Ok, I knew the scale wasn't moving and I knew the tape measure wasn't showing anything dramatic when I would quickly do a few measurements. The pant-o-meter was fluctuating day to day.... but THESE results were not expected!! I'm perplexed.

Pounds lost: 2
Total inches lost: 3.25
Calipered body fat: INCREASE of 1.5
Measured body fat: INCREASE of 0.7%, or 1 lb.
Measured lean body mass: DECREASE of 4 lbs.

Panic!!!! What the heck am I doing wrong?!??!?!?? It's heartbreaking that all my hard work over the last 4 weeks has been for nothing???!

I can't imagine what I'm doing wrong....

I went back and averaged my counts since I started BFL:
Protein 143g /day
Carbs 44g/day
Fat 122g/day
cals 1846/day

HELP!!!!!!!!!

Teri, I'm so relieved I saw the post in your Journal before I answered this one. TOM will effect results - many of us just don't even go there at that time. My advice is 3 fold.

1) Scrap these numbers for now and retest when everything is over and done with.

2) Read the following posts: So Frustrated and End of Challenge 1 Results

3) Try to get more sleep and consistently eat more protein. I looked through your journal and I counted only 8 nights were you actually reported getting 8 hours sleep. Try to keep protein to a minimum 1g per lb of body weight. These two things alone should make a difference in how you feel and how strong you are.

Had TOM not been involved #s 2 & 3 would still stand; with the added note: 4 weeks is not long enough to evaluate a program. It's 12 weeks, and some of us do not see results until much later in the program (see Bobbie's threads). You've lost inches - you measured 3.25" less; I think TOM is throwing off the calipers and your weight (and your inches!)

Lastly, your hard work has most definitely not been for nothing. How do you feel? Aren't you more confident? Stronger? Feeling more intune with your body? That alone is cause to celebrate. You hear time and time again on this forum not to let the scales get the better of you - the same goes for those calipers!

Give the program 12 weeks, increase your protein, get more sleep and never EVER EVER measure during TOM.

Go eat some protein now
Nat

Thank so much Niky and Nat.... I'll take your advice and just keep plugging along!! I know I just am expecting too much too soon. Dammit I just wanna be skinny already !!! But youre right, Nat....it's not a waste. I've enjoyed it, enjoyed the way my body feels stronger, my heart feels stronger....and now I'm even enjoying some tennis. This would have never happened 6 months ago. So something must be going right.

And hey...I got in 180-something grams of protein today!!

Thanks, girls....you're the greatest.

The mirror should be you best guide right now and the tape measure as for your body fat should be seing it way downward it depends on the type that you got down because many are sensitve to how much water you are holding in your body

Just a thought here Teri....

I know exactly what you mean about wanting to be FINISHED losing weight and gaining muscle NOW!! I feel the same way....however.....our bodies take as much time as they need, regardless of how we feel about it. The bottom line though is...time is going to pass anyway. We might as well be doing our LC and doing our BFL in the meantime cuz we sure as heck will NOT see results if we don't. In fact...we could be gaining weight.

If you are positive that you are eating right, sleeping enough and doing the lifting and cardio, then you can be positive that you will get results.....all in time.

Hang in.

Marlaine

Thanks, Marlaine.... yeah, I'm already over all that now....had my tantrum and now I'm done. I'm taking your advice and just doin' what I'm doin'..... I know it'll happen EVENTUALLY.

Teri......

I'm glad to hear that! LOL......and as women....we are entitled to the occasional tantrum!

M

Haven't had much time to be checking out posts lately, just been writing in my journal and following a few other people's journal but this AM I decided to check out the BFL forum.

I know you've just recieved great advice already, but take it from me too that the results WILL come in time. I thought because I was already so close to goal when I started BFL I would have a miraculous transformation in just 12 weeks. Well, I had a wake-up call because it has been a slow and somewhat mentally torturous process.

However, I feel stronger, more confident and my body really is changing--but at ITS own pace rather than what I want to set for it. I am okay with that now that I am in my C2.

One other thought that I mentioned to DivaDani is that I noticed the most dramatic changes in my week off between challenges. It's as if my body needed to that time to rest, recuperate and reorganize itself after all the hard work it had been through the previous 12 weeks. I am seeing results from C2 already (I did some calculations yesterday and my BF% has dropped again) but I think the greatest changes will again, for me, come when I break at the end of the challenge.

Anyway, just keep up the great work. You will see a difference. Just be patient. I Know, I know, it's hard!

Thanks so much for writing Homegirl.... your experience means a lot to me. Nat had referred me to your journal before and so I am familiar with (part of) what you've been through. As I keep telling my husband, who is also doing BFL, that no matter what the "results" it sure beats veggin' on the couch watching TV!!

Karen's "signature quote" keeps popping in my head lately....

Progress not perfection.

.... a handy little phrase, especially for an old woman like me