I remember joining a gym and working my arse off, almost starving myself only to get on the scale at the end of the week weighing more than when I started. Little did I know then that muscle retains water (am I right girls?) therefore... extra weight. I gave up because I didn't realize what was happening to my body.

Keep doing what your doing and paying closer attention to what your eating, I have no doubt you'll be on the losing side sooner than you can say treadmill

Hang in there, it WILL pay off.


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I am pretty much in te same boat- but I am not losing AT ALL. Not really losing inches, not losing weight. This conditions sticks on me (haha) for the last 6-8 weeks.
I guess itīs because of that fancy PCO- thingee....I get that checked again the day after tomorrow and I am makig some adjustments to my food plan. And I am trying to drink more green tea! I guess that would be helpful for losing SOMETHING.

But angiepants, I am just a beginner exerciser, but I guess your situation is quite normal. You are workig out really hard. So maybe you lost fat and gained muscles. Thatīs a great thing! And muscles and fat are weighing the same, but muscles donīt occupy so much space. Thatīs why you probably look smaller but havenīt lost a pound.
Ok, I would say: you gained fat free muscles mass and your body (or muscles) are holding back water. So your looking smaller, your pants are too big AND you gained weight.
Maybe your body is holdig back water because of the new exercise regime. Or because PMS. Or your not drinking enough or not the right things. I got really puffy drinking plain water out of the water pipes because my body was missing electrolytes. I am now driking mineral water or tea (mostly grean tea).

And you are working really hard- maybe your body needs some free time to recover. There is a huge connection between the rest- work- rest - phases of your workout and your success....And really havenīt understand it properly, I guess itīs mainly because your body needs time and rest to repair and build new muscles or something like that....I will research it and come up with a bit more profound and less "BlaBla" answer....

I am not really an expert, you know
Maybe you should have a look if there is maybe a book or a website about your exercise program where those questions are already answered.


Kate

Angie, I think that journaling your food is a great idea. Sometimes we think we're eating well, but when we start adding up the calories we realize, "YIKES! I ate 3000 "good" calories today!"

Keep it up with the exercise, too. You're going to be okay, hon.

Angie,
If its been awhile since I excercised and I start doing it reguraly I will gain 3-5 lbs a week for the first couple of weeks. Part of it is the whole being hungry because I am moving more, and if I don't watch it my body will compensate for every calorie I am burning. Also there is a whole detoxifying process that goess with sweating, so check your hydration, your going to need a lot of water. Otherwise you will find that salty craving, feeling a little crazy thing.

Keep focusing on the good feelings, you will find your way. Be kind to your self.
Miss Chris

Angie,

Please don't be upset! Think about what you've said in your post:

-You've gained strength
-You can walk faster
-You're happier
-Your pants are falling off you
-You can't eat as much as you used to

Girl, you're doing everything right! When you work out that hard and regularly you are going to put on muscle, and that's a good thing, because muscle burns more calories than fat even if you're just sitting in a chair. Muscle is also denser than fat, or it weighs more, if you want to put it that way. Obviously your body is burning fat and replacing it with muscle. That is what you want to happen! The same thing happened to me. I kept losing inches and people were telling me I looked smaller, but it wasn't reflected on the scale. Then I guess my body decided it had put on enough muscle for the time being, because the scale dropped drastically.

Personally, the scale makes me crazy. I don't think it is a good indicator as to whether or not I am really making progress, so I just don't weigh myself anymore. (They weigh me periodically at the gym but I don't let them tell me what it is.) I go by inches lost and clothing sizes instead. Maybe the same thing would work for you?

I know how hard the PMS thing can be. I never used to get it as bad as I have recently, but last weekend I just felt like I couldn't do anything except cry. Hang in there, and try to remember that it's only hormones giving you a distorted view of life.

I see you have yahoo messenger. So do I. If you would like a weightloss buddy, feel free to add me to your contact list.

OH Thank you! I feel so much better just knowing people care.
I'm going to start taking my inches. It does matter more. As for water, I drink about a gallon a day. Cause it's hot and I work out a lot. That's something I have no problem doing. When it's not as hot I drink about 8-10 8oz glasses a day. I don't know if I retain water or what.

I'm really going to stop slacking off on my eating. Cause everything else is falling into place, I'm working out, i'm drinking the water, I'm getting stronger mentally and physically now I just need to attack that food demon.

I am taking a break from exercising today. I am so tired.

I really hope it is muscle. it has to be, I feel so much stronger. Like today I was hanging out with my niece. She is sick with a fever and she fell asleep on the sofa. I picked her up and carried her up the steps. She weighs 47 pounds. I haven't done this in a while, but I remember last time I was out of breath and my knees were in so much pain. It was hard to even make it half way. This time it was like nothing. I felt like rocky. lol
Thank you all so much!! All the advice and kind words help so much!!

I agree you are probably building muscle... although I am a firm believer that healthful eating also has to be part of the plan. But I have been hitting plateaus lately too... right now it has been almost two weeks since I've lost any weight and I am sticking close to my plan and exercising my butt off (total so far this month is 1960 minutes). The scale just won't drop. But I AM seeing big changes as to what clothing I can wear, etc. These are the times it gets hard... when we are really working and the scale won't move or worse yet, moves the WRONG way. Then we just have to keep focusing on what we KNOW... that the exercise MUST be doing something for our bodies... and keep going.

I'm sure looking for that scale to go down again too. <sigh>

With everything you've said, I'd say you're doing fabulous! I totally envy you. I really hate seeing the scale go up too. Its very discouraging, but if your clothes are fitting you loose and you're happy, I really wouldn't sweat it. You could be retaining water. Sometimes we eat more sodium than we realize, or don't drink as much water as our body wants and our body retains it. Just a gallon of water weighs 8lbs. If you've been exercising alot, especially with weights, that can make you retain. Doing aerobic activity and not drinking enough can make you retain. We are 70% water, and fluctuations are just gonna happen nearly daily. Sometimes I'll retain water for days for reasons unknown to me and then suddenly it goes away.


Sounds to me like you're doing everything right, so and and