Losing inches but not weight

lauren518
lauren518 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi so im 19 and im working a desk job this summer so my activity level has decreased a ton lately. I started a serious diet and excercise plan when i got home from school and that was over a month ago now, yet havent lost any weight, although I do look a little slimmer and feel WAY stronger.
I know that the scale is not a good way to measure success, and i have lost 1% body fat, but im just wondering why the scale isnt moving. I am stuck at 167 lbs and i see occasional gains, but I assume they are just water weight bc I always go back down.
I eat pretty healthy and i work out everyday, I was setting my calories at 1200 that way if i went over i didnt worry, but im thinking that maybe i need to eat a little more because my workouts are pretty intense, so i upped it to 1400.
I do at least 30 minutes of cardio every night and then about an hour of weights and strength. I realized i needed to switch up my cardio last week so since thne ive been doing a new activity everynight. cycling, jogging, running, walking, intervals, because i thought maybe my body was getting too comfortable.
I dont really get as much sleep as i want, about 7-8 hrs per night, with a lot of tossing and turning so wake up a lot and it can take a long time to fall alseep sometimes, but theres really not much i can do about this because i have to leave for work by 7:15 and i get home from the gym shower and go to bed.

So any suggestions of things to try/change? or an answer to why i seem to be on a plateau??

Replies

  • myfitnessnmhoy
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
    It's really hard to assess your food diary because the most common entry is "quick added calories". However, of the foods you do log, most of them appear to be heavily-processed foods. These will tend to contain a lot of sodium, and generally a lot of sugar, and may not be giving you the nutrients you need.

    I'd suggest starting by logging your food a lot more accurately so you give yourself the information you need. And if as much as your diet is composed of processed pre-packaged foods and luncheon meats as your diary suggests, I'd start considering better-quality food.

    But in a lack of information, I can only offer generic advice. If you aren't eating a lot of vegetables, start doing so. Green leafy things are really good for you.

    I forget the author, but words to thrive by: "Eat FOOD. Mostly plants. Not too much."

    I take it a step further by interpreting the author's specific mention of "food" as being as close to nature provides as is practically possible. I'm certainly not very pure in that department, but I eat oatmeal more often than processed breakfast cereal, and when given the opportunity I'll try to choose something I prepare over something that is prepared for me. Then again, I have a modern life to live and sometimes the opportunity is not there.
  • lauren518
    lauren518 Posts: 20 Member
    Okay well I really dont eat processed food that much, Its usually just the closest thing i can find to what I actually ate. And recently i just havent had the patience to look up what i had for lunch or dinner, and i eat the same things most weeks so i just type them in as quick add calories, but when i do that i do try to over estimate what Im eating and hopefully that way im not over eating. lol i just looked at my diary again and its really not been very good lately. but honestly i really dont eat that much "bad" food. on the weekends my family always has something to go to so i end up splurging a bit but i try to workout harder those days. and thank God, all the birthdays are now over! haha so no more birthday cakes to mess me up!
    also ive been really trying to limit the amount of wheat in my diet, so basically the only things i eat with any wheat are sanwiches at work so that had definetely limited my processed foods, and also my family really lives by the "shop only the perimeter" mantra at the grocery strore, and really the only things we get from the middle asiles are like condiments.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
    And what's the problem exactly?
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
    And what's the problem exactly?

    This

    I don't get it. The scale is just a measure of the force of gravity upon your body. You're weight training and gaining muscle, losing inches (losing inches means losing your fat layers), and wondering what it is you're doing wrong?

    Mind: BOGGLED
  • Bobby_Clerici
    Bobby_Clerici Posts: 1,828 Member
    And what's the problem exactly?
    ^^^^^^^^
    THIS
    Stop worrying, it sounds like all is as it should be.
    This is actually better than losing weight, so buck up!
  • TXGirl821
    TXGirl821 Posts: 115
    If you're feeling strong and losing inches and body fat, don't even worry about the number on the scale. It will move at some point, but the more important thing is that you're fit and healthy. Unless you have a job where they care about the scale weight, I wouldn't worry about it. It sounds like you're very active and that's the best thing! :)
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    it's not a plateau if you're losing inches. plateau = not losing anything

    i agree with the others. it's more important to lose inches of fat than scale weight. it's not like you drag your scale around with you outside the house, but you do take your body out
  • lauren518
    lauren518 Posts: 20 Member
    thank youuu!
    okay well this is a very movtivating response and i get why everyone else has said what they have about it not being a problem, but im just wondering why this seems so happen to so many people i guess. Ive tried finding reasons why the scale wont move and i cant seem to find a straight answer. and it really isnt bothering me that im not losing weight, because i know my body looks better either way, but I am jsut a really cuirous person, and seems like mathematically i should have lost weight lol.
  • MoveTheMountain
    MoveTheMountain Posts: 764
    ... I do at least 30 minutes of cardio every night and then about an hour of weights and strength. I realized i needed to switch up my cardio last week so since thne ive been doing a new activity everynight. cycling, jogging, running, walking, intervals, because i thought maybe my body was getting too comfortable.

    I dont really get as much sleep as i want, about 7-8 hrs per night, with a lot of tossing and turning so wake up a lot and it can take a long time to fall alseep sometimes, but theres really not much i can do about this because i have to leave for work by 7:15 and i get home from the gym shower and go to bed.

    So any suggestions of things to try/change? or an answer to why i seem to be on a plateau??

    Do you really lift weights for an hour every night? That's a lot - you might be over training. Also, try to figure out your sleep problem - especially with all the exercise you're getting Proper rest is crucial to your body being able to rebuild itself. If you're lifting and doing cardio every day, *and* you're not sleeping well, that could be taking a big toll on your body.
  • KeriW626
    KeriW626 Posts: 430
    Ok I am not an expert by any streatch of the word. However, if you are working out every day, you probably need to increase your calories. I eat my BMR, but not my burned calories. I am also a perimeter shopper as well.

    I would suggest, if you are eatting nearly the same thing everyday. Save that meal, then you can go to the my meals tab x that meal and add. boom everything is there. You add to my meals by adding everything on your sandwich, then go to quick calories, the second button down gives you the choice to add your meal. You can also pull meals from yeasterday.

    With the amount of excercising you are doing, You may need more calories. thats your choice. I would put more emphasise on the loss of inches rather than the scale. if you are loosing fat and gaining lean muscle mass, then you are going to lose inches, Probably not lbs. while a lb of fat and a lb of muscle weigh the same. they are actuall differant mass's. Her is an example. Take a ton of feathers and a ton of rocks. When you pile them next to each other, I promise the feathers are going to be an extremely huge mass compared to rocks.

    Check you BMR, eat that then do not eat back the calories you have worked out. Make sense? I hope some of this helps. and by the way good job.
  • caarsen
    caarsen Posts: 31 Member
    I was cleaning out my desk this morning and found a card I had filled out a year ago from a Beachbody product I had purchased. I had to write down my measurements and my weight. I didn't finish the program - decided I hate working from a DVD. But in May I started another exercise program - The Venus Index joined MFP and started running again. It was very interesting to see that I weigh exactly the same now as I did then, BUT since I started all the other stuff I've lost an 1.5 inches off my hips, 1 inch off my thighs, 2 inches off my waist and .5 inches off my arms since then. I have two friends who are very slim and work out a lot. They don't have the first clue what they weigh. When my daughter was scouted by a modelling agency they never asked her what she weighed, they only measured her. I actually put my scale away because I was living and dying by the weight I saw every morning. I use MFP to keep track of what I eat and I try to lift weights 3x a week and run/walk six times a week. I am going to weigh myself in September again just for fun and see what happens. I prefer that my pants fit loose than that I hit a certain weight, so I've tried to change my focus.
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
    lauren, I chalk it up to 'water'. They also say you can gain around 2 lbs of muscle with a new exercise routine. So if you did that and also are retaining water in those cells to repair from all your hard work, you probably have lost several pounds of fat. It's just that the scale isn't telling the whole story. For me, it all comes out in the end if you stick to it. I mean, if you do it all summer, you'll probably find at the end you've lost around 1-2 lbs/week, or whatever your deficit level is. For now, stay off the scale if it bothers you and threatens to derail you. No one but you sees it, but everyone sees your new inches!
  • nwilson91
    nwilson91 Posts: 70
    I forget the author, but words to thrive by: "Eat FOOD. Mostly plants. Not too much."

    Michael Pollan :wink:
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    You've answered a few of your questions on your own:
    Log accurately, it's the only way you can be truly sure of what you're eating.
    Eat more, most women can't lose consistently while eating around 1200 calories a day especially while working out so much, and of you sometimes go over then use the whole week approach so that instead of trying to hit exactly 1400 each day, keep yourself to 9,800 a week.
    Switch your workouts to the morning,it'll be hard at first especially since you have trouble falling asleep but it should help you with sleep in the long run because working out can rev you up making it hard to fall asleep quickly. Also cut caffeine (including coffee, caffeinated tea and chocolate and a lot of sports drinks) a few hours before bed.
    Take measurements, you said you feel slimmer but the scale isn't dropping, with all of your weight training you're replacing bulky fat with lean muscle so the number on the scale won't change as quickly but you're losing fat. Taking measurements will help keep you on track and motivated :)

    Good luck!!
  • sugarplum42510
    sugarplum42510 Posts: 1 Member
    As you exercise you gain muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. So thats probably why you havent lost anything but you look slimmer.
  • lauren518
    lauren518 Posts: 20 Member
    okay thank you all for your inputs!
    I think im really going to try to be very diligent about recording my food, and start taking taking my actual meaurements instead of weighing in.
    I just wonder if im really gaining that much muscle that quickly, because ive heard that women simply cant build that much muscle while on a calorie deficit..
    And i reallyyy wish i could wake up at 5 am to go to the gym but I really jsut cant do it. Ive tried. but im going to try going to the gym right after work instead of at 8 and maybe that will help with my sleeping pattern.
  • Nikiki
    Nikiki Posts: 993
    it's not a plateau if you're losing inches. plateau = not losing anything

    i agree with the others. it's more important to lose inches of fat than scale weight. it's not like you drag your scale around with you outside the house, but you do take your body out
    Do a google image search of 5 lbs of fat vs 5 lbs of muscle. Here's one: http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/images/fat-v-muscle.jpg
    Fat is bulky and lumpy, the same weight of muscle is smooth and sleek and takes up less space so with your strength training you're replacing your fat with muscle so you're slimming down but not dropping actual weight.
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    Using weight as the only measure for body composition is like trying to describe your personality in 5 words or less.

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