Frustrated!!

Every day that I work out, I gain .5 pounds. Some people will say that I am gaining muscle, but I weigh over 200 pounds, so I highly doubt that. And, even if so, I don’t want to keep going and end up being 220 pounds and muscular! Why would I gain weight when I work out?? And, no, I am not blowing the diet on those days, I have tried to be consistent on the diet.

When I started the program, I went for 3 days without working out and lost 2 pounds, then I work out for 3 days and I have put 1.7 of it back on!! Makes it hard to continue.

When did you start working out ? That seems recent. Be patient.

Your weight on the scale can vary of even more than 5 pounds in the same day, just because you drink or sweat more or less, you ate/digested sooner or later. It’s water, not fat or muscle that you gain or lose.
You cannot judge the efficiency of a strength program after only a few days,results can be evaluated after one month or longer. To gain muscle mass in measurable amount, people need weeks, or months (depending on persons).

You are satisfied with your diet ? Honestly, you shouldn’t.
Nobody is perfect but you have whole days when you don’t eat anything my Mum would call “food” . You live on lots of fast-food snacks and sodas. That’s enough to completely offset the efforts you are doing in the gym. Most of your weight loss comes from the diet, not from the work-outs.

There are good things as you are having fruits. You are having some “healthier snacks”, but they are still snacks. You need solid balanced meals.
For a start, you could try to get everyday 2 or 3 meals with :
A good amount of meat/fish/egg/low fat dairy (now you seem too far from your protein needs to build muscles)
+ 1 serving of bread/pasta/potatoes/beans/oats…
+ 2 servings of veggies
Keep your healthy snacks and fruits, of course.
Drink plenty of water. If you cannot live without sodas, the diet version is still better than the full sugar.
You can have a few sweet snacks and drinks (taken after a balanced meal to avoid sugar peak) but not everyday, maybe 3 times a week.
If you take better habits, you’re sure to get results. Hope that helps !

CCCC is giving you excellent advice. Coming from a former scale-aholic, I would advise that you weigh in once a week. Daily fluctuations are normal. Hope you reach your goal.

Thanks for the help. I struggle a lot with diet… I, unlike most, do not overeat and don’t enjoy eating that much…. wish there was a liquid diet! So, I struggle getting the protein I need. I will try to focus more on cleaning up my diet and not freak out about the weight gain. I have been seriously cutting back on my sodas,… went from 5 or 6 a day to 1 or 2… and I had figured that alone would help me lose weight, but instead, I am just gaining weight!

Thanks so much for the help though. I will avoid the scale for a few days and then try again. I appreciate the support and advise!

You also seem to be continuously 500 calories below your intake goal.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but you can actually stall weight loss by eating too few calories. You end up slowing your metabolism, which makes it harder and harder to lose weight, and then when you go back to a normal food intake later, your weight will balloon.

Plus, when you are only at 1400 calories, it makes it harder to get the protein intake you need for the workouts.

A man, even a sedentary man, shouldn’t go below about 1800 calories a day. It isn’t healthy, and you risk not getting the nutrients you need to stay healthy. There are exceptions, of course, but that would be for a really short man with a slight build. T

I think it comes down to making healthy food choices, exercise, and don’t concern yourself with the scale. By staying dedicated to your diet, and exercise routines, pound will come off in time.
It is best weighing yourself once a week, doing it daily will drive you crazzy. From water alone we might be up or down a few pounds from day to day. However in time you will see results.

ExuberantEye – You’re getting super advice from these folks. Take it from a guy who started at 232 (now at 168 – heading for 150). Focus on the good things – eat well, not too much, don’t punish yourself for slipping up a day or two,exercise regularly, pick up a sport, and get off the scale (well, maybe monthly check)! Have fun!

Measure other things. I didn’t see this covered by anyone (I may have missed it), but just in case I didn’t:

Go to GNC and get a pair of cheap Accu-Measure calipers. Google around for some formulas for caliper tests, and start measuring skin folds. Do it once a week, and keep track of your results in a spread sheet or notebook so you can note changes.

Get a cheap cloth tape measure from GNC while you are there. Use it to measure your calves, thighs, waist, upper arms, chest – whatever typically grows and shrinks as a result of exercise and diet. Do it once per week and note changes in a spreadsheet or notebook.

Often the scale is not the best measurement of changes in your physique. You should keep metrics on all these things to really see the way exercise and a healthy diet is positively impacting your life.

I agree, the scale connot be trusted as the only answer to how you are doing. The best judge is you. How do you feel? Healthier, happier? How is your relationship with food? Do you love it? Or hate it? I personally love food, as I should. Food is not our enimey. It is how, when and what we eat that matters. We should love good healthy and tasty food. Just be aware of the quanity we eat, and the quality. Regardless of what you may belive, Mc Donalds is not a healthy food source. And in my opinion, not really food at all.

I’m so glad I found this post. I have been dieting and recently started a pretty aggressive strength training program and actually went up 1lb this week. I was a little frustrated, but I can actually SEE the changes in my body and I feel tighter, smaller, stronger, and better than I have in a long time, so I’m putting patience first and going to give this program at least a month before I make any changes. I like my diet, I think I’m eating pretty healthy, getting in plenty of protein, water, and veggies. I still struggle some days, but I try to plan my meals daily, pack my lunch and take everything with me to work. I also have taken up exercising in the evenings and I have noticed that my energy levels are higher and workouts much stronger. I try to remember that it didn’t take me a few months to gain this weight, so it’s not going to just fall off in a few months. I am making changes that I want to keep for life, so the longer it takes me to get to my goal weight the more time I have to fine tune my healthy habits and really make them a part of my life. Good luck and remember, be patient and vigilant and you will get there!

The numbers of the scale can make us feel so good or so bad! I am in the bad habit of weighing myself each day, and it honestly makes or breaks my morning, which isn’t a healthy attitutde to take!
ExuberantEye – do you also take measurements? (Eg. waist) This is another good way to keep track, and then if you are putting on muscle, you will know, because the weight will be staying the same but you will be losing centimetres/inches.

Let you Jeans do the talkin! I have a pair of jeans that I want to get back into.I try them on once a week. I know the real accomplishment will come when they are too big! Then I will see about the scale. I have a bad habit of dieting and. "Oh I have lost 15 pounds “, I deserve those french fries” and, boom, its all over ! Taking measurements and getting on scales are just too much effort. It’s hard enough to diet and exercise. The reward is looking good in the clothes you never thought you could wear. (or get back into)

Along with all the good advice above, you must have patience my freind….. Losing the weight takes time.

Weigh yourself once a week and on that day, weigh yourself 3 times in that day and average it out…. I’ve been doing this for about 36 weeks now and noticed that I’ll lose or gain water throughout that 1 day varying my results… try that.. =)

Keep up the good work and continue to keep your goal in mind everyday.

LR
road2riddick.blogspot.com

I know how you feel, I felt awful yesterday (sick/miserable… not too sure what), as a result I barely ate, only 139 calories, (and I know this isn’t healthy – I don’t make a habit of it), and gained 0.5 kilo! Have to stop weighing myself each day.