Sorry for all the forum questions.
I am having a hard time staying motivated here. i bought a new digital scale yesterday and it says i am back to my start up weight(even expecting a different number than the old one with lines it still hit hard), i haven't entered it in because my official weigh in is sunday mornings every week.
i eat much better and way waaay less then i used to i exercise way more and yet nothing moves other then my huge booty trying to get rid of the fat.
My mother has told me i have slimmed down body wise especially in my legs and upper body and this is a woman who doesn't compliment me very much, with as much as it is showing even she is surprised it's not showing on the scale. She was so impressed with the change she had me buy the walk away the pounds set for my aunt who is also almost as big as me.
But nary a pound has skedaddled.

When i started at the very beginning i was 260 when i joined on here i was 256 and that is where i am right now.

How do i keep motivated as the scale stays on the same number as weeks and already, a month has passed and more time also passes with no change? i am finding it harder and harder as time passes. The ONLY thing that makes me get there and do out my planned routines right now is the fact that it is showing body wise if not scale wise but i don't want to maintain. i want to lose POUNDS.
I don't know how much more i can change my diet other than starvation and i can only exercise so much before the body says " i'm done. stop or it's really going to suck from here on out."

I know you shouldn't focus on the number but it's been over a month now with barely no change. i am beginning to wonder if i can lose anything much less the 30 i want to. Has anybody else on here experienced long periods of time with no scale change. How did you deal? What kept you going?

i seriously just want to sit here and sob.

I'm so sad to see you so discouraged, because I love reading your posts! I'm definitely rooting for you.

I, too, am a numbers freak. I love nothing more than to see my progress on paper in black and white. So what I do, is I collect as many numbers as possible. I measure my waist, I keep track of how long I work out, at what level if it's a machine, what distance, how fast, body fat percentage, my weight, how many miles ran per week, etc. That way, when one number (usually like you, it's the scale) isn't making progress, or god forbid even goes in the wrong direction, I have other numbers to turn to and be proud of. As long as I keep working and trying, I always have a couple numbers that are improving.

This strategy has been crucial to me for staying motivated, and has also been a great help for knowing when I'm slacking and how I'm doing overall. It's also fun to see your progress in so many different ways.

Hang in there, and good luck!

Awww...Joanne. Don't give up hon. Sometimes it just takes longer before our bodies decide to get with the program and give us the results we are looking for.

I was lucky this time around - my weight loss was pretty consistent in the beginning, but it hasn't always been that way! Before I would work out really hard, not see results on the scale and quit. All that did was buy me several extra years of avoiding mirrors, people, and hating myself.

Hang in there, Joanne! If you are doing the same exercises all the time, change them up a bit. Do a little bit more exercise a couple of days a week. Or check over your food habits really well. Sometimes extra calories are sneaking in and we aren't even aware of it! Like Josephine suggested, take your measurements and watch for changes there. The worst thing you can do is give up. Despite the scale, you are probably in much better health than you were, and that's really the goal in all of this.

My last bit of advice is to log everything - calories, weights, exercise, inches, etc. Either you'll find something that needs fixing or you'll have something you can take to your doctor in case there are medical reasons (hormones, thyroid, etc) that are causing your lack of weight loss.

We're here cheering you on, so keep your chin up, Joanne!

thanks for the encouragement.

I suspect it's the calories that are causing it to stay but with all the drastic cuts and changes that i have done already in a short amount of time i don't know if i am mentally prepared to cut more just yet, i already feel hungry sometimes and i know i have eaten more than enough. Maybe in the fall because that's when i will also increase my workout routine and i will slowly try to cut more things down a little at a time. I follow the 80/20 rule. 80 percent healthy and 20 percent food you love but in moderation.

I also have hormone problems with polycystic ovaries, once i gained 20 pounds under 2 weeks. my diet stayed the same so did my fitness level (i was actually walking more)but because my hormones went so insane from the stress of my father's death, someone stealing my credit card number and using it when i was home for the funeral and helping mom and my good friend losing her baby at 6 months along(i was gonna be kinda like an auntie to the baby) all in the same MONTH everything just went whooomp and poof and voila i was 20 pnds heavier in about 12 days.
It doesn't take much to set it off but it is normally a 8 pnd gain in 3-5 days when it happens and i can sometimes get the majority of it off again..
but that one Never went away. that's the 20 i'm trying to lose now.

I have just started a fitness log for sunday. i list a week of what i plan to do each day on each page and have space to check it off when i do it so i know if i should do more. and a space for notes about how hard it was or if i should include that dvd more often to my routine.
In that same book i have my measurements, my list of goal weight loss in 6 month increments (might cut it to three months if that seems overwhelming) with a space included for the actual weight loss.
I also have a list with my weight at the beginniing of each month.

I am keeping it in my room where i workout so i can look where i am in exercise, what i can do more and how much i accomplished. It's one of the motivation things i thought about when i noticed that things weren't changing scale wise but i was getting smaller on my body.I'm also waiting for a good deep discount sale at the mall to buy a size 18 outfit(i'm a loose 22 now in most items), i am going to hang it on the back of my door and i am aiming for fitting that outfit by new years or at least end of january.

It's just hard knowing you have changed so much and it barely did anything.
I think september 1 st i will start a food log for about a month or so and then go see a dietician to see what i can change(with my birthday in august i don't want to start just yet, lol) to help increase weight loss.

For now i wil just slowly cut the food a tad more where i can.

Thank you for answering.

here's the deal with diet. my calorie intake is between 1800 -2300 a day usually coming in just under 2000 most days. this is calories in full not doing the math for bmr and daily intake or anything like that just what i eat in a day. this also doesn't include whats burned during exercise.
I attempt and mostly succeed to exercise 6 days a week, at least 3 days a week more than once a day cause it has strength training in there and i usually do a light cardio after that. i have just moved up to the 48 minute 3 mile walk away the pounds, i was doing 30 minute 2 mile before that.
according to all calculators i have used i should be losing weight.not just inches.
if the scale has not changed that much by september 1st (i'm talking at least a ten pound weight loss minimum) then i am going to my doctor to find out what's wrong because obviously something is.very. very .wrong.

this can't just be muscle gain.


Any suggestions to jumpstart my metabolism which seems to be in hibernation at the moment??

Hey Joanne, I'm sorry that you are having trouble with losing weight. I totally understand though. If you look at my charts over the past 6 months, you will see that I have hardly lost any weight - like 5 lbs or so. But my BF % has dropped by 10% from 37% to 27%. So I highly recommend doing BF and measurements. It will help provide motivation when you are feeling discouraged.

Also, think about how you are feeling now as compared to before. I got a little taste of this over the weekend. I went to my parents' house for the long weekend and something about that place makes me revert to my bad habits - probably the availability of bad (delicious) food. So for 3 days, I ate and ate and ate - anything and everything I wanted and barely did any exercise. Plus I totally threw off my sleeping schedule. The whole weekend I was tired and my stomach was messed up. I was so relieved this morning to plan out my healthy day.

So try to focus on all the good stuff that's going on because if you are anything like me - you probably feel so much better than you did before - and I'm sure that you are losing some fat and gaining some muscle especially if you can see a change in your body. Stick with it and you will be so glad that you did! And we are all here to encourage and motivate you!

Forgot to respond to this:



A good way to speed up the metabolism is to work out 1st thing in the morning and then eat lots of small meals through out the day. Don't go more than 3 hours without eating.

I am sticking with it for now because everyone says keep giving it time, and yes there are physical changes that i notice that are keeping me motivated right now. about the only thing that's keeping motivated.

I was aiming to do a daily morning cardio 6 days a week for my fall schedule who knew it could jumpstart the metabolism. so i will start introducing some kind of cardio exercise during the days i am not doing strength training(i actually end up doing some light cardio after that so i am already doing it those days). I will start slow so i don't overwhelm myself though like introducing it a day every two weeks til i am up to the 6 days.

Thnak you for the response and suggestions, i will try to not focus on the scale but it is hard not to.

This is going to sound so silly, but what kept me motivated was my knees. I hated the roll of fat that I was starting to get over my kneecaps - though I doubt anyone else ever paid much attention to it. And even though I was losing pounds, I was having a hard time seeing it myself. So I concentrated on the fact that that one roll of fat over each kneecap kept getting smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared. Maybe you have some spot like that you can focus on where you know you can tell a difference even if no one else can.

My hips...and booty.. My hips and butt are joined together in one great big huge glob you can't even see i have a butt, well you can but it's a big flat round circle that looks like all hips that goes from waist to legs so if i can do something that my hips slim down and you can tell the difference between them and my butt then whatever i am doing would be totally of the win but that's a huge area(lol) so maybe i will aim for my arm fat for now. see if i can get rid of that flappy area near my armpits.

Thanks!

Arm fat is the worst... UGH... I hate it... I have to focus on the fact that when I walk NOW, as opposed to two months ago, if I had my arms down by my side... they kinda stuck out from my body because they were so fat, NOW, they are not nearly as bad. Still got some fat, and lots of it, BUT i can tell a difference....AND clothes that I couldn't wear two months ago are falling off of me now. Everyone else is noticing my FACE getting slimmer...I've had lots of comments about it. SO i did a side by side picture .... one from January and one from this past weekend... OMG how dif they look.

Sooo maybe you should start a picture blog... take pics once a week, or every two weeks, wearing the same out fit, standing the same way, and then you can SEE the difference in the pics as opposed to the scale???

All the inuendo (in YOUR endo!) potential in these topic threads is awesome.

I'm totally giggling like a 3rd grader at my own thoughts.

Hahah! Cliff, the 3rd grade maturity level is more fun sometimes!

Tammie, i don't think that will happen anytime soon.

I haven't been near a camera since 2006 and that was only cause the relatives who came to my dad's funeral service barely see us and wanted a picture otherwise i would have been GONE before they even completely pulled out the camera.
The last thing i want is my ugly mug on somewhere where i can read all the pitbull and jabba the hut jokes instead of hearing them(no offence to anybody here you all have been great but i have had real nasty experiences in life and on internets that just make me too uncomfortable showing my face,thus why my hair is always in it) , my photo for the forum even has my face cut out because of that.
of course if they never fix that bug that just gives a red x i won't have to worry about that.
Maybe if i ever hit the halfway mark then i will get someone to take a pic of my body with the head chopped off or something or if i get really brave i might even leave the face in but i would have to find tons of courage to do that.
Thanks for the suggestion though.

Joanne... You don't even have to post it for anyone to see. Just something for YOU to be able to see the difference. Sometimes we can't see past what we think are our flaws to get the REAL picture, so to speak. I think that taking pictures at like...6 week intervals would be good. Even if they are poloroids so that no one ever has access to them but you.


I think that you are doing great, and ur on the right track. So don't let the scales discourage you. After all, its how you FEEL that matters.

Hey, don't sweat it. We wouldn't want you doing something that makes you feel uncomfortable, but don't fool yourself. Quite a few of us on here have heard the pitbull/jabba the hut jokes a few times ourselves. What's important is that we're all committed to making ourselves better, whether that means loosing 5 lbs or 105...

Its not important where we came from, but where we're going. I've lost almost 40lbs so far this year, but I've had my ups and downs, too. The important thing is to stick with it. If you're doing the right things, the weight will come off. It just never comes off the way we think it "SHOULD"

Good Luck!
Brian

Thank you.

Not that I necessarily think it's the BEST idea, since what you are doing is obviously netting you some serious fat loss and muscle increases (hence the stable weight)... BUT

If you really want to lose WEIGHT AND FAT at the same time, reduce your weight routine and reduce your calories. Stick to light aerobics (NOT strenuous hours on the treadmill!) such as walking. Drop your calorie count down to 1500-ish to start with. This will offset the calories not burned by lack of weight training and heavy aerobics.

What will happen is you will continue to lose fat from your calorie reduction, but you won't continue to build muscle (at least not at the same rate). Hence, you will start to lose pounds. To drop your calories to this point, you really need to keep an eye on your measurements and keep up with your body fat %. The moment you start losing muscle you'll know you're either not eating enough protein or you're working out too hard (this is saying the same thing, it's just looking at the problem from both sides).

If you continue what you're currently doing, eventually your muscle gains will taper off and in theory you'll continue to lose fat weight. Make sure to mix your routine up because you get more efficient at your exercises and you'll burn less calories for the same duration.

I use dvd's so the majority of what i am doing is aerobics. Right now i am using walk and kick which is intervals of simple kickboxing moves with very brisk walking in place i also do walk away the pounds 3 mile with weighted balls every other day.

I am trying to change my routines constantly not just because i get used to it but because i get bored and fed up easily.
if all that is keeping me from losing weight is muscle then i will happily have the muscle and would like to have a defined muscular body if i can ever get rid of the poundage , it is just getting frustrating that the scale keeps going up and down. A nurse told me to give it 2-3 more months because i am still building up muscle. I am also going to be talking to a dietician soon probably(getting appt's here can be difficult) . hopefully that will help.

I have turbo jam but can't keep up even with the beginners so i am thinking of looking into getting a beginners tae bo. i used to do it years ago and followed along pretty well. i don't know why turbo jam is too fast for me to catch up with but i got so frustrated last night i quit halfway through the burn portion i was so far behind.

It's taking everything i got not to give up. even though i notice and my mother has noticed it doesn't appear anybody else has noticed that my body has changed since i started working out. would it kill someone to day"hey your looking different?" because i am in an emotional downfall right now due to lack of weight loss.i need a lift from something.

i am beginning to wonder if i deluded myself into believing there were changes and my mom is just feeding it because the last time when i did this years ago she was the one of the people who said that they didn't notice anything different(after i had been doing tae bo daily for three months) and i stopped exercising that very day. i figured why bother.
Guilt makes people lie.
but then i wore a pair of size 22 pants today that were attempting to crawl down off my hips while i was walking when the last time i tried them on(around x-mas) i could barely button them. actually i couldn't button the two top buttons only one. now not only can i close both i have to keep hitching them up.

I just don't know what to do........

Joanne!! That is fantastic!!! How can you see such clear progress, and not be happy?? That scale is the least accurate way to measure your success. If the same pair of pants fits better, then clearly you are doing something right! Don't give up!! Never give in!! You can do this!!

Exactly. At your current weight, you are doing light weight training with every move. I'm not surprised at all that you're bulking up. I don't mean to be offensive, but from a realistic viewpoint you might have about 15-20 extra pounds on each leg. If I did some kickboxing with a 20 lb dumbbell on my legs, you better believe I'd be bulking up! If nothing else take pride in the fact that that extra bit of weight really helps to up the intensity of your workouts. Just imagine how much longer you'll be able to work out when you take 50 lbs off your frame. The work you are doing now is going to make your workouts in the future even more rewarding.

Personally I shy away from the "have you lost weight?" conversations unless it's just a SUPER obvious transformation. I don't want to embarrass myself if I were wrong, or inadvertently insinuate that someone should lose weight or looked fat before.

I've lost about 30 lbs since the New Year and only two co-workers have said anything. One of them had been on medical leave for a couple of months, and the other I only see every once in a while. My point is that people that see you every day aren't going to notice the subtle changes. Another downside to being a bit overweight is that the first 20,30, even 50 lbs of fat loss may not be very noticeable because you are still chubby after you've lost the poundage. While 30 lbs would be a huge transformation on someone without much to lose, 30 lbs on an obese person may not look like much.

Get out a tape measure and start tracking your measurements. If a really tight pair of pants is falling off you now, I'd bet you've lost at least 3-4 inches in your hips and belly, if not more. That is a HUGE accomplishment. Based on my measurement tracking, that's at least 20 lbs of fat loss. While the scale only tells part of the story, measurements will give you a clear indication on whether you're heading in the right direction.

Anyway, don't give up. The routine you have now is obviously working. At some point you will reach an equilibrium with your weight and workouts, and your muscle gains will stop unless you increase the intensity. Just keep MOVING and eating right. Make sure you're keeping track of your calories and fat/carb/protein ratios. Education and perseverance are the best tools for weight loss.

Thanks angie and rachael, i will try to keep it up.

Try? You are on the way to being one of those huge success stories! Just keep doing it, no excuses girl!

Haven't did so good this past week but will be restarting monday. hopefully i can keep to the schedule and diet i have planned or at least relatively close to it.

It took awhile before I started getting comments too. My co-workers knew I was trying to lose weight since we were holding an internal competition, but no one outside of my office knew. I think I lost a good 40 to 50 lbs before anyone that wasn't aware I was working out said anything to me. I still don't get very many comments, but I know how much I've lost and how much better it feels. That's what really matters.

Just keep working at it, Joanne! Can't wait to hear how you feel when you realize your size 22 pants are so baggy you have to go get a smaller size or two!

Yep, I haven't been advertising that I am trying to lose weight. So when I do get the random compliment I know it's because a real change is evident.

the pair i was wearing is already baggy another inch or two and i can take em off without undoing them, actually i tried it sucking in my gut and almost had them off the last time i wore them.
yesterday an old friend i hadn't seen in awhile stopped off at the house for a few minutes and when she saw me(she didn't know i had gone on a diet and started exercising) she said "wow you've been losing weight".

caught me completely offguard. especially since the scale hasn't shown a thing.

SEE!!?? You know that felt good.

Yea Joanne!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!! See, don't let that scale bother you!