It will! Did you know that when fat cells empty out, they sometimes fill up with water? And until your body dumps the water, the scale won't move, even though you've already lost the fat? A weight loss researcher at Columbia Med School told me this - he said that often what we think of as a 'stall' or 'plateau' is just water retention. Ever lose two pounds overnight? That's a water whoosh!
MEG thanks for the information - anybody who's lost as much weight as you I'm listening to I asked the question about how long it takes for extra cals to convert into fat on the UK forum but nobdy seemed sure. It's something I've wondered about for years.
Su-Bee, I got so p'd off with nonsensical increases in my weight that I finally splashed out on body fat monitor scales. These saved me last week - I was well cross about losing only 1lb but saw that my water percentage had gone up 1% and my body fat had come down by 2%. That kept me going till I found this site.
I have the body fat monitor scale, but I get so p.o.'ed every time it tells me that I am in the "obese" range (I mean, c'mon - I need to lose weight, sure, but I'm not OBESE by any means!) that I've stopped using the body fat function.
LOL. My scales tell me I'm obese too but I pay no attention to that function or the one that tells me how many stones of me are (or aren't) muscle! I'm sorry to laugh at your plight but I've never told anyone that my scales have rated me as obese before - I'm relieved it's not just me!
Tomorrow is my "official" weigh-in day (I promised myself that the fluctuations don't matter, b/c only Fridays count) - so wish me luck for my water whoosh! I wanna change my ticker!!!
Hello there. I was feeling so disgusted with the lack of weight loss these past couple weeks, even though I have been or thought I was doing so well with food and exercise. My body did seem to be changing and I seemed to be losing fat around my middle but I NEED!!! the scale to go down. I mean, why does it take so long for the scale to move?!!?
I usually post on the 21-day challenge thread but had thought about coming here, thinking that maybe it's just because I'm not THAT fat, still....I have a LOT of fat on me and, yes I too would probably be (AM) in the obese range when it comes to those bodyfat monitors.
Sigh..sigh..reading the posts between Doughnut and Su-Bee were just what I needed too. I need someone to mope with and yet still keep trying. I need people who realize just how hard it is to lose the weight, or seems to be.
I mean, do you have to be that vigilant to lose 30 lbs? That seems like a lot more than featherweight material??! At 70 kg, I'm no featherweight...but why is it so hard to budge the fat on my body?! Sorry, all, I'm just so disgusted and depressed and angry about things not going my way......
Hello Redballon! I know what you mean about not being a featherweight. I wouldn't have had the presumption to check out this forum if it weren't for the fact that I found this particular post by Su-Bee by accident. When you read something that it so similar to you that you wonder if you actually posted it yourself you know you have to answer!
I think you do have to be that vigilant to lose 30 lbs. I have to say that I have no idea how tall you are or how much you weigh cos I can't convert metric (pathetic i know) but 30lbs is a couple of stone and it's usually the absolutely top of healthy or just a bit overweight. I think that that can be the hardest range to be in cos you can still kid yourself you're OK. Maybe that's just me trying to justify a pig out
Anyway you sound a bit down but keep going. Thanks largely to 3FC and Su-Bee I've managed to keep going but I'm approaching danger time. This is really sad but I rarely manage to keep going for more than 3 weeks! We've gotta keep plodding or it won't change.
Ah, Doughnut, thanks so much for your message. I was just getting ready to go to bed. Today has been awful. I once again ate too much and ate sugar, which I had been totally off for nearly two weeks. I had been feeling great, keeping off alcohol as well and then, bang, I just lost it and it's all falling apart. The lack of weight loss just got to me, even though I was losing inches. I just so much wanted to see the scale move...I don't know...yes, I was really down. Your message has made me feel better though, just knowing someone is out there who feels the same and is going through the same thing. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't think losing 30 lbs will make me slim, then again, it might. I am only just over 5 feet at 5 feet 1.5 inches, but I do have big bones and a lot of muscle. Still, 70 kgs is 154 lbs and my goal of 55 kgs is 121. At my height that doesn't sound very low but I don't know I've never been below 60 kgs and then I didn't have any muscle, just tone. Years of weight training have given me quite a bit of muscle. Anyhow, I'm babbling on, am tired and just came home and cried a bit. I overate and didn't care about the sugar eating, thinking I will get it out of my system, wipe the tears and start over from tomorrow. Maybe I can now...since I've found you. Thanks again.
Yeah, I had a bad day yesterday too. . .not foodwise so much as, well, alcohol-wise. I hadn't had a drink since New Year's Eve, and so when hubby and had a drink last night, it was so yummy that I didn't want to stop at one! And then of course this morning, I had that feeling of, "Well, I've screwed it up now - so, why don't I just suggest that we go out for lunch? And, who cares if I skip the gym - it's Saturday." But I put that aside, and have eaten good so far (although we have an event at church tonight that may be my downfall. . .) and DID go to the gym.
And I am really glad to hear that I'm not the only one who sometimes cries over food!
Hi Su-Bee Good to hear from you. Ah shucks, it musts have been in the stars yesterday, eh? That's exactly the way I was with the alcohol too. You see, I do all these 21-day challenges over on the support group forum and I have no sugar and no alcohol and other things and I'd been doing just great. I hadn't had a pint since Dec. 29 (which had been a week with three year-end parties!) and then I just wanted to celebrate some good news at work (oh, it's sooo relative though) and had 2 pints, which was OK. But it seemed to just have started me going, thinking, oh, what the heck, I need to TALK with people instead of going home. I work at a newspaper and the place is full of big drinkers and I enjoy discussing things over beers. However, the last two weeks totally off beer just felt great as far as my health went and clear-headedness, no late nights, no lost mornings etc. So anyhow, the two-pint night was followed by a Friday with many more and I felt I'd really let myself down. Probably that feeling coupled with the effect of the alcohol just had me sooo depressed, so yesterday was a wash....sigh. I did ride and do my crunches (another challenge) so it wasn't ALL lost. You got to the gym too. I guess we have to try to balance some very tough discipline with allowing a bit of laxness without beating ourself up over it. It's really tough, isn't it? It does mean our weight loss at this point in the game WILL be halted or slowed to the point of not being recognizable, right? Well, let's hang in there. Doughnut has written me as well and I feel so much better to have some friends who are in the same boat. Let's do this together!
I know exactly how you feel. I love having discussions over a pitcher of beer (which in the past has been too often accompanied by wings or nachos. . .), or having cocktails at night with my husband. For some people, eating is social, for me, drinking is!
Although sugar is a BIG trigger for me IF I eat it, I have absolutely no cravings for it if I don't take the first bite. Alcohol (and the socialization it represents) are definitely my downfall. . .that's why it's been so hard for me seeing the scale really not move these past few weeks - except for that one night, I had COMPLETELY stopped drinking, which seems an awfully big sacrifice if the numbers aren't going to go down!
But, as I don't want to give up and just BE this weight, I guess there's no choice but to persevere and have faith that whatever's going on in my body right now, EVENTUALLY the calories in v. calories out discrepancy that Fitday swears I have will have to show up on the scales.
But, as I don't want to give up and just BE this weight, I guess there's no choice but to persevere and have faith that whatever's going on in my body right now, EVENTUALLY the calories in v. calories out discrepancy that Fitday swears I have will have to show up on the scales.
It will, won't it?
Yes. And hopefully it will be sooner rather than later as it sure seems to take forever for us featherweights to get to our goal. Imagine being able to lose 10-15 pounds in a month! I've seen some posters do this, but they are so far from their goal it is like a drop in the bucket for them whereas it would mean reaching our goal if we were able to do it. So I'll gladly take what appears to be a 1 pound loss for this month regardless of the fact that it may be my only loss for the month.
I asked the question about how long it takes for extra cals to convert into fat on the UK forum but nobdy seemed sure. It's something I've wondered about for years.
Good to hear from you. Ah shucks, it musts have been in the stars yesterday, eh? That's exactly the way I was with the alcohol too. You see, I do all these 21-day challenges over on the support group forum and I have no sugar and no alcohol and other things and I'd been doing just great. I hadn't had a pint since Dec. 29 (which had been a week with three year-end parties!) and then I just wanted to celebrate some good news at work (oh, it's sooo relative though) and had 2 pints, which was OK. But it seemed to just have started me going, thinking, oh, what the heck, I need to TALK with people instead of going home. I work at a newspaper and the place is full of big drinkers and I enjoy discussing things over beers. However, the last two weeks totally off beer just felt great as far as my health went and clear-headedness, no late nights, no lost mornings etc. So anyhow, the two-pint night was followed by a Friday with many more and I felt I'd really let myself down. Probably that feeling coupled with the effect of the alcohol just had me sooo depressed, so yesterday was a wash....sigh. I did ride and do my crunches (another challenge) so it wasn't ALL lost. You got to the gym too. I guess we have to try to balance some very tough discipline with allowing a bit of laxness without beating ourself up over it. It's really tough, isn't it? It does mean our weight loss at this point in the game WILL be halted or slowed to the point of not being recognizable, right? Well, let's hang in there. Doughnut has written me as well and I feel so much better to have some friends who are in the same boat. Let's do this together! 
