Help me! I'm so gutted and I don't know what to do anymore!

Got on the scales this morning and I'm back up to 15 stone, so this week I've gained a pound!!!

I'm getting so fed up with this, it's like I can't be under 15 stone!!! It's rediculous!!!

I've been following the recommendations on myfitnesspal for 10 days and granted I've not been an angel everyday, but I don't want to deprive myself everyday or I'm not going to stick at this!!! It's motivated me to increase my exercise which has not been a part of my routine since Christmas if I'm being honest.

So I admit that the weekend was worse than usual. Sat I consumed 2200 cals (a bad day) but I had earnt 320 through exercise so thats 1880 net cals

Sun 2300 cals but I had earnt 780 through exercise so 1520 net cals

Mon 1200 cals

Tues 1430 cals and 270 burnt so 1160 net

Wed 2100 cals (another bad day)

Thurs 1970 cals and 790 burnt so 1180 net cals

Fri 1530 cals and 520 burnt so 1010

So total net cals for this week is 10050... I admit that's not brilliant but how can it be enough to gain a pound?!?!?!?!

This fouth stone has been difficult to shift what with December being a bad month, and my lack of motivation to hit the gym but I hit 15 stone on 29th Jan. I the stayed the same for a few weeks despite counting calories, had a blip for a few weeks and gained 3lbs. I've now been back on calorie plan for 4 weeks, shifted the 3lbs and last week an extra lb... and now I'm back where I was 10 weeks ago!!!!!!!!

Please help me, I'm only half way, I'm determined to do this, but if I carry on at 15 stone for much longer I know I'm going to jack it all in and potentially put everything back on.

What should I do?

Lindsey xxx

Sounds like you've hit a plateau honey.
Please don't get disheartened. It happens to all of us. I've lost 64lbs and my body seems to not want to go under 180lbs.
It's soooo frustrating!! The last stone is famous for being the most stubborn one
I'm on a different diet program than you but I fatally know how you feel!
My advice would be to give your body a bit of shock.
It seems like it got used to your lifestyle/ diet/ exercise and it adjusted itself to it.
The trick is to make it start working harder and you can do it by tweaking your eating habits a little and most of all increasing your exercise intensity.
I don't know what you're eating every day but try sticking to a low carb diet and at least 3 litres of water per day!
Water is key when you're trying to lose weight. It helps to shift fatty deposits from your body.
In terms of exercise you need to give your body something different now. Change your routine, increase intensity, do weights as well as cardio (in that order).
Have you tried circuit? It's absolutely the best method of burning calories and fast in the gym.

Most of all, do not give up! Keep going! It WILL happen! Trust me!
You have done so well and you should be proud of how far you've come!

Good luck

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If I went to my GP would they be able to help, referral to nutrition specialist or test my metabolism or shoot me? x

lol!!
No shooting required honey!
Yes you can go to your GP or have a chat with a personal trainer in your local gym. They can have a look at your diet and exercise regime and give it an overhaul.
Don't despair honey. It can all be easily fixed!

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Ah wish I could help! I'm in the same position, been hovering around 15 stone since I started uni in September and every time I get under it I end up doing something to make me go back over it!

Maybe a trip to the doctor- hopefully they'll be extra understanding when they hear how well u have already done!

I just don't get it, fair enough if I was on my last stone but I've still got 4 to go!!!

I'm going to call the drs on Monday and get an appointment and I'm going to speak to someone at the gym... I know this is meant to be hard work but if this becomes no fun and too much effort I know I'm going to give in... I need balance, or at the very least I need my efforts to be recognised by the f**king SCALES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GP is definitely worth doing. Mine's been really helpful.

Plateaus are THE most frustrating thing in the world and you've been brilliant this week, so it's all the more gutting.

Don't give up - stick with it and weigh in again tomorrow. It could just be water or something stupid mucking around with the scales today x

Ok! Firstly, the amount of calories you consume does not matter! You could technically consume 20000 calories and be fine, as long as you did enough exercise to ensure you were not over your recommended net ^^ What's your recommended net per day?

Myfitnesspal says recommended net is 1390 to lose 1 and half lbs a week, but I changed to this yesterday when my weigh in was crap. Last week I was working towards around 1600 for a one lb loss a week, my Cals last week average out to 1400 net cals consumed a day so if the theory is correct I should have lost a pound or at least stayed the same... I'm doubting the theory right now, lol!!! x

Hmmm... was last week your first week of exercise? I know it sounds crazy, but you may have been consuming too little, and combined with exercise (especially if you're new to it) the body can do strange things - especially if you worked out really hard, in which case your muscles can retain water (and a lot of it!). Were you sore at all after exercising? How was your sodium, fibre and water intake? And finally, bear in mind that as women, we can start retaining PMT water upto 2 weeks before the actual "visit" of Aunt Flo!

Aunt flo not a problem, I have the injection which has stopped any sign of my monthly visitor, that said I might still go through the other physical symptoms associated with flo... but I wouldn't be able to track it because I have no idea when I'm meant to have a visit!

Last week was my first week back in the gym properly and making effort to walk, but I have been doing little bits before that, class here, gym session there, etc. I was sore after my classes last sunday and thursday, but that soon eased off once I started moving again.

My water intake is crap, so I've been making the effort since yesterday to drink more. Don't really follow sodium and fibre but I know that I probably eat too much salt (because I like it, lol) and it's likely that the fibre I consume is not the helpful kind... I'm going to check out porridge tomorrow when I go food shopping, I hear it's good stuff!

Thanks for taking the time to reply. x

No worries! The reason I asked all those questions is because your "gain" is probably not a real gain! You're probably retaining water - your muscles can swell after a workout (and if they hurt, it means you've been working them really hard, in which case they're almost guaranteed to be a bit inflamed)- don't worry too much about lowering your calories, as I'm sure if you stay on the recommended number by MFP you'll lose weight this week Salt and not enough water will also contribute to water retention - and if you're having a fibre rich diet you need to drink more water, or you'll be retaining other things (and feel a bit uncomfy!).

And, to state the obvious, not all calories are created equal - if you've had a lot of sugars it's converted faster into fat (I myself didn't lose very much this week either, despite staying within my limits overall - but I was a little naughty with my allowance some days and had a bit of chocolate! But some people can get away with this from week to week - it just depends on your body). To me, it's a bit like decision time - if I am a bit naughty with my choices whilst still staying in my goal, then it'll sadly show on the scales for me with a smaller loss (or even a STS or gain depending on how naughty I am), so most weeks I have to just be an angel - and most of the time it's worth it, but we're all HUMAN and naughty weeks can stop us from going totally mad!

Good luck for this week!!!

I know you are right, feeling much more rational today, lol!!!

I just wanted to make a good start on the second half of my weight loss and I'm so frustrated at coming to standstill!!!

I'm not an angel with my food and I need to accept that unless I'm prepared to be more strict with myself then some weeks are not going to result in a good weigh in... perhaps I can try and alternate one angel week with healthy calories then one not so strict with a few naughty calories, lol!!! x

That's what I do! If I have a week where I'm a bit naughty, I'm usually an angel for at least a week or two afterwards so it's not so bad

More importantly, don't be so hard on yourself - look at how amazingly well you've done and give yourself a big pat on the back! Don't lose sight of the big picture - a 1lb gain out of the many many lbs you've lost is a drop in the ocean

Lindsey if you have suddenly restarted or upped your exercise its very very normal to gain weight, your muscles will be holding onto extra fluids to repair and fuel future workouts. If 1lb is all you gained then I suspect you actually lost this week as 3lbs seems the norm

Hey, catcrazy!!! Where you been all my life?!?!?! x

Hey, how you doing...calorie counting has gone very quiet, most of the old names seems to have disappeared. Glad to see you're still here and well done on your 57lbs...4 stone!! Its my next mini goal, 6lbs to go!! Woooo

Hey! Sorry to hear about your plateau, and I hope its all sorted now but here is my advice =)

First of all, I would advise doing some strength training as muscle burns way more calories than fat (I think its something like 4kcals for every 1kcal that fat burns). Most women are afraid of turning into a female bodybuilder, which simply won't happen. For starters you need a high level of testosterone in your body to build muscles the size of melons (and alot of those men and women are on steroids anyway), so don't worry about that. There is also evidence that more muscle raises your metabolism, and so burns more calories that way too. Also, having more muscle makes cardio alot easier!

Secondly, focus on the calorie defecit, rather than the net calories consumed. If you burn 350 calories but then eat 1800 calories, you're not really going to get anywhere. Focusing on the defecit is way more important than calories consumed. As long as there is a defecit you will lose weight. Workout your bmr for the weight you currently are, then workout a reasonable defecit which will combined with calories burnt through excercise to equal 3500/7000 calories burnt in a week (1lb of fat is roughly equal to 7000calories). Its important to never go below 1200 calories though - this is roughly the number that everyone needs to survive and not consuming at least 1200 calories a day can send the body into starvation mode which means it will actually STORE fat.

Lastly, just to reiterate what other people have said, shake up your workout routine. I have no idea what cardio you do, but if for example you ran, try swimming. Being a good swimmer requires is entirely different to being a good runner - it confuses the body in a good way.

This website is REALLY helpful for understanding the basic science behind calories and calorie counting: http://www.hussmanfitness.org/

I hope this helps!
xx

Argh, I also should have mentioned that if you DO gain muscle, muscle is way more dense than fat and so the scale might not move. Don't however be disheartened because you will have burnt fat, which is the important one to get rid of =)