STUPID SCALE!!! I'm getting soooo mad!

2

Replies

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,941 Member
    The answer is simple. You're putting on muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so your scale won't be dipping any lower but you are actually getting smaller. If the scale is frustrating you so much, put it away for a while. Start tracking your inches instead. You'll see you really are making progress.
    It's rare to put on muscle while on calorie deficit. More than likely it's water and glycogen retention in the cells.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • zsaoosh
    zsaoosh Posts: 402 Member
    If you are lifting then make sure you are eating alot of protein and eat clean. Make sure you are doing cardio ALOT and eating back atleast half of your work out cals but atleast not neting below your BMR.
  • jones137
    jones137 Posts: 89 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.
  • RobynMWilson
    RobynMWilson Posts: 1,540 Member
    Because you've been adding muscle you may not see the number on the scale move for a lil while. But it's a 3-part system: the weight on the scale, your measurements, and how your clothes fit. Although the number on the scale didn't change for me when I started ChaLEAN Extreme 3 months ago, I'm down a size and down several inches so far yet I started at 137 and I'm 136 now...
  • beachlover317
    beachlover317 Posts: 2,848 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.

    She's ignored both your comments. I agree. Fast food it not a friend of those trying to lose weight. I hear you.
  • konerusp
    konerusp Posts: 247 Member
    Very high carb and bad fats in your dairy.
    Processed food has to be cut out.We have spent years storing junk in the body,no point burning the same junk and eating the same junk right?
    Dont eat processed food.Lot of fried food,let your sugar sources be natural and limited.
    you might want to change your macros to 50:30:30,ur carb ratio to protein looks off in your settings.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,941 Member
    What I see is that practically all your food is high in sodium. High sodium usually equals high water retention. Even more if you're working out hard. Eat more whole foods. Reduce some of the processed. 80/20 is a good rule to follow if you don't want to give up everything for clean eating.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.

    She's ignored both your comments. I agree. Fast food it not a friend of those trying to lose weight. I hear you.

    There are lower calorie options at all three of those places. If you stay within your calorie budget (over BMR, under TDEE), you really can eat whatever you want and lose weight. I'm proof positive. I haven't eaten clean constantly, I make smarter choices and cook more of my own foods, but when I can't, I look up the calorie counts for something and go get it from a takeout window. I eat more vegetables now and have learned to cook lower calorie, but I still save most of my calories for dinner because, if I'm in charge, there's going to be extra cheese on whatever's for dinner. You learn to live within your calorie limits, eat healthIER things, and don't think of it as "all or nothing" ... that's a sure way to sabotage yourself.
  • Springer007
    Springer007 Posts: 84 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    It can be overnight... There are a ton of posts out here but if you happen to read this here is what will work.

    You go back to 1250 calories. Start running for 30 minutes or more every night. Get to your "target heart rate" and hold it for a good 25 to 30 minutes. When you are done you should be sweating pretty good. It will probably hurt, it will take some digging into your soul to hang in there for the entire 30 minutes. Once you are done. DO NOT eat back the calories. Many people will tell you to, but that will get you nowhere. As long as you eat your 1250 base calories there will be no "Starvation mode BS" going on. You bank that calorie deficit and lose weight. IT WILL work.
  • Deltafliers
    Deltafliers Posts: 201 Member
    I agree about measuring your inches; I also agree on watching what you are eating. In your food diary I notice you only track the big three: carb, fat, protein. I also track sodium and fiber in mine.

    At first, I didn't really care about my sodium, but I have noticed that as I have worked to remain close to the daily allotment of sodium I have been feeling better and losing weight. Excess sodium is a big cause of retention. Watching my sodium intake has forced me to eat cleaner and healthier too. I plan my meals when possible in regards to sodium; this might mean I need to add more veggies or fruit to my meal or instead of getting seconds of a yummy box mix, I might need to get seconds of something else. Now, I won't lie, this is difficult--this week has been rough and I am not always successful, but it is a lifestyle change in progress.

    Fiber....keeps the system moving (think wd-40=no squeaky or sluggish gears). I saw an improvement in my weight loss when I added fiber gummies and fish oil to my diet.

    Also, think about working to not go over your fat allotment. It is difficult but doable. I once had it explained to me (to paraphrase): What is the point of getting upset about not losing fat when you go over and put the extra back into your system...

    Hope this helps.

    PS: Sometimes you also need to consider, as a female, you tend to gain weight either the week before or during your menses, depending on the individual. Keep track of when you gain the weight, it might be in a pattern similar to your cycle I have see and experienced weight gains of 2-4 pounds during this time, in which the following week it corrected itself.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    It can be overnight... There are a ton of posts out here but if you happen to read this here is what will work.

    You go back to 1250 calories. Start running for 30 minutes or more every night. Get to your "target heart rate" and hold it for a good 25 to 30 minutes. When you are done you should be sweating pretty good. It will probably hurt, it will take some digging into your soul to hang in there for the entire 30 minutes. Once you are done. DO NOT eat back the calories. Many people will tell you to, but that will get you nowhere. As long as you eat your 1250 base calories there will be no "Starvation mode BS" going on. You bank that calorie deficit and lose weight. IT WILL work.

    I disagree with this advice, as it would have you eating below 1200 after you factor in the calories burnt from exercise. MFP already factors in your caloric deficit, and this is likely far below your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories your body needs just to function on a daily basis. You will lose weight doing this, but it is not healthy or maintainable, and, as any crash dieter will tell you, you are likely to regain the weight and more once you begin eating at proper levels again.
  • jamm2000
    jamm2000 Posts: 79
    .
  • firesoforion
    firesoforion Posts: 1,017 Member
    I stopped around that weight (I'm your height) and stayed there for months. I really don't have any advice for you, but good luck!
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    This is a problem with the BMI scale; it does not consider athletic build. The NFL will not evaluate its players on the BMI... Why? They are (especially linemen)... very muscular. They may be at 11% body fat which is quite healthy but technically obese because of the BMI chart... Yet they are very healthy (usually)... I believe as long as you are progressing and not in the obese range and beginning to see muscular definition, I would not worry alot about having a BMI of 27 or so... (I did not check your data to know where you are on BMI)... Take measurements; if you are getting smaller... You are progressing; if not, then you need to change something.
  • jamm2000
    jamm2000 Posts: 79
    The answer is simple. You're putting on muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so your scale won't be dipping any lower but you are actually getting smaller. If the scale is frustrating you so much, put it away for a while. Start tracking your inches instead. You'll see you really are making progress.

    Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat......fat takes up more space than muscle but they weight they same.

    Your food diary is not too good......lots of Pizza, chips, ice cream, almost all processed food. It's what your eating that's causing your problem. Limit the bad stuff, add more fresh clean foods, stay within your calorie limit and you'll be cool.

    Good Answer!!!
  • wisegirl_k
    wisegirl_k Posts: 38 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.

    ^^^ exactly.
  • Elen_Sia
    Elen_Sia Posts: 638 Member
    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.

    QFT.
  • onikonor
    onikonor Posts: 473 Member
    The answer is simple. You're putting on muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat so your scale won't be dipping any lower but you are actually getting smaller. If the scale is frustrating you so much, put it away for a while. Start tracking your inches instead. You'll see you really are making progress.

    Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat......fat takes up more space than muscle but they weight they same.

    Your food diary is not too good......lots of Pizza, chips, ice cream, almost all processed food. It's what your eating that's causing your problem. Limit the bad stuff, add more fresh clean foods, stay within your calorie limit and you'll be cool.

    This is the right answer...agree 100%

    I would have to agree here too. You are consuming a lot of refined carbs and total carbs in general. I would also review how many calories you are eating (i.e. looks like you are eating back all exercise calories and if those are not accurate then you would be over).
  • Springer007
    Springer007 Posts: 84 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    It can be overnight... There are a ton of posts out here but if you happen to read this here is what will work.

    You go back to 1250 calories. Start running for 30 minutes or more every night. Get to your "target heart rate" and hold it for a good 25 to 30 minutes. When you are done you should be sweating pretty good. It will probably hurt, it will take some digging into your soul to hang in there for the entire 30 minutes. Once you are done. DO NOT eat back the calories. Many people will tell you to, but that will get you nowhere. As long as you eat your 1250 base calories there will be no "Starvation mode BS" going on. You bank that calorie deficit and lose weight. IT WILL work.

    I disagree with this advice, as it would have you eating below 1200 after you factor in the calories burnt from exercise. MFP already factors in your caloric deficit, and this is likely far below your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories your body needs just to function on a daily basis. You will lose weight doing this, but it is not healthy or maintainable, and, as any crash dieter will tell you, you are likely to regain the weight and more once you begin eating at proper levels again.

    So many people do not fully understand weight loss and calorie deficit. But thats ok. This is not bad advice and it will work for people that have determination and will power.
    That being said, I looked back at this persons excercise and food logs and I see the problem. Its Honesty. They are not honest with their reports. 9 hours of straight gardening a few days back? Seriously? you earned thousands of calories on this bogus gardening report? come on. If you are gonna cheat, dont wonder why the scale is not showing progress.
  • mrsdizzyd84
    mrsdizzyd84 Posts: 422 Member
    I'm not going to preach at you about eating clean all the time. I don't do that myself. If you could see my diary you'd see a couple days a week with fast food in there for lunch or dinner. You'll also see some sweets in there as I love to bake. HOWEVER, you need to eat that stuff less often. Your carbs are way way high as is your sodium and sugar (you should add those to the tracker). Carbs and salt cause you to retain water and weight lifting causes you to retain water. If you are retaining 5-10 pounds of water weight how are you supposed to see the pound you are losing a week?

    If you just work on your diet you'll be able to see the weight you are dropping.
  • triciab79
    triciab79 Posts: 1,713 Member
    The problem is you stay within your calories "for the most part". You need to stay within your calories always. No junk period the end. I am your height and I was bigger than you. I have 6 boys and my house is full of the junk teens and toddlers eat but that does not mean I have to eat that. If calories in is less than calories out you will lose weight. It is a harsh reality but reality it is.
  • dansls1
    dansls1 Posts: 309 Member
    I would totally reccomend investing in a HRM-you can find them on amazon or ebay and they are awesome...I wouldn't depend on MFP as the numbers seem off for most things.

    And I'm finding mine to be nearly dead on what MFP estimated for just about everything - nothing more than a 5% difference on anything I was doing.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    Please don't take this the wrong way......

    If you want the scales lower you need to recommit. You can't expect to eat Arby's, Little Caesar's, Cheescake Factory and lose weight because you workout. If you want to change your life, you need to change your lifestyle. You need to completely revamp your eating habits.....completely. You barely ever get enough protein, you consume large amounts of simple sugars....not a good weight loss combo.

    I hope I'm not offending you but I'm trying to offer some real advice that I think may help you. It's not the scales fault.

    She's ignored both your comments. I agree. Fast food it not a friend of those trying to lose weight. I hear you.

    i didn't IGNORE anything. I had to get off of the computer for a few minutes and am just now catching back up. I agree as well. I just hear of so many people saying 'it's not a diet' or I can eat normal stuff and not gain weight...something to he tone of I can't give it up forever. I'm taking baby steps I guess. No excuses, I'd eat the roast beef at Arbys, but not the bun. Little stuff like that but it souds like from what I'm being told I need to omit pretty much all of that. (And unfortunately lots of birthdays in the last 4 weeks so the cake & pizza didn't help either.) You're not offending me at all.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    Look, you said this week there was more junk than usual but going back to the week before and the week before and there is pizza, curly fries, and everything looks pre packaged.

    300 calories of Pizza and 300 calories of Veg is going to treat your body (and the scale) completely differently. Stop relying on pre packaged processed food and cook from scratch more. Eat at least half a plate of veg with every meal and I guarantee you the scale will start to move.

    You don't track salt and I think you'd be shocked if you saw how much you were taking in.

    So I assume I should start tracking my salt now also?
  • Springer007
    Springer007 Posts: 84 Member
    Look, you said this week there was more junk than usual but going back to the week before and the week before and there is pizza, curly fries, and everything looks pre packaged.

    300 calories of Pizza and 300 calories of Veg is going to treat your body (and the scale) completely differently. Stop relying on pre packaged processed food and cook from scratch more. Eat at least half a plate of veg with every meal and I guarantee you the scale will start to move.

    You don't track salt and I think you'd be shocked if you saw how much you were taking in.
    So I assume I should start tracking my salt now also?


    I disagree with all this food advice. You can eat that crap and be fine. Just watch calories and accurately count. That includes excercise calories.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    i'm just so frustrated. I want the scale lower and I guess I figured that by now it would be a lot lower than where it really is. I know the weight doesn't come on overnight, and it doesn't go away overnight. I guess I'm disappointed because I thought I would weigh less/be smaller by now.

    It can be overnight... There are a ton of posts out here but if you happen to read this here is what will work.

    You go back to 1250 calories. Start running for 30 minutes or more every night. Get to your "target heart rate" and hold it for a good 25 to 30 minutes. When you are done you should be sweating pretty good. It will probably hurt, it will take some digging into your soul to hang in there for the entire 30 minutes. Once you are done. DO NOT eat back the calories. Many people will tell you to, but that will get you nowhere. As long as you eat your 1250 base calories there will be no "Starvation mode BS" going on. You bank that calorie deficit and lose weight. IT WILL work.

    I disagree with this advice, as it would have you eating below 1200 after you factor in the calories burnt from exercise. MFP already factors in your caloric deficit, and this is likely far below your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate, the calories your body needs just to function on a daily basis. You will lose weight doing this, but it is not healthy or maintainable, and, as any crash dieter will tell you, you are likely to regain the weight and more once you begin eating at proper levels again.

    So many people do not fully understand weight loss and calorie deficit. But thats ok. This is not bad advice and it will work for people that have determination and will power.
    That being said, I looked back at this persons excercise and food logs and I see the problem. Its Honesty. They are not honest with their reports. 9 hours of straight gardening a few days back? Seriously? you earned thousands of calories on this bogus gardening report? come on. If you are gonna cheat, dont wonder why the scale is not showing progress.

    Seriously?!?! UM HELL YES! I was outside for 9 1/2 hours doing yardwork. Digging holes, planting flowers, cutting my yard with a pushmower, moving pavers and bricks, so um YEAH...and I have sunburn to prove it. So yeah, 9 hours and IT IS HONEST. try again.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    Look, you said this week there was more junk than usual but going back to the week before and the week before and there is pizza, curly fries, and everything looks pre packaged.

    300 calories of Pizza and 300 calories of Veg is going to treat your body (and the scale) completely differently. Stop relying on pre packaged processed food and cook from scratch more. Eat at least half a plate of veg with every meal and I guarantee you the scale will start to move.

    You don't track salt and I think you'd be shocked if you saw how much you were taking in.
    So I assume I should start tracking my salt now also?


    I disagree with all this food advice. You can eat that crap and be fine. Just watch calories and accurately count. That includes excercise calories.

    I was eating it and it was working fine before, but not now. i'm not losing anything at this point. I've plateaued for about 7 weeks.
  • Springer007
    Springer007 Posts: 84 Member


    So many people do not fully understand weight loss and calorie deficit. But thats ok. This is not bad advice and it will work for people that have determination and will power.
    That being said, I looked back at this persons excercise and food logs and I see the problem. Its Honesty. They are not honest with their reports. 9 hours of straight gardening a few days back? Seriously? you earned thousands of calories on this bogus gardening report? come on. If you are gonna cheat, dont wonder why the scale is not showing progress.

    Seriously?!?! UM HELL YES! I was outside for 9 1/2 hours doing yardwork. Digging holes, planting flowers, cutting my yard with a pushmower, moving pavers and bricks, so um YEAH...and I have sunburn to prove it. So yeah, 9 hours and IT IS HONEST. try again.

    ok ok hold on. Let me rephrase. Im sure you did a 9 1/2 hour day of yard work. But the way that item is set up in MFP is constant work. So there would have to be 9 hours of constant straight digging to get all those calories. 9 non stop hours of that would kill most people. I thikn they are not specific enough with their descriptions. Like swiming. I dont think standing in the shallow end with the kids for 45 minutes is leisurly swiming. I think thats like 45 minutes of treading water in the deep end. I dont mean to discount your efforts, I just think MFP is too general and generous with their excercise calories and definitions. They lead peopel to believe they have earned 300 or 400 extra calories when they may have really earned half of that.
  • mrsdizzyd84
    mrsdizzyd84 Posts: 422 Member
    Seriously?!?! UM HELL YES! I was outside for 9 1/2 hours doing yardwork. Digging holes, planting flowers, cutting my yard with a pushmower, moving pavers and bricks, so um YEAH...and I have sunburn to prove it. So yeah, 9 hours and IT IS HONEST. try again.

    I think you missed the point. It's not that anyone doubts that you did the work (I garden as well, trust me I know how hard it is). The problem is that the calories burned MFP gives you is way way high. You have to remember that in those 9 hours you would have burn 1,000+ calories even if you'd done very little. In those 9 hours I'd guess you earned an additional 500ish calories for the day.
  • curvykim78
    curvykim78 Posts: 799 Member
    I added salt & fiber to my tickers to track. How in the world are you supposed to be able to keep all 5 things under for every day while eating different foods each day? I never really thought about the salt causing water retention. Thanks for pointing it out. I'm trying to figure out what else to change as well...just not sure where to go from here.