it's still a discouraging up and down zigzag.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    Well glad to hear I'm not alone at least. I opened my diary to the public today for advice if it's something I'm doing there but of course I cheated for the first time in 3 weeks and went over calories :/ so if anyone DOES look make sure to look at previous days not so much today. My husband and I went out to dinner for the first time in a long time and I really didn't like any of the low cal options, mostly seafood which I don't eat. I am going to work out tonight though and try to burn it off. In only did yoga this morning which didn't burn much at all. Tomorrows a new day. But if anyone has a suggestion based on my eating habits overall i am all ears. Was nice to get your replies so far and realize this may just be because it's too soon to expect results maybe. I dunno. You year about people losing 5-6 in a week and I can't even lose 1. Can be frustrating.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    eat more.. its better not to see how close you can thrive on low cals. In the long run its best to eat the amount you want to live on and exercise the rest off.. otherwise your weight will come back when you go back to normal eating and/or quit exercise



    Good point I often think about that.
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    The people losing 5 or 6 pounds a week probably have 100 pounds to lose, but when you only have a bit to lose its just not going to happen that fast.
    My opinion is that ou should set your goals to lose 1/2 pound a week, eat most of the cals you burn from exercise and make sure you have some strength training in there.
    Chances are that building strong muscle is going to make you feel and look better, rather than just seeing the number on the scale go down but still feeling flabby.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    The people losing 5 or 6 pounds a week probably have 100 pounds to lose, but when you only have a bit to lose its just not going to happen that fast.
    My opinion is that ou should set your goals to lose 1/2 pound a week, eat most of the cals you burn from exercise and make sure you have some strength training in there.
    Chances are that building strong muscle is going to make you feel and look better, rather than just seeing the number on the scale go down but still feeling flabby.


    I suppose that's true I know it's harder to lose weight when you don't have too much to lose...I do jillian michaels 6 days a week which is interval training...cardio...strength and abs. They are only 25-45 mins long but intense and you sweat your butt off. As I said I don't usually eat my exercise calories back but I made up for that today 10 fold...maybe I'll indulge a bit over the 1200 mark but I'm not comfortable really eating too many back as I said before based on the fact that I don't TRULY know what I'm burning in the first place...
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    The people losing 5 or 6 pounds a week probably have 100 pounds to lose, but when you only have a bit to lose its just not going to happen that fast.

    As someone who still has that to lose, it comes off just as slow once you've been in it for a while.

    It sounds like you don't want to lose weight as much as you want to change your body shape. Jillian's videos are a great way to do that but you could also look into lifting heavy weights (such as NRoLFW) and that will help you with body compisition. You might weight more on the scale but your body will be smaller.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    I was 10 lbs lighter last spring than I am now and while that weight was "underweight" in the books I felt good and was much happier than I am now so I would like to lose weight as well but I definitely want to tone up after having two kids my stomach and arms legs butt are all not nearly as tight and ripped as I'd like them to be,..maybe they never can be but I have hope...
  • april522
    april522 Posts: 388 Member
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    These are just some observations from my point (that may or may not work for you).

    I don't see any water logged in your diary. Drinking water does help.

    Be careful of high sodium and high sugar foods. Both sodium and sugar retain water. Drinking lots of water helps if you do want to eat higher sodium and sugar foods.

    If you are exercising and not logging it, you are probably not eating enough calories with 1200. I've often found the calories burned in the MFP database were lower than what I actually burned. If anything, log your exercise that way and just half of the calories back. If you aren't eating enough and are working out a lot, your body may be in starvation mode - holding on to what fat it has since it doesn't know for sure it's not really starving. I always have one cheat day per week, and I find that I tend to drop more weight a day or two afterwards than the days beforehand.

    It's really a matter of tweaking various things to see what your body responds to. A year ago, I got stuck at a certain weight and was going over sodium content every day. I tweak it, elminating salt whenever possible, and the weight started coming off slowly again.
  • RoboLikes
    RoboLikes Posts: 519 Member
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    The SAME thing for me. My first week I exercised once, lost 3 lbs. Since then I worked out 5 times a week, i gained 4 lbs back. This week I didnt exercise at all and dropped 3lbs. Whats going on??
  • Lozze
    Lozze Posts: 1,917 Member
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    The SAME thing for me. My first week I exercised once, lost 3 lbs. Since then I worked out 5 times a week, i gained 4 lbs back. This week I didnt exercise at all and dropped 3lbs. Whats going on??

    Your muscles are retaining water.
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    These are just some observations from my point (that may or may not work for you).

    I don't see any water logged in your diary. Drinking water does help.

    Be careful of high sodium and high sugar foods. Both sodium and sugar retain water. Drinking lots of water helps if you do want to eat higher sodium and sugar foods.

    If you are exercising and not logging it, you are probably not eating enough calories with 1200. I've often found the calories burned in the MFP database were lower than what I actually burned. If anything, log your exercise that way and just half of the calories back. If you aren't eating enough and are working out a lot, your body may be in starvation mode - holding on to what fat it has since it doesn't know for sure it's not really starving. I always have one cheat day per week, and I find that I tend to drop more weight a day or two afterwards than the days beforehand.

    It's really a matter of tweaking various things to see what your body responds to. A year ago, I got stuck at a certain weight and was going over sodium content every day. I tweak it, elminating salt whenever possible, and the weight started coming off slowly again.


    thanks for the tips...i do drink water just never really log it...didn't even notice that was there until a few days ago although I can't say i drink a lot or even enough..i don't drink much of anything...it's always forced but I do think I need to try harder on that front...I do about 3 16.9 oz bottles a day when I know I should squeeze in at least one more...maybe I will start tryint to dip into the exercise calories just a little...

    this was something else I was thinking about..I love my desserts so i do weight watchers or skinny cow to still enjoy the good stuff but not with too many calories..I try to eat it no later than 7:30...do you think this is bad? again its low cal reduced fat stuff but I wonder if its too late in the day for that kind of thing or maybe the sugar is to high? I noticed my skinny cow had 22 g sugar in it today....is that too high? I dunno know these things..but I do enjoy and look forward to that part of my day i must say lol
  • april522
    april522 Posts: 388 Member
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    this was something else I was thinking about..I love my desserts so i do weight watchers or skinny cow to still enjoy the good stuff but not with too many calories..I try to eat it no later than 7:30...do you think this is bad? again its low cal reduced fat stuff but I wonder if its too late in the day for that kind of thing or maybe the sugar is to high? I noticed my skinny cow had 22 g sugar in it today....is that too high? I dunno know these things..but I do enjoy and look forward to that part of my day i must say lol
    I am the same way about desserts. I had/still have a major sweet tooth sometimes. I try to limit the sweets I eat to just a couple times a week. 22 grams is high; think of it this way: that's just shy of 2 tablespoons worth of sugar in that skinny cow. 28 grams is 1 ounce, or 2 tablespoons. That is a lot. However, don't deprive yourself. Eating small stuff like that is definitely better than what I'd much rather do - eat a cupcake or 2!

    If you are getting the nutrients you need each day and have the calories left, go for it! What time do you normally go to bed? It's hard to tell if 7:30 is too late. My personal trainer told me once that she tries not to eat any carbs after lunch time - but that is just not humanly possible for me!
  • peacelily0507
    peacelily0507 Posts: 114
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    this was something else I was thinking about..I love my desserts so i do weight watchers or skinny cow to still enjoy the good stuff but not with too many calories..I try to eat it no later than 7:30...do you think this is bad? again its low cal reduced fat stuff but I wonder if its too late in the day for that kind of thing or maybe the sugar is to high? I noticed my skinny cow had 22 g sugar in it today....is that too high? I dunno know these things..but I do enjoy and look forward to that part of my day i must say lol
    I am the same way about desserts. I had/still have a major sweet tooth sometimes. I try to limit the sweets I eat to just a couple times a week. 22 grams is high; think of it this way: that's just shy of 2 tablespoons worth of sugar in that skinny cow. 28 grams is 1 ounce, or 2 tablespoons. That is a lot. However, don't deprive yourself. Eating small stuff like that is definitely better than what I'd much rather do - eat a cupcake or 2!

    If you are getting the nutrients you need each day and have the calories left, go for it! What time do you normally go to bed? It's hard to tell if 7:30 is too late. My personal trainer told me once that she tries not to eat any carbs after lunch time - but that is just not humanly possible for me!


    So despite the sugar content you think as long as I have the calories it's ok?? I am usually in bed around 10:30-11pm

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