At the moment I really want to run my scale over with a steamroller, although I'm on pretty good terms with my tape measurer.
Background: My plan is intuitive eating, whole foods, little to no sugar, cooking from scratch + I'm doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women workouts 2-3x a week plus one day of interval training. I'm also pretty active in general, we don't have a car so I walk everywhere and on the weekends we're normally moving non-stop with the family (grocery shopping, park, swimming, playing soccer with DD, walking around the mall etc).
Basically, I'm just wondering how long I can possible continue to lose inches but see absolute NO loss on the scale (and if anything it's even gone up a bit! ). Since the end of Feb. I've pretty much had almost no weight loss and am just fluctuating a ton between 190-194lbs. I can't seem to break that 190lb threshold at all.
However, I've lost quite a bit in inches. I think I use to have something like a 38 inch waist and now it's down to 34inches (if I suck in, it goes to 32 inches )! I've also lost quite a bit in my chest too and lower belly. I'm now very solidly into a size 42 (like a size 12, if not slightly smaller depending on vanity sizing in the US) whereas I was a size 14/44 before. I'm also back into all my prepregnancy clothes from before I had DD and I was 175lbs then!!! That seems pretty good for 190+lbs, right?
It just is really getting to me because I'm sooo close to getting out of the "obese" category. When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see someone who's obese. Sure, I definitely look like I need to lose some pounds but not like I have 50lbs to go. Why can't the scale just reflect this??? Why can't it just at least go to 185lbs so I'm not longer "obese" and then stall out there? can this really go on much longer????
ETA: in post #4 I attached some pictures so you can see the difference when I was 188lbs maybe 4-5 years ago and a picture of today when I weigh-in at 193lb and the 3rd picture is my prepregnancy weight ~175lbs.
Last edited by runningfromfat; 05-06-2011 at 11:59 AM.
Are you sure your scale is accurate? Have you weighed on a different scale? Something is off if you are comfortably wearing clothes from a 175 weight at 194. I'm pretty positive that muscle doesn't grow that fast on us chicks. What you describe seems just impossible to me scientifically, but hey, I'm just a dirt farmer from Nebraska. LOL
I am almost equivalent in pounds and inches lost. I have built muscle but not at the same rate as fat loss. I can't really explain it. The tape shows progress soooo much better than the scale does. I just know one thing for sure, I'd rather be losing inches and the scale not move than be losing pounds and not losing any inches b/c you still get to change sizes that way. No matter how you cut it, you are losing fat. So if nothing else, remember that you're not sacrificing your lean body mass for weight loss. It's so hard sometimes not to get discouraged but I think you have a nice woosh waiting right around the corner for you.
Are you sure your scale is accurate? Have you weighed on a different scale? Something is off if you are comfortably wearing clothes from a 175 weight at 194. I'm pretty positive that muscle doesn't grow that fast on us chicks. What you describe seems just impossible to me scientifically, but hey, I'm just a dirt farmer from Nebraska. LOL
I don't *think* it's the scale.. I was measured more than once for my prepregancy weight both at home and on the doctor's scale (I was 4-5 weeks pregnant then and wearing clothes and I weighed-in at 176lbs). At home we have a digital scale that'S only a couple of months old. DH is also losing weight and he has seen the scale steadily drop for him (he's quite a bit heavier for me so if anything the scale should be less accurate for him) and the loss is definitely clear from looking at him too.
DH doesn't believe me either that I haven't lost weight because he keeps saying that I look so different just from a few weeks ago. I agree with you that it doesn't make sense to me either. When I was 175lbs I was running often (but not lifting) so it wasn't like I was sitting on my butt all day either so I can't understand the 15-20lb difference? Maybe my clothes were loser on me then but still it seems like there's a pretty big different between 175lbs and 190-194lbs!
Ok, so I found a picture of me at probably my highest prepregnancy weight (so about 188lbs) and one of me today (this morning I weighed-in at about 193lbs). The one on the left is 188 and the one on the right in the pink shirt is today. It seems like there is a pretty big difference or is this just in my head?
ETA: I found a picture of me right at my prepregnancy weight (175lbs) and that's the third picture there. I think my hips/waist do look somewhat smaller there, although my arms are not as fit and my shoulders are smaller.
Last edited by runningfromfat; 05-06-2011 at 11:58 AM.
I am almost equivalent in pounds and inches lost. I have built muscle but not at the same rate as fat loss. I can't really explain it. The tape shows progress soooo much better than the scale does. I just know one thing for sure, I'd rather be losing inches and the scale not move than be losing pounds and not losing any inches b/c you still get to change sizes that way. No matter how you cut it, you are losing fat. So if nothing else, remember that you're not sacrificing your lean body mass for weight loss. It's so hard sometimes not to get discouraged but I think you have a nice woosh waiting right around the corner for you.
Oh, don't get my wrong, I definitely prefer it this way! I just wish the scale would reflect what I'm seeing... grrrr! I sure hope that woosh is coming up soon!!!
oh, and I forgot to add in my post above that those pants I'm wearing today are pre-pregnancy pants.
Oh, don't get my wrong, I definitely prefer it this way! I just wish the scale would reflect what I'm seeing... grrrr! I sure hope that woosh is coming up soon!!!
oh, and I forgot to add in my post above that those pants I'm wearing today are pre-pregnancy pants.
There is a big difference in those pics! I just recently stayed within the same pound for 3 weeks and then dropped 7 lbs in like a week and a half. I think that's what's happening to you right now. I am working on building muscle and getting stronger too. I know that makes the muscles retain water to some extent. Perhaps that's what we're dealing with at times like these? Time will tell. Maybe you could go try on clothes to reassure yourself in the meantime? You can tell from your pics you have made a marked change in size. The scale will eventually catch up.
Ok, looking at the pictures.. that's weird. =) You definitely look smaller and more fit now. I would be frustrated with the scale too. My mom always told me our bodies do weird things after pregnancy, it might be something that's just a result of having a baby.
Whatever the problem, you look great for 193. =) Just for the heck of it I would want to find another scale and make sure there isn't something going on with the one you have.
I really want to go to a nutritionist too. Not so much for the dieting advice but more just to get my body fat calculated because it seems like the scale just hasn't been a very good measurement of my progress at all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by 4star
There is a big difference in those pics! I just recently stayed within the same pound for 3 weeks and then dropped 7 lbs in like a week and a half. I think that's what's happening to you right now. I am working on building muscle and getting stronger too. I know that makes the muscles retain water to some extent. Perhaps that's what we're dealing with at times like these? Time will tell. Maybe you could go try on clothes to reassure yourself in the meantime? You can tell from your pics you have made a marked change in size. The scale will eventually catch up.
Thanks! Maybe I can take the family to the mall this weekend and I can try on a few things just to boost my confidence. You might be right about the water retention. I just lifted yesterday+ did interval training so I know my 193lbs this morning is probably an artificial high but I wonder how much water retention can really account for, you know?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TooManyDimples
Ok, looking at the pictures.. that's weird. =) You definitely look smaller and more fit now. I would be frustrated with the scale too. My mom always told me our bodies do weird things after pregnancy, it might be something that's just a result of having a baby.
Whatever the problem, you look great for 193. =) Just for the heck of it I would want to find another scale and make sure there isn't something going on with the one you have.
Thanks! I'll try this weekend to see if we can run to the store and try some other scales just to see what they are saying. The funny thing about the pregnancy thing, though, is that I always heard it in the reverse. As in many time women are able to get to their pre-pregnancy weight but then their prepregnancy pants are still too small because of the change in their bellies but for me it's the opposite.
Another thing to consider is that as you lose weight healthily, with weight training and exercise, your body may "reconfigure" in ways it didn't when you were on the way up. For instance, if you weren't a particularly muscular person before, and now you're doing regular strength training, that may make a difference in where the inches are showing.
That being said, I believe that our bodies have certain points where they are comfortable, either going up or going down, like a well-worn notch on a belt. When they come to that notch, they settle down for a while. Don't give up... that notch will slip in time.
So long as you are not gaining, you have success.
So long as you are energetic, you have success.
So long as you continue on-plan, making it part of your life, you have success.
So long as the tape measure continue to show losses and you are fitting into smaller clothing, you have success.
By all these measurements, you have success! The scale is only ONE tool to measure success, and it is notoriously unreliable. It measure so much more than just fat.
So don't sweat the scale. Keep on keeping on, and you'll see it move eventually, when it catches up with all the other indicators of success.
FYI, when I first started doing NROL4W, I gained SIX pounds of (I assume) water weight. The only time the scale was my friend was when I backed off my workouts due to not going to the gym. I kept straddling obese/overweight on the BMI charts, and it was very frustrating. I felt like I was working SO hard and not getting any payback for it.
I was NOT noticing any changes in my body like you are, that's wonderful! After all, nobody knows how much you weigh, only what you look like. Keep on keeping on, the darn scale has no choice but to move, it just takes time.
synger - Thanks for the encouragement. I've had successful fat loss by those measurements for sure. I think my body is definitely comfortable around this size. Since college I was never able to break the 175 region/size 12 so I think that certainly could be part of the problem (even if it's more of the size not the weight...).
goodforme - Thanks! And thank you so much for sharing that. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has struggled with maintaining/gaining while doing NROWL4W! I think if I wasn't so close to be just overweight this wouldn't be such an issue but I had seeing one of my major goals this close but yet so far away. BTW, did you eventually see a drop after awhile?
I'm really glad I have been measuring myself because I think I would've been really, really discouraged without doing that.
Last edited by runningfromfat; 05-06-2011 at 02:07 PM.
Ok, so I found a picture of me at probably my highest prepregnancy weight (so about 188lbs) and one of me today (this morning I weighed-in at about 193lbs). The one on the left is 188 and the one on the right in the pink shirt is today. It seems like there is a pretty big difference or is this just in my head?
ETA: I found a picture of me right at my prepregnancy weight (175lbs) and that's the third picture there. I think my hips/waist do look somewhat smaller there, although my arms are not as fit and my shoulders are smaller.
Honestly, I think you look better in today's picture than you do in your pre-pregnancy picture! Very trim and health looking. You are doing SO great!!! I know it's frustrating but you'll see what you need to sooner rather than later if you keep doing what you're doing!
synger - Thanks for the encouragement. I've had successful fat loss by those measurements for sure. I think my body is definitely comfortable around this size. Since college I was never able to break the 175 region/size 12 so I think that certainly could be part of the problem (even if it's more of the size not the weight...).
goodforme - Thanks! And thank you so much for sharing that. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has struggled with maintaining/gaining while doing NROWL4W! I think if I wasn't so close to be just overweight this wouldn't be such an issue but I had seeing one of my major goals this close but yet so far away. BTW, did you eventually see a drop after awhile?
I'm really glad I have been measuring myself because I think I would've been really, really discouraged without doing that.
I started lifting in January when I had finally FINALLY hit 200.6 pounds. Within the first week I had gained back up to 206. The longer I went between workouts (from Thursday to the following Monday, say) I would lose a few of those pounds, but after the next workout I was right back up. I did lose a pants size during all this, which was encouraging. If I was the slightest bit sore, I knew I was retaining water. It was not easy for me to accept it, but at least I had an explanation.
I have stopped going to the gym for 5 or so weeks (my carpool partner can't go right now so I don't either) and I just last week dropped below 200. I hope I haven't burned off some of that hard won muscle!
Honestly, I think you look better in today's picture than you do in your pre-pregnancy picture! Very trim and health looking. You are doing SO great!!! I know it's frustrating but you'll see what you need to sooner rather than later if you keep doing what you're doing!
Ah, thanks! I appreciate that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by goodforme
I started lifting in January when I had finally FINALLY hit 200.6 pounds. Within the first week I had gained back up to 206. The longer I went between workouts (from Thursday to the following Monday, say) I would lose a few of those pounds, but after the next workout I was right back up. I did lose a pants size during all this, which was encouraging. If I was the slightest bit sore, I knew I was retaining water. It was not easy for me to accept it, but at least I had an explanation.
I have stopped going to the gym for 5 or so weeks (my carpool partner can't go right now so I don't either) and I just last week dropped below 200. I hope I haven't burned off some of that hard won muscle!
Yay for the lost pant size! So you definitely did lose inches during that time. That sucks about not being able to go to the gym at the moment, can you do some of the workouts at home? I'm sure if you started up again you'd pick them up again in no time.
Are you sure your scale is accurate? Have you weighed on a different scale? Something is off if you are comfortably wearing clothes from a 175 weight at 194. I'm pretty positive that muscle doesn't grow that fast on us chicks. What you describe seems just impossible to me scientifically, but hey, I'm just a dirt farmer from Nebraska. LOL
Oh, if she just had a baby it might well be true! I am 20 pounds lighter than I was when I was pregnant with Seth, and still wearing the same size pants. My hips spread about three inches. My ribs, boobs, and back have all lost fat, but the circumference around my hips is still the same despite a very different body composition. The more babies I have, the slower my pelvis seems to be in returning to its' original size.
Losing fat, NOT weight
). Since the end of Feb. I've pretty much had almost no weight loss and am just fluctuating a ton between 190-194lbs. I can't seem to break that 190lb threshold at all. 
)! I've also lost quite a bit in my chest too and lower belly. 
I'm now very solidly into a size 42 (like a size 12, if not slightly smaller depending on vanity sizing in the US) whereas I was a size 14/44 before. I'm also back into all my prepregnancy clothes from before I had DD and I was 175lbs then!!! That seems pretty good for 190+lbs, right? 
No matter how you cut it, you are losing fat. So if nothing else, remember that you're not sacrificing your lean body mass for weight loss. It's so hard sometimes not to get discouraged but I think you have a nice woosh waiting right around the corner for you.
BTW, did you eventually see a drop after awhile?
So you definitely did lose inches during that time. That sucks about not being able to go to the gym at the moment, can you do some of the workouts at home? I'm sure if you started up again you'd pick them up again in no time.
