[SophieMarch]

This week I went to hour long zumba twice, went running once, did belly dancing and just got back from swimming. I ate 1200-1500 calories a day and was 156 all week which was bad enough it wasn't dropping but today the scale said 157.5. Argh. All this hard work and awful results. I've been eating this way for two weeks now but only put in a lot of exercise this week. I'm so upset I threw my scale in the trash. I don't want to read that the numbers are going up and I definitely don't understand why. I don't think I can physically do more than I am doing. I don't want to eat less than 1200 and I'm exercising every day.

[aspen13]

The first week-in-a-half the scale would go up or stay the same. It was from muscle gain. During that time I could feel a change in the way my clothes felt and could see my leg and arm muscles firming. Hang in there. Keep up the hard work, it will definitely pay off, you just must keep pushing.

[SophieMarch]

Thanks. Your experience helps especially since you weigh around the same as i do. It's harder to relate to the people who weigh a lot more because their weight seems to come off faster. I will hang in there, thanks.

[PatLib]

Try not to solely focus on weight, I would take a measuring tape and measure to get more accurate results and re-measure yourself every two weeks.

I have hit a plateau in weight loss but I did go from a size 14 to a 12 which is pretty awesome but isn't reflected stepping on a scale.

[sontaikle]

Don't worry so much about it. If you're on plan and exercising it will come off.

You're not "gaining muscle" but retaining water. Weight rarely comes off in a linear way and day to day it can vary. My weight was all over the place while I was losing but the overall trend was down.

[luckymommy]

I had the exact same experience. Don't worry about that little gain....when you're building muscle, your body retains water to help repair the tiny tears in the muscle and then it builds the muscle bigger and stronger. The scale will eventually catch up to what you're doing but it certainly isn't the only measure of what is going on. Just keep up the great work and don't give up when you're doing so well!

[JohnP]

It honestly baffles my mind how many times this same exact question gets asked in a week. No offense Sophie - I'm just amazed.

I think the big problem is that weight loss vs fat loss is simply not adequately addressed in most places. This is one thing I like about Lyle Mcdonald. In the first book of his I read it was one of the very first things he talked about. I'll admit - it didn't sink in. Like most new dieters I was simply thinking about lbs on the scale.

[Heather]

To echo what JohnP is saying, we really all have to remember that while we want to lose FAT, the scale measures all of us, and most of us is WATER. And our water weight fluctuates greatly. So unless you ate over 5000 extra calories you cannot have added FAT. It is most likely water weight.

Pay attention to how your clothes feel or other NSVs. Use the scale as a tool, but remember that it's a very imprecise tool for our purposes.

[Vortex_VVV]

Stay the course, it sounds like what you're doing is healthy and on the right track.

Dittos to what everyone has said, plus remember, if you are female, monthly hormonal fluctuations can easily account for a couple of pounds of water retention, which will go away with the next hormonal fluctuation.

And, just FYI, after the first few weeks, those of us with lots to lose usually lose at about the same rate as everybody else, unless we're doing weight loss surgery or something else very dramatic. I've been losing at a rate of 1.5 pounds per week on average for about 6 months. I weigh daily and often go several weeks with no loss, then lose 3-5 pounds--and that's with very, very consistent eating and exercise during that whole time.

Every body is a little different, but as far as I can see no one gets "real" weight loss in a week, maybe even in two.

[IanG]

It's just water. I have had a 3lb daily gain once after taking a flight. Hang on on in there. It will drop. No worries.

[Vortex_VVV]

oh and look, there's a sticky right here that might be of interest:

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/weig...er-weight.html