I almost wonder if its better not to exercise
 

My calorie intake is 100% but im not losing like i do when i dont work out. Its only been a week and a half. I had one rest day and yesterday I took it easy at the gym. I know muslce weighs more than fat but its weird to me. Im working my fat butt :) off and not seeing results. Ugh so frustrating. I know in the end itll help me. But i just had to vent.


Anyone feel like this?

I also get frustrated when the scale won't move. I know I'm doing my body good by exercising though, so I keep at it. Don't trust the scale so much. Its not always accurate.

I notice when I add exercise to the mix, my weight loss slows or stalls completely. I heard it was because muscles tear and as they repair they hold onto water which can take some time to get off. Not saying that's true, but it sounds logical and makes me feel less like a failure. :)

This time around, I'm just going to keep on. I feel so much better after I work out. I'm eating below my calorie deficit every day and working out which adds more to the mix, eventually it has to come off LOL. I haven't lost anything all week, but this morning I was down a lb. Last week it was a similar issue and I didn't lose nearly as much as the week before.

Just keep with it. And I agree with Psychic. The scale is a liar! I'm pretty positive things will even out in time.

You've only been working out a week and a half, so I am willing to bet that the "slow loss" you are seeing is due to water retention. When you start an exercise program the muscles tend to hold on to water and glycogen to repair themselves after the workout. Weight loss is 80-90% diet, but keeping with the exercise will definitely benefit you health-wise in the end. I agree with Psychic, don't put so much emphasis on the scale. Focus on how you are feeling and how your clothes are fitting. You will get there! Hang in there!

Man oh man, have I ever. But - let me ask you a few questions, questions I was once asked by my doctor, and once I was provided the answers, suddenly my workouts helped my loss tremendously. :)

How long have you been at this new routine of both exercise and diet? You said 1-1/2 weeks? Are you aware you will retain water the first several weeks of starting a new reginme, anywhere from 3-6 weeks? That water is used to repair your muscles and to replenish what your body thinks is dehydration. Drink more water, especially AFTER exercise (within 30 minutes is prime) and you should see SOME movement downwards.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat, a pound is a pound, but a pound of muscle is MUCH smaller than a pound of fat. Have you taken up the tape measure? The scale is NOT an accurate measure of health. Anyone can lose weight. Weight loss can be anything from water weight, to muscle mass, to bone loss, and so on. What you want is FAT loss, not weight loss. As you gain muscle, you will burn fat. The poundages may stay the same, and in some cases go up, at least at first, but the inches WILL go down, which means fat is going down. Which is a better gauge of health than the scale. And after a while, those muscles that are weighing you down will become more efficent in burning the fat (MUCH more efficent than not having them) and you will start seeing losses again, sometimes rapidly, sometimes slowly.

You say you are keeping your calories at 100% but are you eating the right amount of calories? And the right amount of protein. I'm not suggesting a high protein/low carb diet, but only that you are getting the recommended amounts of protein for your weight. That helps protect your muscles as you exercise so the loss is in the right place and not at your muscles, which can target your heart. Are you keeping in range with your BMR/RMR? Knowing those numbers makes the difference between losing weight and maintaining and gaining. 100 calories a day can make a difference. You are more than welcome to take a gander at my spreadsheet HERE, I just ask you don't alter any forumlas, but only enter in the appropriate values. Your BMR/RMR changes as you age and as you gain/loss weight. It's a good idea to look at it every 20 pounds or so.

Also, what kind of exercises are you doing? And what is your heart rate at? Fat loss is sped up most by cardio exercises and by keeping your targeted heart rate at the recovery or aerobic zone.
There are THREE different heart rates you need to aim for. Each one is important in its own way.

RECOVERY ZONE (often time called the "fat burning zone") - This zone reaches at 60 percent to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. Training in this zone can build your low-level cardiovascular endurance, and in more elite athletes can be used to replenish glycogen to the muscles during interval training. Your body burns mostly fat in this heart rate zone, making it a favorite for those trying to lose weight without putting forth more strenuous effort.

AEROBIC ZONE (often times called "cardiovascular zone") - The aerobic zone is the most common zone achieved during exercise. Your heart rate is between 70 percent and 80 percent of maximum in this zone. Cardiovascular health and efficiency both benefit from training in the aerobic zone. Endurance athletes such as distance runners and cyclers train often in this zone to improve the efficiency of their oxygen intake and usage. Most calories burned in this zone are from fat, making it an ideal zone for moderately fit people to burn calories and lose weight.

ANAEROBIC ZONE - Anaerobic exercise, performed when your heart rate is between 80 percent and 90 percent of maximum, is difficult, and can rarely be performed for long periods of time. Anaerobic training is most important for athletes in sports that cause very high heart rates, such as short-distance running, U.S. football, basketball and tennis. During anaerobic exercise, glycogen stored in muscles is used as energy instead of fat. Processing glycogen creates lactic acid as a byproduct, and training in this zone is targeted toward improving your body's ability to deal with lactic acid buildup. Generally, training anaerobically is appropriate only if you are already fairly fit. You will not lose weight in this zone, but is effective for those trying to maintain.

There is one other zone remaining. However, unless you are an elite athlete, you do NOT want to be in this zone. In fact, you should avoid this zone like the plague because this zone is flat out dangerous if you don't know what you are doing.

RED LINE ZONE - The red line zone, from 90 percent to 100 percent of maximum heart rate, is entered only for brief periods and should be avoided by all but the most fit athletes. Training in this zone improves fast-twitch muscles useful to athletes in sports that require sudden bursts of speed or power. Working out with your heart rate in this zone is also necessary to improve your body's VO2 Max. Beware, however, of reaching this zone in your workouts if your fitness level is not high or if you have any history of cardiovascular disease.

The best way to figure up your zones is to use the method developed by Doctor Bill Haskell and Doctor Sam Fox. The "220 minus age" formula. The equation took the number 220 and subtracted a person's age from that number to estimate an individual's maximum heart rate. So, for example, let's figure my ideal rates. I am 30 so:

220-30 = 190 is my maximum
Recovery Zone is 60-70% of the maximum, so my heart rate should be between 114-133
Aerobic zone is 70-80% of the maximum, so my heart rate should be between 133-152
Anaerobic zone is 80-90% of the maximum, so my heart rate should be between 152-171
The red zone is 90-100% of the maximum, so my heart rate should be between 171-190


Working out too hard or not hard enough can net no added benefits. Make sure to stay in your sweet spot.

When you exercise, especially beyond your normal activity level, you're actually creating small tears in the muscle. This is normal, and a "good" injury, because it causes the body to create new muscle in the "damaged" area.

Still, it is technically an "injury" and the body responds to injury with temporarry water retention. The extra water is needed for the healing process.

The temporary use of this "extra" water can camouflage fat losses even to the point of appearing as a "false" gain on the scale.

It's not a true gain, because as soon as the healing is done, the body will release the extra water.

Unless you are body building and taking in an extremely large amounts of protein (eating MORE calories, not less), your scale's less than impressive results are more likely to be due to temporary water weight fluctuuations than to your gaining muscle faster than you're losing fat.

However, even if you ARE, that's good news, not bad because muscle BURNS more calories than fat, which means the more muscle you gain, the more calories your body will burn. Also, a pound of muscle takes up a LOT less space than fat, which means that you're getting smaller, even if the scale doesn't say so.

Exercise also does so many good things for your body, that for many people (perhaps even most) it may be even more important for health than weight loss.

If you want to see a large, fast loss on the scale, you could cut off an arm or leg, but that's not the kind of weight loss you want. You don't want to lose muscle, blood, and bone, you want to lose fat.

In the long run, exercise does that. The reward (on the scale) just isn't as instaneous as lobbing off an arm or leg.

You're frustrated because you're not seeing results, but that's partially because of impatience and partially because you're looking for the wrong rewards in the wrong place.

I'd suggest logging your measurements monthly and also logging your exercise and activity in a way that allows you to see progress. Not just how long you exercised, but what you are doing (both during exercise and during the rest of your day) that you couldn't do before... If you see a benefit, no matter how small, write it down.

It's the long haul that really matters, and the scale readout is the LEAST of the accomplishments and rewards of a healthier lifestyle. We use the scale because it's the most convenient measure of progresd, not because it's best.

Hang in there, the exercise WILL pay off (even on the scale) eventually.

I feel your frustration.

I took this whole week off at the gym, I have really messy TOM and it is just not at all conducive to working out, or even moving LOL.

Anyway, I lose inches when I work out and pounds slower. Pounds faster and inches slower when I do not. SO, this week taking a week off and I wooshed down already almost 3 lbs from Sunday (weigh in day). BUT, I feel worse. More flabby, tired and just ugh. So my choice when I have one..work out, see a slower loss on the scale, but a more visible one on my body...plus feel better.

It is hard to remember that the scale is not the only or best measure of how you are doing.

I think you've got great advice from the scientific end of things.

FWIW, I have been training for almost 10 years - that's solid training through two pregnancies, post-maintenance (my main maintenance was met in 2004).

I'm 132lbs now - in comparison to my friends who are around the same weight, after all the gains and losses between us (we all have children), I look significantly leaner/fitter than they do, even those who weigh a bit less.

I know it is hard to not see the results right away - first week, first month, even the first year. But if you stick to it, you will really blow it away after a few years and completely transform once the excess weight is gone.

Good luck!

Today, almost to the day, two years ago I started doing the 30-day shred by Jillian Michaels. I have never looked back and have done almost all her programs. The 30-day shred was incredibly hard to do and I actually gained 10 lbs during the first two months before I started losing. However, the inches started to melt away within a few weeks and that was the one thing that has motivated me through all weight loss stalls and still keeps me going. I could not even pull in my belly button in the beginning since I had no abs. I am pretty toned now, doing one-legged push-ups and full sit-ups with weights. So, just give it some time. Exercise is an accessory to weight loss. You will loose mostly through your diet, but exercise will add a lot more quality to your life. And I still only do 30 min/day. Anybody can do that.

It does sound frustrating! There's some great info in this thread on why it's happening, so hopefully that will make you feel better. The water weight is just temporary, and you are still burning fat.

The good part is that the exercise will ensure that the body fat melts away to reveal a gorgeous, firm body, so keep it up :)

This will depend. Do you want to be a "fluffy" thin or a firm/toned thin?

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. In the beginning your body holds on to more water but eventually that will subside as your muscles get used to being worked.

Ditch the scale the first 2 months when beginning to exercise, use a measuring tape instead. I only lost a few pounds from my 30 Day Shred DVD but my size loss was massive.

I continued to workout (jogging) 5-6 days a week for a year, and even though my loss was SLOW this is the thinnest/firmest I have been in 10+ years. Plus because I lost it so slow I have easily kept it from coming back for over 6 months. There's no way I would've achieved these exact results from diet alone. I'm glad I didn't throw in the towel because there were many times I wanted to. At the very end the last few pounds fell off fast and it was finally over. :lol:

I have lost weight from diet alone in the past (down to same exact weight I am now) and it never looked this good. I was still flabby.

Up to you. Good luck whatever you decide. :)

Actually muscle does weigh more than fat when comparing equal volumes (which is the only way the statement makes any sense)..

When people say muscle weighs more than fat, they do not generally mean that a pound of muscle is heavier than a pound of fat (unless they're REALLY BAD at math andd logic).

What people do mean is that is a cubic inch of muscle will weigh more than a cubic inch of fat. Or said another way, a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat.

This is how it is possible to lose sizes and inches without losing weight.

It's not something most significantly overweight people will ever encounter though, because it's generally pretty difficult to gain muscle faster than you can lose an equivalent amount of fat (the exception being when the process is accelerated by steroids or other enhancers).

my scale has been going bonkers ever since i started serious weight training in the middle of august...the scale has gone up, hovered there, up a little more, hovered there etc...however I KNOW i am getting smaller...i can see it, i can feel it, my clothes fit better, my body looks better BUT the scale has yet to come down not ONE SINGLE POUND since i picked up a weight :( i have no idea what to do...my food intake is fine and judging from my body/clothes, i seem on track but still...it's soooo insanely frustrating :(

I think it's safe to say that a lot of people really think muscle weighs more than fat in equal volumes.

I know that muscle is more dense but what I meant was a pound is a pound.

Most people thought the world was flat too but slowly everyone will learn the truth :D!!! One revelation at a time ;)

I didn't read any of the prior responses due to lack of time but the reason you lose faster when you're not exercising is you're losing muscle too.

Thus, if you're happy with how you look now but you just want to be smaller than don't exercise.

If you're not concerned with your health than don't exercise.

If you want to look better and have better health than exercise and learn the difference between fat loss and weight loss so the short term results you see on the scale are not frustrating.

Finally, since you have a goal to lose 100 lbs. You may want to consider doing a type of PSMF diet for a while to speed things up. Definately consult a doctor before doing so.

I'll go straight to the point. At your weight, I would expect exercise to generally accelerate your weight loss. So just go for it!!!

There will come a point, however, when exercise will play with the scale badly. For me this came at 170lbs. I was losing inches but the scale kept gaining and stalling for a month (see my graph). But by then I was feeling and looking great so just kept going with exercise. I am down to 166lbs now but I still get crazy fluctuations with the scale, in part due to exercise. But who gives a sh!t?

Exercise is awesome. Without it, you just lose muscle as well as fat with weightloss. So it helps to give you that toned look and avoid looking "gaunt". It feels nice afterwards too!

Exercise tells your body to lose the fat but *please* keep the muscle. I try to help that by eating a lot of low-calorie, high protein food. And I am talking canned fish people.

Canned fish saved my fricking life. (Fresh fish isn't half bad either!)

Agree with JohnP and Ian. Exercise makes you healthier and stronger. Fitter. I can't believe I am running now but I am. BTW running is awesome for weight loss at least it is for me.

It has done amazing things for my resting heart rate and blood pressure. My pulse is down about 20-30 beats a minute, blood pressure is excellent now. Obviously I am very overweight still. I am 5'9" need to include that.

That is not good for my heart. But I feel awesome. I feel strong. Weight loss is happening AS I get fitter and stronger. No other way I would want to do it.

My problem is that the more I exercise the hungrier I am. Exercise can indeed affect your weight loss if you're eating more so watch out for that. Athletes tend to eat a lot. I have friends now that are training for the NYC marathon and the amount of food they can consume is frightening.

If you are able-bodied enough to exercise you should do it. Get that metabolism up, if you're lucky you will find you can eat like a slob and maintain if you balance it out with the right kind of training. And if you're less fortunate, you will be able to do lots of stuff with your body that you couldn't before but will still have to watch what you eat.

I have found that it depends on the kind of exercise I do. Cardio is a major driver of hunger for me and anything more than 45 minutes is going to make me very hungry. HIIT kept to 20-25 minutes or weight lifting makes me hungry but there is a very delayed effect where it doesn't hit me for 2-3 hours and so long as I've had a good sized meal in that 2-3 hour window I'm fine.

On the other hand I've read that for many people exercise helps lower their appetite.

I'm one of those people. I find I need to exercise in the late afternoon/early evening and make sure to eat prior to exercise to make sure I get my needed calories in every day because once I exercise, game over the rest of the day, regardless of what time I worked out and regardless of what I did and for how long. I simply can't get hungry enough to eat a bite and I refuse to force myself as I work to overcome years of a food addiction.

i got very very hungry after a morning run and tended to stay hungry all day regardless of what i ate, when i ate it, or how much i ate

weight training gives me a different kind of hunger....within an hour of weight training i get this very primal urge to feed, i'm not sure how else to explain it...like my stomach is NOT rumbly or hungry and i don't feel mentally like i need to eat...but something in my body tells me that I NEED TO EAT...i find that if i have a protein bar shortly after a workout, that i make better eating choices throughout the day

Probably one of those times when you should do whatever you can to keep yourself from stepping on the scale.

I haven't started gym-ing it yet but it's getting close because I want to go before I start plateauing. So I don't like hearing this -- because I don't plan on measuring either. There are enough numbers involved as it is -- but I know it's necessary.

I have always been very fat and have always loved swimming, but I would get so hungry afterwards, it was ridiculous.

It got to the point, when I was maybe ten or eleven that my mother even threatened to not let me go swimming unless I was able to resist eating like a steam shovel afterward. She suggested a nap instead.

Her recommendation enraged me at the time, but I've found that it does work. I'm still hungry when I wake up, but it's not the crazy "must eat everything in sight" hunger (the kind of hunger I call rabid hunger) that I have right after swimming or other heart-pumping exercise.

Kaplods - I am the same when it comes to swimming. We got an underground pool put in when I was 5, and from that moment forward, I stayed water logged all summer LOL. I don't know what it is about swimming that makes me ravenous, but boy howdy. I could scarf down a whole plate of hot dogs afterwards. The sleep thing is a good idea! Wish my parents had thought of that.

Just to put things into perspective. I am on day 4 of a new episode of dieting after I had to go on a diet vacation. My reward for 4 days on 1000 calories: a gain of 4 lbs. I guess I started this the wrong time of the month and I also just reached phase 3 of Jillian Michaels Body Revolution where she managed to convince me that the muscles I clearly put on are just useless decoration. It is all just water weight and to be ignored.

I look at it this way.

Losing and maintaining a healthy weight,keeping nutrition in mind is done in the kitchen.

Exercise, working out, or whatever you want to call it is done for different reasons, but in the end, is beneficial to a healthy, happy body and mind!:carrot:

The tough thing, is learning how to balance both, and have the patience, to do both. Tracking and patience and learning your body and mind are key!

There is no failure, only feedback!:carrot::hug:

This thread is just what I needed tonight. I have been so good with my eating, and the scale is not moving...I am strength training 3-5 hours a week though.

I agree with other responses that activity is positive, even if it is not reflected 100% on the scale. Weight loss is complicated - more than calories in vs. calories out, but when looking at overall health physical activity has proven to decrease risk for so many lifestyle diseases, that it is worth it at any cost. Hang in there. One of my favorite sayings is "let your faith be bigger than your fears" - easier said than done, right?