What am I doing wrong?

Discussion in 'Health and Fitness' started by Slindsay, May 18, 2007.

  1. Slindsay

    Slindsay All violence is necessary

    I've been trying to loose weight for the last two weeks or so and having no success, in fact I think that I've put on 4lbs and I don't understand why?!?

    In the first week, I cut out all snacks and just did cardio at the gym 3 times in the weeks.

    This week I've cut out snacks and started to watch my calorie intake, limiting myself to only 2,000 or so a day (I haven't been hugely strict about this though). I've also made sure to do half an hour of hard cardio work at the gym each day (Except yesterday when I played basketball for an hour instead). weighed myself this morning and I've found the net result of all that work is a 4lb weight increase?

    No I can see why my calorie counting could be wrong because I eat lunch at local shops usually that don't give the count on food so i have to guess the amount BUT I know that I have been eating less and exercising more than when I was maintaining a steady weight.

    Oh, on a side note, I'm eating the same food in the same amounts as my GF and she doesn't seem to be putting on weight, WTH?

    So what's going on? Am I

    a) Completely miscounting calories and somehow eating more than I was when I was maintaining a steady weight (Seems unlikely to me, I know what I was eating before and I know I'm eating less now)

    b) Gaining muscle mass (Again sounds unlikely but it could be what's going on I suppose)

    c) Somehow convincing my body it's starving and doing that weird thing where your body refuses to lose weight (Again doesn't sound right as I'm only eating 500 less that the RDA if my guess is right)

    d) Some other option? eating in my sleep maybe?

    <Shrug> I guess most people are going to suggest a) so I suppose what I'll have to do is keep an exact total of what I eat each day, bum. Anyone got any good systems for tracking diet? I always end up giving up on counting calories in about 3 days when I start :p
     
  2. Hiroji

    Hiroji laugh often, love much

    Id go with c) slindsay.

    Try to eat little but often, cut out fatty foods and excess sugars and dont go hours without any food at all, as the body will go into starve mode and store food.

    Also, how much water are you drinking as of late? if your taking on more water that can add to your weight.

    Also, are you actually overweight? because i was trying to lose get under 10 1/2 stone a few weeks back, and i was training like a demon and i just stayed bang on 10 1/2. It seems like sometimes your body hits an ideal weight and stays there!
     
  3. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    My suspicion would be a). Even if you are gaining muscle, if you're on a calorie deficit (assuming you have calculated right) then your overall weight should be going down.

    One thing that leaps out at me is when you say "I think that I've put on 4lbs". You think? That implies that you might not be weighing yourself very accurately. Try this:

    * Weigh yourself nude (or close to), first thing in the morning, before food, but after using the loo.

    * Make sure you use accurate scales and that they're positioned evenly on a hard flat surface (not carpet, cork or similar).

    * Follow your routine as normal.

    * Come back in a few weeks, or whenever, and weigh yourself again in circumstances as close the original as possible. i.e. the same clothing (or lack), the same scales, first thing in the morning (before food and after using the loo). I'd even go so far as to do it on the same day of the week. People's eating habits can be different on weekends / weekdays.
     
  4. ironknuckles

    ironknuckles contemplating....

    it might be an idea to increase your protein intake and do more weights, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, the bigger msucle groups you work the more calories you burn eg, quads, back depends on waht sort of body you want. every one is different. I lost 10 kilos and took 14 % of my body weight by cutting out snacks, but i upped my protein and did more weights. then again each to their own.
    good luck peace
     
  5. Slindsay

    Slindsay All violence is necessary

    :D You pick up on "I think"? What are you, Columbo?

    I was weighing myself pretty much as you described with the exception that my scales aren't the most accurate of things it seems.
     
  6. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    LOL! Yeah, it seems a little obscure, but it just jumped out at me. :)

    Are they those scales where the dial twists around as you stand on them? They're pretty horrible. My old set would show a 4 lb weight change if I looked with the left eye or the right eye.
     
  7. Slindsay

    Slindsay All violence is necessary


    Yeah, plus they've had the occasional kicking from me for various reasons (Drunk/electricity's off so no lights/Drunk/annoyed with the scales/really drunk/carelessness/drunk carelessness) :D
     
  8. 8GatesAaron

    8GatesAaron Valued Member

    Why don't you try taking waist, chest, and other measurements instead going by weight. This will let you see if your body composition is the thing that's changing.
     
  9. CosmicFish

    CosmicFish Aleprechaunist

    Another couple of thoughts, perhaps you could concentrate on eating 500 cals less than you normally do, rather than 500 less than your RDA. You might have been eating less than your RDA anyway (in which case you may now be eating more). Or you could have been eating much more than your RDA (in which case you'd have cut calories quite heavily and may have caused your body to think there's a food shortage).

    The second thought being that 2 weeks may not be enough to see any serious change anyway. Maybe carry on with what you're doing for a couple more weeks and see how it goes.

    It's all guesswork. :D
     
  10. Socrastein

    Socrastein The Boxing Philosopher

    Try being hugely strict for a week and let us know if you still don't lose any weight. I'd be surprised if you don't.You could also try weighing yourself more often, every morning in fact. If after a night of not being hugely strict you wake up a pound or two heavier, and after a day of being hugely strict you maintain or lose weight, well then cheating is your culprit.
     
  11. tekkengod

    tekkengod the MAP MP

    the type of cardio you're doing i would say is also a factor. waht are you doing?

    doing fierce interval training has yielded great results for me. i've cut 8 lbs and toned up in all the areas i was after in the course of about a month and a half.
     
  12. TheMachine

    TheMachine Valued Member

    whatd does your strength training and cardio routine look like?
     
  13. Cuchulain82

    Cuchulain82 Custodia Legis

    It's been a few days Slindsay, any luck?
     
  14. Slindsay

    Slindsay All violence is necessary

    Aye, there has been actually, big thanks to everyone who gave advice on this thread. :D

    Weight started dropping off the moment I started to count the calories, guess that it must just have been me guessing wrong on the stuff without calorie counts. I replaced all that stuff with stuff I could calorie count for and bingo! Am now aiming to eat about 2,000 cal a day and hit the gym as often as I can and the weights going now.

    Only problem I've encountered was conferencing the last couple of days where I couldn't count the cals but suspect they where very bad, have to see how much damage that does on the scales but I'm hoping it won't be crippling.

    Now it's just a matter of endurance till though :eek:

    The Machine & Tekkengod

    Cardio routine at the moment consists of using the exercise bikes at the gym 3 times in ten minute bursts. Looking at calories burned I tend to aim to burn 125 per ten minutes to total around 350 a session (Because I'm tired come the last session)

    Weights aren't anything formal at the moment, to tell the truth I do them when I can be bothered to and mainly for fun. I still don't trust my patellar tendon to take heavy weight (Though I think it's fine now) So will be getting back into a weights routine properly in about a months time, at the moment I just try for maintenance of current levels:


    All in 3 sets of 8 reps

    Bench Press 85kg
    Dumbbell rows 45kg
    Military Press ???

    Front Squats 40kg*
    Squats 60kg*

    * Used to be about 70 and 100 before I did my patellar tendon at Xmas :cry:
     
  15. TheMachine

    TheMachine Valued Member

    Thats hte answer... you're not doing enough strength training
     

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