Hi all. I know it's not always encouraging to read posts that are negative, but I need some help here.

The past week and a half, I've been running every day. I run for 30 minutes, doing 2 minutes running, 2 minutes walking, etc. I have also been keeping my calories pretty much in check, and have been drinking more water. I feel like I've lost weight, but I stepped on the scale, and I GAINED 2 pounds! I don't get it. This is the first time I've actually kept at exercising more than a couple days, and it's NOT paying off.

I'm on the 5th day of my period, but shouldn't the bloat be gone by now? Or do I have to wait until AFTER?

I'm just getting so discouraged that I'm changing my lifestyle, and NOTHING is happening. I also get discouraged when I look at everyone's weight tickers and they've lost so much weight or are so close to goal. I've never been that far from goal cuz I'm not too overweight, but I've been stuck at this weight for a year now. God knows I haven't been trying to lose weight that long, but whenever I do try, I do it for a couple weeks, it doesn't work, so I stop.

Sorry this was so long. I just needed to vent. I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.

We need more information.
How old are you, how tall are you?
What have you been eating and how are you keeping track of that?

All that should get you some good suggestions.

I'm 20, 5'2"
I count calories over at another diet site (I don't think I can post it here). I usually stay between 1200-1500 calories. A sample of a daily menu is, well, I'll use yesterday's....

B-Whole wheat english muffin w/ 1 T PB, and a cup of orange juice
L-Turkey wheat wrap with lots of veggies and mustard
D-Well, usually whatever my mom makes, last night it was spaghetti. I admit I had 2 cups instead of 1.
S-Umm, I had chocolate. But lately I haven't been eating snacks cuz I go running, and when I'm done it's usually time for dinner

All that came to about 1200-1300 calories

And I had about 4.5 cups water (working on that)

I hope that helps a little

That sounds fine. I'll bet all that's happening is poor timing. It is only a week and a half and five days out of that were period. You may just need to hang in there.
I think you can mention the other site, you just can't make a link. Unless it's fitday.com ... lots of us link to that. You can click on the links and see what other people are eating. It's great!

I'm not the resident expert, but I'll mention a few things that I noticed.

I do have to wait until a day or two after my period, but everybody is different.

When you excercise, you gain muscle mass. So initially it will seem as though you are accomplishing nothing. Keep it up and you will. You might even try measuring yourself to find victories there.

I hit a plateau early on in my weightloss for 3 weeks. Even counting that and the 3 weeks I actually stopped my diet I have lost 20lbs in 15 weeks.

Stick with nutritious food whenever possible (real, not processed). Drink more water (also my weakness). Congratualate yourself on all victories, not just the scale ones. Be patient.

KEEP WITH IT! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

I say definitely wait until a day or two after your period.

You're not necessarily doing anything wrong. Sometimes it takes a couple of weeks for your efforts to show up on the scale. Don't get discouraged. You will see results if you stick with it.

(By the way, did you weigh yourself at the same time of day? Your weight can fluctuate two or three pounds in the course of a day. That's why I only weigh myself first thing in the morning, before I eat or drink anything.)

I find when I'm running I need to eat MORE calories, I upped my calories from 1500 to 1800-1900 and dropped 4 pounds in ONE week! It was crazy. I also keep my fat grams between 25-30 per day. I'd wait a couple days after your period, sometimes it takes a few days for that water weight to go away.

-Aimee

water weight is a not only is it TOM BUT you are running which builds muscle so your muscles are holding water.. you will let go of that water, just DONT stop! Like you said, you feel thinner and that usually means you are. You are losing inches and at the end of the day, thats what really counts.. because god knows I weigh 165lbs and I am 5'4 but I also wear an 8 in clothes. Even at 260 I wore a 22. Just keep on keeping on..Like Billy Blanks says ( I do bootcamp workouts) and I am paraphraseing here.. " you have to give some to get some, keep your will and your mind strong and your body HAS to change" Thats how I hear it lol Of course you are holding a squat with your arms centered for literally 2 mins so words kinda get jumbled lol. I know for a fact he has you repeat " Where I am today, is where my mind put me, and where I go tomorrow is where my mind put me" Its so true. Good Luck, and keep up the good work!

In my experience, the scale can take a while to catch up with the fat that I've actually lost. For example, I'll eat 1200 cal/day and exerecise a lot for a couple weeks (creating a calorie deficit that should lead to a 4 pound loss) and the scale won't budge. Then my weight will drop 3 or 4 pounds literally overnight, and never go back up. I think our bodies replace the fat we lose with water, and in my experience it just lets go of that whenever it wants to. So don't lose heart, just because the numbers on the scale haven't gone down yet, doesn't mean you haven't lost fat. If you eat fewer calories then you expend, your body has to be using fat for fuel--just be patient, I know it can be hard to be patient, but it will definitely be worth it. And also, it could be due to TOM--it can take that long to lose that weight. Good luck!

My doctor told me if I ate around 1800 calories I would lose more weight than if I went lower because the lower would kick back my metabolism. I am doing it and she is right! I'm losing weight on a regular basis for two months now AND eating better than ever before!

Hey there!

Couple of suggestions:
-wait until after your period and see what happens
-also, I bet since you are running you are building muscle mass (which weight more tus shows on the scale as weight gain) but remeber mulsce is SMALLER than fat and takes up less room so you will LOOK smaller and wear smaller sizes even if you weight is higher.
-maybe increase you running interval by 30 seconds and deceas you walking my 30 seconds...so 2.5 mins running and 1.5 mins walking...maybe you have just hit a plateu and need to shock you body!

Thank you so much for the support everyone. I was considering kicking up my calories a bit, but I'm gonna see how it goes with the calories I'm eating now. If nothing changes, I'll up my calories. (Scary as it is)

I think you're all right...I'll wait a couple more days and see if my weight changes. I'll also try to up my intensity of running (I'm kinda doing the Couch to 5K program, but running every day instead of just 3 days). I'm also going to add in weight training next week.

Thanks again everyone! I love this site and all the support from you gals.

-Heather

This is what I have been preaching all along!* Not in this thread but in many others* When all else fails, up your calories and watch the scale move. The trick is QUALITY calories. Not add a piece of triple chocolate fudge cake to the daily menu

Don't be scared - I was - I eat more and lost weight almost instantly. But like Ready2ShedLBS said QUIALITY calories!