Help Wanted.......

[mumof2]

Hi, this is my second post on here and am hoping for some help.  I got a fitbit charge hr for my birthday on the 5th of this month, and I love it. The second I put it on I have made big changes. I have gone from doing no excerise, eating junk, and drinking fizzy, to averaging 10,000 steps a day, no junk food whatsoever,eating healthy and drinking at least 2 litres of water each day. It has been hard, but I am feeling so much better in myself. My problem is, the weight doesn't seem to be moving much. I have "alot" of weight to lose and was looking forward to this journey, but when I got on the scales this morning I felt pretty disheartened when I saw that the scales had in fact showed that I had put weight on????

Sorry for the long post, but I'm hoping that someone might be able to give me some ideas on what I could maybe try/do to help move the weight. Thanks.

[christiecalahan]

I didn't start losing weight until I did strength training. Cardio does nothing for me. Have you tried cross-fit?

[veelyns]

Monitor you diet, while you have made drastic changes, they may be to drastic.  You need to make sure you are getting enough food, aka energy.  Your body needs carbohydrates, the brain needs glucose ... so your body may have infact reacted as storing food because it may think it's starving.  On the other hand if you are in fact getting enough calories I wouldn't be surprised if you see a big number on the scale next week.  Keep at it, dont over deny yourself as that may lead to binging.  Try an 80/20 diet, where you are on point Monday through Friday and allow yourself ONE indulgent on Saturday and Sunday and don't forget to give your body a day for rest.  Good Luck 😃

[Annie-NH]

You can be eating healthy but still eating too many calories.  First congratulations on getting active and changing your eating habits, and don't quit.  I find logging my food into FITBIT dashboard can be a bit tedious but it is the only way I can stay accountable.  Then you can see if you are burning more calories than you are taking in or not.  Don't dispair, starting a new program shocks your body, and several things could be going on : you are building muscle, your body is holding extra water to cool the muscles, you are taking in more than you are burning.  I judge myself better by : are your pants looser or fitting better?  can you button up shirts that you couldn't before, do you feel better ? stronger ? Less out of breath?   These are better factors to measure your success.  Good luck

[Trooper]

Don't feel so bad. I have lost 100 pounds, going from 271 to 171. I am trying to get under 171, but have been stuck at the 171 level since 12/23/15. I excercise and monitor everything I eat. But the last 2 pounds are proving to be very difficult to lose. 

[DeltaRomeo]

I can't help you I'm afraid as I have just decided to get back into using the Fitbit. But I had the same problems before so I will be following the responses. Good luck

[Raviv]

It's hard to see what you might be doing right or wrong without any actual data.

How often do you work out, for how long, and what do you usually do?

How many calories are you taking in and burning per day, and what are your macros?

How much weight are you trying to lose, and is that a realistic goal?  How large a calorie deficit do you have?

Are there any other medical issues you're dealing with?

As far as the weight gain, if the progress averages downward, it's all good.  Weight loss is rarely a straight line down, and if you get frustrated because one day is higher, then you might want to start weighing less often because that happens a lot.

Also, the morning after a hard workout tends to make the scale read higher.  The morning after a rest day is going to be more accurate and usually lower.

[mumof2]

Thanks for your reply. No I havn't tried cross fit. I'll pretty overweight so I'm just trying to get my body used to being active by using the treadmill each day and going for walks. Later on down the track I do want to get into more active workouts.

[mumof2]

Thanks so much everyone for your replies, they have been a big help. I'm determined not to let the scales get me down.  I do have another question though, can you actually drink too much water?? I have gone from drinking no water at all to drinking 2-3 litres a day.

[drspag1]

Hi,

I've lost 55 pounds in the past year and it is very important to keep track of your calories.  I got the Lose It app on my phone and I make sure that I put in all my calories and exercise, the extra calories I get from exercise I rarely use on extra food.  I have been walking the 10,000 steps almost every day.  Believe me calories are a big part of weight loss so add them up.     Denise

[Raviv]

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@mumof2 wrote:

I do have another question though, can you actually drink too much water?? I have gone from drinking no water at all to drinking 2-3 litres a day.

---

Yes, you can, especially if you drink it in large amounts at one sitting and not in small amounts throughout the day.  It's called hyponatremia and it 's serious.  Hyponatremia Mayo Clinic link

When I worked outside, I would drink 2-3 gallons of water in a few hours because I was sweating (desert heat) and it was really hot (like over 110F).  Not a good idea.  What happens is that your electrolyte levels get low, and it's not healthy.  You can also cause swelling in your brain because the cells swell, but this is likely when we're talking about amounts higher than what you're drinking, unless (like I said) you're drinking it all at once.

So it's worth watching out for.  Best idea is to drink either less or slowly, and make sure you are replacing your electrolytes.

[Emzor]

I was having this same problem everytime I tried to lose weight.  This year I decided to start seriously counting calories and I have already lost 3.5kg just in the past 3 weeks.

I am measuring/weighing EVERYTHING! I am checking two or three other sources if I am not sure about the calorie amount of a food (I use My Fitness Pal for calorie tracking).  It has made so much difference.

[emili]

@mumof2- You should be so proud of yourself for starting your journey and for putting it out in the universe- seriously. I can only speak from my own experience... until you know how many calories you should be eating per day and how many calories you actually are- your weight will probably move but not as effectively as it should. you have to do the math. Any suggestions you have read about counting calories, weighing food, figuring out the composition of the calories you are allowed- that's the advise you should follow. walking is great, but without proper allowances and nutrition you will only satisfy half your journey- which is still more than most folks choose to do. Raviv answered your water question, so no need for me to carry on anymore. Good luck in your journey- you've got this.

[mumof2]

Thanks everyone for your ideas and comments. I think one of my problems is I might  have dodgy scales, haha, one minute they say I'm one thing and then the next day it will say that I've lost like 1.7kg (overnight) then that night I've put on again???? Think it might be time to invest in some decent scales I feel. I am also going to keep track of my calories with everything I eat. I have heard that My Fitness Pal is a good site. What website do other people like to use?

[SebringDon]

@mumof2

The easiest way to lose weight is to track everything you eat and everything you burn. The easiest way to do that is to learn to use Fitbit's tools, since they are an integrated package. Start by setting up a food plan based on how much you have to lose, then log both your food and exercise and stay within the Daily Calorie Estimate that Fitbit gives you.

Here are the four food plan levels and when it's appropriate to use each. There's nothing wrong with going with an easier plan than recommended, but be cautious about going too fast. If you go too fast, you can lose muscle mass, which is hard to regain, and train your body to slow your metabolism, which is another real headache to get over.

Easier: 1/2 pound per week, best when you have under 10 pounds to lose.
Medium: 1 pound per week, good for those with 10 to 20 pounds to lose.
Kinda Hard: 1.5 pounds per week, a sane rate for those with 20 to 40 pounds to lose.
Harder: 2 pounds per week, reasonable when you have more than 40 lbs to lose.

Hope this helps!

[Sine]

@mumof2

I know what you are going through. I have a lot to lose as well and one thing I've found is that the scale can fluctuate day to day and can also stall or show a weight gain, even when I'm sticking to my food plan. I also take my measurements - bust, chest, waist, hips, thighs, calves and upper arms. I started a new program on January 3 and as of my weigh-in in Sunday, I've lost 5 lbs but more impressive 8 1/4 inches!

I've also gone for weeks with no weight loss but my measurements are smaller. So the scale is not always your friend. It's good to have another method of tracking the changes in your body like measurements or bod fat percentage. I hate the calipers and prefer the mearsuing tape.

Good luck on your journey!

[Mommajolynn]

Hi there! I have the fitbit charge hr as well and I love it. But I was in the same rut as you until I joined a site called myfitnesspal.com. This site is awesome, it has the food diary so you can track your food and exercise as well. Thats what really helped me out because while I was walking a lot and eating healthy, I wasn't losing. The reason why? I was eating too much of the healthy stuff and it was still going over my calorie intake amount. Crazy right? But alas it is true. So I had to cut down on the healthy stuff too and just eat smaller portions through out the day. Now I'm steadily losing weight and its going quite well 🙂

[mumof2]

@Mommajolynn @Sine Thanks for your comments. I've heard alot about the MFP website and signed up to it yesterday, but it may take me awhile to work my way around it and get used to inputting everything I eat. My scales are so up and down, it's crazy! I used to get on them every second day as it kept me on track, but latley the only thing it's doing is getting me down because they seem to be so unreliable, eg it can say I've put on 1.4kg in half a day, lol. So I think my best bet is to get on them once a week and just take note of how my clothes feel and I might even go ahead and do my measurements today too.

I am looking for other ladys to challenge and motivate me on my journey, and I'll do the same for you 🙂

I have alot of weight to lose and have just started my lifestyle change at the start of the month when my awesome hubby got me my fitbit charge hr. So if your wanting a friend to help you along feel free to add me 🙂

[Sine]

I don't really think your scale is unreliable. Instead it is reflecting the weight fluctuations that are normal throughout a day. If you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, you will probably have a lower weight than after a meal or after drinking a lot of water. The main thing is to weigh yourself at the same time each time you weigh-in. This will give you the most acurate sense of the gains or losses that are going on.

For me, it's first thing in the morning after elimination (in other words hopefully after a poop!) and naked. I'm trying to only weigh myself on Sundays which is my reset day but even if I decide to check mid week, it will always be at the same time, in the same situation. For example, the first week on the new program I'm following, I lost 3 lbs on my scale on the Sunday morning. I went to see my naturopath on Tuesday at 9 am and on her scale at that time of day it showed my starting weight (in otherwords up 3 lbs). But I had clothes on, had eaten breakfast, had a cup of coffee and a couple of glasses of water. So I was not surprised or disappointed - that is my starting weight with her.

Hope that makes sense and helps you a litte.

[clo]

Hi! My Fitness Pal and your fitbit charge are the best for weight loss! Link the two together and you will see success. I used to think exercise  automatically equals weight loss. Not so!

Calories in and calories out....weigh all your food and log everything and the weight will slip off.

I love the report of the whole picture Fitbit sends me at the end of each week too.

Good luck!