Why am I loosing my biggest looser challenge?

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jenessae
jenessae Posts: 23
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm been doing insanity for 2 weeks now, before that was working out daily. I've been watching my calories and this week I gained .4 lbs. We started our biggest looser challenge 5 weeks ago today, since then I am back at my starting weight. I've gained and lost the same 2lbs. Not sure what else I can do, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Replies

  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
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    If you want to be critiqued, open your food and exercise diary so people can see what you are doing and give you hints!
  • AEDeb
    AEDeb Posts: 14 Member
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    You are probably gaining muscle while losing fat. Although it doesn't look great on the scale, it will look great on you. Your muscle will require more calories and that will lead to more fat disappearing. If you would measure your fat, take it off your weight, you will see your lean body mass going up (muscle). This is a very good thing. You can measure your fat with fat calipers by Accumeasure (you can buy this online for cheap) or with a scale. A scale isn't always accurate, but as long as it is consistent, you will see the difference and you will notice your clothes fitting better. Don't be discouraged...keep up with tracking your calories and working out and you won't be disappointed.
  • fabafter5
    fabafter5 Posts: 200 Member
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    Protein and lots of it.
  • ashlysnd
    ashlysnd Posts: 72 Member
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    Are you measuring yourself? As that is a better indicator at gauging progress than the scale.
  • amanda3588
    amanda3588 Posts: 422 Member
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    I'm doing a Biggest Loser challenge at work as well. I thought about doing Insanity or 30DS, however, I am shying away from it until after the challenge is done mid-June. Those are intense, muscle-building workouts that shed fat, tone and build a lot of muscle, hence little weight lose. I am sticking to cardio and light weight lifting to lose the pounds until the challenge is over, then I will incorporate these types of workouts to make my body leaner. But for the purpose of what you're doing, and if the ultimate goal is winning the challenge, I'd focus on more cardio.
  • fabafter5
    fabafter5 Posts: 200 Member
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    I glanced back a ways at your food diary and you are eating a lot of rice and carbs in general. Some nights you have your protein and 2 carbs/ starches liek rice and potatoes. I would start the day with a protein rich breakfast and concentrate on lean meats. veggies, nuts.
  • Julietecosse
    Julietecosse Posts: 165
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    This used to happen to me and then I started weighing my food instead of eye-balling. This made a difference as I am now losing again. I also stopped eating a sandwich for lunch and had a salad, which I love. I know there are lots of folks who can lose just be counting calories, but I have to really cut back on bread, potatoes, and other simple carbs, otherwise no weight lost. Perhaps you are the same. Good luck anyway with what you decide to do.
  • Emancipated_Tai
    Emancipated_Tai Posts: 756 Member
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    Hey Friend!

    Ok, so here is my take on things from looking at your diary. I'm not a nutritionals or anything, but the advice I'm going to give you has worked for me.

    1. You’re not eating enough. Aim to eat slightly above your BRM but less than your TDEE. Fitnessfrog.com is a website you can go to find your number if you are unaware of what they are.

    2. Your carbs are too high. I didn't start to lose weight until I lowered my carbs. I average round 75g/day. Try to stay below 100g.

    3. You need to eat more protein. I average around 150g/day. Try upping yours to at least 100g/day. Good sources would be fish, chicken, eggs, soy, nuts and cheese to name a few.

    4. Put more macros on your tracker. This can be done by clicking on the food tab, settings and then you can add more Nutrients Tracked. I like to watch my fiber and sodium because prior to doing so I found my sodium to be way high and fiber to be way low.

    Hopefully these things will help. As always, do your research and try to find something that works for you. Keep in mind that you do need to give a new plan time prior to seeing results. After 4-5 weeks if there is no change than try to tweak it a bit.

    Also, I'm not sure how accurate your diary is, but try to make sure you verify what you log against labels. There is a lot of misinformation here and I've found times I've tracked things inaccurately. This can cause you to have more or less on a specific macro than you predicted.

    Good luck!
  • meluc
    meluc Posts: 153 Member
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    I agree with having your diary "public" that just makes you more accountable since you never know who could be looking at it.

    Here are my Food Tips/Tricks:
    Force yourself to drink at least 2 Liters of water/day
    Increase fruit/vegetable intake
    Decrease pasta (rice, spaghetti), Decrease cheese intake-I know it's hard my 2 favourite things are pasta and cheese :(
    Choose whole grain/whole wheat instead of white bread
    Eliminate man-made sugar (only sugar in fruit is ok)
    Choose lean protein (fish, chicken)
    No Pop (or if you do drink some, switch to diet-but don't overdo diet pop either)
    Weigh/measure all your food. Many of us suffer from "portion distortion"
    Pack a lunch and all your snacks: you then know what's in your food and you'll save $ too

    Lifestyle Tips/Tricks:
    Be outside more, typically you move more outside and you simply feel better getting fresh air
    Go for a walk during your lunch break
    Plan with friends/family to go camping/hiking. You get your social time and you get to be more active as well.


    Exercise Tips/Tricks:
    Try to get in some form of exercise every day of the week (for at least 30 mins)
    Variety! Don't just do the "comfortable" exercise, try something new
    Sign up for a 5K run in your area and train for it (I used couch to 5K App on my phone)
    Make exercise fun - I volunteered to be my daughter's Soccer coach and it helps me burn 200-250 calories in 1 hour
    If you have a workplace gym, sign up! my work gym has fitness classes throughout the day and I go to a class instead of sitting at my desk to take my lunch break.

    Good luck!!! Keep up what you're doing.

    When I increased my exercise level, I gained .2, .4, .6 lbs for about 1 month straight. This week, I dropped 3.4 lbs! It will eventually come off!!
  • markpmc
    markpmc Posts: 240 Member
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    My advice is worth exactly what you paid for it ....

    Last year I lost 40+ lbs during 3 rounds of insanity. I stayed on the fat shedder (high protein/low carb) diet the entire time. That means 50% protein, 30% carbs, 20% fat.

    Your current carb target is higher than mine and I'm eating 2200 cals/day.

    Good luck,

    Mark
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    You are probably gaining muscle while losing fat. Although it doesn't look great on the scale, it will look great on you. Your muscle will require more calories and that will lead to more fat disappearing. If you would measure your fat, take it off your weight, you will see your lean body mass going up (muscle). This is a very good thing. You can measure your fat with fat calipers by Accumeasure (you can buy this online for cheap) or with a scale. A scale isn't always accurate, but as long as it is consistent, you will see the difference and you will notice your clothes fitting better. Don't be discouraged...keep up with tracking your calories and working out and you won't be disappointed.

    You can NOT build muscle on a calorie deficit, especially with a program like insanity where it's very heavy in cardio. The lack of weight loss is due to calories being too low and her body is preserving energy.


    If you do insanity, you need to follow their guidebook for calories. And more than likely, it needs to be no less than 1800 calories a day. And there is a good chance it's more like 2000+. Also, limiting carbs will help with some of the initial weight loss. Below is a good place to start in figuring out your caloric needs.



    http://www.teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/nutrition-tools/caloric-needs
  • em9371
    em9371 Posts: 1,047 Member
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    you dont eat enough and what you do eat seems to be mainly processed ready made stuff or chocolate / sweets.

    Reset your calories to a healthy goal (1lb based on the amount you have to lose) and eat back your exercise, or look into BMR / TDEE calculations

    Eat better - more fresh stuff, home cooking, 5 a day fruit & veggies, dont have chocolate / takeout every day etc.

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