Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I don't know man...

I think I'm on another plateau. I've been regularly working out. I've been drinking my water and getting my rest and eating well. And I haven't been losing.

I'm still at 278 today. I've been hanging out around this number since Christmas. What's the deal here? What's going on? I've changed my workout routine and upped my resistance. I've increased the level on my elliptical machine. I tracked my calories yesterday (2200). Grrr....

This is the struggle. This is the reason people lose their bananas. Here I am, busting my hump, and I'm getting bupkis back.

Well, that's not totally true... I stepped out of the shower yesterday morning. Remember way back, when I saw the first small line of muscle in my forearm? I've been having that quite a bit. My shoulders are rounding out, and on Monday when I did my front and lateral dumbell raises, I could really see the nice shape of muscle under the shirt as the arms went up. When I'm buzzing my head with the clippers, I can see the way my bicep makes a round shape, even without flexing. There's something there, and it looks to be nice. When I'm standing in the bathroom or my bedroom with my shirt off and look down at my arm, I can see the shoulder muscle go out then back into my arm, then how the triceps muscle comes back out. It's not just one amorphous shape any longer.

Well this week I noticed a fresh line. My thigh. Stepping out of the shower, there was a perceptible line of divided muscle running down the front of my thigh. My quads are just starting to peek out. Because of the loose skin on my upper thigh, I almost have to get a small jiggle going to make the line appear consistently, but it's there now. So maybe this weight plateau is okay, as underneath changes are still occuring. I don't know. I'm going to have to sit down and review what I'm doing and see where else I can kick it up a notch to jumpstart the scale's falling numbers again.

Man is this frustrating though.

15 comments:

Rebecca said...

It is so hard to be patient for the scale to catch up when you are working so hard. And you are right this is the reason people fail at this everyday. But here's what will happen...you will hang in there and keep drudging on and in no time at all I will be reading about how you had a great loss on the scale and you're ecstatic. I promise.

Linda - Operation Stick To It said...

Keep up the good work, you're putting in tons of effort. It'll all catch up! Hang in there..!

Natalie said...

I know it can be very frustrating, putting in all the effort, and not getting the results you want , but keep at it, your body is just needing to play catch up! and while the scale isn't moving in your favor it sounds lie you are getting fit and loosing inches. have you thought about measuring those losses too ?

40 Something said...

keep focus on those non scale victores like muscle development and soon the scales will come along

Chews to Lose said...

Muscles are a good thing. Keep up the good work - the scale will reflect it soon!

Zeusmeatball said...

I feel ya on the slow losses! and I love when you get those non scale victories! the slow losses are ok with me sometimes because well, its just gonna happen! nothing we can do about it so why fret right? I haven't lost a substantial amount since about Thanksgiving (I had taken it easy on my self because of a busy sch)and I went from a 4xl fitting loose and a 3xl tight to a 3XLT fitting good and there is hardly a dent in the weight from size to size, our bodies are doing things behind the scenes, we just have to keep that in mind.keep on keepin on and it shall be so, that way of thinking has lost me 172 pounds so far ;)

As Ever
Me

Shrink to Fit said...

You must be adding muscle. Got a measuring tape or a pair of pants that have been tight? Track those kinds of changes. All your hard work will pay off!!

Hope today is a good one!

Kimberly said...

Try throwing in some radically different days in terms of calories consumed. It helps me to throw my body off of the routine every once and a while to prevent stalls. If it gets the same thing every day it can adjust to only use what you give it and not exceed that.

Anonymous said...

Roder, you are totally rocking it. Keep it up! Good for you for recognizing the non-scale victory of your muscles. Whoohoo!

Brightcetera said...

It is frustrating to not see the #'s go down as fast as you would like, no doubt about it.
Hang in there, ok?
You're turning into a sexy meat monster, don't you worry :)

Hanlie said...

The scale is only one tool among many in your tool chest. It's not the final authority on your progress. You ARE making progress!

Jason said...

Although the scale is very important (and humbling) it isn't everything. I know there was a time when I couldn't lose a single pound to save my life, however, I was getting smaller. Make sure you don't get discouraged by the scale, let it fuel you otherwise you might fall off the wagon (like me, I stopped weighing myself and gained about 15lbs back.)

theantijared said...

As someone who knows, don't get frustrated! You are seeing muscle development, that is SO important!

SeaShore said...

Are you taking measurements? Sounds like you've got some great NSVs happening either way. Congratulations on the muscle definition. The scale will catch up.

Anonymous said...

Im gonna go back and reread and see what your workouts are.

maybe a simple change there (not MORE just different) will spark more lines to appear!

Where I've Been and Where I'm Going