Workout and weight loss frustration

I have been doing some pretty rigourous working out, to the point I absolutely need the day after off.  I will stretch throughout that day though.

In one week I lost 1.5 inches off my waist.  I'm proud of myself.  That fricking LIAR of a scale, the day after my workout, and I didn't calorie bust, went up 2 pounds.  Please tell me its water retention.  Its not mucsle we all know that.  My clothes are definately showing a difference.  I feel good.

I gave up last time for this same reason.  I weigh now 202 after weighing 200.  What can I keep in mind to keep forging ahead.  When will fat loss show on the scale.  1 pound is what I look for at the very least.  Would I like two pounds of course.  I'm just hoping its a temporary body adjustment.  Anyone?

More than likely it is, as you suspect, water retention. 

It's easy to get discouraged when you've been working so hard, and it sounds like you're doing everything right.  But remember, the weight didn't get there overnight and it's not going to come off overnight.  Try to think long-term and make exercise part of your lifestyle. It's not a quick fix.

Take days off and feel no guilt about it. Your body absolutely needs rest days to recuperate.

Put that scale away for a couple of weeks and just gauge your progress by how your clothes are fitting. 

How about this for something to keep in mind:

You would have had to eat 7000 EXCESS (that is, in addition to your maintenance) calories the previous day, for there to be any chance that those 2 lbs were fat.

You know what you ate, and I'm going to venture out here and guess that you didn't eat 9000-ish calories. So let's be reasonable here. Water weight is the only thing that fluctuates that fast. Real weight (be it in the form of muscle or fat) takes time to increase or decrease.

And aside from just plain ol' reason and perspective... YES that is water weight in your muscles as they repair.

Fat loss will come if you have excess fat to lose; and if you're eating a reasonable calorie deficit (when taking into account your exercise as well); and if you're doing good exercise (I think you're on RFFL?) then most of the weight lost will be fat. If you were just losing due to diet and no exercise, you might lose weight faster, but a chunk of it would be muscle as well.

You want to avoid losing muscle. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to gain muscle either. And muscle is denser than fat, so you can lose measurements while maintaining or gaining weight. As long as you're losing measurements, you're losing fat. So yes, this time it was water. For the future, I might suggest just going by your measurements as a gauge of progress -- ESPECIALLY if water fluctuation is going to make you curse and give up!!

I am having the same issues, I worked my butt off the last two weeks, I havent binged, cheated or starved myself and I have worked my big bum off at that gym yet im stalled at 221 and have been since the 8th Jan.

As flower bud said we know we didnt eat more calories than we should trust me I have been sat here calculating to make sure I didnt eat too little and I know i didnt!!

So lets put it down to stupid water and hormones and keep going :)

Good Luck

JJ,

That is completely normal. 

Remember, you lost 1.5 inches off your waist!!!!   The tape doesn't lie.

Not to be discouraging here but ... the tape and the scale both "lie" and you have to be reasonable when interpreting measurements from both.

For example, drink a lot of water and both your scale and tape measurements will likely go up (because now your stomach is fuller due to being full of water). Both measurements are true -- you do weigh more and your stomach is bigger. But neither is indicative of having gained any fat.

The approach that is least likely to "lie" is looking at longer-term trends. If you're doing exercise where you build muscle, I'd recommend looking at tape measure trends, only because the trend there is more predictable (i.e. decreasing) than the weight trend (which may decrease, increase, or stay the same based on amount weight lost and muscle gained). Take your measurements once a week, say, for, oh, 4-6 weeks, and THEN see.

Also don't freak out if you measure again in a week and your measurement hasn't changed or gained 1/2 inch. Especially with a waist measurement, changes can also be due to amount of food/water in the stomach, and I think 1.5" of actual FAT loss in one week seems like a lot.

BUT don't let any of this discourage you!! Even if the 1.5" isn't ALL real, part of it is bound to be, and you are feeling good, and you are doing wonders for your health, and you're eating right (I assume), and this WILL pay off. Just keep in mind that you are being good to yourself and that changes take time...

You guys are great.  I was reading this because I wanted to post for some advice and I think I got it already.  I have been stalled for a month.  Been swimming, doing cardio workouts with weights as well, keeping my calories around 1500-1600 (as close as I can figure) and am stalled.  I have (within the last six months) lost 26 pounds and I wonder if I am stuck because my body need to "adjust"   I am in my 50's and wonder if ages is factoring in to this as well.  I plan on continuing but I would sure like "scale results".

I did start RFFL.  I am not in the full swing of it yet, meaning not quite completing the sets and reps but going to failure.  I did workout B without a hitch and probably 90% completed it.  I felt so good.  The next day my butt felt like it was lined with concrete.  I rested completely yesterday.  I did not do workout A today as I feel that I am not quite rested and look forward to it tomorrow.  I did do other weight excersies and cardio.

I never thought to think the other way and say to myself I know I did not eat 9000 calories yesterday.  I will adopt that way of thinking for now on.  I'm going to forge ahead as well as make some adjustments to my diet.  More protein of course, less crap.  Thank you flower for your encouragement and reality check.  I will post often to let you know how things are.  Hey maybe if I get brave enough I will post before and afters.

 ONe more thing after doing 8 weeks of this regimen.  Do I start over or is there a part two?

There isn't much magical about 8 weeks. If, after 8 weeks, you still like it and you're still seeing progress, continue. Otherwise, switch something up. It's just nice to give a plan enough time to have an effect on your body, so that you don't, say, ditch it after 3 weeks because you're not seeing progress.

I have asked melkor a similar question and his opinion was that due to the rotating & periodized structure of this program, you can expect to continue to see progress with it for a longer time than if you were on a program that didn't change things up as much.

I think my new favourite phrase is going to be "What Flowerbud said".

 Yeah, what she said - I got nothin' to add to that :)

I almost always gain weight the day after a really tough workout.  For one, I eat more, so I have more food still left being digested in my body that adds to the scale.  For another, I almost always retain water.

Yesterday I ran 18 miles, and today the scale said I gained 4 pounds.  :D  I laughed, because if I know one thing it's that running that much does not make me gain weight.  I did eat 3500 calories yesterday to help my body properly recover from the run, and all that food weight was in me still.  And my normally loose wedding ring wouldn't budge this morning.

Give it time, let your body adapt, and if it really bugs you then weigh more than once a week so you can better identify the 'fake' numbers.

Yay! That's a compliment if I ever saw one :-D

My apologies to the OP for the thread hijack, but...

pandajenn, way to go on the 18 miles!!!!  Is there a spring marathon in your future?

Just to let everyone know, I don't expect magical miracally overnight success to happen.  OK.  I know it takes time.  Believe me.  I hate it, but I know it.  The program refers to as 8 weeks thats why I asked.  Thank you all for your posts. 

You know, I totally feel your pain. This past week same thing for me. Worked my butt off at the gym, needed time off because I was sore. I took the weekeend off because I had a show to work at and still ate healthy and was active the whole time at the show and somehow I managed to GAIN 1 stupid pound form Thurs till last night, however my pants feel better, even when they are fresh out of the dryer. I guess we shouldn't put much stock in the infernal machine and go only by what our clothes tell us.

Good job last week, you did AWESOME by losing that 1.5 inches! Keep it up and eventually the scale will come around and play nice!

THANK YOU for bringing this up. Actually, last night I wrote a "poor little me!" blog post on this. I've been going through the same thing - I'm doing everything right and working out HARD 6 days a week and not seeing the scale move. I have lost inches, though, which makes me happy but psychologically I WANT THAT SCALE TO MOVE!!!

Good news is today it DID move down a couple of pounds which makes me all the more enthusiastic to keep at it. I'd rather lose it slowly than not at all (or gain quickly...again!). 

Anyhow, keep at it & I will too. :) It can be done!

I  totally  understand!!   I  have  a  smaller  waist now  26  inches and  at  147 lbs  then  I  did   when  I  was   128lbs  27-28  inches   so it's  very weird.  It  has   to  do  with  water  retention  and  the  fact  that  muscle  does   weigh  more  than  fat   so  hope  that  helps  I  know   seeing   an  extra   lb  or  2   on  the  scale   can  be   devastating  when  you've  been  working  hard  so    I'd   advise  you  to  stop  torturing  yourself  and    get  rid   of  that   evil  scale!! All  it  does is  make people   cry!!  hahah   get  a tape  measure   it's  more  accurate  with  your  progress ^_~

Ahh wow I am so glad I found this thread!  I worked out pretty hard these last two days only to see my weight stabilize and then go up a pound!  I was so discouraged and I started freaking out but in the end I think this is actually good because it made me think that I was plateauing and I really have been eating too few calories (1000/day) so I need to up that to closer to 1400 I think.  However, I think you are right that it is probably just water weight and when I take a break from working out for the next couple days (I know I won't have time...) I am hoping to see this go down some!  Yay I feel so much better now!  It's just for me the being patient thing is the hardest part.  I always feel like if I ate well that day then the scale should read a pound less the next day even though I know this is ridiculous and impossible.  I am so excited to see the changes coming in the next few weeks and I definitely won't get so easily discouraged now.  I know I should stop weighing my self everyday but it's become such a habit for me and it will be a hard one to break.  Good luck to all!  By the way, I just want to say that I think this website is amazing- it is the only thing in the past few years that has gotten me to be really honest and committed to weight loss rather than trying for a week or two and then giving up.  And I know this is going to be a lifestyle change for me- I can't even imagine eating like I used to now!