Not losing, but looking better

I don't get it. I'm eating within my allowance, i'm exercising twice a day 4-5 times a week with walking and circuit training, I'm drinking TONS of water and green tea... and I have GAINED weight according to my scale. When I was on Weight Watchers back in September 06 with a similar plan, I dropped 3 pounds in one week (then a pound a week after that until I hit my goal). Ugghh...

However, I'm looking better. My arms are thinning out and getting muscle (unless it's my imagination), my energy is up, and my clothes fit better (unless that too is my imagination). I know this is a great thing and I am grateful for it, I just don't understand why the scale isn't going in the right direction. Broken scale? It's so discouraging when i go "YES! Today it's going to be lower..." ... and it's actually HIGHER.

Tips? Similar Stories? Light at the end of the tunnel? I have a wedding in 84 days and a dress that makes me look like i've squeezed into a sausage casing... I need all the help I can get.

Thanks :)

If you are toning and gaining muscle your weight might go up a bit at first.  Your dress may fit better if that is the case - firming up might be all you need.  Use the dress as your meter not the scale.

god i wish i was you! you are so lucky! ive lost 20 pounds and ive only had a slight difference. a slight!

but anyway, dont look at the scale. i only like to because it's the only solace i get from my pants not fitting any looser. good job with your clothes fitting better though!!

i have the same thing happening to me to a T. except the "looking better" part has slowed down and i dont have a wedding comming up (congrads by the way). the thing i tend not to understand is how fast do you put on weight from mussle and how much is it etc.

but yes i have to agree with ajjciir if your looking better and feeling better, isent that the best way to messure your progress. after all thats the goal your working twords.

all i can say is keep up what your doing. even if the scail isnt moving or going the right way. you are noticing changes, good changes. so try not to worrie an djust keep going at it.

good luck

Hey, rachel, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about a thing!

First of all, if you are feeling more energetic, have thinner and stronger arms and fit better into your clothings, that's all you need! It's more meaningful to look better and feel healthier than to just merely lose few pounds. And it's probably from all the muscles you are gaining faster than the fats you are losing. Btw, how is your wedding dress? I'm sure you will feel better in your dress looking better than to lose few pounds but not looking better (: Good luck and keep it going!

-Lemon Jello

Hey Rachel!

I'm glad to hear that you're looking better..and by your own standards too! Sometimes everyone else tells us we look better but it takes us so long to admit to ourselves that we've changed.  As for the pounds, I have three things to say. 1) As others have said, that weight is probably muscle.  In time, as I'm sure you know, muscle will burn more fat. 2) You have a while until your goal, and it's a reasonable goal, and I'm SURE you'll make it if you keep on this track.  In a way, maybe this is some sort of plateau while your muscle grows? (I don't know.) 3) In the end, it's really about looking better and not the number of pounds, right? You're not overweight by any means (or at least from the sounds of it), so really it's more about toning up areas and getting rid of fat, instead of needing to shed tons of fat before you can even feel muscle.  I would just concentrate on how you feel (which is great!) and how you look (which you said is getting better!).  You can check your size by trying on your dress, but if that's too stressful, take measurements.  Between the scale and the measuring tape, I'm sure you'll see a difference.

Congratulations so far and good luck! Keep me posted!

Hey Rachel.

Yep. Same same deal over here. Recently I went away on vacation and lost about 6 pounds. HAppy about this, i decided- hey I should try and maintain this loss and return to the gym. Two weeks later and no weighing myself i look and feel better (my arms are also MUCH more toned, more than they have ever been.) Thinking there would be a net loss and improvement on my weight loss path- I decided out of curiosity to weigh myself, bad idea- I had gained back 4.

So all in all, Im ok with the fact that I gained 4 but fit into my clothes better. I've heard that there is an initial period where there is weight  maintenance or gain before loss if you're weight training and do cardio. On average I go to the gym for an hour and a half to two hours a day and STILL only weight gains.

WIsh me luck and good luck to you.

I'm 148 at 5'4" and trying to get down to 130. anything less than that I feel is unrealistic at this point, so God willing I'll get there with my hard work.

Wish me luck! and good luck to you!

Hey rach, don't sweat it. My wife and I are in the same boat. We both lost alot of weight but we sometimes feel like our scale stalled out. But the inches are just melting away. I think that is the most important thing. Building musle and loosing inches. I have to go buy a new suit today. I am kind of excited for the guy to take my mesuments because I havent taken them in about a year. I will let you guys know the results.

You are probably gaining muscle and having a whole lot of positive body composition changes that don't translate into a loss on the scale:

1) Your bones may be getting denser, to handle your exercise load. This has weight -it's lean mass, which you want.

2) You're probably growing capillaries to bring more oxygen to your muscles. This also counts as lean mass.

3) You're probably burning fat within the muscle - this will create a longer, leaner looking muscle and it's not quite the same as "building" muscle. But it is a VERY good thing.

4) You're body is probably storing gylcogen along with 4 parts water in your muscle, to be ready for the next day's exercise session. This will translate as pounds on the scale - but it's not fat weight. Definetly desireable.

5) You don't say how long you've been circuit training, but it is possible to have built some muscle, or at very least, preserved it. Most people only build a few pounds of muscle per year, so if it's only been a month or so, it's probably minimal.

So you can see that if you add up those 5 items, your scale may not have moved at all, or you have even gained a little. But if your arms are getting thinner and your clothes are fitting better, that's a sure sign you have shed FAT, which is what you want. So you have gained some lean mass, shed some fat... the scale shows the same but you *have* lost fat. Which is what you want!

My body tends to go in phases like this. Initially, I lost several inches but the scale had barely budged. Then suddenly it started dropping, until I reached another plateau, during which I lost more inches, and now the scale is back to moving again.

    I understand how you feel rachelw! I have had a similar thing happen to me. One thing I had to make peace with was that getting smaller was the goal here and not the number on the scale. I started at 199 am now 182. That starting number is from November. I have watched my calorie intake and exercised just as you are BUT even though I expected my weight to have come down faster, I am so much smaller now. I have lost 11 inches off of my waist so far.

Just keep going and if the scale is discouraging you then don't use it. Measure yourself instead. I have a wedding in 4 weeks with a dress that I think looks like a pencil so I understand completely!

Same stories here too :)

When you just want to look good, scrap the scale and replace it with tape measurement. You are loosing inches and body Fat%, which in my opinion is AWESOME!! You are building muscles too thats how you get that "lookin good" toned looks ~.^

Remember that muscles are denser than fat, it takes up less space, so you will find that you are smaller but heavier. But, who cares? No one go around with scales strapped to their feet. People notice when you look good and that's all that matters :)

Just keep going on as you are and you'll fit perfectly into that dress 84 days from now. It sounds like you're really toning and building some muscle definition. Keep up the good work... and be sure to post wedding photos on your profile. :)