Exercise is ruining everything!

Hello,
I have a bit of a problem!
All through my weight watchers journey (the ups and downs) I have always been very consistent. I know I lose 1 pound a week with good effort and more for being very strict with points and a touch of activity. half if ive gone over a by a few points.
As I'm abroard in 4 weeks now, 3 weeks ago i decided to start properly exercising for the 1st time in a long time! (well over a year) So 4-5 times a week i have been jogging on the treadmill or doing an exercise dvd. I have other wise stuck to my points but eaten about half of my earnt activity points so as not to be undereating. Im only doing half an hour exercise by the way nothing crazy.

So the 1st 2 weeks i lost a total of 1.5 pounds for both weeks and i was sad but decided not to worry. But today (the 3rd weigh in) i only lost half a pound. I can almost guarantee if i had not exercised then the last few weeks i would have lost 3 pounds and ive only lost 2 with exercise!

I know the old adaje that muscle weight could be coming on but jogging doesnt gain enough muscle for this. And i know if you dont eat enough your body clings on but i have been eating my points plus a few activity points.

I am so disappointed. 7 weeks ago i thought it was possible to lose 10 pounds for my hol. Now with 4 weeks to go and 8 pounds still to go i cant reach what was an attainable goal.

sorry to moan but im really sad because i felt really proud of myself exercising. Is it possible i should stop the exercise? Maybe it doesnt suit me! Can this be the case? Might i be thinner for my hol if i quit exercise?

Really don't fancy wearing a swimming cozzy in 4 weeks :-(

have you tried measuring yourself instead? Muscle is heavy for its volume, and just a minute amount could add up very easily. Chances are you've lost more fat weight, and gained a bit of muscle weight. And you will be slimmer.. even if the pounds aren't showing.

I exercise to an almost athletic level... and I do see where you are coming from. My losses aren't wonderful considering how much I've got to go. But I feel so much better now (after 6 months of very intense exercise)

It's a tricky one. Week to week your body changes, you can hold more fluid one day than the next, you can be due a bowel movement, and multiple other things that aren't neccesarily fat or lack of fat loss. I think weighing yourself weekly is fine, but you gotta think to outside of the box. Like how much you are losing monthly... As well as that, if you haven't a lot to lose your body isn't likely to pull big numbers. But truthfully the recommended weekly weight loss is up to 2lbs, and anything more than that is never achievable week on week unless you are doing something crazy like the biggest loser

thanks for replying. if i lost 2 pounds a week id be overjoyed! Ive lost 2 pounds in 3 weeks! Which normally would be acceptable but i dont really understand it when i have now introduced exercise.

I only have a stone and half to lose and it does move slower as ive been here before. But its not a coincidence that it suddenly stopped wanting to shift when i started exercising.

I do need to measure though. I shall start that tonight. it might keep me motivated if i am actually getting thinner.

i have these scales that measure fat, water and muscle and for the last 3 days my muscle content dropped from medium to low! unbelievable! so that is why i am sure i havnt gained muscle! I am really worried if i am losing it!

do you think its possible i can be a little bit thinner for my holiday?

thanks

throughout my ww journey i've hardly done any exercise,,the week i did 30 day shred i gained 1lb,,i swore i wouldnt exercise till i got to goal,,i know that sounds stupid but i couldnt face a gain again and my losses had been so slow to start with,,i've now reached goal and plan to at least start walking for now

becksjane said:

thanks for replying. if i lost 2 pounds a week id be overjoyed! Ive lost 2 pounds in 3 weeks! Which normally would be acceptable but i dont really understand it when i have now introduced exercise.

I only have a stone and half to lose and it does move slower as ive been here before. But its not a coincidence that it suddenly stopped wanting to shift when i started exercising.

I do need to measure though. I shall start that tonight. it might keep me motivated if i am actually getting thinner.

i have these scales that measure fat, water and muscle and for the last 3 days my muscle content dropped from medium to low! unbelievable! so that is why i am sure i havnt gained muscle! I am really worried if i am losing it!

do you think its possible i can be a little bit thinner for my holiday?

thanks

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Those body fat readers are useless... ive measured on them before, done two readings at the same time, and they were completely off. And that was on a really expensive piece of kit in my gym!

I think reducing your exercise should be a last resort, i'm sure you probably feel the same... maybe its worth waiting to goal until you pick it up again?

Just you'll look a million times better all toned up even if you are slightly "heavier"

I know you say that jogging shouldn't gain you enough muscle to be gaining weight but you'll be suprised, especially with the amount of times a week that you are exercising. Don't stop. It's too good for you and you will be losing inches. I'm running a programme called c25k which is a programme designed to get you jogging and improve your fitness and i've checked out some of the related forums and you'd be suprised how many people are posting the same as you, saying they're not losing weight and wanting to give up as a result. I read somewhere that a pound gained in muscle burns a LOT of calories more through acitivity - i can't remember the exact figure but i'll try and find it, it's really motivating when you're exercising and the weight isn't coming off as you'd hoped.

Have you thought about photographing monthly perhaps to see a difference? I'm going to try doing it as i'm in a bit of a rut diet wise, and need a kick up the bum

Hope that helps a bit xx

its true, muscles require calories to exist whereas fat requires nothing. Just takes time for the muscle gain/fat burning to come into place. I went through the exact same and it took a while before I started losing again x

I found this:

"Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to your body, you burn an additional 35 to 50 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days, without making any other changes. In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is 'metabolically active ' and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you're not moving."

Not exactly what i was looking for but kind of supports my point lol! I like the bit about the basal metabolic rate, burning more calroies and doing nothing! Takes me back to GCSE PE

Something else you should take into consideration is that you only start earning activity points AFTER you have done what WW describes as day to day activity. Now on my WW pedometer, that day to day activity is over 6000 steps which works out for me to be about half an hour or so of brisk walking plus just general pottering about. Only once I have done that do I start to earn activity points. Now this wouldn't really make much odds unless you are eating your activity points, which you have been.

Don't forget as well that your body is not a machine and you cannot always predict exactly what it is going to do. 10 is attainable in 7 weeks but isn't guaranteed. You cannot know for certain that you would have lost more had you not done the exercise and it may well be just coincidence. Be proud of what you have achieved so far and the exercise you have done. Have you holiday and enjoy yourself! Life's too short etc

Thetrigos said:

I found this:

"Studies have estimated that for each pound of muscle that you add to yourbody, you burn an additional 35 to 50 calories per day. So, an extra 10 pounds of muscle will burn approximately 350 to 500 calories a day, or an extra pound of fat every 7 to 10 days, without making any other changes. In another study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is 'metabolically active ' and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you're not moving."

Not exactly what i was looking for but kind of supports my point lol! I like the bit about the basal metabolic rate, burning more calroies and doing nothing! Takes me back to GCSE PE

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ohh thats very interesting, nice find

i have had the same problem i lost a stone on six weeks, exercise consisted on zumba once a week

i started doing two exercise dvds a week including my zumba and only lost 1/2 lb this happed twice

i finally have decided to start the 30 day shred which i heard helps with the inches ( which im fine with it i can drop a dress size )

but a bit aprehensive as still would like a weight loss im into day 3 of the 30 day shred and will let you know how i get on.

I would say keep going and maybe change the amount if activity pp u use and see which works... Ur still losing and toning so that has all got to be good x