Getting discouraged - Page 2

mishi · #16 (**permalink**) September 2nd, 2007, 12:04 PM

HI Mindi! You have gotten a lot of good support but I thought I would add my two cents as well!! I have been in your shoes!! I started working out in June and my weight stalled (still stalled)... however it was only when I stopped working so hard that I realized it really HAD made a difference. I only noticed it when I lost it and got flabbier

Now I have to work to gain it all back!! The only reason I am losing any weight now is that I am losing my muscle so yay the scale is down but the cellulite is right back where it was on my butt!!! sigh. Don't sweat it. Just stay the course! There is another girl on this forum (I have a bad memory... I am thinking Lukewarm... darn these fake names

) that started working out with a trainer and eating differently and for the first month or so she was really discouraged but she didn't quit and it has paid off!! She is almost 20lbs down!! Don't give up!!! Your body will get to that point and the weight will come off!

pj567 · #17 (**permalink**) October 26th, 2007, 10:36 AM

Hi there

Lots of great comments on this so far. I agree that your body has been converting your fat to muscle which is why you may be weighing the same as when you first started. Having more wiggle room in your clothes is a great way to indicate that you're actually losing weight. I'm just wondering if maybe, now that you're working out, you might want to increase the amount of food you have rather than lower it. I've heard that a typical female (I'm assuming you are one) needs to eat about 2000 calories a day. This isn't to say you can eat junk food, but it means you may not have to worry so much about counting calories at all. Eat when you like how often you like-as long as the foods are high in nutrition (like yogurt, fruits, vegetables, meat), there's no danger of gaining weight from it. Especially not if you're lifting 40-50 reps in a weight training session. Holy! Way to go on strength training

Another thing I wonder is, are you taking any days off? Sometimes when you work out a muscle group, and especially if you're working it that hard, it can be better to take a day off weight training so you give the body time to recover from it. When you're weight training you're essentially breaking down the muscle so that when it rebuilds, it can build up stronger than it was before. Usually this rebuilding happens after you go to sleep or the day afterwards. If you continue to do heavy weight training day after day, it may be that the body isn't recovering as fast. So sometimes weight training every other day is sufficient (ie. weight training one day, next day off, weight training the next day, next day off), and some people weight train every day with cardio and take the last day of the week off. You can still do cardio on your off days when you're not weight training though. It helps you stick with the program you're on.

I just know this because when I've tried it, I sometimes saw a noticeable difference in weight loss the next day after my recovery day. Covert Bailey used to talk a lot about this too. He was a nutritionist/exercise expert who had a long running PBS series in the early 90's. I recommend any of his videos, truly (I'm not getting any money for saying that, I just like him a lot lol)

Well, hope this has helped a bit. Best of luck on your weight loss

SweatPea · #18 (**permalink**) October 26th, 2007, 12:37 PM

Just so you know you can't change fat to muscle nor muscle to fat - they are made up of totally different cells.

You can lose fat or "shrink" the fat cells - but there is no changing it to muscle.

yarmiah · #19 (**permalink**) October 26th, 2007, 02:21 PM

Quote:

"shrink" the fat cells

I was so surprised when I learned that too, SweatPea. It seems you don't actually gain or lose fat cells, it's the
same number. When you lose weight you are merely shrinking them down
in size. No matter really, same result in the end if you lose weight, you lose
weight, just not cells.

One of the best things I saw on The Biggest Loser (I dont recall which season) was when at the end, they had the contestants run a certain
distance and back. Then gave them a back pack filled with weights that
represent how much they had lost, so they could FEEL a difference in their
body when they ran. I'm not sure what this has to do with the current
topic, but it just reminded me I guess because there was a visual of the
weight lost I guess.

Keep pushing Forward Mindi- the tortoise won the race, not the hare!

MindiK · #20 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2007, 04:48 AM

Wow...thanks, y'all!!

As of today, Oct. 22, I'm down to 200!!! For a few weeks there I didn't lose any weight at all...I was stalled at 206. Then I looked back at the food diary I'd been keeping and realized I'd only been eating around 1,200 calories a day. WAAAAAAAY too low. So I upped the calories (in a healthy way, of course), and started losing again. Time to set a new goal!!

After reading the advice on breaking up the weight training (training one day, skipping the next, etc.), I'm thinking that might help even more. Not only in letting my muscles rest and rebuild, but also in breaking up the monotony of the workout. I'm thinking I'm going to lift only on MWF....or maybe do arms Monday, legs Tuesday, and alternate during the week. Would that work, do you think?

SweatPea · #21 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2007, 04:50 AM

That's awesome Mindi!

WTG!

MindiK · #22 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2007, 04:51 AM

Thanks!!!! I'm pretty excited myself...even more so thinking about how, sometime during the next week, if all goes well, I'll see that elusive "1" in front of my weight....

SweatPea · #23 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2007, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MindiK

Thanks!!!! I'm pretty excited myself...even more so thinking about how, sometime during the next week, if all goes well, I'll see that elusive "1" in front of my weight....

One-derland, here you come!

MindiK · #24 (**permalink**) October 29th, 2007, 04:58 AM

I can't WAIT!!!!

pj567 · #25 (**permalink**) November 27th, 2007, 12:54 PM

Muscle weighs more than fat. When you start working out, the body will often start making muscle first because its the muscle that burns the fat. That's why you weigh the same as when you started.

Try letting your clothes be a better indicator of your weight loss than your scale. A scale won't tell you that your fat has been converted to muscle, it will only tell you what you weigh. Your clothes will start fitting looser and you'll see more definition in your calves, thighs, etc.

Keep doing what you're doing, and the scale will start to show the weight loss you want. It just takes more time for it to do so.

pj567 · #26 (**permalink**) November 27th, 2007, 12:57 PM

haha oops, I posted to this already lol (silly me, I'm so new to forums)

Congratulations on your weight loss

SweatPea · #27 (**permalink**) December 19th, 2007, 05:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pj567

Muscle weighs more than fat. When you start working out, the body will often start making muscle first because its the muscle that burns the fat. That's why you weigh the same as when you started.

Try letting your clothes be a better indicator of your weight loss than your scale. A scale won't tell you that your fat has been converted to muscle, it will only tell you what you weigh. Your clothes will start fitting looser and you'll see more definition in your calves, thighs, etc.

Keep doing what you're doing, and the scale will start to show the weight loss you want. It just takes more time for it to do so.

Muscle doesn't actually weigh more than fat - a pound is a pound. However, muscle is more condensed than fat and so you can lose fat, but still weigh the same. And you will know if you are doing it the right way because your clothes will fit so much better.

paydirt · #28 (**permalink**) December 20th, 2007, 08:19 AM

Awesome news!

My simple way of breaking up weights is this:

Chest/Triceps (Pushing exercises)
Back/Biceps (Pulling exercises)
Legs

You can do abdominals and calf raises everyday. Those muscles are built differently.

I break up pushing and pulling so that I can move my arms when they are sore. If both your biceps and triceps are sore on the same day, then it hurts to move the arm either way! I also do the "big" exercises first, so chest before triceps, because if you fatigue the triceps before doing chest then the triceps will not be able to help the chest out.

spartacus26 · #29 (**permalink**) December 24th, 2007, 10:45 AM

Somebody a million posts ago wrote to keep going two more weeks...

I just read recently that it takes your body six months to get adjusted to having bigger muscles and only then will they really start working at maximum capacity. (I have yet to keep up an exercise regimen for six months, so I can't tell you that's true from experience.)

So keep it up!

thefaithdebate · #30 (**permalink**) April 20th, 2008, 10:29 PM

Its is never easy, that is for sure....