Why am I not losing anything!!!??
 

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It can take several weeks to see a shift in the scale, for some it can take a month or more. What you are doing is great, but to see the results, it will take much longer than a few days. Keep at it!

Patience is a virtue! :) It sucks, but that's one of the keys to the game.

I think there is this assumption that your body immediately reacts to any changes. That's not necessarily true. Why do we assume that the cupcake we ate at 10pm the night before explains the 1 pound weight gain the next morning? Your body has to digest it and then store or expel it - that is not a 5 minute operation. Chances are your weight may still be a result of your eating a couple of days ago and the changes you are making now will show up in a couple more days.

Sometimes exercise can cause temporary weight gain due to water retention, etc. If you keep it up and are eating well too, then don't worry - the weight WILL come off... just be patient! :)

You also might be consuming too little now that you are burning an additional 500 calories? How many calories are you eating a day?

You've only added the exercise for a few days, right? That is simply not enough time to see the difference.

Your body will take a week or two - perhaps longer - to adjust to a big change in the workload you give it. Try to be a little more patient, keep the exercise up for a month, and then see how your weight loss is.

The time scale for this process is just longer than several days. No way around that.

Your body isn't going to defy physics - give it a lot more time, keep the right calories, and it will work. Either you aren't giving it enough time (a few days is nothing - it can take weeks, MONTHS, to see solid results) or perhaps you are eating more. But it will happen.

There is at least one logical explanation for why exercising heavily over the past few days has created a "stick" on the scale: water retention.

What happens when you get a bruise, strain, or bump? The tissue in the immediate area swells with fluid as part of your body's "repair kit." What happens when you work out? You often get sore because you're creating micro-tears in your muscle fiber (don't worry, that's not a bad thing, it's part of the building process that gives you strength). All those little micro-tears mean your body's going to divert some fluid to the area, meaning that a few days of heavy exercise often reads as more poundage on the scale.

We can't control what our bodies do; we can only control what we put into our bodies and the amount of work we get out of them. Focusing solely on results--especially when those results are condensed into one number which may or may not represent fat loss--sometimes leads to disappointment over stuff we can't control.

Try focusing on the things you DO control: staying with your plan, being patient, being realistic about your goals, exercising for greater health instead of just as a means to weight loss. Focus on the "NSVs"--non-scale victories--like fitting better in your clothes, walking farther, lifting more weight, finding a new food you like.

Losing weight is a marathon, not a sprint. Looking at the results of a few days' changes is like saying that you'll never be able to finish all 26 miles because you can only see three blocks ahead.

Well, I wish you luck with your weight loss journey but a little bit more patience will go a long way because when you start to lose more and head closer to goal, it's not going to happen as fast. Plateaus occur, you may even gain one week, lose a little the next - or none at all at times.

The difference between the maintainers and the ones who are endlessly in a cycle of gain, lose, gain, quit is one thing - patience and acceptance that there will be highs & lows in the journey. I've been around 3FC for a while and I maintained for 6 years - without patience, it does NOT happen.

We can ALL totally understand your frustration but you seem awfuly defensive with every explanation given to you. Why? You gain some weight when you introduce exercise...it happens. You don't have to exercise if you don't want to but frankly why would you STOP? You said yourself you wanted to be healthier and have a stronger healthier heart...isn't that worth waiting a few weeks for your poor body to adjust to the new activity? Seriously...what good is being thin if the first time you fall you break a hip or worse?

My vote? Have patience and CONTINUE to exercise...but in the end it's your call...we'll all be here to help motivate you.

Good luck

I empathize with you.
I have been working out at the gym 3 times a week (with all my heart) for an hour with a personal trainer. I have not seen the scale go down at all. (3 weeks in a row...)
However, today I did the buttons up on a shirt that I have not worn in a year. You will get confirmation that you are shrinking :)
I am taking a leap of faith. It is my heartfelt desire to get this weight off, but in the end the exercise will matter- it will help your metabolism, your energy and your weight loss.
It is counter intuitive to keep exercising when the reward is so delayed- it is almost scarey. I wish you luck- please update us when the scale finally drops :)

Why choose not to exercise instead of continuing to exercise, then seeing where you stand in a month once your body's adjusted to a higher activity level? You may have a week or so of being stuck, but as your body adjusts (and as your mind adjusts to seeing the same annoying number for a week :) ), you'll lose more rapidly with exercise than without it.

Burning more calories equals losing more fat. That equation is as much of a sure thing as Pythagoras's theorem. It may not always look like you're burning more weight in the short term, but you'll definitely burn more fat.

I know it's hard to hear, but she's right. ;)

I was saying all the same things when I came here. I was broken. There was something wrong with me. I could lose weight with diet but exercise stalled me out. I wasn't like other women. I packed on muscle like no tomorrow.

I was wrong.

Weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise. Exercise because it is good for you. Know that when you lose weight as much as 40% of what you lose could be muscle instead of fat. Lift weights to RETAIN muscle. That equation right there explains why adding exercise messes with the scale, at least in my mind. To me, the scale slows down about 40% because I'm losing FAT, not muscle. I'm ok with that. But I had to research that and fully understand that before I could accept it.

And that recommended 1-2 pounds per week is utter hogwash. ;) I prefer to recommend 4-8 pounds per month. It's the same thing but far more accurate! Some of us do lose routine 1-2 pounds every week, but very, very few of us. I have a tendency to lose big in one week and stall the other three. I started weighing daily and have been tracking daily weight loss for a good nine months or so and have a really good record of my body doing this.

Take heart, pull up some patience and settle in for a the long haul. Keep exercising! It's so good for you! But the scale does not accurately reflect what you are doing here and now. It's the trend you want.

So you are eating 1000 calories a day AND exercising? That's why it's stopped. If you are going to exercise I'd add more calories- you already shouldn't be hitting under 1200 calories and you weigh 255- you could probably exercise and eat 1800 calories a day and still lose.

Remember it's not always about eating as little as possible, your body needs to get enough nutrients and calories to want to let go of the fat.

What is it you know isn't working the way you want it to, though? You haven't exercised enough to know if it's working as intended; you've seen a mini-stall on the scale as your body hangs onto a little more fluid, but you haven't seen what a solid month of it will do for you.

Believe me, I can empathize with wanting the weight off quickly. Over the past month, I have wished I could just get a kitchen knife and carve the excess off my haunches like I'd do to a pork roast. I've called myself things that I would hate another person for saying to me. I've even had dreams in which people DO say them to me, so even my subconscious mind is a Mean Girl.

You control how well you construct a plan, how faithfully you adhere to it, how much you exercise. You do not control genetics, age, the precise number on the scale, or the speed at which your body decides to let go of its fat. If it gets too frustrating to look at the stuff you can't control, refocus yourself and set your sights on the stuff you can control.

We all know ourselves best, and I definitely believe we need to take our idiosyncracies into account. Empirical evidence is always important to consider.

I look forward to hearing about your progress! :)

i thought your response to Sacha was very disrespectful.
She (and everyone) was trying to help, in a logical, objective manner

Just so you know, we started out at the exact same weight, and are nearly the same height and I stalled out in the mid-250's too - for over a month. It had nothing to do with the exercise I was doing, nothing to do with what I was eating. It was just a stabilization period for my body.

That said, don't give up on exercise. It's good for you!

The scale doesn't measure just fat, it measures fat, water, tissues, muscle, bone, etc. Our bodies are composed mostly of water. Our fat cells after they empty also fill with water which means that we can lose fat and stay the same weight. It is also why many people report the whoosh effect where they don't lose or don't lose very much and then lose a lot at once.

I have to say that there were many weeks while I was actively losing weight with a food deficit and exercise that I didn't lose a pound on the scale. I ended up with a major whoosh after that though. I think it is normal to plateau for weeks.

Also, at your weight, I would recommend upping your calories to something closer to 1600 calories.

I gained and lost the same 2-3lbs for over a month, yes. I weigh myself daily, though, so there were normal fluctuations with bloating, etc. I didn't start to go back on a downward trend until after about 5 weeks. I just stuck with it, and knew that I was doing what I needed to do.

In my opinion, I don't think you're eating enough calories to support any intense cardio at your weight. I was eating at least 1500-1600 calories at that weight & activity level when I began losing again. What cardio are you doing?

Some people's weight loss occurs in a nice, predictable trend. Other people lose in more of a stair-step pattern. Finding the optimal balance of nutrition and movement can take some practice and experimentation. Clearly you have an idea in mind for what works for you, which is great. But when you ask a question on a forum like this, you will get a lot of varied opinions, some of which are based on years of experience.

It is true that typed responses on the internet can be interpreted differently by different people, so let's all try to take a nice deep breath together and remember that this forum is about support.

:yes: ...as much as I'm itching to just stay out.

Are you ill? I don't understand why you can't hold food down?

I have read that it is a temporary state in part of emptying the fat cell. Also, someone else mentioned it but your muscles also need water as part of their recovery process so they can also fill with water.

You might want to look at something like adding almonds or avocados. They contain healthy fats but can also give you some extra calories during the day.

Ahhhh, yes. I have IBS too so I understand! All I ask is that you give it a little more time - maybe try adding in some fun exercise. Running in place for a hour sounds sooooooo boring to me!! Do you have other exercise options?

I'm not sure what you are eating but I think it's very easy to eat 1500 calories and eat healthy.

I eat pretty healthy and my calories are usually around 1500/day.

Yesterday my breakfast was 1 whole wheat bagel thin with 1 egg and 2 laughing cow wedges (I was hungry I usually do 1 wedge) and that was over 300 calories.

My lunch wasn't as healthy cuz I didn't plan ahead but it was a lunchable and around 350 calories.

I had a snack of peanut butter with celery was around 200 calories.

Dinner was whole grain pasta with peas and alfredo sauce: 500 calories

That made 1400 calories (I think it came out to 1385 yesterday).

That wasn't a perfect day for me but I'm able to get in 1400-1500/day.

It's harder if you are vegetarian but protein is the easiest way to up your calories IMO.

Muscles need water to rebuild - so its entirely possible that you're retaining water while your body recovers. Give it time!

You are awfully defensive in this thread. They are only trying to help.
Maybe you should reconsider to help elevate your mood a bit ;)

And, your calorie burn comes from muscles. The more muscle you have. The more you burn. Weight lifting is a MUST. I went from curling 2lbs to 20lbs.

There is also the after burn effect (or EPOC) when it comes to weight lifting.

Good luck on your weight loss journey!

Your muscles are getting little "rips" in them from exercising, and they knit themselves back together stronger and smaller. Muscle also weighs more than fat so the scale might not budge for a while but you'll see results elsewhere--like your clothes getting looser, or being able to fit into something 1 size down, feeling better emotionally, etc.

I think a common mistake is to get hung up on what the scale says and not how we FEEL or look. The scale doesn't tell us how much muscle we've gained vs the fat we had, and it sure doesn't do much to elevate our moods, lol. If you want to stop exercising in favor of dieting that's your decision, but exercise has a lot of benefits that have nothing to do with losing weight IMO.

In the end we will all be skinny (actually skeletons...really:o)...

With that said, what matters is our health. For many years I've focused on "how I look" and that is why I went from skinny to fat...from fat to skinny..and repeat...several times:(

What matters most is how you feel..so if you feel good when you exercise..then DO THAT...

I agree with some of the posters who say up your calories...adding nuts, beans, lentils, heck...a protein bar (atkins choco-peanut butter for me;)) it would be pretty easy to add another 400-500 healthy cals to your diet.

Exercise is not only heart healthy, but its nature's perfect mood stabilizer...releasing natural endorphins and giving us an overall sense of well being. In addition, it keeps us firm. Remember when Oprah first lost all that weight by DIETING on that liquid diet? All that was left to her was hanging flesh, sagging skin and she looked extremely AGED!:o Exercise keeps our skin tight while we loose, and builds muscle to reshape us...it is invaluable...and I could go on and on about the benefits...

In any event, if you decide to stop exercising...I hope you get back to it soon. Who knows...maybe you need a break? Only you can decide. I strongly believe if you continue with regular exercise and up your calories a little bit as advised above, AND GIVE YOURSELF 2 more weeks....you'll be happily surprised.:)

http://www.weightlossforall.com/epoc.htm

Here ya go.

I may be a broken record but I'm going to echo what a lot of these ladies have said.

Try upping your calories. When I lost weight a few years ago I was starting from around 185. I was eating 1500 calories and exercising for an hour each day. Scale barely moved for a month. Dropped down to 1200. Scale didn't move at all for three weeks. Went to the doc to get all checked out- she encouraged me to up my calories to 1750. I did it, and started consistently losing 2+ lbs per week. (if only I could have kept it up then!) Our bodies need a certain amount of calories to work efficiently. Even though logic says lower calories = faster weightloss, it doesn't usually work out that way for most of us. Try adding a small snack like a handful of nuts, or some avocado to your stirfry. A tablespoon of olive oil with your stirfry, or an extra egg to your morning eggs. Don't look at it as trying to add 500 calories at once, but 50-100 calories here and there.

A few weeks ago, I started adding pretty good cardio into my plan. My weightloss slowed down to a crawl. I added weights and I gained weight! I went up two pounds even though I hadn't been eating more. I got those off, but then didn't lose any weight, and sometimes bounced up, for over two weeks. I almost quit. Good thing I didn't- I would have missed a 4.5 pound loss. Since then, I have consistently lost more weight on weeks that I have exercised than weeks that I haven't. Exercise causes our bodies to retain water. It sucks, but, quitting exercise will help you feel like you're "losing" more weight in the next week or two. Continuing to exercise will help you lose more weight (and even more importantly-inches!) over the rest of your life.

I know you want to lose weight quickly. But the best way to keep the weight off is to do it gradually.
Also, can you live on just 1000 calories a day?
By adding exercise, you can eat more and have more variety.

Cardio does promote faster weight loss than weight training. But I know you have said that it's not giving you the results you want. What about adding High Interval Training to your routine?

This is what I do.

Mon, Wed, Fri= I lift weights (1 hour a day)
Tues, Thurs, Sat= Cardio (Around 2 hours a day)

I know I do a lot, But I am currently training for a marathon next year.

You need to get this all accomplished in under a year?

I agree!

Also, when I started to add weight training to my schedule, my scale did not move for one whole month!! You bet I was mad. Especially when the first 2 months I was losing weight on the rate of 2-3lbs a week.

I almost quit. But I decided to stick with it longer and see if I had any results. Well, after one whole month of no weight loss, the scale moved down 4 lbs on the 5th week!

Weight training broke my plateau :carrot:

I am wondering... what is your hurry? Losing weight and keeping it off requires a life change, and it takes time... this is a journey with twists and turns, not a linear sprint.

It isn't about what you're supposed to do - it's about what you want to do, about what you WILL do. What will you do? Give up? Or keep going?

If you have set a goal to weigh X pounds by a certain date, I have to tell you that you might be disappointed. We can't control what the scale says. But we CAN control diet and exercise.

Best wishes on achieving your goals. :hug:

You (and me, as well, in the past) seem to have a very all or nothing approach to this whole weight loss thing. I know you've said in the past that you were a long-time dieter and the extremes didn't work before. So, how will the extremes suddenly be working now? You're still eating far below your weight loss calorie range (and even below your BMR), you are going to stop exercising (even if it is detrimental to your health) because of a few days that didn't show major loss, and you say you MUST lose fast.

So, how is this all or nothing approach going to work this time? I wish you the best by the way, I just have never seen such extreme approaches work in the long-term.

I believe both cardio and weight lifting are important. I actually favor weight lifting over cardio myself. Muscle does increase your metabolism and you lose muscle as you lose weight. Best way to maintain your muscle is weight lifting.

Throughout my weight loss, I have struggled with cardio but I love weight lifting so I tend to focus more on weight lifting.