Trying to Lose But Gaining...I'm losing my motivation...

[DiandraH]

Hello,

I've been working out since July, trying to lose 30lbs for my college graduation in December. I've been following the Fat Loss program here on BB.com for females age 20-39 religiously and have been enjoying my journey so far. I'm 23 years old, 5'4. I started at 154, in 2 weeks I was able to drop down to 149, then all of a sudden my weight skyrocketed to 156. My family says I look smaller, but my scale is deciding to increase (just a couple days ago it said 160). I have been eating clean, drinking protein shake for breakfast when I don't want solid food and post workout. Ive never been much of an eater, but I try to eat solid food for for my 3 major meals and have 2 snacks a day, finishing with my protein shake after I workout at night.

I researched on the internet and asked people what I should do about my problem of gaining when I've been trying to lose weight. One person said that my body is putting on muscle faster than I'm burning fat, that it might be a digestion problem. They said I should take Digestive Enzymes to jumpstart my body, in a way.

Can anyone tell me what exactly is going on with my body and if Digestive Enymes are the way to go in this situation? I'm losing my motivation every day bc my body isn't acting or doing what I want it to. My goal weight is looking more like a dream and more impossible. I'm really scared that I might just get fed up and give up. Can anyone help me?

[mysticpenguin]

You don't have to be afraid that you'll give up if you just decide not to give up no matter what happens.

How many calories are you eating a day? Do you weigh your food? You should. It's hard to eyeball serving sizes and just overestimating a little bit at each of your six mealtimes could tack on hundreds of calories a day.

Is it possible that it's about to be the most wonderful time of the month? I tend to gain about 4-6, sometimes up to 10, pounds right before my period.

[laurentkm3]

Try this website - www myfitnesspal com. Put you're goal and how much you want to lose per week. Count the calories that you consume.

Also, if you're lifting weights, understand that the weight you gain is from muscle and water. That weight gain is GOOD.

If you people are saying you look smaller, then you are losing weight. Fat weight.

I stopped losing weight about a month ago, but my clothes feel lose on me and people say my face looks thinner, but on the scale, I'm the same. I'm losing bad weight and gaining good weight.

Last things in regards to diets. I've tried them and they worked, but I gained the fat weight back. You need to realize that you shouldn't "do" a diet, but instead "change" your diet. A diet is something you'll have to stay on for the rest of your life. The diet that you're doing now, can you do it for the rest of your life? If not, then you will gain weight. Just change your diet (the way you eat in general) and the result will be a thinner and healthier you.

Good luck!!

[SportyShorty89]

Can't trust the scale, only the mirror or bf calipers. I started out squishy at 107 (i was a size 5 pant). Now I'm 127lbs...wearing a size 3 (sometimes 1). You should try to record your progress by bf%.

[oregonchick76]

Women can only gain about 1lb of muscle per MONTH, and that's if they're doing everything right. You may be retaining a bit of water if you've recently changed your routine, diet, etc.

Need to know what your diet is - calories, macros, etc. Also what is your exercise routine?

[DiandraH]

Women can only gain about 1lb of muscle per MONTH, and that's if they're doing everything right. You may be retaining a bit of water if you've recently changed your routine, diet, etc.

Need to know what your diet is - calories, macros, etc. Also what is your exercise routine?

I've never been much of a meat eater and when I started working out in July, I had been eating a vegetarian diet for a couple months. It wasn't until August that I started putting meat back into my diet. I've been eating turkey muffins, london broils, etc with spring mix salads and balsamic vinegar or veggies like asparagus/broccoli. I've introduce brown rice into my diet (being half hispanic I was raised on white, so that was a major change for me lol). I also started to eat the 3 major meals with 2 to 3 snacks in between, protein shakes and all that goodness.

Before working out I hardly ate because i was never hungry. I didn't even eat breakfast. I truly wouldn't get hungry until 2pm lol. But when I started training, I tried to eat on the schedule given to me. So would you say my body is having a hard time adapting to this new schedule and lifestyle? What should I do to fix it?

My exercise routine that i've been having for the past 4 weeks is:
Monday: Upper Body w/20 min cardio
Tuesday: 30 min Cardio (Treadmill) and Abs
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: Lower Body w/20 min Cardio
Friday: 30 min Cardio (Treadmill) and Abs
Saturday: Full Body
Sunday: Rest Day

I'm moving into Phase 2, so my routine is about to change starting tomorrow.

As for Calories, with a calculator it said for me to eat between 1850-2100 calories a day. I don't even think im eating that much in calories. I've always been 1200 or less, so I wouldn't be shocked if I didn't eat that high in calories. As for Macronutrients, I've never calculated it before. I truly have no idea about it either besides that it's carbs, fats, and protein. Out of all the research that i've done before and after I started Training, I have never seen this word until I got on the forums. But the calculator says 161-188g in protein, 207-242g in Carbs, 41-47g in Fats. I feel like these numbers are really high. Is this correct? I need a lot of help lol. I really thought I had researched enough, but it looks like I need to research even more hahaha.

[DarthInvadeHer]

If you've never been a big eater then how did you get up to 154 at 5'4? Something tells me that you're eating more than you think you are. Also you said you recently added meat back into your diet which could have something to do with it. I don't know about that but it's a guess.

[DiandraH]

If you've never been a big eater then how did you get up to 154 at 5'4? Something tells me that you're eating more than you think you are. Also you said you recently added meat back into your diet which could have something to do with it. I don't know about that but it's a guess.

Yea...I've never been less than 147 since the 8th grade. I've always floated between that and 152 and i'm 23 now (so that's almost 10 years of the same weight). Actually I was 139 for a couple months because I was taking Hydroxycut (Which I will NEVER do again) when I was 20. But I gained all that back lol. But anyway, Before working out I would eat 2 times a day. I'm just not hungry a lot lol.

I also heard that it may be water weight as well, and I drink TONS of water too, so i truly don't know what's up! I just want to lose 2lbs a week until December 13th lol. I'm upset that it's becoming so hard to do, no matter how dedicated and motivated I am to training. It's truly disheartening. But i'm going to keep going bc maybe it will change soon. I'm going to continue drinking water. I'm going to try and eat 5-6 times a day (that's my biggest challenge). Maybe i'll cut some meat out of my diet and focus more on fish (it settles better in my stomach than meat). I'll go a little harder in weights and cardio Hopefully changing things up will give a good shock to my body and get it back on track.

[Tang171]

Yea...I've never been less than 147 since the 8th grade. I've always floated between that and 152 and i'm 23 now (so that's almost 10 years of the same weight). Actually I was 139 for a couple months because I was taking Hydroxycut (Which I will NEVER do again) when I was 20. But I gained all that back lol. But anyway, Before working out I would eat 2 times a day. I'm just not hungry a lot lol.

I also heard that it may be water weight as well, and I drink TONS of water too, so i truly don't know what's up! I just want to lose 2lbs a week until December 13th lol. I'm upset that it's becoming so hard to do, no matter how dedicated and motivated I am to training. It's truly disheartening. But i'm going to keep going bc maybe it will change soon. I'm going to continue drinking water. I'm going to try and eat 5-6 times a day (that's my biggest challenge). Maybe i'll cut some meat out of my diet and focus more on fish (it settles better in my stomach than meat). I'll go a little harder in weights and cardio Hopefully changing things up will give a good shock to my body and get it back on track.

Hi. I think it would be very tough for you to lose 2lbs per week at your current weight. To do that you would have to drop your calories pretty low and do tons of exercise to get to a 7,000 calorie deficit a week. I track my calories and exercise using myfitnesspal and I would definitely suggest that. That website helped me a lot with my weight loss.

I would definitely go a little harder with the weights also. The majority of my exercise comes from kickboxing classes but when I included 2 full body workouts last week I lost an extra .5 lbs.

I also drink a lot of water during the day at work and while exercising so my weight goes up about 2-4 lbs during the day. I only weigh myself in the morning so I get a consistent weight. I usually drink about 3 1 liter bottles of water a day and that equals about 6.6 lbs of water weight.

Good luck with your weight loss goals!

[andrerox80]

don't go by online cal calulators. read this sticky over and over and apply it. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703921

[deadbilly]

There might be something wrong with your scale or, just remember! Muscle weighs more than fat.

[cracker-jac]

Don't throw in the towel so easy. you have been pretty hard on yourself and your body is going through a lot of readjusting. You never really ate much before, never ate breakfast, you are really just introducing balanced nutrition and weights into your life and IMHO, you need to give yourself time to adjust to all of this. Our bodies will fluctuate with our cycle, certain foods, dietary changes -- so much is so new for you so please give yourself time. You have a good chunk of time to go so be kind to yourself.
cheers...

[elaina08]

There might be something wrong with your scale or, just remember! Muscle weighs more than fat.

Not to be nit-picky but muscle doesn't way more then fat. 5lbs is 5lbs. Fat is more lumpy and bulky then muscle however, so it takes up more space. You could weigh exactly the same as someone else but if their bf% is higher they will look fatter then someone who's bf% is lower. For this reason. :)