Grr!!!!
 

I just need to vent, mainly at myself. 3 years ago I had my gallbladder removed and I have had a hard time taking off weight since then. In fact, I've never even taken off weight, I've only put on weight. I weighed 135 at the time of my surgery and now I am a whopping 201. I am mad at myself for letting myself go like this, but moreso frustrated than anything. It takes FOREVER for me to lose a pound, no matter how much I exercise and how hard I try. I am eating great, last week I exercised 6 days out of the week, and I didn't lose a THING.

The other thing is, I had an eating disorder for several years during college. Because of that, my metabolism is jacked up and I don't know if it'll ever get back to normal. I'm just so discouraged. I feel like it is extra hard for me to lose weight compared to everyone else. :( Is it even possible for me to get back to having a normal metabolism? I just feel so hopeless.

Thanks for letting me pout. :(

Hi 2FatforMyJeans!

I also have trouble losing weight. My issues are my age (55), that I have been heavy for a LONG time (30 years!), and that I am menopausal. I really wish that I would have paid attention to myself and stayed at my college weight of 145 that I weighed way back in the 70s!!! Sometimes I think that I was in a trance for thirty years or some kind of a coma for that long! I woke up, and "suddenly" I was F-A-T!!!:?:

Some things that are helping me get my body working FOR me instead of AGAINST me regarding metabolism are these: 1) Eating a part of my 1500 calories EVERY THREE HOURS so that I keep my metabolism working throughout the day, 2) Eating more fiber and drinking more water, 3) Using Fitday www.Fitday.com to keep myself honest, and 4) exercising and lifting weights regularly.

We CAN do this! We just have to get our body working FOR us instead of AGAINST us. The body wants to hold onto the weight like a new best friend! We have to get it to LET GO and MOVE ON!

Good Luck with your journey! I'm right there with ya, and so are MANY. MANY others!

Cheryl

Do you do weights when you workout? Do you count your calories?

Weights will help increase your metabolism by gaining muscle. Also, your body can retain a lot of water when you exercise so even if you lose inches, you may not show a loss on the scale.

You just need to keep what you are doing because you know it will help you lose weight rather than the alternative which won't :)

Ditto nelie.

I worked out pretty hard for 4 weeks before I started to see real results. I felt my body changing, but the scale didn't budge. Then, all of a sudden, my clothes are loose, I see a difference in the mirror and the numbers on the scale are dropping. The changes are helping me to stay on track; I know how hard it is to keep doing the right thing when you don't see a payoff for your efforts, but keep at it! :)

Thanks, ladies. It's just so easy to get discouraged when it seems like everyone around you is losing weight and you are not. I also have a husband who literally could not eat bread for a few days and lose 5 lbs. That just kind of gets me down even more.

My husband keeps telling me he thinks I'm looking thinner, and he can tell that I'm gaining some muscle definition, but it is hard when the numbers on the scale don't seem to be dropping and my clothes aren't noticeably any looser, at least to me. I do track my food daily and work out with circuit training at least twice, sometimes 3 times a week.

He also tells me that it takes at least 3-4 weeks of exercising regularly for my metabolism to get up to speed. I hope he's right. I was so encouraged to see a 2 lb loss the first week and 1 lb loss the second week, but the scale hasn't budged in a few days. Maybe I should just hide my scale for the next month and keep at it, and see where I am a month from now.

I'm a chronic daily weigher, and it's a bad habit, bound to lead to discouragement. I've started keeping my scale in the basement (remove temptation), and only bringing it up once a week to weigh in. A few days of no change is perfectly normal, but it's frustrating. If you only look once a week, you're more likely to see some change in a positive direction.

It took me about a month for my metabolism to start speeding up, but it can take longer than that. Metabolism is stubborn, but it does eventually change. Keep at it -- you're doing a wonderful thing for your body, and it will soon realize that. ;)

You know Janie, I think that's a good idea; I have thought of putting my scale in the closet and locking it in there for a week or so. I think another thing is, I am really afraid to eat - really afraid of eating too much. But maybe I am eating too little. My calorie count for yesterday was around 1400, today it's about 1150. Does the zig zagging thing really work? I'm just not sure what the right amount is for me to be losing.

i def think you should hide you scale....only weigh yourself once a week. You see what already is happening. You are getting frustrated because you haven't seen weight loss in a few days... especially if you already have history of an eating disorder. You are going to stress out too much. PUT THE SCALE AWAY! then pull it out once a week. I always weigh myself every wed am..right after i get up and pee. Just relax too. It will come off...just be patient. Remember long term permanent weight loss is slow weight loss. I also recommend starting to set mini goals for yourself. Reward yourself with something like a pedicure etc every 10 lbs. That way its doesn't seem like such a long goal. Good luck and you can do it.

I am the same way about being afraid to eat. I eat when I am hungry but feel so horrible for doing it because I feel like all of the work I did exercising and what not is now gone down the drain. But, I have learned that I need to nourish my body, and eating the right foods are not going to harm me.

As for the scale thing...I really started the calorie counting thing at the beginning of last week an dtold myself that I am not going to weigh myself until the end of the month. I used to weigh myself everyday and get so discouraged when I would step on and be a pound heavier than I was yesterday. I would get so discouraged and so depressed....I feel sorry for my husband having to put up with emotions when I did that...Though I have felt tempted to weigh myself...just to see if things are working, I have not stepped on the scale for 10 days..

other factors, such as pre-menstrual water retension can cause the scale to go up...
example:
Say you lose 1 or 2 lbs in a week
HOWEVER you gain 1 or 2 lbs of water before your period
Then the scale won't budge!

For me, the scale actually goes up as much as 5 WHOLE POUNDS right before my period. It used to scare the living daylights out of me, but I'm used to it now.

You have some willpower, guys! I feel like I am addicted to the scale. And like all of you have said, when it goes up, even just a little bit, I get discouraged and think I must be doing something wrong, why even bother dieting and exercising if I'm just going to gain. That usually happens in the 2nd week of my dieting and then I just give up, gain the weight back and gain a little bit more each time.

Steph I hear you, my poor husband has to listen to me whine daily about "why am I not losing faster??" But he is being so supportive of me this time and so encouraging, it really keeps me motivated.

That's IT! The scale is going in the basement! Locked away in the junk room! Maybe I'll throw it under a bunch of junk (I still haven't unpacked some of my stuff from moving in w/ hubby when we got married!) and that way, I won't want to go through all the work of uncovering it... ha!

Also, Gatorsgal what you mentioned about having the eating disorder is so true. When I had an ED, the weight just came off so effortlessly. I had to do no work (besides not eat and throw up), and it seemed like it just melted away. Now I am paying for it!!!!

2Fat4myJeans, step away from the scale. :drill:

:lol:

Jay

Our scale broke! No, I didn't do it! I hadn't weighed in a week and got on the scale at school. Thought for sure I'd be right at 250 or maybe even 249, but I'd only lost 1/2 a pound. ARGH! I know I have to be patient, I must be patient, I must be .........

The scale is now safely located in my basement, under a bunch of junk, and it won't be coming out for at least another month! Down with the scale!!!!!

I think that was a very positive step. Now, just worry about doing your program, whatever that may be, without being tormented by the stupid number on the stupid scale. But when you do get it out and weigh in, you are almost certain to see some progress.

I'm of the view that the scale is a friend not an enemy. The scale gives me info and I've realized that often the info is meaningless (i.e. a natural fluctuation). I recommend tracking your weight, whether daily or weekly, on a spreadsheet. I've been doing this for months so I dont feel bad when the scale goes up because the chart always shows it dropping again. I pay more attention to new lows or if I haven't had a new low in one or 2 weeks. When the scale goes up, it just serves to motivate me more, though I do now realize that its just a fluctuation. My pattern has been exactly the same almost every week. I lose to a new low, and then immediately gain back 2 pounds. By the end of the week I've taken off those 2 pounds I'd lost and gained back and hope to get 1 pound below the prior week's new low. Sometimes that doesnt happen but then I know it will happen in the following week.

I've also noticed that I can only go a few days eating really low. If I keep eating really low, I dont keep losing. Conversely, when I eat high for too long, I also dont lose. So the zig zagging has worked fabulously for me and allows me to eat a lot on my high days (up to 2200 calories) as long as I have some nice low days too. I'm starting to think I wouldn't lose wihtout those high days in there because this week I've eaten low for longer than usual and low and behold, I'm not losing. Also the last few days I've been going long periods without eating and again, I think that's contributing to not losing.

IMHO, muscles really are the key to a higher metabolism. Step that up a bit and go as heavy as possible while still retaining good form (though this is advanced and not for starting out lifting, but do this as soon as you're able).

Also, see if they offer the resting metabolic rate test in your area. This will tell you exactly how many calories you burn in a day. I got one and confirmed to me that 14 years of off and on again weight lifting has given me a "higher than normal" metabolism, according to the test. I've told this story a lot on here and its not to brag, but more to encourage people to build those muscles. You'll get to eat a lot more and it will keep you looking and feeling young and strong.