Frustrated...
 

My weightloss has came to a halt and I need help!!!!

The beginning of my weightloss was fairly steady. The first 50 lbs came off in 5 months and the rest was much slower over the next 5 months. About a month ago I changed my exercise to include strength training and also increased the intensity of my cardio. I started a bootcamp class and also a sculpt class. Prior to this I was primarily walking and running. Since the change I have lost nothing and have even bounced up a couple pounds. My eating has not changed. I eat about 1500 - 1600 calories per day.

I keep telling myself to stick with my plan and eventually the weight has to come off. But it's really getting frustrating. I feel like I'm busting my butt for nothing!

I know I am building muscle because I feel much stronger. I am also sore 3-4 days a week so I know some of it may be water retention. Any ideas?

Definitely could be water retention, maybe a little plateau.

Even though your calories are in the same range, have your foods changed?

Have you thought about maybe adding your walking/running back in a few times a week?

Do you have an estimate of if you're burning the same amount of calories with this new workout routine as your old one?

If you're burning less that could be it; and also if you're burning more you may need to ADD 100 calories or even more...

Sometimes it seems like you can do everything right and it just stalls! There really could be any # of reasons why, but just take a careful look at everything.

If you're strength training, then you're definitely building muscle. Try measuring inches, in addition the weight. You could very well be losing inches and not lbs because you're replacing fat with muscle. The other thing is, were you eating 1500-1600 calories from the get-go? Because very often, we forget that as we lose weight, the number of calories we need to eat to lose and maintain also changes as well.

Oh boy, I am in a similar boat. I increased my exercise schedule over the last 3 weeks (including strength training) and my weight bounced up 2 lbs and is holding. It's a mental game. We get on that scale and expect results, however we don't get that instant gratification. I figure it is a plateau or water weight since my daily calories have not changed. As others have said, I plan to focus on my measurements instead of the scale. It is SO frustrating, but I have to remind myself that my body is changing even though the scale is not.