Backsliding
 

I got a new program at the gym and think it's going to be great and i got really excited about it, went one day to the gym and now i'm discouraged again. Mainly because i think my mom's scale is off. At my bfs i'm 180 around, here i'm 197. That was in a two day period.
I know muscle weighs more then fat, but i can't still be 195 and have dropped two pant sizes plus an inch and some all around.
I also think i'm not eating enough, that's what my mom is thinking. Yet when i do eat 3 meals a day i feel i'm eating too much and i get scared. I resort back to the not eating as much. So starting tomorrow i'm going to try again to get back on track. I've pretty much been off for a month now. Haven't really gained inches but again i've gained pounds according to my mom's scale.
Has anyone tried out that Denis Austin: Eat Carbs Lose Weight book? i've been thinking of buying it because i do need a planned out diet plan, but i'm in an area where there is no weight watchers and stuff. and i like to do things on my own but not restrictive.
Great site and enjoy coming here.

Hang in there...
 

Hi Nutbar


OK, I am no expert but I can tell you from the thousands of books I have read, no matter the diet plan, they all suggest that you eat 3 meals and at least 2 snacks through the day keeping the portions small of course. If you don't eat enough your body goes into a preservation state because it thinks it's starving. When it does this it will hold on to any fat intake and not release the current fat you have. I have learned this to be true through personal experience.
Muscle IS more dense than fat so you may find that the scale numbers will go up but your body will be getting smaller because you are turning the fat into lean muscle.
As for the scale issue, I find that if I weigh myself on different scales they all read differently. So I have come to just using my own and staying off of everyone elses. You are seeing a differnce in inches and the way your clothes fit and personally I think this is more important than what the scale says. I always have to remind myself to not become a slave to the scale.
Just make wise choices and portion size. :)
When I have a snack I try and keep the calories of it between 140 and 170 calories.
Anyway, hope this helps some....just remember if you are hungry then EAT.

Meecha

Just to expand upon a few things meecha has already mentioned--I have found that it is very rare for 2 scales to say the same thing. My TOPS scale is 3 pounds lower than my home scale, and my gym's scale is about 10 pounds higher than my home scale. Because of this, you'll save yourself a lot of frustration if you do one of 2 things: either only use one scale OR make sure you know what your starting weight was according to each scale you use so you can tell how many pounds you have lost according to each individual scale. If you are 197 on your mom's scale, then if you had weighed yourself on that scale before, you were probably even higher, so according to that one scale, you've still lost weight. Make sense? :dizzy:

It's not only that muscle weighs more than fat, but also that it is denser, which means it takes up less space. If you were 195 pounds of muscle, you would be a LOT smaller than 195 pounds of fat! Another thing to note is that it's not all just in muscle v. fat--I have heard many people talk about how they are getting slimmer, clothes are fitting bettr, etc., yet the scale isn't going down! Our bodies change, and as we become healthier, things inside tend to kind of shift around, even if you're not building huge amounts of muscle. I don't know how to describe it any more scientifically or anything, but I know it has happened to me (and plenty of others) as well. Also, though, you probably HAVE lost some weight if you go back and check on the scale on which you FIRST weighed yourself.

Have you been counting calories at all? Try keeping track of what you eat (either on paper or on a computer--fitday.com is great for this, plus it's free) for a few days or even weeks. No matter if you eat 1 meal or 10 meals a day, you should always be getting at LEAST 1200 calories in a day (unless a doctor has specifically told you otherwise--and if you're exercising at all, you should have even more than 1200). Like meecha said, most plans suggest eating 5-6 times a day instead of just 3. It helps to keep your sugar levels steadier, which helps to curb cravings and crashes, both of which my lead to binging. Eating too little can not only send your body into "starvation mode," but also often means you're not getting the nutrients your body needs to be able to burn fat efficiently.

I haven't heard anything about Denise Austin's plan, but the most sensible plan you can do is cut out refined carbs as much as possible--replace them with whole-grain and natural carbs instead (whole-grain breads and pastas and such) and include fruits and veggies and low-fat dairy and lean meats. If you find yourself hungry between meals/snacks, try increasing the amount of protein in your diet (protein keeps you feeling full for longer, whereas carbs tend to leave you feeling hungry again much sooner).

I know that's all a lot of info, but I hope it all makes sense. I know I'm not exactly a star dieter, but having been overweight/obese my entire life, I have been to every doctor, listened to every nutritionist, read every book and article, and tried every diet (and even a few extreme diets and diet pills). I have heard stories of women who ate 1200 calories a day and stopped losing weight, then increased their intake to 1600-1800 calories a day and BAM started losing weight again. Our bodies are complex machines and need to be fueled properly in order to be as efficient as possible. Good luck!

Denise Austin's plan is a low calorie diet, and she encourages eating "good carbs" like fruits, veggies, and whoel grains. She put out this book with the low carb craze that was pretty much cutting out most carbs-good or bad ones.
She basically promotes the low calorie diet, and making healthy eating choices within that calories range like she has always done-and not succumbing to the low carb popularity. If you need a "structured" plan, then hers is a healthy one-not a fad type diet book.

I agree with everyone on the scale. Weigh in on ONE scale, and leave the rest alone. :)

Thank you guys so much..that's exactly what i needed to hear. Sound advice from the ppl who know the most, mainly women who are doing what i'm trying to do. I'm still not feeling energized enough to hit the gym and i'm very disappointed in myself..then again i've finally realized that i just might not be eating enough and i have to start right. Tomorrow is a new day and a new beginning again...get up early, eat right and fully, and hit the gym. i think i needed this to learn just how important eating is and eating fully and properly!! can't wait to get the book and i can't wait to start eating better and hitting that gym again..and one scale from now on, that's it!! thank you guys so much!!