When should I reevaluate my routines?

Ok, I know you gain weight when exercising because you are gaining muscle BUT how LONG does this happen before you would see some weight loss? If I just knew maybe I wouldn't be so darn depressed about this.

I don't know what the deal is. I consistently LOST weight during the 3 months DH was gone and even splurged on food here and there and did NO working out. The only time I gained weight was when I went to Memphis and during Christmas holiday.

NOW I'm watching all my points and staying under, working out anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes about 5 days a week (except for ehre and there), drinking lots of water and NO NO NO weight loss. Edit to say of course I've only been doing this for a week or 2.

I could step on the scale the past three months daily and see a weight loss. I get on the scale now and I fluctuate 2 pounds daily! Now I know I shouldn't be stepping on the scale, but it WAS my motivation for the 1st three months of trying to lose weight. I lost 20 pounds that way.
UGH. Sorry I'm just whining and I know everyone is sick of it by now.

This post has been edited by boogabearzmom on Jan 19 2006, 06:43 AM

Karen I have read that you are really suppose to only weigh yourself once a week and it should be in the morning before you eat anything. It could be that you are starting to develop muscle and the weight loss won't be so evident now that you are working out. You are doing great!!!

Karen, could you not be eating enough food. I read that you are staying under your allowable points, when you exercise you need to refuel your body by eating the points you earn, if you don't your body thinks you are starving it even if you are eating your regular food amounts.

Think of it as a car, you need to put fuel in it to make it run, if you are planning a big trip (or exercise) you will need to fuel up and make sure you have enough gas to keep you going. Your body is the same way, you need to give it more to make it want to lose.

That may go against everything you have always thought but it is what my leader told us and I find when I do eat all my points(when I followed points) and all my earned points I had the biggest losses. Also when you drop down a point level on WW it can be difficult the first couple of weeks to lose as your body again adjusts to the new level of food you will be giving it.

With all that said, hang in there, we are here for you, pm or email me if you need extra support or help I am here for you.

Karen, I'd give it a total of 2 weeks then take a good, hard look at what you are doing. Are you doing WW flex? If you are, DO NOT GO UNDER YOUR POINTS! The points that you are given are the minimum that you should eat. If you consistanly go under, your body may go into starvation mode and hold onto every ounce you eat. Also, look at what you are spending your points on. I found that I was spending more points on carbs than protein and when I changed that, I started losing again. Now, I've switched to CORE so it's harder to get the "whites" in so I'm hoping that will help.
As for exercising, when you do cardio are you pushing yourself so hard that you can only speak 1-2 words? If not, you should. However, do work out so hard taht you spend most of your time panting.
Check out the WW boards (especially the fitness getting started board) for some great tips. I love that board (I'm munchinmamnomore there).

Thanks everyone. Well I went back to my dieting journal here and 1) I'm a GREAT BIG WHINER! OMG, I need some cheese to go with my wine. I'm horrible, pathetic. 2) Since I started working out January 4th I've only worked out 8 times out of 15. So I guess I'm not working out as much as I thought. AND I just started drinking my water the last few days.

Boy my mind makes me think I'm doing more than I am. I guess I just didn't have to put as much effort into it the past three months and now that I feel I am putting effort into it I'm not losing weight.

I am definitely not eating UNDER my points. I'm right on every day. I usually eat a point or two over my points knowing I'm going to exercise that night, so I'm counting that in too.

I think I'm working out to the point I'm panting. I know I feel like I'm going to pass out when I'm done, lol, and I'm sore the next day. I feel the burn when I do it for sure. I also know I'm got muscle underneath my fat. I feel it and it's not far from the skin. There are places like areas of my tummy, thighs and butt that have more fat content than others, lol.

I just need to stop whining. It was just so easy the 1st three months I lost that 20 pounds.

Hugs, I just had a thought, when you lost the weight when your DH was gone you were running around after your two daughters by yourself and had very little time to rest and snack so maybe your activity level was higher just by doing that alone, plus the stress of being home alone with them could have also aided in your past weightloss. I am just trying to think of why it felt that it was easier. You can to it again, I know you can.

Well Karen I feel like you, while I dont post me whines often I feel like that most days, when I was seeing the scale inch down I was excited and modivaited, but when I saw it creep up and back to where it was last week it was dishearting and makes me want to give up. Not to mention I have nto been able to get a good work out in in alsmost a week, I know its my fault for not finding the time and I coudl give alot of excuese but I wont and I will just try again and hope to see a loss next week.

wanna come over for cheese and whine

True, my activity level is DIFFERENT, but IMO no less. I'm still doing a lot at home, but not as much as I was before. The thing is I feel I'm replacing it by exercising. Who knows. Stress really wasn't a factor because I actually snacked more, I think, when I was stressed.

I'd say it usually takes 2-3 weeks for your body to adjust, and start loosing the weight again. But what I like to do when that happens is to take my measurements. That way I don't get so depressed. B/c even though the scale doesn't show a loss, the inches are melting off the bod. KWIM? Try that for a self-esteem booster. And just give it some time. Remember it's not just about loosing the weight but more about being healthy, and that's what you're doing now.

I know how you feel, Karen. I would also agree that you should give it 2-3 weeks. Muscles retain more water so when you work out you need to drink TONS more water than usual and yes, you also need to eat more. I realized a couple of months ago that I wasn't eating near enough and that is why the scale wasn't moving. Once I started eating more the pounds started dropping. Weird, I know. This weight loss thing is such a puzzle isn't it?

When I first started working out I didn't notice much of a difference, but after about a month I started noticing a HUGE difference in how my clothes fit. Like I said, the scale wasn't moving all that much, but I was losing so many inches. I guess that is why they say 150 is different for everyone. When we were all sick around here and I didn't make it to the gym everyday, the scale didn't go up so I thought I was fine. BUT, my clothes started fitting tighter and tighter.

Once you get your metabolism kicked into high gear you won't have to worry about it so much b/c it will burn off all the fat and you will start seeing the scale move more and more.

Exercise is still by far the best way to lose weight. Try to ignore the scale for a few weeks. I had to do that b/c I was getting so depressed. My spirits were lifted when I was able to fit into my smaller jeans. Now I'm a believer.

Don't give up...

I guess that's what I'm worried about (geesh, I worry about the silliest things ), am I doing the right things to kickstart my metabolism. Ya know. I mean, *I* think I am, but maybe I'm not. Ok, I'll just try to be patient, which is totally against my nature.

I guess that's what I'm worried about (geesh, I worry about the silliest things ), am I doing the right things to kickstart my metabolism. Ya know. I mean, *I* think I am, but maybe I'm not. Ok, I'll just try to be patient, which is totally against my nature.

I'm telling you...we are the same person.

What all are you doing as far as exercise goes?

Well some nights I do my Tae Bo tape which is 25 minutes total with warm up/cool down so I add in a bit of my Carmen Electra's Striptease Aerobics DVD for more exercise. All that exercise usually totals 40 minutes or so.

Some nights I just do Carment ELectra's dvd, but it doesn't exactly get the heartrate up, but I can feel the burn! It's 43 minutes long. I just ordered her second video and that's supposed to be more of a workout. Can't wait til it gets here.

Then I have two Tae Bo DVDS - one is cardio and the other one is all their best upper and lower body workouts. Each one is 50 minutes or so long and I will do one of those some nights.

Then I use the Cable On Demand section for other workouts to spice things up. Like the one last night was Walk Aerobics and was 17 minutes long so I did it several times to get a longer workout in.

Some nights I feel like going longer than 40+ minutes (like go to an hour) and I will just turn on the radio and dance around (not lightly, lol).

Oh and I tried to do two other videos I bought but I can't seem to figure out the moves, they frustrate me.

I think you are doing enough, Karen. I bet you start noticing a change pretty soon.