Ughhhhh....F me again!

BikeSwimLaugh

BikeSwimLaugh

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The metabolic freak strikes again....

More weeks of hard work, weights, cardio, diet....

I'm visably leaner, my face is more narrow, my abs are more cut, new lines & definition are appearing, clothes fitting looser....as soon as I walked into my nutritionist office he could immediately see the leaness or leanicity as I like to call it.

He takes the digital calipers and pinches areas....he does it 3x for accuracy and a solid average. Good news, I've dropped .07% in Body-Fat%. That means I've lost fat. I've lost fat, I've lost fat, I've lost fat!!!! Great....

Then I get on the scale...

I've gained just shy of 9 pounds!

I don't want to hear how muscle weighs more then fat, and yeah...I'm sure "some" of it could be water retention and what-not....but still, almost double-digits in GAIN. Before anyone tells me how great muscle gain is...let's review my numbers:

5' 8" and now 238 pounds....and based on what I've seen I'd have to project an overall body-fat% of about 12-12.7% (maybe more, but how much more based on that fact that my abs are coming in?)

My nutritionist says I look much more muscular and that could be in part by some gain, but also fat-loss gives more cut, which makes things look larger.

I'm just frustrated. I knew I'd lost fat but I was hoping for some loss on the scale or maybe break-even...but 9 pounds gained!

Not happy...

I do weights to inhibit lean muscle loss while dieting, but I'm apparently able to stack-on muscle like nuts. Yes, I do push heavy weights but I can't help it...it's all part of my going 100%.

Today I did a spin-class, ran 2 miles on the treadmill, took another spin-class and then swam a mile+ in the pool: 3.5 hours & 2,280 calories burned. I'm nailing the cardio, weights and diet...every day in every way! I'm hitting it hard. I really want the weight to come down. I guess I need to go lighter on the weights or something....

238 pounds...DAMN!!!! NOT HAPPY!...and yet I have to celebrate fat-loss. How the **** do you lose fat and gain 9 pounds? (over 2.25 months)
 
You eat too far over your calorie requirement...that's how you loss body fat (.07% is nothing and gain 9 lbs in muscles.

Check your diet and adjust as necessary.

edit: i'm assuming you are wanting to lose weight or not add more muscle mass...judging by your "anger" and thread title.
 
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Honestly, the scale is my last resort to gauge progress. I only weigh myself once a month now, if that. Go by the mirror (the best IMO), comments from people, and the way clothes fit.
 
You're a guy. Get off the damn scale!!!!

You're losing fat and gaining muscle, you should be jumping for joy.

Looking leaner and more muscular...what a tragedy. Is your Spandex cutting off the blood flow to your brain?? Rejoice brother, Rejoice!!!!!!!!!
 
Someone at my gym told me that over time in an athlete the bones will actually get denser in order to accommodate the higher stress being put on them - might that be some extra weight there if that's happening or has already happened?

As for the weight overall, when I was trying to lose weight there were some days when I would fit into smaller jeans, be so happy, and then step on the scale and die a little inside at the higher numbers. One of the gyms trainers told me that weight depends on far too many things (muscle v. fat, what you ate that day, whether you had alcohol that week, heck what you're wearing) to be very dependable, so just don't worry about it too much. And its true, my weight fluctuates between 1 and 5 pounds just from the time I wake up until the time I got to bed! She told me just go by inches, or go by fat percent, but most importantly, go by how you feel and how you think you look when you see yourself in the mirror. So if you feel good about you're doing and feel good overall, and you think you look better, and the tests say your fat is down, then overall the good news far outweighs that bad of a few potentially lying pounds right? :) But if you really don't want that extra weight that you think is muscle, maybe try a lower protein diet or something else less conducive to building? Did your nutritionist have advice about that?
 
show us some b4 and after pics. oh and you of all ppl should know not to listen to the scale! Keep it up the good work buddy.
 
Too many responses to highlight them all....

First & foremost, thank you all for your support & encouragement. Red Panda hit it on the nose when she used the term "a little part of me died when I got on the scale". I know, I know, I know the scale is a grossly inaccurate measurement of "the big picture" and it only reflects the weight of the body....but as someone who is "trying to lose weight", you just can't help but get on that scale and take it's feedback. Heck, what's the first question people ask you...."So, how much have you lost?"...and then I start into my explanation of how muscle weighs more then fat, etc, etc. It sounds like an excuse & rationalization and ya know...for all my hard work I really feel I should have a solid number to throw down without any damn explanation.

But let me explain...people/friends will compliment me and then ask how much I've lost. They're not being nosey or pushing the issue, they're genuinely curious....so I start to explain how muscle weighs more then fat and they usually cut me off by saying "....just tell me how much you've lost!". I tell them and within minutes I'm getting a lecture about how I need to fix my problem. "My problem?...my problem??....that's what it becomes, it goes from you look great to 'this is what you need to do'....and I'm going to F-in choke & KILL the next person who tells me how those tubbies on Biggest Loser can lose double-digits in just one week. I'm telling you guys, without an impressive weight-loss figure, they take triumph and end-up kicking me in the nuts.

I bet you guys will tell me to get a new trainer, check this out. I called my trainer and told her I'd lost body-fat but gained 9 pounds on the scale. She tells me it took years to put-on and it'll take more time to get off, giver her another 6 months, yada yada yada and even she's more or less addressing my "failure". Rejoice? Celebrate?? I think not. I have so few losses on the scale and so many gains and yet my body-fat continues to go down (albeit very little this time).

I don't have any 'before' pics...I was careful to avoid the camera and diligent in deleting/destroying any bad pics (some kind of chick trait I picked up, eh?). I guess if the picture doesn't exist, neither does the weight problem. I dunno, but I don't have pics, sorry.

Guys, I can not do more cardio or workout more...I'm max'd-out. I do weights 3x per week and my cardio thing 2-3x per week. I eat so little that I'm hungry most the time and I'm eating all the right foods...but evidently I'm eating enough to sustain & add muscle, but I can't conceive eating less for sake of absurd hunger & deprivation.

I've got a certified and award-winning trainer, a nutritionist who writes for Men's Health, gym resources, time and effort. I just don't know anymore. Yes, I look much leaner and muscular but I can't get away from being fixated on the scale and wanting to weigh less.

What bugs me most is this: deep down I hear you guys and I know myself that I should be proud, happy and know that I'm on the right path....BUT that damn scale just ruins my head every time! "Uggghhh" <-- doesn't even begin to express my frustration!
 
When people would ask me "How much have you lost?" during that stage when the pounds hadn't left yet I would tell them in inches, in body fat percent, or in in clothing sizes and if they persisted for pounds I'd just say "I'm not going by weight, its too inaccurate." End. Eventually I did drop pounds, but even now in the past month I've lost one more pants size but gained about five pounds. Muscle? I think yes. So people say "Wow, you look great, what did you lose?" I say "A whole pants size!" So don't start with explanation, just answer your way and cut off their whining if they start on about pounds. :p
 
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damn, you're a big guy. Got any pics?

Anyway, keep up the great work! It must be working for you with those stats.
 
BSL, i love you with all my heart and everything. :D

But are you sure you've got your BF% correct? Just wondering because 238lbs @ 5'8" with 12% BF is a BIG GUY, and i don't mean fat.

Not saying your not those stats, just makes a man wonder ;)

Like Karks said, PICSSSSSS !
 
That's a great idea RP!

And guys....I know: I shouldn't have to answer to anyone other then myself. But I just want to make it clear...these inquiring people are not out to bust me or give me a hard time. Hardly, most the time they're trying to compliment me and hear an impressive number which they would likely turn-around and proudly tell other people how much I've lost...so it starts-off innocent enough, I just get too OCD in disclosing results.

LOL, I'd go by body-fat%, but my nutritionist started by pinching 3 areas and we were at like 27%...over time it came down & down & down. Then his calipers broke and he got a new unit...which was about 3.5% higher in overall readings. Then my 3 areas (that he pinched) got lean so we swithced to 3 new areas where fat was more prevailent and my BF% number went back up to tackle these areas. Because of all this change in equipment and areas pinched, it's too inconsistent to site accurately. It reminds me of an instrument in an airplane (not the altimiter)...it doesn't tell you your altitude, it just tells you if you are going up or down.

So I'll just state it: my BF% has ONLY gone down, my clothes are fitting looser, my clothing size has gone down, I'm more muscular and leaner-looking and everyone tells me I looking great. F the scale, the journey continues!

Also, from now on I'm not going to look at the scale when I get on it. I'll let my nutritionist record the number and I'll ask him to only report to me the results if the scale went down. In the face of all my effort, sweat and caloric deprivation...I just can't bear to hear any misleadning/negative-sounding results that would otherwise crush, destroy or devastate my mental integrity as I continue forward in my battle to overcome insurmountable odds in transforming my body into...okay, I ran out of corny words :)
 
Karky said:
damn, you're a big guy. Got any pics?

Anyway, keep up the great work! It must be working for you with those stats.
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BigTomW said:
But are you sure you've got your BF% correct? Just wondering because 238lbs @ 5'8" with 12% BF is a BIG GUY, and i don't mean fat.

Not saying your not those stats, just makes a man wonder ;)

Like Karks said, PICSSSSSS !
Click to expand...

Ya know what....I don't have any before pics, but I'm going to do my workout today and I'll take some pics! Heck yeah, why not. Despite being a public forum, we're really still a tight-knit community and I trust you guys.

As for the BF%...as I mentioned above: when I first started seeing my nutritionist he used digital calipers and sampled from 3 regions...he took the average and pronounced me at 27% +/- (can't quite recall). With each visit my BF% went down, down, down. Then one day he explained that he dropped the calipers and they broke..so he had a new pair and the new pair was measuring EVERYONE about 3.4% higher then the old unit. Go figure. So my BF% number jumped-up. A year later he was pinching me at 11% (this by pinching the 3 regions). It became apparent that the calipers only tell you what the BF% is on that spot you actually pinch....and we all knew there was no f-in way I was 11%...I was only 11%, on average, at those regions he was pinching...so we moved to whiter pastures and went after the back-area kidney-region love-handles (ya know, the ones that even uber-skinny guys have). When we hit the new regions, my BF% again jumped up from the previous 3-spot 11% to 22.4% So my nutritionist told me he's been in the industry for years, worked with pro's, etc, etc and that if he had to guage by eye-ball, he'd currently put me at about 14.3-15.2%....and who the F knows.

My nutrionist always regarded DEXA as the gold-standard of accuracy with BF%...but it got him, a relatively lean guy, at 24.7% whereas the water-tank had him at 17% and the calipers (using 3 various areas) at about 14.2%

I realize we're departing here from the thread topic, but it's worth noting that yes: BF% is the key thing we're working with when dieting...but measuring it is very inconsistent depending upon which method we're using. The key is using something consistent. If the calipers have you at X% and in a month you're down from that figure, then you've lost. So you know if you're going up or down but you may not know where you really are in absolute numbers.

And yes: I'm the guy who wears a HR-monitor that counts calories, I ride with a GPS-enabled cycling computer and track EVERYTHING, I'm all about stats, numbers, data, etc. I like numbers & results that are verifyable.

Pics to come!
 
Dude, I can lose 2lbs just sitting on the toilet sometimes.

9lbs could be waste, water retention, undigested food, AND a couple added pounds of muscle.
 
Dude, your bigger than me at those stats.

238 with a 12% BF at 5'8 is Diesel status. Nothing to be discouraged about at all!!!
 
malkore said:
Dude, I can lose 2lbs just sitting on the toilet sometimes.
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Malkore.....on account of that, nobody could ever accuse you of not giving a sh!t :) :D :D

malkore said:
9lbs could be waste, water retention, undigested food, AND a couple added pounds of muscle.
Click to expand...


True....I'm gonna give it 3 weeks of hell and let's hope I see a swing in the other direction.


I'm overwhelmed with the support & concern of the forum, thanks guys!!!
 
LOL....guys, I may be heavier but there's no way I'm near those pics you guys post. I took some pics, will download & post later tonight. I think I've got a lot of this figured-out. It has to do with a bit of alcohol, carbs (albeit whole-carbs) and a general & slow increase in caloric intake that I was not really entirely aware of. It's amazing how it creeps into your consumptive routine! The wife and I went away over the weekend AND I spent mid-December thru Late Febraury being sick, relapsing, sick, relapse, sick, relapse (welcome to the world of having 3 young kids in school). Still, I did lose some body-fat% but I think I'm just swollen with water and just the anti-lean right now.

Also, just before seeing my nutritionist I did my morning triathlon training. Granted I perspire, but I drank FOUR bottles of water and a full protein shaker of water, lite soy milk and 1 scoop of protein powder: hyrated I was!!!

It's okay, I'll just let me disappointed & pissed-off attitude fuel my intensity to really bring it these next 3 weeks until I meet again with the nutirtionist. Pics to come...sure is hard to take a self-pic w/o flash!
 
Okay guys...I did the best I could. All the flash pictures came out with a big white burst, only one came through reasonably well. The rest had to be done without a flash and I had to struggle to keep the camera still AND focused on the right spot. I'd like to say I'm not that ugly, but I am...and I'd like to remind you that the camera adds about 10% BF% ;)

If we dig-up my journal (didn't I have one of those?;)) you can see some months ago I had just barely some definition in the abs, now it's quite clear...and if I wear a snug shirt there's even a gap between the front abs and my side. I'm hardly "there" and you have to remember, I'm not a skinny guy who got built, I'm a former-fatty and I'm 44 so it'll take a while for skin to retract and, well, who knows. I see a LOT of 40+ year old fathers at my kids school who've just entirely let themselves go: fat, buttery-jello with no physique to speak of....so I guess I'm saying I ain't no Hoss or LV, but I'm still no slouch. Without further delay:

(I'm afraid you'll have to click on the thumbnails to expand the pics...sorry)
 

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