I posted a thread WEEKS ago about how I am losing inches and gaining weight. Most everyone said it's muscles, but I do not believe it's all muscle. Even so I had cut my calories and counted every single thing I put in my mouth and ate about 2000 calories and day and worked out vigorously. Still I gained and gained and then I hear focus on inches not weight. So i was fine with that, but my weight is going up and I want to be able to lose lbs. I get jealous hearing about people losing more weight and I'm stuck. I am doing everything right! What the **** do I have to do?? I don't want to do diet pills, but I'm getting more desperate. Please do not tell me to focus on inches anymore. i want to be 180lbs. This is the farthest I got.

It takes months to gain weight from muscle. If you're gaining then maybe it's time to go talk to a doctor.

You shouldn't be gaining for weeks on end. You're a woman so at most you can gain 1-2 pounds of muscle in a month and even then you need to be genetically predisposed to putting on muscle and training hard. If you are still gaining after weeks you are doing something wrong. Drop your calories to 1600-1800, cut back on carbs, keep your sodium low, focus on cardio for a little while, and if you still are not dropping weight in a week or two talk to your doctor.

Stasia -- I remember that thread from a few weeks ago, and not everybody thought it was muscle. To gain muscle not only takes time, but you have to eat right to gain muscle (in part, eating more protein, especially after a workout). Are you doing that?

It's hard to give a lot of advice without knowing more than the timeframe. How much weight have you gained? What's happening on the eating side? (what plan are you on, how much do you eat?) Also, you say you've lost inches, but how many? Are you sure that's an accurate measurement? Do your clothes actually fit better? Because one possibility is that you've changed how you measure yourself and are gaining weight, but if your clothes are looser then that's unlikely.

Our bodies are complex, and weight loss isn't linear. There are lots of factors that affect it. The biggest one is water. Our bodies are more water than anything else, and that might be a factor here too.

Don't give up, though! Please!!

my clothes do feel looser. my old clothes feel looser. i've been reading on intermittent fasting and i think i want to give that a try. i just remembered this an d it might have something to do with it. about 2 weeks ago i didnt get my depo shot becaus eit was getting headaches. so i just now got it a few weeks ago. i know the depo affects your weight.

stacia i used to get the depo shots and i gained weight like crazy, last august i got the implanon implant instead and my weight stabilised after that. might be worth asking your doctor about it if depo is giving you problems.

Are you eating a lot of foods high in sodium ? How about medications ? Just a couple of ideas to check out . Are you sure you are accurately counting your calories ?

If your clothes feel looser then you probably ARE headed in the right direction! It could be that you've lost fat and are retaining extra water. There are probably a lot of other possibilities. But if you've lost inches and your clothes fit better, isn't that what you want?

Forget about the stupid scale!

But having said that, how much weight does it say you've gained? 2 pounds? 5? 10? more?

Also, do you always weigh on the same scale and under the same conditions? (same time of day, wearing the same thing...)

You say you are counting your calories, does that mean actually literally measuring every single ingredient? Check out the recent post on this thread by mkroyer: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/exer...k-down-me.html. She reminds us that if the scale isn't moving the first thing to do is get SUPER STRICT about making sure the calorie count is EXTREMELY ACCURATE. Like she says, it's not just about pulling down "Apple" in the drop down box of the online calculator, it's about actually weighing the apple and calculating it precisely. Eyeballing, guesstimating and even measuring with measuring cups can be hundreds of calories off, leading to maintenance or gain.

I say this not to be annoying and accuse you of not counting calories correctly, but because like mkroyer says, it's the first place to look to really make sure it's extremely accurate. For me, I know I can always calorie count better and tightening up my calorie count and making sure it's as close to on-point as possible always helps. Like my signature says, there is ALWAYS something I can be doing better for my weight loss.

Good luck!!

Im going to have to agree..you need to drop below 2000 calories at the weight that you are at now. For me to lose weight, i need to eat 2000 calories and i am at 281..so if im supposed to lose weight at 2000 calories, i know you are supposed to eat less if your weight is at 265 right now...So drop it down to 1500..if you mean vigerous exercise by every day? i would cut it down to maybe 5 days at an hour max and see how that goes. Focus on your cardio, cause weight training isnt as effective for burning fat as cardio is. Also, i agree with the other person, watch sodium, its a killer on the scale..do you happen to have an intolerance to gluten or wheat at all? Cause i found out that i dont lose weight if i eat gluten or wheat because i have an intolerance to it and it makes me bloat like im pregnant.

And honestly..what would you rather lose? Pounds or inchess? I rather lose the inches, because it means my clothes will fit better..There are many ways to lose pounds and many people can drop pounds and look huge..so i personally dont care anymore about the number, i want the inches gone..the number will go eventually..but i rather fit into nicer clothes.

ok
A. depo doesnt cause you to gain weight, ive talked to multiple doctors about this and that is a misconception, theyve all said that depo DOES mess with your hormones which can cause similar cravings to TOM cravings. If you give in to those, that may cause weight gain.

both times ive been on a 'diet' ive been on depo, the first time i went from 315 down to 255 before losing focus maintaining for awhile then eventually getting back to my current start weight. this time ive gone from 295 and im down to 230.

if you are having other side effects like the headaches i would advise looking into different birth control methods as that is your body saying hey somethings not right!

B. yeah 2000 calories does seem to be alot. Im about an inch shorter then you and have been losing consistantly by eating between 1200 and 1800 per day, i have days when i go over or under but it is rare. I aim for below 1400 in fact. weeks where i am on plan 100% with food AND exercise i lose 2-3 lbs fairly consistently. weeks where I am off plan with either it tends to slow down or stop all together. for exercise I do 30 mins cardio 5-6 days a week and 2-4 days of strength training as well. I am also walking, climbing ladders, and carrying heavy things all day at work.

I really do think you need to be cutting the cals down to 1800 max for most days

Stasia- I go through times when my body gets smaller but the weight stays the same. It can last 2-3 weeks on me. Let me tell you- I was the weight you are when I started and I have lost 78 pounds. I know you can so this... one thing you have to do is stick to it. When I first started the first 25 pounds were actually very slow to come off. I had to eliminate pasta, rice, bread, potatoes and sugar to speed up the weight loss. I don't know what exercise you are doing but I also had to increase the intensity of my workouts to get the scale to start moving.

I TOO get frustrated that the scale doesn;t move all the time... stick with it... you can do this! I was just complaining about that to my trainer yesterday and he reminded me it happens to me every couple of weeks.