Made a HUGE change in lifestyle and not seeing results - disheartening. Thoughts?

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Kelter82

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Right, so three and a half weeks ago I ended (we hope) a bad lifestyle. Basically it was work all day on no food, pig out on anything all night, fall asleep at 5am, wake up at 7am for work. Rinse and repeat. Exercise? What's that?

Well after I started getting headaches every day I went on the Candida diet. It worked for me before (10 years ago when I was 15) so I thought I'd try it again. One week of cleanse (horrible period of green veggies only along with lemon water) which ended up super low-cal and I got tired/dizzy/faint a lot. Then for two weeks now I've been on a very healthy diet of brown rice and pasta, green veggies plus some cauliflower, pesto, chicken, turkey, gluten and yeast free yucky bread, greek yogurt, stevia, and lemon juice. I feel great! Buuuuuut I'm still Fatty McFatfat.

I weigh between 166 (rare) and 170 at any given time during the day (I usually weigh around 10pm). Before this charade I weighed 170. What gives, world? I go from eating 4 slices of pepperoni feta pizza every thursday plus a myriad of other terrible things during the week (6 oreos and milk, I think so) to the most boring, non-variating, vegetable-crammed diet in the world and I don't see any results. Boooooo.

What's worse is once I was strong enough and energetic enough to start exercising, I did. So for two weeks I've been at the gym 5-6 days/week, taking zumba and yoga classes, (have my first spin class tomorrow) using the weights and the cardio machine. Good news - I freaking love the gym. Lots of people there I'm not fond of, but it feels soooooo good once I'm done working out that they don't matter an ounce. I go after work and early on my days off. Love it.

Now okay, okay, I know I shouldn't be losing tons of weight right off. I'm a realist. But when I step on my scale at 10pm, having last eaten at 7:30pm, and I see 170... well.... it's frustrating. Someone please tell me that this will pay off...

I will be done this diet in 2 weeks. It was never meant to be a long term thing. In a week I will reintroduce things like tomatoes, then the less sugary fruits, and so on. Maybe some feta so I can make a nice greek salad, which I miss terribly.

Once I'm fully off it, it's going to be healthy food still but with a bit more variety. So like I said, greek salad, whole grain spaghetti and meatballs, etc etc. Coffee black (shush now, it's my one true vice and it's actually not that terrible for you if you ban the cream and sugar). But I'm afraid... since I haven't lost any weight with the most restrictive diet I've ever been on (save medifast...ew)... is eating greek salad for dinner going to destroy my chances of ever losing weight? That seems wrong and unfair. If so, might as well have a slice of pizza.


I'd like to lose 40lbs by August. 30 at the very least. I plan to keep fighting the good fight no matter what, but what I need right now are some words of encouragement.

PS - No more headaches! :)
 
I am totally impressed by your ability to stick with such a strict healthy eating plan plus all that exercise. Good work! I know you appreciate the improvement in health shown by banishing those headaches and feeling great.


But why no weight loss? It could be you've built some denser muscle tissue through all that exercise that replaced some of the fat you burned. Extremely low calorie diets can slow your metabolism - you should probably check your calorie level and not stay under 1200 for more than a week at a time.


The final possibility is that you are having a "start of the fitness plan plateau" - your body may be retaining water and not wanting to move from your set point until it knows you are serious. So stick with it and I am sure you will be seeing some good results soon.


You don't give your height so I'm not sure if I can believe you are fatty mcfatfat. I think the 30-40 pound weight loss by the end of August is doable for you. But you may find as you become more fit that you don't need to lose as much as you think. I would recommend just weighing yourself daily in the morning, or just once a week and also keeping track of your measurements on a monthly basis.
 
I dout I've gained much muscle mass, I have done a lot more cardio than strength work. I know you build muscle mass during cardio too but it's less so.

My diet is definitely adequate. I've kept records and I will go from 900 calories a day to 1400. They're almost all good calories, though, so when I go to 1400ish I don't feel TOO terrible. It could've been worse.

Is the "start of the fitness plan plateau" common? I've never heard of it. I hope it's true! Cause then I can be all "told you I was serious, body. In yo face!"...... also I'd just like to see that scale move.

I am 5'4", and I have a fair deal of pudge. I HOPE I don't have to lose 30-40lbs, lol, 20 would be so much easier. And don't worry (if you are), I don't want to look super thin and worthy of the cover of cosmo (I'd love to have that effortlessly, but oh well). I have some pretty awesome curves right now and I want to keep them!!! So I am begging my boobs and bum not to get saggy but rather just tone up and smoothe out (aka goodbye cellulite in legs and bum).

I think I'll start weighing on Sunday mornings only. Might be less depressing :)
 
OMG...you could be writing my book! I've been working out straight for a month and a half now and NOTHING. Zip. Zilch. Nada. And the thing is - I used to be really good at leaning out and it would take no time at all. I'm frustrated, too. Really furstrated. I feel like I've been busting my proverbial arse for nothing.


Anyhow, sorry to hijack. I just totally know where you're coming from. Good luck. It will happen. We just have to keep our eyes on the prize, I guess!!
 
The Bottoms Up Workout by Joyce Vedral talks about the start of the program plateau - she says just keep working and the changes have got to come.

Just looked at the book on Amazon and people seem to love it. I'm not doing her program now but I do use weights.
 
Originally Posted by Kelter82


I dout I've gained much muscle mass, I have done a lot more cardio than strength work. I know you build muscle mass during cardio too but it's less so.

My diet is definitely adequate. I've kept records and I will go from 900 calories a day to 1400. They're almost all good calories, though, so when I go to 1400ish I don't feel TOO terrible. It could've been worse.

Is the "start of the fitness plan plateau" common? I've never heard of it. I hope it's true! Cause then I can be all "told you I was serious, body. In yo face!"...... also I'd just like to see that scale move.

I am 5'4", and I have a fair deal of pudge. I HOPE I don't have to lose 30-40lbs, lol, 20 would be so much easier. And don't worry (if you are), I don't want to look super thin and worthy of the cover of cosmo (I'd love to have that effortlessly, but oh well). I have some pretty awesome curves right now and I want to keep them!!! So I am begging my boobs and bum not to get saggy but rather just tone up and smoothe out (aka goodbye cellulite in legs and bum).

I think I'll start weighing on Sunday mornings only. Might be less depressing :)
Click to expand...



Contact your doctor to make sure that's enough calories. Too little food will cause your body to go into a famine mode. Your body will store every calorie it can as fat. Back in the caveman days this was a way of self preservation, unfortunately evolution has not caught up to the current world of full supermarkets.


I'm sure you will be skeptical, but give yourself two weeks of eating GOOD food and 1400-1800 calories of it a day. Make sure you are getting a good combo of carbs, fats, fiber and protein. Keep a food journal to be sure you are getting proper nutrition. If you are under on calories and aren't hungry eat anyway. The body needs to be convinced that you are not stuck in the wilderness all winter long with no food.


Try it and see what that scale says 2 weeks from now.
 
Kelter82 said:
Right, so three and a half weeks ago I ended (we hope) a bad lifestyle. Basically it was work all day on no food, pig out on anything all night, fall asleep at 5am, wake up at 7am for work. Rinse and repeat. Exercise? What's that?

Well after I started getting headaches every day I went on the Candida diet. It worked for me before (10 years ago when I was 15) so I thought I'd try it again. One week of cleanse (horrible period of green veggies only along with lemon water) which ended up super low-cal and I got tired/dizzy/faint a lot. Then for two weeks now I've been on a very healthy diet of brown rice and pasta, green veggies plus some cauliflower, pesto, chicken, turkey, gluten and yeast free yucky bread, greek yogurt, stevia, and lemon juice. I feel great! Buuuuuut I'm still Fatty McFatfat.

I weigh between 166 (rare) and 170 at any given time during the day (I usually weigh around 10pm). Before this charade I weighed 170. What gives, world? I go from eating 4 slices of pepperoni feta pizza every thursday plus a myriad of other terrible things during the week (6 oreos and milk, I think so) to the most boring, non-variating, vegetable-crammed diet in the world and I don't see any results. Boooooo.

What's worse is once I was strong enough and energetic enough to start exercising, I did. So for two weeks I've been at the gym 5-6 days/week, taking zumba and yoga classes, (have my first spin class tomorrow) using the weights and the cardio machine. Good news - I freaking love the gym. Lots of people there I'm not fond of, but it feels soooooo good once I'm done working out that they don't matter an ounce. I go after work and early on my days off. Love it.

Now okay, okay, I know I shouldn't be losing tons of weight right off. I'm a realist. But when I step on my scale at 10pm, having last eaten at 7:30pm, and I see 170... well.... it's frustrating. Someone please tell me that this will pay off...

I will be done this diet in 2 weeks. It was never meant to be a long term thing. In a week I will reintroduce things like tomatoes, then the less sugary fruits, and so on. Maybe some feta so I can make a nice greek salad, which I miss terribly.

Once I'm fully off it, it's going to be healthy food still but with a bit more variety. So like I said, greek salad, whole grain spaghetti and meatballs, etc etc. Coffee black (shush now, it's my one true vice and it's actually not that terrible for you if you ban the cream and sugar). But I'm afraid... since I haven't lost any weight with the most restrictive diet I've ever been on (save medifast...ew)... is eating greek salad for dinner going to destroy my chances of ever losing weight? That seems wrong and unfair. If so, might as well have a slice of pizza.


I'd like to lose 40lbs by August. 30 at the very least. I plan to keep fighting the good fight no matter what, but what I need right now are some words of encouragement.

PS - No more headaches! :)
Click to expand...
 
Kelter82 Great Start!!!

Here are a few words for you that will help if you apply them.

1. Stop stepping on the scale! Do you want to lose fat? Or do you want to lose weight? The truth is, now that you are getting into the gym and eating way better, you will start to gain muscle fibers. Seriously! Throw out your scale!

2. 2 weeks is not enough time to see any major results. Especially weight (because of the reason above). But there are things you can do turn body into a fat burning machine. The first step is the most important part, which is your diet. It sounds like you are on a great start.

3. You need to eat enough to lose weight. Sounds weird but most people that try to lose fat don't eat enough! Now I can't get into your exact amount that you need to eat specifically but don't make it complicated. Eat well-balanced meals! Don't get into these stupid diets that restrict carbs, or restrict fats, you need all these to lose fat. Eat the right things, have a cheat meal once a week or biweekly, but don't binge when you do.

4. The engine of your metabolism is your muscles. This is where most of calories are burned in the body. If you go on a “diet” and you lose a lot of muscle, you’ll most likely gain the weight back (and often more!).

5. If you want to lose fat fast, cardio is the most inefficient form of exercise to burn fat. But if you like cardio, do it, there are many benefits to cardio. But if we are just talking about burning fat, it's a waste of time. In fact, studies show cardio groups compared to groups that just changed their diets are almost no different in results. Think about that. Might ask yourself why you're spending all those hours everyday doing cardio. So exercise burns off fat? Simple HIIT and lifting. I won't go into it further but this should give a great start!

I hope that helps!

If you want more advice, you can follow the link below. I send personal emails there! Have a great day and keep it up!
 
Caleb Kruse said:
Kelter82 Great Start!!!

Here are a few words for you that will help if you apply them.

1. Stop stepping on the scale! Do you want to lose fat? Or do you want to lose weight? The truth is, now that you are getting into the gym and eating way better, you will start to gain muscle fibers. Seriously! Throw out your scale!

2. 2 weeks is not enough time to see any major results. Especially weight (because of the reason above). But there are things you can do turn body into a fat burning machine. The first step is the most important part, which is your diet. It sounds like you are on a great start.

3. You need to eat enough to lose weight. Sounds weird but most people that try to lose fat don't eat enough! Now I can't get into your exact amount that you need to eat specifically but don't make it complicated. Eat well-balanced meals! Don't get into these stupid diets that restrict carbs, or restrict fats, you need all these to lose fat. Eat the right things, have a cheat meal once a week or biweekly, but don't binge when you do.

4. The engine of your metabolism is your muscles. This is where most of calories are burned in the body. If you go on a “diet” and you lose a lot of muscle, you’ll most likely gain the weight back (and often more!).

5. If you want to lose fat fast, cardio is the most inefficient form of exercise to burn fat. But if you like cardio, do it, there are many benefits to cardio. But if we are just talking about burning fat, it's a waste of time. In fact, studies show cardio groups compared to groups that just changed their diets are almost no different in results. Think about that. Might ask yourself why you're spending all those hours everyday doing cardio. So exercise burns off fat? Simple HIIT and lifting. I won't go into it further but this should give a great start!

I hope that helps!

If you want more advice, you can follow the link below. I send personal emails there! Have a great day and keep it up!
Click to expand...
 
Thanks so much, Kelter. All these wee bits of advice all add up when ur trying to healthy.....:)
 
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