i have faithfully been excersizing for 4 months 4 times a week i do 1hr / 4miles aerobic walking and strength training 2-3 times a week (walk away the pounds) im loosing inches but gained a few on the scale. i also watch my calories/fat very carefully.i have plataued for 3 weeks and im getting very disgusted. am i gaining muscle mass is that the cause for the weight gain? any suggestions to help me over the hump? lost 70 lbs since end of july and have 20lbs to gaol weight. thanks

When did you have your surgery done?

If it has been just this past year, keep plodding along. The weight will come off once your metabolism adjusts. It takes some time to break a plateau.

If you are further out and can eat more...then I'd pay attention to your calorie intake. Since you are trying to drop pounds, then I'd keep those calories under tight control! Log it all down and take notice.

Either way, your workout schedule looks to be a good one!

When you're exercising and gaining weight, keep an eye on the inches. For so many years we've been caught up in the thought that more weight isn't good. MUSCLE WEIGHT IS GOOD. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.


I mean, truly, size it's what's more important - Would you rather weigh 150 and be a size 4 or weigh 135 and be a size 8? Muscle mass means less jiggle! Enjoy it and try to focus on the fact that you're doing AWESOME!!!

If you've been at the losing game for years prior and now post op, then you KNOW that when you're losing inches you're losing fat! That's the best kind of losing you can do!!! Don't get disgusted with this "plateau" thing. Plateaus can be your body's way of readjusting to the idea that you are not going to starve from eating so much less than you used to. Instead of focusing on what you can't control (the numbers), focus on YOUR part of the bargain: eating right, following the rules, exercising. Let the numbers take care of themselves.

Remember, YOU ARE NOT ON DIET. This IS YOUR NEW LIFE! Be patient and get your lifestyle perfected. The weight is going to come off if you keep working your program. It has to.

I've only to add that muscle weighs more than fat. Like Kim said, your exercise routine looks good. Don't let those scales discourage you. Keep plugging along like Sandi said, and you'll get and see results!

And I love Toris' point: I'd rather be a solid, non saggy non jiggly 150 size 4 than a flabby saggy 130 size 8. But the best news is YOU'RE going to be a size 8 or a size 4. Wow! As someone who spent my entire adult life at a size 22 or bigger, I would have been thrilled with a size 14. I WAS thrilled to be a size 14. I'm so amazed that I ended up a size 4.

And I believe that if you keep following "the rules", you TOO are going to be amazed at how small you end up! Keep the faith. You're doing great.

Nursekrista,

Your best bet if you have someone qualified to do it is to have your bodyfat measured and then have it rechecked every 4-6 weeks as this will show the trend and exactly what is happening. Actually it is not that muscle weighs more than fat as a pound is a pound but 1lb of lean muscle takes up less room so to say. Turning fat into muscle is a good thing and lean muscle does help us burn fat but you have to learn how to feed that muscle and how to make it grow. Your biggest gain in lean muscle is actually the day you have done strength training. As you let it rest it repairs itself and new growth occurs and muscle is added and this new muscle will burn fat as long as you dont feed the fat. That is something I will not get into though others can discus it with you as my ideas are somehat different than most.

I need to correct something I said. It should read that your biggest gain of muscle comes on your rest day after strength training.

I thought about this a little more and wanted to answer further. I did gain weight while exercising but here is the trick. As I gained weight my body fat percentage dropped so to a certain point I am ok with that although the added weight does hinder my climbing ability. The problem is that you have to watch it carefully as the body fat percentage can go up and because you are loosing lean muscle you may not initially see it on the scale. This is what I am dealing with now but I am getting it done.

If you are in the loosing phase of your surgery it would not be probable.

Hang in there! I did walk away the pounds for MONTHS... and I LOVEEEEEEEEED it....I had gained a few pounds ..then all of sudden--BAM 20 pounds in one month gone.. its worth it --just keep it up! you will see the weightloss soon....How can you not?

ow funny i just responded to ur post about walking and suggested to u walk away the pounds...great minds think alike lol

Krista, cmon, you're a nurse!!! It is hard to remember that pathophys when you're the one trying to loose. I know, I did it too. "What's wrong with me!!!" I think it is like being a new mom, you have great advice, but when that little bundle of joy is your own, you question everything you think and do.
There is a lot of great advice here, and mine is for you to LOOSE THE SCALE. I do weigh in from time to time, just to keep it in check, but I trust my clothes more than the scale.
I am 3+ years out from surgery and was a very slow loser. I was freaked, but time and persistence paid off, and I do stay about 10 lbs above my personal goal, but I am thrilled with the new me.....except for the tummy tuck I desire.
Best wishes
Kellie