Frustrated

I have been working out for the past 30 days and have missed two days of workouts.. I do anywhere from 20 45 minutes of cardio a day. Then the remainder of the time i do weights to help tone up these batwings.. The problem is I have not lost one pound at all.. I am eating all the right things but the scale said I actually gained .5lbs of weight.. How in the hell can that happen?? This is frustrating and makes me want to stop going to the gym.. In the begining phase when I worked out like this the weight dropped of like rain.. Not is is sitcking like glue.. I have a goal to loose 20lbs by April 15... That doesn't seem to be going to happen at all. I come home sore every night from pushing myslef to the limit. Right now my abs burn from doing the hammer crunch with 60 lbs of weight.. I know that I will never loose the lower pouch of my tummy but I want to see some results somewhere.

I'm looking for advice and help somewhere along the line... anyone please help me as I am getting very frustrated.

When you start working out , or working out harder you need to put the scale away. If you are sore your muscles are broken down and holding more water than normal to heal. You have to judge by how you fit in your clothes not what the scale says. Trust me , I have gained 25 pounds of muscle and still wear the same size clothes. Judge in the mirror not on the scale. I feel a hundred times better at my weight now than when I got to my lowest weight. Keep at it because this is about HEALTH not the # on the scale.

Do not get frustrated, it takes time for your body to adjust to what youare doing to it.  Definately put the scale away.....Muscle weights more than fat remember that.  So what you are doing is conditioning your body to a new way of life and give it time to adjust.  Don't stop what you are doing.....one thing i have done in the past is change what im doing as far as exercising.  That will trick yoru body to switch modes and you will see a difference.  Try working out wiht differnt weights, and increase the weight. 

Stop pushign yourself so hard, you will only get more discouraged and you will not have fun in what you are doing.  Have fun, ride a bike, skip rope. do a class at the gym, but above all else STOP GETTING ON THE SCALE AND LOOKING IN THE MIRROR!! 

You are doing great, keep up the good work and post some new pics soon so we can see you hard work...you inspired me already!!

Thanks so much... I will try to switch gears today.. perhaps do some laps in the pool then workout on the Eliptical.. That in itself is a task.. I don't see how my clothes have changed at least yet.. I think starting today I will have my husband measure me and compare that on a weekly basis. This way I will see if what I am doing is good or bad.. who knows but it will be worth a try...

No weekly measuring, go by how you feel.  Remember this is a life changing thing, so do not ru****  You will still have yo-yo days...but you will see the difference in how your clothing fits and how you feel.

Do your measurements now and then again in two months...that way you can focus on something...No mot make it your focus as to your weiht, and inches.  Remember, you are not who you used to be, that is the most important thing!!!

you are getting good advice.  keep on working and don't give up, the improvements will come. i haven't lost a pound since 9 months out, but i look and feel so much better now and am in good physical shape.  i think the entire WLS community has it very twisted, they focus on BMI and weight which are really terrible indicators of health.  my bmi and weight would put me solidly in the obese catagory even though i have very little body fat.  those measurments don't take into account hydration, muscle mass, and bone density.  best of luck and try not to get frustrated, you are on the right track!

I have been guilty of checking the scale...but I have got it down to once a week now (I always check the same day and time).  The best way to check for weight loss is not the scale.  Keep a journal of your measurements.  I check my measurements once a month on the first.  I always lose at least a few inches. 

Another thing I do is buy myself a pair of pants that don't fit me and try them on every 2-4 weeks to see how they fit.  When you are able to zip and button those pants...trust me it feels much better than seeing the numbers on the scale go down.  In fact I just got into a pair of pants that last summer would barely go over my knees.  Now I plan on wearing them to work Friday!!!  I have another pair of pants that I am now waiting to fit into now.  It's actually fun...because all of the sudden you have a new pair of pants to wear.

Why not check out your exercise journal from the last month, bet you have lots of great entries there.  how does that compare to before surgery?  not keeping an exercise journal...you might consider starting, I get a thrill looking at how much more weight I can lift, fast I can run etc....

You are getting lots of good advice from everyone here.  There seems to be great supportive people on this board. 

I imagine that it is frustrating to be just 10lbs from where you think you should be but when you think about how much effort and calculations really went into coming up with that goal number, you can manage your expectations about what it really means to get there.   Maybe where you are is where you are meant to be....and I noticed that this is a LONG way from where you started, which you should be so proud of.

mcarthur01 is right about BMI and weight only being indicators....I have reached 20% body fat - at 42 years of age (a long way from 50.4% where I started) and I am still in the obese category based on BMI. 

You might also check in with your nutritionist to see if you are eating enough/too much for your current body composition and to see if your % balance of macro nutrients are in line.  If you are overtraining and not eating enough, that can cause trouble too (being tired, cranky, getting sick etc,... all signs of overtraining)

This is a lifetime journey and sounds like you are doing the right things. I hope that you are able  to sit back and really enjoy all that you have accomplished, it is amazing to have come this far, hasn't it?  I toast my glass (of water) to you!

Shelly

I ran over 1200 miles last year and lost one pound. The math is simple in my case. I ate enough to keep pace with all the running. My appetite went up a lot with all the running so I ate more. For the last month I have given a concerted effort to lose weight and have lost about 4 pounds. It is frustrating because of how hard it is but the bottom line is that if I lose a pound a week it will only take half a year to get where I want to be. Stick with it and you will see the scale move.

You are getting great advice from everyone that has posted!  I agree 100% that once you start training, put the scale away. The numbers tend to go up after workouts for a number of reasons and it rarely ever means it is body fat, but rather other components that are needed for being an active healthy individual. And even if know this, the numbers have still left a mental imprint, and affect our attitude about ourselves or choices we make. 

People have touched on muscle is weighing more than fat, but there is also an inflammatory process that occurs to help the body heal and build muscle mass, with inflammation comes water retention. Also as you train, your glycogen (carbohydrate/energy stores) grow so you are able to work out longer....this increases weight because of not only more energy being stored but also water for the metabolic reactions. The other thing in training is the importance of recovery/rest days.  This is essential! Here is a link I have posted on my FB page that talks about the importance of rest: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267--13104 -0,00.html

The only time I ever have anyone weigh themselves while training is for hydration and water repletion to replace what was lost during workouts.  You are doing everything right for living a healthy and active lifestyle, it may be time to shift the thinking from diet and weight loss to health and vitality?