I've been on plan. I go up...I go down (just a little). I'm frustrated. So, I've determined it must be a problem with my scale. It's the only logical explanation. I think I'll order another one.
I realize that won't actually help anything. I'm just impatient. I'm working on it Besides, I need a new scale anyway.
I've been weighing just once a month. It has been AWESOME for me! It causes me to focus on my behaviors and my NSVs, I KNOW what I am doing is going to result in weight loss. And every time I step on the scale, there is a decent loss. I am totally and forever OVER obsessing about a pound here or there "did the salt I put on my cucumbers yesterday make me retain water?" Over it!
I totally agree with Shannon on this one--I can easily obsess over a "stuck" scale, and I do NOT want that derailing me. So I only weigh at the doctor's office. I have upcoming appointments mid-month and then again mid-September, so I'll be able to track that way. OR, if I want to make the time to stop and run in there to weigh, okay, but that's not really likely.
I know what I'm doing is working; my goals are not just the weight loss, although that's a part of it, so I'm just going to keep on keeping on.
You might want to decide on some non-scale goals, too--it really does take the pressure off (at least for me!). Best wishes!
Thanks guys! I think I probably will switch to weekly weigh-ins eventually. Overall, I think I'm doing pretty good...staying under within my calorie range...working in some walking. Now I just have to get over the hump of going back to work and school.
Good luck SunshineTater! May I politely ask what your plan is? Just out of curiosity. I feared the scale for the past 7 months, and that was right for me at that point... now I absolutely love waking up and getting on the scale. I know that if I worked out hard and built muscle one day, that I'd be up a bit... but knowing that new muscle would burn the fat on me while I was in my sedentary hours that day would ease my mind of disappointment. I'd much rather be up a pound knowing that "hey, I build muscle!!!"
I am curious if you have any weight resistance/weight lifting in your training. I stick to 3lb weights, yet it's just enough to notice a "burn".
I also use a single pair of pants to measure how I change. I have a pair of cargo pants that were literally skin tight that would show every single dent in me, and when I'm not losing weight, I notice how much looser they feel (gaining muscle, toning up, losing the bulky fat).
I do hope you share your plan with me (and others)... I am NOT an expert to say the least of course, but I am sure someone else will have helpful tips if you post your plan.
Mostly, I'm just counting calories. My calorie range is 1290-1600 daily. I've been staying on the low side of that - lots of fruit and veggies. I've started walking...between 1 1/2 to 2 miles about 4 or 5 days a week. If I go by myself, I can get moving. My dog went with me the other night. He's not a good walking partner, I ended up carrying him back. I bought the WATP dvd, but I'm waiting until my husband goes out of town to do it
Right now, my pants are falling off; however, my sister told me that I just buy my clothes too big anyway. (Yeah, she's skinny.) I'm just trying to be consistent.
I think that's a great plan! If I can offer advice, worry more about calories OUT than calories IN. Never starve yourself because that won't work in the long run. If you walk 2 miles, that's a few hundred calories that you are burning... and that's FAT off your body you are burning. So to get up to 2 miles of walking (ideally a day) you need to add in those calories to your diet... ideally healthy calories like veggies, healthy protein, fat free yogurt, healthy carbs like whole wheat etc.
Every moment you spend working out burns calories. And every moment that you're sedentary with new found muscle from your workouts burns even MORE calories! So if you increase your calories (with nutrient rich calories), a 1 mile walk will burn perhaps up to 500 calories throughout the day. Increasing your caloric intake by 200 calories still nets you the 300 calories lost.
You are doing a fantastic job and I commend you on your achievements! Keep it up! Don't get discouraged about a weight gain, because I guarantee you that you lost a percentage of fat, but gained muscle.
I hope someone reads this with a recommendation on how to measure weight loss in terms of losing fat, vs. gaining muscle. I follow someone on a workout site who has the ability of measuring total weight loss/gain vs. weight loss/gain of fat. He goes through weigh ins where he loses .2lbs in one week, but gains 1lb of muscle and loses .8lb of fat.
I will ask him in the morning what program... or how he measures his body to be able to produce the statistics. BTW, he's lost 47 pounds overall this year.
Increase the movement, and increase the calories necessary to perform at optimum level. Living on 1200 calories doesn't work on those skinny minis at 110 pounds. It won't work for us...especially when we need to work every single day to burn off the fat.
Thanks for the suggestions. I know I'll do it...eventually. Basically, I've been eating 3 meals a day with little snacking. I was not a breakfast eater. I'm going to try to work in a 4th meal (not the Taco Bell kind ).
Right now, I have to find time to fit exercise in. I work in a school system...so I was off for the summer. I'm starting back to work soon. I work 40+ hours a week. I'm a full-time college student (18 hours this fall). And I have a young daughter. Last spring, I was gone 4 days a week from 7:30 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. (Eating fast food 2 times a day on those days!)
My energy level is crap...but getting better. No excuses...I'll make time.
Sunshine-- early on in my process, I had a pretty good digital scale, but if I stepped on it three times, it would give me three slightly different weights. It drove me CRAZY. Finally a went out and bought myself a 100 dollar Tanita scale.... it tells me not just how much I weigh, but also what my water weight percentage is. When I'm really retaining water, I can tell from the scale.
Not everyone wants to spend that kind of money on a scale, but really it was SO worth it for me. When I knew stepping on the scale would give me slightly different weights I would step on it 100 x a day.
Now, I weigh every morning, I know that I'm going to bounce from day to day and that if I stay OP it will eventually go down.
I totally think it's important to have a really good scale.
It must be my scale...
It's the only logical explanation. I think I'll order another one.
Besides, I need a new scale anyway.
