Journal Entry March 12, 2010- Scale War

ugh - have to write all of that again


posted by lyric35 on 7:32 am

My post disappeared!

Beginning again LOL (not really smiling). I'm new to the group but have been enjoying all of the great advice and wanted to bring some questions .... help1

1. What is the best time to weigh yourself? I celebrated reaching the 70lb mark a few days ago however last night I was weighed by my trainer at 7:30 PM and weighted 4 lbs more. I weigh myself at home, first thing in the morning. He said it's not realistic to weigh yourself in the morning because your body is empty and you've burned everything off that you've eaten the day before. What's your opinion?

2. How do you handle when you're not meeting the expectations of your trainer? He would like me to havelost 100 lbs by now (it's been a little over a year), but I'm just happy to be 70 lbs lighter than I was a year ago. The result is that whenever I'm weighed, he ALWAYS says that I'm behind schedule. Well is it possible to "catch up" safely? I told him that I'll always be behind on his schedule. It's realistic to have set backs and plateaus isn't it?

3. I struggle as many on this forum do of not eating enough calories. Does anyone have advice on how to break the psychological fear of eating more food? (some ppl would never understand our battles! lol) My daughter laughs because I set alarms to remind myself to eat! I am almost sure that according to the advice given on this panel, that if I increased my caloric intake, I would increase my rate of weight loss. I just can't think of anything more to eat that's good for you. It already feels as though I'm just eating all day on this schedule of every 3-4 hours.

Please help a sinking heart....

(I'm copying incase I need to past this time!)
by mmarkm63 on March 12th 2010 at 8:10 am
Comments by Livestrong.com readers: Group-Free & Practical Exercise Advice Group

Hello!

1) This is NOT a scale-friendly group. The scale lies to you. Use a measuring tape. The number on the scale is not very important.

2) Your trainer may like a good many things, but YOU are the one paying him. You can meet or break any "expectation" you want to. Perhaps his schedule isn't real;istic for your situation. He's just a trainer...

3) You have to... HAVE TO... stop thinking in outdated terms. You must eat more to lose weight. When you are big, the starvation thing works at first, but ultimately you are doing yourself more harm than good.

Improve your body composition. Think in those terms. There is SO much more to this than merely "losing weight".

by AerBear on March 12th 2010 at 8:10 am

hey Lyric, Congrats on the weight loss so far! Amazing job and keep up the good work! In my opinion (take it for what its worth, definitely get the opinions of mmark, Swizz and Heidi though incase I am wrong), but I think in a way #2 and #3 on your post are semi-related. You probabaly haven't lost as much as your trainer would like because you aren't eating enough calories. Those two definitely go hand in hand. As mmark says, you need fuel for the machine. On the flip side though, don't let your trainer discourage you. 70 pounds is a wonderful accomplishment. While your trainer feels you may be behind, you still have done a great job so far, so keep reminding yourself of that. In terms of upping your calories, things like adding EVOO to veggies makes a huge difference. You are getting good fats and extra calories, but don't feel like you are consuming tons of food. Eventually you will need to get away from the mind set that eating lots = being fat. Eating the right kinds of food at the right calorie level for your body will actually help you to loose more weight so that your body isn't in starvation mode (subsequently hanging on for dear life to the excess fat to "feed the machine"). Personally I've been upping my calories the last little while. I eat 5 meals a day, i'm never starving and I actually feel much better overall in doing so. The machine works hard all day long, why not give it a treat every few hours for the hard work? Things high in protein would be like cottage cheese, almond butter on some sprouted grain bread, leafy greens, greek yogurt etc. are all good ways to get some good things into your body at good calorie levels too. Just some suggestions from my personal experience. Hopefully you are seeing how everything is kind of related here? Anyway, I wanted to stress again: no need for a heavy heart! The way I think of it is, it took a long time to get to the place where you felt you needed to "loose weight". So it only makes sense that it will take time for it to come off. Keep your chin up and good luck :)

by Erikan44095 on March 12th 2010 at 8:14 am

First off, congrats on the weight loss. That's a huge accomplishment that you have every right to be proud of. You've lost the weight at a healthy rate which will make it easier for you to keep the weight off. Keep up the great work. Sorry can't provide any advice to your questions as I'm still learning alot too.

by bigj9901 on March 12th 2010 at 8:21 am

1. I always weigh and test body fat first thing AM (after the morning paper work, before breakfast). To me it makes more sense to do it when your body is empty. What you eat and drink is going to vary from day to day and is going to be reflected in your numbers so why not remove those variables all together and do it when your on empty.

2. If you are happy with the results thats what really matters. 70 lbs in a year is almost 6lbs/month. Sounds pretty impressive (and sustainable) to me.

3. I got over my fear of eating too much by taking on a bodybuilding mentality. I went from wanting to weigh as little as possible period to wanting to weigh as much as possible and mainting low body fat.

by mstasiak333 on March 12th 2010 at 8:40 am

Lyric - sounds to me like you are doing awesome. Fire your trainer and find a new one - sounds negative. Getting healthy should be a positive rewarding experience. You are doing wonderful things for your body and for in turn for those you love and who love you! What a great example you are to your daughter. We do this on our own schedules and play by our own rules. You are the one in charge here, not him. You are the boss and he works for you, not the other way around. Would you let your pest control service or house keeper or (fill in the blank) come in your house and make you feel bad? Heck no! As far as eating more....I too am conditioned to think that eating = bad. But "conditioning" is all it is, doesn't mean it's true. I'm trying to combat this by thinking of eating as a positive thing. Fueling and nourishing my body is good, because I care about my self and respect my body. So far this is working. Maybe it will for you to? Good luck!!!

by fitfortheking on March 12th 2010 at 8:52 am

If I'm going to weigh myself (I don't do it regularly) it is ALWAYS first thing in the morning, before I eat or drink anything. I am a personal trainer as well. It is my job to help my clients reach THEIR goals, not my goals for them and it is also my job to encourage them along the way. If your trainer can't be happy with you over the 70lbs. and only focuses on the fact that you are "behind schedule" at each weigh in, it may be time to get a new trainer. One that will make you feel good about how far you have come and not focus on how far you have to go. Don't worry about catching up to his schedule. It's your body and you are paying him. If you don't want to get a new trainer, you definitely need to have a conversation with him about his negative attitude.

Edited by fitfortheking, on March 12th, 2010 at 8:53 am.

by MarcyV on March 12th 2010 at 11:22 am

Awesome job on losing 70 pounds and become so much healthier. I'm going with the general theme here...fire your trainer if that is his (her) attitude. This isn't his journey, it is yours. If you are happy with your progress, and you certainly should be, then his job is to support and celebrate with you. His...you are behind....attitude does not sound encouraging to me. I need someone to push me to work harder, but not push me into quitting. Good for you that you've stuck with it this long in the face of that b.s.

Getting healthy is so much more than a number on a scale. Yes, I still use the scale as ONE way to measure my get healthy journey and when I weight myself it is the same way I was born, naked, first thing in the morning. But I am cetainly not using it as my own or even my most important measure of success. I look at my health, how I look, my measurements, how I feel. They say a lot more than a number on the scale can about me.

Good luck. If you haven't done so already, you may want to consult with a nutritionalist to help you figure out how to eat in a healthy manner to reach your goals.

by HeidiTheOni on March 12th 2010 at 11:33 am

Super job on the weight loss! 70 pounds is fantastic and if you're happy with that, that is the most important thing. Mark, AerBear, and the others have made some good points and given some great advice.
It seems a little to me that your trainer measures his success based on how the client does. You are on your own schedule, don't try to meet someone else's if you are happy with how things are going. Keep your trainer if you like him, just remind him that this is your journey, not his, and you will get where YOU want to be at your own pace.
I personally have stopped playing a numbers game with the scale, I look to my measurements, and body comp as a better way to measure my accomplishments now. If you are going to weigh yourself, I think it's best to do it at the same time of day, once a week, under the same conditions, at least this way you might get a little consistency.

I lost 65 pounds last year by eating regularly spaced meals and sticking within my calorie target. I eat back most of my exercise calories and eat 6-8 times a day, spreading my calories throughout the day. It's easier to make sure you eat enough this way and it's really the best way to keep your metabolism running high. As others suggested, you can add some calorie dense foods if you need to, nuts/avocados/good fats...you don't have to eat a lot of those kinds of things to bump up your calories.

One last bit of advice, try to eat as clean as you can. Avoid artificial sweeteners, chemical preservatives, and heavily processed foods as much as you can. I know it's not always easy but doing this little by little will pay off. Best of luck and welcome to the group!

Just wanted to thank all of you sincerely for pulling me out of the deep depths last week! I went to my workout on Saturday morning and one of the other trainers "leaked" that my trainer was talking about how good the scale was to me. I stood there with open mouth and just stared at my trainer before lighting into him about how important positive reenforcement and encouragement motivates me to work harder!!! It was an open door that I gladly walked through. I couldn't believe that he had the nerve to be happy about it once I left the gym! I told him that "reverse psychology" DOES NOT work with me. So thank you all for your wonderful encouragement and great tips on when to weigh and on advice on when the scale is and isn't my friend!

Now for another interesting question: Does anyone experience the fragrence of amonia when they're working out an an intense level? What's the take on that?

Thanking this group

Jada-