I just want the scale to move...

I used to eat anything and everything for 7 years. Never had to worry about my weight at all. It was always 165 no matter what I ate/did. I decided to try to lose weight so I cut out all soda, ate almost all protein, and started walking/jogging a lot everyday. Almost instantly I gained 10 pounds of "muscle" I'm guessing? I couldn't believe I was now 175 after years of being 165 with no effort/exercise. I got depressed and gave up - started eating whatever I wanted again. Suddenly I was 183! 0.0 I decided it was time to start walking/jogging again. I recently (a few weeks ago) started eating mostly protein again and walk/jogging over 4 miles day, and after the "water weight" dropped (aka- like 5 pounds) I can't lose actual weight at all. I suppose since I'm walking/jogging 4+ miles everyday, and eating mainly protein that I'm losing weight, but gaining muscle? I'm so confused. :/ Could it be that I'm not eating enough fat or carbs? Or I'm not eating enough in general anymore (for the amount of exercise I'm doing)? I just want to see the scale move! :/

p.s.- I feel like if I was a "normal" person (pre-surgery) and I was doing all this, I'd be losing weight like there's no tomorrow!
Someone helpppp :/

In these stages where we are closer to our lowest weights it is a matter of changing up what worked get most of the weight off in the beginning stages.  Here is what has helped for me feel free to use any of these;

- Add resistance training (weights) I'm sorry but you can't / won't gain muscle weight from running/jogging If you want to be toned or athletic looking type body you do have to lift weights.  Jogging / walking is great for your heart but your body loves resistane

 

- Try phasing our dairy and gluten (this made a WORLD of difference when I did this a few months ago!)

 

- Food Journal.  I never realized the little "picks and licks" I did during the day.  It all adds up but when I knew that I had to log it.  I was much more honest with myself.

 

- Educated myself as MUCH as possible on foods that I eat.  I follow a more Paleolithic type lifestyle where I stay away from processed foods and just stick to whole foods, minimal to no carbs (the carbs I eat come from veggies but very very limited fruit)

 

I hope this helps!!! It's frustrating when they scale doesn't go where you want it to go!! Keep at it!  It's all trial and error at this point figuring out what your body runs best on.  It is ALL calories in vs. calories out at the end of the day.

Of cooourse you gain muscle mass when you start jogging daily!

One way to determine if the 10 lbs was muscle - did your clothes fit better?  Or did they become tight from the 10 lbs gain.  If it was muscle, then your clothes should feel loose.  If it's just 10 lbs of fat gained, then your clothes will feel tight.

One thing I will point out is someone told me about a new way to low carb - and that was to add carbs in every 2 weeks for 2 days.  I tried it and my weight starting dropping as soon as I ate carbs!  I've always kept my carbs below 40, sometimes well below 40.  What I found when I added carbs, I actually ate a lot less calories in a day (logging your food really helps pin point what is happening).  I eat any carb I want every day - up to 100 carbs a day, but my calories dropped because I wasn't eating all the fatty meat.  And the scale started moving again.  So now I keep my carbs around 80 per day, and I've dropped another 10 lbs.

Log your food so you can see carbs, protein, and calories.  Then start playing with it.  Try something new every 2 weeks and see if it makes a difference. 

One thing I have learned about low carbing - my body knows the drill.  I am not fooling it into dropping the weight.  Yours is probably not fooled anymore either.  So keep your body guessing by doing low carb (induction phase) but have a 'carb fest' for 2 or 3 days every 2 or 3 weeks - I mean eat tons of carbs.  Then go back to extreme low carbing.  And don't work out for those 2 days or your body will burn through the carbs for fuel for your 4 mile jog.  You might see a few pounds come back on, but then the scale goes down again.  It's the old dieting trick of low calories then gorging for 2 days and back to low calories.

If that doesn't work, try increase your total calories per day (eat more fat).  Could be with all the jogging and low carbing, your body went into survival mode and won't release fat because it's not getting enough calories to sustain the new diet and workouts. 

Trial and error time.  Keep logging your food and track your weight once a week on a chart.  Over time you will be able to pin point what worked, how it worked, and how to tweak it for future success.  And always keep your body guessing.  If you find something that works, don't hammer on it.  Switch it up once in a while so the body doesn't get into a rut.

 

Thanks for the help. I start out writing what I eat each day and I have never followed through with it. I researched about weight gain when you start jogging; it's more common than I thought. I'll do better with tracking my food intake, because I'm so curious what's actually going on. Maybe I'll try to participate in the "Vites/Bites/Exercites" forum thing each day. HmMmMMm....