Fed up.......

Well I have just started week 4 of insanity and weighed and measured myself this morning. I am really annoyed to find that my weight is exactly the same as it was 3 weeks ago, my measurements are the same and my body fat has increased......:sad:

What am I doing wrong? I am totally fed up now as I was excited about checking in this morning and seeing some progress. I upped my calories to 1500 last week as I thought this might help but it hasn't. Does anyone have any idea what I can do, am feeling pretty miserable right now :grumble:

Replies

  • aoikirin
    aoikirin Posts: 143
    I am really sorry to hear about this - your hard work seems to not be showing. But maybe you are just on a plateau before a big drop.

    I have had the experience of working really hard a whole month following an eating plan very closely and exercising and yet GAINING 2 lbs. It was so disconcerting and sad. It's what brought me to this site a month ago to try something different.

    Tomorrow I will weigh myself for the first time since starting MFP. I am mortified that I might have gained or stayed the same, but the bottom line to remember is that what we are doing for our bodies is helping and will work in time. It's math. It can't fail, it may just take a lot longer than we hoped.

    Keep doing what you are doing. You are undoubtedly healthier than you were before, and the weight will come off eventually. Just give it time. :)
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I don't blame you for being fed up! I'm wondering how you're measuring your body fat though. It seems strange that if your weight and measurements have stayed the same, your body fat has gone up. Are you measuring that with a scale? If so, they are notorious for being inaccurate, so I wouldn't worry about that.

    My guess is that you may have lost a little fat, but you may be retaining water from the exercise (are your muscles sore?) and also from increasing the calories. An increase in food makes you retain water (the opposite of the big loss of water weight that many people have when they start dieting) and you also have a higher volume of food in your system. Inch loss may just not be noticeable yet. I don't always see an obvious inch-loss from one month to the next.

    You must be really frustrated, but keep at it! I don't think you're doing anything wrong, it just might take a little more time to see the progress.
  • k2charmed4u
    k2charmed4u Posts: 282
    I know what you mean i've been the same weight for the past 3-4 weeks and it's making feel "why bother?" but hopefully it will pass for both of us and starts going down again :ohwell:
  • subtractionproject
    subtractionproject Posts: 64 Member
    It looks to me like you're pretty small already and only have under 10lbs to lose? Could be that you happened to weigh yourself on an 'off day', which often happens to me - ie, you haven't had a bowel movement, you could be bloated, excess water. If you only have a smaller amount to lose, progress over 4 weeks is only going to show a small loss, so any of these things could cover up a potentially awesome difference on the scale.

    Looking at your diary, it seems to me that you usually don't eat enough protein. Again, if you're smaller, you don't want to lose precious lean body mass, so if I were you, I'd make a conscious effort to try and eat more protein, especially after a workout. Switch up your diet in this manner and see if it makes any difference to your loss. Also, when I plateaued, the method that helped me was to only eat back up to half of my exercise calories. Could be that whatever method you use to track calorie burn is slightly off?

    Hope you break this soon, don't give up! Something's gotta give eventually, especially if you are maintaining a deficit.
  • I've been at the same weight for over 3 weeks.

    had a little shuffle around with my diet less than a week ago and when I weighed in today I had lost 1kg (2.2lbs).

    Keep going and stick with it!
  • siliisobel
    siliisobel Posts: 49
    It looks to me like you're pretty small already and only have under 10lbs to lose? Could be that you happened to weigh yourself on an 'off day', which often happens to me - ie, you haven't had a bowel movement, you could be bloated, excess water. If you only have a smaller amount to lose, progress over 4 weeks is only going to show a small loss, so any of these things could cover up a potentially awesome difference on the scale.

    Looking at your diary, it seems to me that you usually don't eat enough protein. Again, if you're smaller, you don't want to lose precious lean body mass, so if I were you, I'd make a conscious effort to try and eat more protein, especially after a workout. Switch up your diet in this manner and see if it makes any difference to your loss. Also, when I plateaued, the method that helped me was to only eat back up to half of my exercise calories. Could be that whatever method you use to track calorie burn is slightly off?

    Hope you break this soon, don't give up! Something's gotta give eventually, especially if you are maintaining a deficit.

    Thanks for this, I will try upping my protein. I have been trying to have a boiled egg after a workout but I dont eat much red meat so im struggling with the protein a bit. And yes I only have about 8lb to lose, thanks for your advise, I will persevere and see what happens next week..:-)
  • siliisobel
    siliisobel Posts: 49
    Thanks guys, this is what I love about this site there is so much support, I feel better after reading your posts. You are all awesome! :bigsmile:
  • Phaedra2014
    Phaedra2014 Posts: 1,254 Member
    You're gaining in terms of strength, stamina, health. Don't forget that!
  • siliisobel
    siliisobel Posts: 49
    I've been at the same weight for over 3 weeks.

    had a little shuffle around with my diet less than a week ago and when I weighed in today I had lost 1kg (2.2lbs).

    Keep going and stick with it!

    What did you change with your diet? I would be interested to know as its obviously made a difference.
  • Don't give up. Maybe try cardio with jogging and giving yourself recovery time with walking. You will see progress, when you see that you are losing, then start insanity. You may be bulking up. That is what my sister did and she looks awesome. You will get there. Chin up. work in progress. :smile:
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    Alot of people see weight loss in the second month of Insanity. Even though I was on maintenance when I did Insanity I still lost a few lbs in the second month.

    Hang on in there, you should see your weight drop soon.

    Unless you've been eating more fatty foods I can't see how your body fat would have gone up, especially whilst doing such intense cardio.
  • Dchurch24
    Dchurch24 Posts: 16 Member
    Don't worry! I was 17st4lb and was steadily dropping, I got to 15st2lb and was convinced I was still losing weight. I weighed myself about 4 days later and was 15st7lb(ish).

    Just keep going, it's probably just your body adjusting.

    Do you do any excersise, or is it all diet?
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    Don't worry! I was 17st4lb and was steadily dropping, I got to 15st2lb and was convinced I was still losing weight. I weighed myself about 4 days later and was 15st7lb(ish).

    Just keep going, it's probably just your body adjusting.

    Do you do any excersise, or is it all diet?

    She's doing Insanity.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
    I'm not sure if you just aren't finishing days but I just went back in your diary about a week and there were 3 days where you were WAY under your daily limit. If you don't fuel your activity, especially while doing something intense like Insanity, your body will hold on to whatever resources it can. Try not to eat below your BMR and definitely not below 1200 (net).

    If you have trouble with protein, how about bars or shakes? Or if you want to keep it more natural, how about nuts, nut butters, chicken, turkey, fish or cheese? When you do eat red meat, make sure it's cooked to your liking. I hear a lot of people saying they don't care for it but I have to wonder if it's the same as folks who say they don't like their veggies. Growing up, I only had overcooked steaks and burgers because we were paranoid about food poisining - and they were probably cheaper cuts with little fat (like london broil - blech) which are likely to be tough any way you cook them. Now I know I like a nicely marbled sirloin or even a rib eye if the budget allows and I love it cooked medium rare - just a little undercooked in the middle so it melts in your mouth...

    Anyway, do some research on high protein foods you know you like or are willing to try and figure out what you can encorporate in your diet for better balance and muscle maintenance.
  • bagge72
    bagge72 Posts: 1,377 Member
    From looking at your diet, I would try to up your protein intake, and try not eat as many carbs, or at least try to switch to more complete whole grain carbs. I also see that some days it looks like your diary is incomplete, is this because you just forgot to finish it, or are you just not eating a lot those days? I also notice that when someone has a diary like that sometimes they aren't entering, because they have gone over, and don't want to see it. Not saying this what you are doing, just tyrin to give some suggestions!