A little disheartened... am I doing this right?

[wannabefit]

Hello all! I'm not sure if I'm working out correctly as nothing seems to be changing!!!

I started off on myfitnesspal.com to keep track of my calories and to record my exercise (at least 30mins every day). I'm still on the site and recording my weight each Friday but apart from an initial 4lbs weight loss and 1lb the next week, nothing has changed! In fact today, I'm 1lb heavier!!!

I've had a migraine the last couple of days and probably not been eating enough as a result (still did 30mins exercise a day, yoga & pilates to help stretch my muscles).

Since I've discovered this site and decided I want to get fit rather than thin, I've added weight training to my workout schedule (it's a new addition, but I'm hoping to visit the gym twice a week along with starting the 30day shred and some fitness DVD's). Should I give up on weighing myself and use another measure to judge my performance?

I've incorperated Paleo into my diet (a slow transtition but I've given up on bread and pasta already which is a start). My meals mainly consist of meat/ fish with veggies and sweet potato mash - compared to the pasta bakes & sandwiches I used to live off, I should be dropping weight by now!!!

Has anyone got any feedback as to where I'm going wrong?! I've still got the motivation to continue, but after nearly a month of trying I would have hoped for more by now!

[Durandal]

I can relate to this as I started slowly going Paleo about a month and a half ago.

For starters I found it's helpful to put things in perspective - we ate non-paleo diets for most of our lives so it's going to take some time for us to physically & mentally adjust. Personally, I eased into paleo very gradually, and my body still hated me at first (but it lurves me now )

I also wouldn't put much faith in the scale's weekly fluctuations. Changes in water weight will cause the scale will jump around. I only weigh myself once a month and even then, how I look and feel always trumps the number on the scale. Other folks have mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating: take pictures of yourself every week and compare how you look now against how you look two months from now.

One problem I did run into was eating enough calories. After I got rid of cereals, pasta, bagels, etc (all the high-carb, high calorie staples of a typical American diet) I was eating at about a 700-calorie deficit each day (this is ironic because, pre-paleo, I used to always stuff my face). I felt tired and irritable, but strangely didn't feel hungry. I had to force myself to eat larger portions of the right stuff, but doing that made me feel much better - and I wouldn't have figured that out if I didn't eventually count calories.

I'd also make sure there's enough variety in your diet. It sounds like there's a healthy mix in there but I've heard stories of folks who would eat exactly the same meal for dinner every day - you want to avoid this for obvious reasons. Every week I go out to the grocery store and buy something I've never tried before. Who would've thought kale and avocados and daikon would be so tasty?

[Deansy]

I don't know what to say, but stick with it, it will work out. Ignoring the number on the scale, how do you feel?

[mikeinscho]

One problem I did run into was eating enough calories.

Most people don't think that eating too little can make your fat loss stall but it is usually the issue behind it. That might be your problem, but hard saying with out knowing.

Agreed in ditching the scale. Use measurements (waist, hips, chest/bust, upper arm, upper leg) or the standard front/side before and after picture to note progress. You don't see someone walking down the street and say "Wow....she weighs ### Lbs", you say "Damn she looks good"...so why put some much emphasis on a number that only you know?

[Guest Snake McClain]

i believe if you are strength training part of the weight gain could be muscle increase. Fat is being burned. it has to be. If the food vs exercise ratio is being met. I'm guessing the weight increase is mucle. also a good chance there is the water weigth fluctuation as well. Also be sure to weight yourself at the same time in the same conditions each day. I weight myself every morning after my bathroom visits. Right when I wake up. It is a truer idea of how i weigh. If you weight after a workout you'll be a bit heavier do to water intake and muscle swelling and such. Keep that in mind.

Now if you are doing all that and i look like a dbagger for trying to tell you what to do then sorry. my mistake.

[Waldo]

I wouldn't say to totally ditch the scale, but at least add a 2nd measurement. Nothing has carried me through difficult times/numbers on the scale quite like waist measurements.

Since you use MFP, it has a built in charting feature, increasing the frequency of weight measurements might be the way to go. When you can see your daily measurements plotted on a chart over time trends become obvious, something that can help smooth the upwards of 5 lbs per day fluctuation. Gaining 4 lbs since yesterday, yesterday setting a new low, can be crushing mentally, it helps to be able to see that this 4 lb overnight rebound is actually 3 lbs lighter than the list time you had a 4 lb overnight rebound a week and a half ago, something that you would never remember unless you chart things.

[ebm1224]

how long have you been on this program for?

[tazer]

You don't see someone walking down the street and say "Wow....she weighs ### Lbs", you say "Damn she looks good"...so why put some much emphasis on a number that only you know?

i like this a whole lot. sometimes i forget about that. it's crazy how a person can go from feeling great about themselves to completely crushed because of a change in a few numbers that fluctuate based on SO many factors. if you just want to weigh less, move to the moon!

as to the OP, i agree with what the other posters have said and would add that you should try on your tightest fitting item of clothing once a week. like if your problem area is your lower body, make it a pair of pants tight enough you'd feel uncomfortable to wear them in public. eventually you should be able to wear them out, and you'll feel SO good about yourself!

[Moxie Hart]

I don't know about anyone else but when I used to use myfitnesspals to track calories I found it very inaccurate. If you aren't entering the calorie information yourself, maybe make it a habit of double checking the calorie counts that come up in their database to be sure for a few days.

[Maggie May]

I don't know about anyone else but when I used to use myfitnesspals to track calories I found it very inaccurate. If you aren't entering the calorie information yourself, maybe make it a habit of double checking the calorie counts that come up in their database to be sure for a few days.

Oh yeah - I always double check the user entries!!! They were so off sometimes! Or, you'd enter a seemingly generic item, and it would be someone's homemade thing that was competely inaccurate! Oh well. At least if you are smart about it and double check, it can get you pretty close!

[CaptainCat]

Be sure to check out staci's 30 lb weight gain for some revealing insight about how much weight matters

I find my only real reason to track my weight these days is to combine it with my Omron measurement to make sure I'm dropping weight in fat and not in muscle, I recommend it

Check out my chart, I've got a great thing going on right now, EVERYONE who sees me thinks I've lost 40 lbs, when in reality it's only been about 15, but it's been the right kind of weight loss

[Morrigainz]

Yep, I've been at this for well over a month now and I've only lost 1.6 lbs. Don't get discouraged! Just remember that no matter what the scale says, you're improving your overall fitness!

[wannabefit]

Thanks all! Sorry I haven't replied, been a busy bee! Well, I've built the bridge and now I'm getting over it! The turning point came on Saturday when I went for a meal with my hubby (almost paleo but I'm not going to kick myself too much it was a treat!). Anyways, we were talking about my training and I suddenly noticed my arm muscle. Now it's not huge or anything, but its well scuplted and looks stronger than ever - a beautiful little set of biceps! Now I can SEE a result, it's given me so much more motivation than the scales!

I'm going to up my food intake a little as I think, like everyone has commented, myfitnesspal could be a little out and I don't want to be eating too little and ruin results! I've also created a kind of 'motivation board' on my computer full of pictures of the kind of fit body I dream of, along with motivational sayings and it seems to get my arse off the sofa!!

#CaptainCat - how do you measure your body fat? That's a reading I would be interested in!

Thanks all for your motivating comments - I'm back in the gym on Friday to up all of my weights!!

[Morrigainz]

Yeah I lost another 1.2 lbs (for a total loss of 2.6 in the past 2 weeks) and I upped my calorie intake from 1200 to 1500-1600, with more fat and protein, and a lot less grains and stuff.

You've got some great ways to motivate you! Feel free to message me if you ever need a cheerleader...I'm pretty good at it!

[AnMiSu]

When I first started working out I was a little bummed that I wasn't losing much. Luckily I get weighed on one of the scales that breaks everything down for you so I could see my fat%, as well as pounds of fat, muscle, etc. This helped me a lot because at one point I gained around 10 pounds of muscle in a month (I used to be athletic so I guess what they say about muscle memory is correct). I lost more fat but it looked like I didn't go down much if I only looked at the total weight.