Please HELP
 

I have been working out since March 1st, I have only missed 5 days since then. Joined a gym have a personal trainer since March 8. She gave me a new workout that I love. I truly enjoy it! The problem is I have only lost 2 pounds! Yes I have lost 15 inches all together but I am feeling AWFUL that the weight is staying on me! I am so discouraged right now. I haven't gone back to my bad eating habits. I am on a 1200 calorie a day diet. I weigh my food. I am doing everything right! The weight just won't leave! any advise? :mad:

March 1st,2013 217
March 30,2013 215

Only that you may be restricting calories too much. For some of us (myself included), if calories are too low, it slows down the metabolism. The reasoning is that your body becomes aware that all of a sudden, it isn't getting as much "nourishment" (calories) as before and slows down in order to conserve (evolutionarily speaking, in case of famine). You may see better results if you bump up to, say, 1400 calories a day. Sounds paradoxical, but it often does the trick. How many calories do you burn a day total, between lifestyle and exercise?

Also, time of the month can affect weight (you can gain 3-5 pounds easily the week of and week before), maybe that's a factor?

Are you weight training? Doing cardio? Both? I assume if you have a personal trainer you are weight training. Hooray for the inches lost. That should be your bigest motivator at first. I know they say muscle weighs more than fat. Really 1 pound of fat weighs the same as 1 pound of muscle. I believe however that 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than 1 pound of fat. So if you are losing inches, you may be losing a good amount of fat and building up muscle. If you are weight training, I bet you are retaining water in your muscles. They may retain that water until they get used to your routine. It took me about 4 weeks after starting a weight training program to see a difference on the scale. I even gained some weight, but now it is coming off better. There is just something so mentally rewarding about seeing the numbers on the scale drop though, yes?
I agree with cjohnson in that you might not be eating enough. How is your sodium intake?
Keep up your spirits. It's a tough battle always. Just don't give up.

Thank you. I know lossing inches should make feel great. Infact yesturday I saw family for easter that noticed my inches loss right away! I did eat a little bit more then I normaly do yesturday and I feel sick today. The sugar and carbs make me feel blahhhhh. I now need to work it off all week! I can do it! :)

Jeanie,

What you are experiencing is normal. Muscle weights more than fat so as you workout and add more muscle you will gain muscle weight. Losing 15" is fantastic and that should be the ultimate goal; fitting into the clothes you want to wear. My sister was always amazed that I wore a smaller size and weighted 15 lbs more than her but it was all muscle.

Thank you so much! I know it makes me crazy though.....any other time I have gone through this I have lost weight. Still only 6 ponds gone but 22 inches. In one month. Started with the trainer on MArch 8, today marks one month. I feel good. So I guess I should be happy !:) :)

Size vs. weight
 

If people are noticing the difference, and you feel healthy and energetic, you must be doing something right. Don't worry so much about the numbers on the scale,

When my sister was on the swim team in high school, despite all the exercise, she gained a couple of pounds. But when the weather warmed up and she tried on her clothes from the previous summer, they all just hung on her because she had lost almost two sizes!