Trying hard to look for the positive side

Posts: 25
12/7/12 12:45 A

You are totally right and I did not have that diet mentality I did not care much about the weight as I did about the body fat percentage because I thought it was accurate and the fact that I was only losing muscles and not fats pretty much scared me because I'm trying to lose weight the healthy way and this made me feel like I must be doing something wrong now that I learnt these percentages aren't accurate I'm much more relieved!

current weight: 133.0

147 141.5 136 130.5

125

Posts: 25
12/7/12 12:42 A

Because the number on the free mass keeps decreasing but the fat has been around the same range for 3months now. I live with my parents and siblings so I have no control over what stays in the house. I always have to be surrounded by things I shouldn't eat but more often than not I learnt how to deal with it I believe. You are totally right I shouldn't allow a machine take control over me and I'm not rushing into weight loss the only thing that bought me down or pretty much scared me was the muscle mass going down it made me feel like I must be doing something wrong I want to lose weight healthy so I can keep it up for a lifetime. So I was more worried about the fat percentage rather than the number on the scale but thanks to sparkpeople I've learnt that these machines are definitely not accurate !

current weight: 133.0

147 141.5 136 130.5

125

Posts: 1,451
12/6/12 10:01 A

Let me emphasize what Coach Nancy said- I have an expensive scale that's supposed to measure my water, fat, and muscle percentages... I can tell you right now that it is definitely NOT accurate for any of those! There are ways to measure your body fat, but if you are doing strength training in addition to your cardio and eating adequately, I can't imagine how you would be losing muscle mass!

I agree that it's important to use measures beside the scale- and maybe leave the body fat percentage measurements to a professional!

Don't be discouraged- you can do this and you know you can make healthy choices. I would suggest (re?)reading the articles on emotional eating- maybe they can give you tools to prevent a binge when a future disappointment comes up- I know they have helped me!

Pounds lost: 15.4

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SparkPoints: (158,833)
Fitness Minutes: (112,042)
Posts: 46,222
12/6/12 8:56 A

Hi LALALULUXX,

Special scales that use bioelectrical impedance (weak electrical signals) give a very skewed estimate your body fat percentage. These scales can have a large margin of error (around 10% or more according to some studies). Plus, digital scales only measure fat levels in the lower body (the signal travels up one leg and down the other), so they don't provide a full picture of the fat level of your entire body. This is why it is important not to let this number determine you success or lack thereof.

Healthy living is not measured by a number on the scale, but how healthy and fit one is. How much energy one has. How their exercise performance is. When we link our success on just a single number it keeps us trapped in a diet mentality. But when we focus on the habits of healthy living regardless of the number on the scale, we are able to let go of the power the scale holds over us.

I wish you well!

Coach Nancy

0 Days until:  The Historic MC 1/2 Marathon

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Posts: 4,651
12/6/12 8:51 A

First of all take a deep breath. How do you know you are losing muscle mass?
Don't make up for it. Once it is done it is done. The next thing you put in your mouth should and will be healthy. Build on that.
My next question and probably stupid but here goes anyway-- you are on this site to lose weight. you are on this site to get healthy. Why would you have all the crap in your house? I don't take the excuse that it is for my kids, spouse, or significant other. That stuff is not good for them either.
Take yourself for a walk. A long walk. Clean out your pantry of any crap and fill it with real living food.
Plan your meals. Plan your snacks and MOST of all STOP letting a little machine that you stand on once a week control you. There are lots of other measurements or ways to guage how you are doing.
How are you sleeping? How are your clothes fitting? If you just started this journey, I will go with the common addage that you did not put the weight on quickly, so how can you expect to lose it.

Determine WHY you want to get healthy and lose weight and get fit. Then everything else will fall into place.

current weight: 250.0

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130

Posts: 25
12/6/12 5:58 A

I've been working very hard but all I have been losing is muscle and I don't feel much fitter or anything today I weighed in myself again only to find that I lost another 700 grams of muscles that really bought me down and I ended up binging, I ate a bun, cupcake, chocolate croissant, skittles, peanut ice cream, galaxy chocolate then I stopped. Yes I know that's a lot I know I should not have allowed that but I did and it happened and now I feel like I lost the chance of losing any weight this week after this binge. Shall I work harder and exercise more or shall I do what I normally do and not try to make up for this? Should I stop weighing my body fat percentage to avoid further disappointments and just focus on the kilograms instead?

current weight: 133.0

147 141.5 136 130.5

125