Okay... you know how they say weigh in once a week or whatever, first thing in the morning, empty stomach, empty bladder, yadayadayada? Well, I did that!

I'm up 1.2 pounds to 143.2.

Weighed myself yesterday at night and weighed 142.

No period, no bloating that I know of, so what the hoot?

I work nights four days on, five days off. It's a shift from 7 PM to 7 AM. My days are all whacked. I sleep different hours different days and on my days off move my sleep to the normal sleep the rest of the world has. This is Day 3 off. I weigh better when I work, I think.

Now, the work I do is completely sedentary (computer analyst). We don't move during those 12 hours. On my days off, I move more, but I'm wondering if I shouldn't perceive myself as "bedridden" in terms of calculating my BMR.

I do start a fitness program today which includes running, bicycling, and weight training at least three times a week in January, four times a week in February, and five times a week in March.

Should I go another month with my 1200 to 1300 calories/day intake and see what happens with the fitness? Or do I need to lower the calories a little more (I don't want to do that but will if I have to).

My fat intake is relatively high and I am working on that. I measure my waist and it's 28 inches. Lost one inch in the past three weeks.

I love counting calories. I think it's fun, but I'm not doing this for the math exercise, darn it! I wanna get my old body back!!!

So give me some feedbacks, experts of the scale, and throwing it out the window is an option I'm willing to consider.

PS - I am reducing my nicotine intake everyday by two cigarettes and will be completely free of them February 1. Just wanted to throw that in there in case it makes a difference.

Don't get discouraged!!!! We all have similar problems. First of all, do you have a scale that registers the exact same several times in a row? My parent's scale is horrible. You can get on and get one reading, get off and do it again and there is as much as a 5 pound difference! My mom even says you have to go right foot on first otherwise it won't read correctly. My scale at home, I can get on and off and on and off a dozen times and it is always the same reading. Obviously, I trust it!!!
Second, did you eat or drink ANYTHING between weighing? If you did, there may lie your problem. If you didn't, well, I just don't know. But look at it this way, keep up what you are doing and you will lose (especially if you are incorporating the exercise).
Third, check out these two threads about scales. They may give you some insight.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=51927
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=98560
And finally, do you record your daily weight? I do, and it fluctuates a lot, but when I sit back and look at only 1 day per week (I use Friday's weight) then 9 times out of 10 my weight goes down each week.

My scale is accurate... I get on and off five, ten times and it's the same. I didn't drink anything, and I weigh myself once every three to four weeks. I record my weight first day of the month. Last night I weighed in at 142. Go figure! I'll check out the other threads and just ride this out for another month after I've done the training. If I don't see improvement, then I'll go into a hysterical panic.

Thanks for replying... I appreciate it!

Wendy

Update - I read the links you provided and thought they were great. I blow-dried my hair (length to my waist, very thick) and went down to 141.8. Okay... so I've only lost .2 of a pound, but a loss is not a gain and that's good.

Never thought about wet hair before. Now I know.

From week to week the scale can't always be trusted, because we can never be sure if we are retaining up to several pounds of water or not. So you may have lost weight or stayed the same, but you might be retaining SOME water.

So from one week to the next when you are looking for a 1-3 pound difference, remember that water retention can totally skew what you believe is happening to your body.

The trend over several weeks is what you should really look at, because over the course of weeks or months water retention typically can't contradict your weight loss progress.

Stick to it if you don't feel that you are starving at 1200 - 1300 calories. That is low, but you may be battling a slow metabolism...in which case resistance training is pretty important.

Why only 3 days of exercise per week in January? Don't be afraid to exercise every day if your schedule permits! It is a misconception that you will overtrain if you exercise every day...because you can always vary your exercise intensity to give your body "active rest".

I'd suggest trying to get exercise in as many days as week as you can fit in, and just gradually work up from moderate intenstiy - by burning 200-300 extra calories a day moving around you should see even more progress!

Hi Steve,

Yes... my schedule does allow for me to exercise every day. I set my sights on three times a week so that I couldn't give myself room to fail. When I take on the world on Monday, I fail by Wednesday. So I ease new habits into my life, nail them, and then take on the next one. It takes my brain three weeks to feel that something is a habit. I can't tell you how many times I've said I'm going to do xyz and don't do x, much less y and z.

I'm sure I'll ease into a more intense schedule... in three weeks, I'm sure I'll be training four times a week, and so on.

Thanks for replying! I do appreciate it!

I wouldn't cut back on calories any more than you already have...you are pretty close to as low as you should go already.

I think exercise is your best bet - that and maybe only weighing once a week. I bet adding exercise is just the jump start your metabolism needs to get you losing again. While you are cutting back on fat you might try adding protein if you aren't at like 30% of your cals from protein already...I looked at a few days of your FitDay...but it was holiday time so it might not have been typical.

I agree that the scale is the enemy of the state.... perhaps the mother of all enemies..

Hi Gina,

I do need more protein. Isn't Fitday a riot? Who knew? And I don't want to cut my calories any more than I have. Some days you saw I ate 900 calories and other days I ate more. Yes... the holidays did create challenges, and although I stayed within my range when averaged over a week, I know that the fat count is too high and the protein too low.

I tweak, tweak, tweak and one day I'll get it down!

Thanks for the note!

;-)