[GMNEVO]

First post here and in desperate need of support, I started my weight loss journey 4 weeks ago today at 277 pounds, I have worked my heart off at the gym over the last 4 weeks spending 5 days a week in the gym. I worked on cardio, did zumba classes even aqua fitness and laps on the pool. Today I went for my weight in and got the most frustrating news ever. My current weight is 272.5 my metabolism went from 2054kcal to 2035kcal and what got me completely discouraged is my fat% went from 50.3% to 57% I ended up walking out of the gym and crying my heart out on my way home. Is it normal how can my fat % be larger after working out so much all month I just don't understand :'( Has this happened to any of you am I the only one that works out and gets fatter?!

[meltitaway]

Hello -

First of all, health isn't all about the numbers. You are moving and in time, that moving will give you results. How are you doing with your eating plan? Maybe keep a record for awhile just to be sure and measure, measure, measure!!

Just remember, your body is adjusting. Don't give up and keep at it. Results will happen! I am living proof. I started right about where you did and I am close to 70# down!!

I am here...contact me anytime! Best wishes and congratulations on your dedication!

[stella1609]

What are you EATING? It's impossible to out-exercise bad eating habits. Also I seriously doubt that those body fat percentage measurements are accurate--it's a very hard thing to measure and if you just stood on a scale or did calipers you can feel pretty confident they are wrong (same thing with the BMR measurement).

[Thinforme]

I don't have any knowledge about this but I'm sure that was very frustrating.

[Chronostasis]

That's awesome that you're getting so much exercise in! Just make sure you don't overstrain your muscles.

First of all, I doubt you've actually gained fat! Where are you getting these readings from? Is it from a scale at home? (Even if it's not a scale at home, chances are it's still not accurate.) I'll let you in on a secret: the only thing that it's really measuring is the electrical conductivity from one foot to the other. Because of that, there are SO many things that can mess it up, which makes it WAY inaccurate for actually calculating body fat %. Honestly, take those measurements with a grain of salt. Don't let it be your guide as to how well you are doing!
Also, hydration plays a big role here as well; it can make a big difference in readings.

However, I don't see that you've mentioned your food intake. Eating the right kinds of food and the right amounts of food is 80% of the battle in losing weight, so don't neglect it.

That all said, don't give up! This will feel like a major disappointment to you but you'll get through it!

[elvislover324]

Our bodies are such mysteries, I understand your frustration!!

Keep up the good work, exercising and then having a healthy diet will surely pay off huge benefits. Also make sure you are drinking enough water to replenish and hydrate your body.

You are on the right track and we are here for you. Good luck!!

[JohnP]

Originally Posted by GMNEVO

First post here and in desperate need of support, I started my weight loss journey 4 weeks ago today at 277 pounds, I have worked my heart off at the gym over the last 4 weeks spending 5 days a week in the gym. I worked on cardio, did zumba classes even aqua fitness and laps on the pool. Today I went for my weight in and got the most frustrating news ever. My current weight is 272.5 my metabolism went from 2054kcal to 2035kcal and what got me completely discouraged is my fat% went from 50.3% to 57% I ended up walking out of the gym and crying my heart out on my way home. Is it normal how can my fat % be larger after working out so much all month I just don't understand :'( Has this happened to any of you am I the only one that works out and gets fatter?!

This post is the entire reason I post here.

I hope you're not paying someone at the gym to provide information to you because if this is the case they should be fired.

You need good solid information. I'm extremely busy at the moment but I assure you that:

A) Your metabolism has not gone down. This is impossible to measure outside of a lab setting with expensive equipement that no gym has.

B) Your body fat percentage has not gone up. Also, impossible to measure at the gym. You have not gotten fatter.

C) Your efforts have not been in vain. Trust me, they have not.

Bottom line is that you're at the right web site and people can help you here, for free. You just need to invest your time.

The dedication you've shown at the gym will pay off in spades when you invest that dedication into educating yourself on how this stuff actually works.

[Elladorine]

Listen to John, he knows his stuff.

[RavenWolf]

I agree with John as well. Keep up with the exercise to improve your health! You will see the fruits of your labor, I promise!!

It is an emotional, frustrating journey. It really is. This is a fantastic place to find support to encourage you through hard times, and to rejoice with you when you share your successes!

Would you be willing to share what a typical day of meals look like?
What are you drinking? It is super easy to drink your calories!
Do you weight/measure your food? Food scale, measuring cups and spoons?

It is so important that you measure your servings. You may be way over eating and not know it! When I actually started weighing and measuring my food, I started to lose weight.

My best advice is NOT to give up. Share your struggles and your successes here and you will be so much more likely to succeed. Start using a calorie/meal tracking app and measure your servings. Switch to water. I had to kick an over 2 decade Mountain Dew "addiction." It made a huge difference in how I feel, how I lose weight, and my energy.

I really hope you continue to post here. I really hope you come and answer some of these questions so we can better help you. And my biggest hope is that you do not give up!!

[GMNEVO]

OMG I really didn't expect so much feedback so quickly, first of all I want to say thanks guys for taking the time it really means A LOT to me. I posted right after getting home; since then my frustration level has gone down a little and I put the first 4 pebbles into my weight loss jar which helped. Reading through the post I realized how clueless I am on this process, which makes me thankful for this day, as if it wasn't for the frustration I had, I probably would have never posted. I will put more emphasis on my diet but over the last month I have drank nothing but water and fat free milk with my cereal, not going into counting each calorie but my eating habits have changed big time. I use to eat out (chinnese/pizza) about 3 times a week now I eat home haven't had a piece of fried anything in a month! I don't have a personal trainer or anything at the gym but they have a scale that prints a receipt with your info which includes weight/BMI/fat %... They gave me one receipt the first day I was there (monday 4 weeks ago) and got the new one with the disappointing results today. I will work on my health and try to not focus so much on the numbers at least I can go up the stairs at work without a mini heart attack so there is some progress.

Ps- I apologize in advance for my writing skills as separating sentences and using correct punctuation is not one of my fortes

[GMNEVO]

O and for the request a typical food day: Today as example:

Breakfast:
Special K Honey oats cereal with fat free milk about 2 cups of cereal
Snack: 2 cups of popcorn (home made little salt no butter)
Lunch: Healthy choice Rosemary Chicken
Dinner: 2 Eggs and 2 Honey Oat toasts

On my way to drinking a gallon of water

[shcirerf]

Hang in there! It's a learning process and lifestyle change.

Patience is your friend!

[punkrocksong]

GMNEVO, I totally get your frustration. I am very new to all of this as well, and I've been researching my butt off on everything I can. I'm still a little too self-conscience to join a gym, I have this irrational fear I'm going to break the equipment, so I haven't had the awful experience you've had. I'm taking the numbers with a grain of salt and I'm not just accepting things at face value. Yes, my weight isn't very good, and yes according to my BMI I'm still morbidly obese, but the most important thing for me is how I feel. And I feel much better now than I did 20+ lbs ago - and that is what is the most important.

Any loss is a good loss, and you are off to a great start. It's best that you form eating habits that you will be able to stick to and it's wonderful you've been exercising - but don't over-do-it either. I've been counting calories and exercising. I measure my food - I even picked up a kitchen scale which proved how woefully inaccurate my guestimating was. And yes, it's tedious, but it takes a lot of the worry out of what I'm putting in my mouth. Honestly, I think the only reason I've lost so much weight so fast is because I was doing way more than overeating, I was binging - hardcore, and I didn't even realize I was doing it.

Everyone is different in how they lose weight, the most important thing is to try to keep a positive attitude...and tell that stupid gym scale to go kick some rocks!

[Changergirl]

GMNEVO- I completely understand that you're frustrated. Like everybody else has stated, those body fat % scales are superbly inaccurate so I'm going to assume both of those measurements are wrong.

Secondly, if you just started exercising your body takes some time to adjust to this new 'healthy' lifestyle. Your body may be holding onto some additional weight until it completely adjusts and realizes that this is going to a regular occurrence. It took my body about 4 weeks once I started exercising before I started losing weight consistently again.

Lastly, I'm not sure if you're eating enough food. Your body may actually be hanging onto some of that fat because you aren't supplying it enough nutrients and therefore doesn't want to let go of the fat you have. It's weird but when you are losing weight you do need to eat a minimum amount of food. At your size and because you're exercising, I'd say you probably need at least 1800 calories. What you listed isn't anywhere close to that.

[SuperHeroTeacher]

Hang in there! I just wanted to chime in on the nutrition piece. You can practically starve yourself with low calories, but if they're the wrong calories your body will resist releasing the weight. I noticed that your sample meal plan included no veggies... You'd be amazed at how much faster the weight comes off if you eat a well balanced diet. Which admittedly is easier said than done. I don't have a problem with veggies, but getting enough protein is something I've always struggled with.