Hmmm … sounds like you are doing exactly the right things. That’s really frustrating. However, if you’ve only been lifting weights for a month, there’s a good chance that your muscles are retaining some water. When I started lifting weights earlier this year, I lost a couple of pounds and then stalled out for a good month or more. Then, finally, I started dropping the pounds.
My muscles do kind of squish like water balloons, you maybe on to something. 
MeanJoe, you’re expecting results too fast, and the results you’re expecting aren’t the ones you’re actually going to get. Everyone’s body likes to hold on to fat; if that weren’t true, we wouldn’t have this thread. It takes a while for anything in that department to change, sometimes only weeks, but sometimes months.
First, you’re exercising. That’s good. In fact, that’s great. Keep it up. As a beginner, you’re probably going to be gaining muscle pretty easily. Anyone who has been working out for a while envies you, because muscle gain starts to get harder as you get fitter, paradoxically. I’ll bet that you probably gained weight due to putting on some muscle, while your body is still hanging on to all the stored fat with metaphorical teeth and claws.
You’re not alone. I went through a stage where my weight stayed constant for weeks, and then I suddenly dropped a few kilos almost literally overnight. Seriously, I took weekly pictures for a while to keep motivated and I could see my stomach shrink between one picture and the next. Most people who have tried to get back in shape and lose weight have had similar experiences. Some people who didn’t understand that it actually is possible to lose fat and yet gain weight through exercise have, sadly, quit due to their slavish devotion to the scale. Don’t be one of those people.
Second, while it’s good that you’re exercising, be aware that the old model of “fat-burning cardio” and “toning” exercise is mostly outmoded. In a recent thread I participated in, we went over a few of the training myths and talked about what actually works. Read over that thread for more details, but in brief I’d give you a few points of advice:
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In general, do weights before cardio. Preferably, on a separate day or separated by several hours. If you have time constraints doing cardio in the same session won’t kill you, but it will inhibit strength and muscle gain. Through hybrid programs like CrossFit — which is what I do for exercise — you can combine cardio and strength training in various ratios and still get great results in both strength and conditioning. Right now, though, you’re still getting used to exercise .period. and so I think you should probably concentrate only on lifting when you’re lifting, and should be fresh when you do it. For now.
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Do cardio at a high enough intensity that you can’t do it for long. Even advocates of the long slow cardio school will tell you that for fitness purposes you reach the point of diminishing returns around the 30 minute mark. Really, it’s more complicated than that, as we cover in fluiddruid’s thread. Intervals, like you’ve been doing, are good. See if you can ratchet it up a bit so that you can barely make it through 20–25 minutes of running/biking/elliptical/whatever after your warmup or weight session. Eventually, you want to be doing either HIIT (also discussed in the thread I linked to) or a program like what I do that incorporates high intensity rounds, sprint sessions, tabata, etc.
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Your calorie restriction is probably a bit too much. Making some assumptions (male, average height of about 5’9", age 30–35) and plugging in your weight, a basal metabolic calculator spits out a minimum of around 1950 kcal just to keep you breathing at 198 lbs. If you’re exercising a few days a week, 2100 is more like a minimum than a maximum. Sure, you want to be under what you actually need to maintain your starting weight, but under by a bit, not by a whole lot. Cutting calories too much is counterproductive from a fat-loss point of view.
For comparison, I started at almost exactly your weight (89 kg). I’m male, was 32 at the time I first started getting fit again a couple of years ago, 176 cm (about 5’9"). I don’t track my diet closely, but when I’ve done spot checks I take in between 2200 and 2500 kcal a day. I work out for about an hour, 3–4 days a week, and currently am a moderately muscular 75 kg (about 165 lbs.) which has been stable within 1 kg or so for a couple of months. As I’ve said before, I haven’t significantly changed my diet. I try to eat roughly 30–40% protein, 40–50% carbs, and 20% fat, and usually eat smaller meals 4–6 times a day instead of 3 bigger ones. I eat about the same way now as I did during the whole time I was losing weight. You’ve got to figure out what works for you, but I’d say that you’re restricting calories too much.
If you’re interested in doing CrossFit (and I think it’s awsome) take it slow at first. I still scale the repetitions on some workouts, substitute things I can do for those I can’t (frigging L pullups!) and scale weights to what I can handle. I’m getting very, very close to doing workouts as prescribed, but it really depends on the exercises and loads involved. Scaled versions of CrossFit workouts can be done by old people and kids, as some of the video demos show. Check out the BrandX Martial Arts link in the Getting Started sidebar for scaling tips.
Damn. I posted the other day and I could have sworn I saw it show up, but now it’s gone. 
Anyway, the gist was, I’ve had an iffy week; some ups, some downs, one crabby day where I said “fuck it” (for other reasons) and skipped the gym. But I’ll make it up tomorrow. And the PT said I can go back to my regular upper-body weight training, just lower weights and higher reps for a while.
The good news: 3 weeks in, down 6 pounds! Yay me!!
The bad news: 5 pounds to go until I’m where I started the last time, 3 years ago. That was March 1, 2005.
Hmm . . . think I can get back to below 200 by then? (ETA: Uh, March 1, 2009, that is. I don’t own a Delorean.) That’s a little ambitious, I suppose; 20 pounds in 3 months and change, or 14 weeks. About 1.5 pounds a week. And the holidays are in there, but I work at home, so no office pigouts for me. And our holidays are usually pretty low-key.
But hey, I’m good so far.
226 / 220 / 150
Didn’t do so well on the exercise front this week, either, only 4 days. There was also an incident with chocolate covered macadamia nuts, but I’ve put it behind me (so to speak). I’m still at the low end of my current fluctuation range. Go figure.
It’s the shoulder season (snow/ice on the ground, but not really enough to do anything, too snowy to hike), so it’s hard to get outside. Yesterday I got on the stairmaster, even though it was a glorious day. At least I took Sleel’s advice to heart and cranked up the intensity. I wish I didn’t cramp when I do that, though. It doesn’t seem to matter how long I warm up and increase gradually, as soon as I really get going, I cramp (in my side).
Today I’m going to get motivated and attempt to cross-country ski on what little we have. I need to remember how lucky I am that I can walk to the trail-head, and that I have workout equipment at home. I don’t know how you gym rats stay motivated!
134 / 122 / 118
206 lbs today, down 4.8 pounds from last week where I peaked on this current gaining trend, but back down to where I was three weeks ago, when I was still losing. I even cheated a few days this week! I’m happy with the loss even though of course it triggered WW’s “you’re losing too fast!” warning, and now I’m much closer to being back on track to be under 200 by New Year’s. All I need is to keep myself motivated, and I’ll behave and I know I can do it. Adding running to my routine seems to be helping, too.
250/206/150
221 / 206 / 200
15 down in two months, and I can still eat cheese fries! I’m a pound ahead of schedule for this month, and one away from my goal for next month
I’m almost embarrassed to post this, when everyone is trying to lose weight, but I need some advice.
My goal weight was 135. I got there on September 7. I now weigh 128. I recalculated my calorie range at SparkPeople once I hit my goal weight, but I have this mental block about eating within that range. I’m afraid if I gain a pound or two, it will all come back.
I know intellectually this is silly. I know that I have the tools, so if I ever did get over my weight range, I can easily lose it again. I log my food every day at SP, but when I creep up to that new calorie number, I start to freak a bit. Many days I don’t hit that lower number at all.
Thursday I deliberately blew it. I had a support group meeting in the evening, so I ate at Ruby Tuesday’s and had a very bad (but delicious) Buffalo Chicken sandwich with onion straws. I figured that meal alone was 1200 calories. I’m trying to force myself to eat at least within my new calorie range, so I can prove to myself that I can do that and still maintain, but it’s difficult.
I feel bad about posting this. When everyone is trying so hard to lose weight (and believe me, I’ve been there) this seems like a silly problem to have. But I want to stay at the “My God, you look fantastic!” stage and not skid down into “What the hell happened to you?” stage.
Ivylass that was a really hard time for me also. I had lost over 100 pounds and it was time to stop and I just couldn’t see it or get myself to stop losing weight until I made myself sick and looked terrible. Once my doctor put her foot down and said that I had to gain 5 back I went on a junk food binge for 2 weeks but then went right back to barely eating. I don’t think that there’s any way for me to do it without figuring out the new calorie counts again and figuring out what I want to do with them. In some ways maintaining is much harder than losing it was. I didn’t pay that much attention to it and I let a few pounds creep back over each holiday season. I’m going to be facing that again in 5 or so more pounds and I have to do a better job of it this time. I think that maybe keeping track over the course of a week might be easier than sticking to a rigid day to day calorie count.
I thought about that as I was typing…I think I’m going to stop my daily food tracking over at SP. Maybe if I don’t see the numbers I won’t freak out. I also need to see if I can fly without a net…have I learned enough about portion control to know what makes a good (but not overdoing it) meal?
I have a medical procedure on Monday, so I have to fast tomorrow, but Tuesday I will start eating normally and not worry about tracking it. The tools were great over at SP, but I can’t let them become a crutch. I’ll try that for a couple of weeks and see if my weight stays steady. If not, then I can re-evaluate.
Measured again today, one week in:
Arm = no change
Bust = -¾ "
Upper Abs = -2½ "
Lower Abs = - ½ "
Hips = no change
Thigh = +½ (argh!)
Calf = no change
Total = - 3¼"
Yay!
Just want to add: ivylass, good luck with everything. I agree with Karyn that looking at it week to week (rather than daily) would probably be less stressful.
ivylass, that’s another reason focusing on the exercise part of “eat less and exercise” is important, IMO. Not that it’s a positive thing to be obsessive about exercise any more than it is to be obsessive about food, but it’s more likely to be self-limiting and less likely to become a real problem.
Plus, if you’re working out a lot, you can eat mushroom parmesan risotto, cheese-stuffed pork cutlets, garden salad with balsamic dressing, and white wine (my dinner last night) without feeling guilty about it. While I don’t eat like that every day, I have no hesitation because I know that even a couple of fancy meals a week aren’t going to stick around for long.
Hey dudes
I haven’t been here in awhile because I’ve got my weight mostly under control and I’m usually within 5 pounds of my ideal 170 weight. I just wanted to let you know, 4 years ago I was 50 pounds overweight with serious nutrition and self-esteem problems. This year I am only 5 pounds overweight and am aiming to run a full marathon and take up skiing as well. I weight train regularly and run 6k five days a week.
If you want it bad enough you will get there. Keep it up guys!
OK - I’m going to give this a try. I’ve never commited to a lifestyle change before, but it’s time. I hesitate to say diet because I think that I have to change the way I look at what I’m doing to my body. That extra fat (and chin) need to go. Anyone with helpful hints and tips, feel free to share them. I’m new at this and can use all the help I can get! When I look at different weight loss websites I feel overwhelmed by all of the information. I think for now I just need to stick to the very basic stuff.
My scale says that I weigh 151. I think it weighs low and I am a few pounds over that, but it’s what I have to go by for right now. So, here goes!
Weight 151/goal 140. when I get to my goal weight, I’ll see how I feel.
I’ve been trying to go to the gym 3 times a week for the past month or so, but my weight hasn’t budged at all. I lost a lot about 3 years ago, and it’s been slowly creeping back ever since - at this point I think I need to change the diet.
So, I decided to try logging what I was eating and attempt to pinpoint some of my issues. I think I’ve figured out that one of the major problems is that I associate studying and other boring work, as well as stress, with snacking. I ‘reward’ myself for working hard with various snack foods. I don’t even think I consciously knew I was playing this mental game with myself (Just 5 more pages, and I’ll give you a cookie!). While the actual snacks tend to be not that bad in and of themselves, I obviously eat way too much of them.
Anyone have suggestions for how to stop this habit? I have obviously firmly associated the two things together, and in the last week I’ve been trying to stop but sitting at my desk with my books but no bowl of something yummy is like torture - my mind wanders to the kitchen every 5 minutes and I get nothing done. I’m in school, so not studying or not sitting at the desk is not exactly an option, and I can’t afford to be so distracted. Unfortunately I can’t see a way to reduce my overall stress level either.
I want to lose weight, so why do I keep sabotaging myself like this!
192.5, or “thirteen ten and a half” in English parlance. The urgency went some time ago - I am still running into people I haven’t seen for a year (like on Remembrance Sunday when I went to my old church to blow the trumpet) and they gasp in amazement. Why not, I’m two-thirds the man I used to be - literally since the weight reading above.
I now find I have trouble getting my wallet out of my jeans pocket because my hip bones get in the way. That’s not been a problem any time in the last thirty years. But I could still stand to lose a little belly padding.
Whisper it softly, but Mrs M is starting to follow suit, though I’ve no idea how much she will have to lose before she dares tell me what she weighs these days. However, she says it’s now six pounds less than it was a week ago, and that’s a good start. 
For her it’s a question of not “grazing” between meals, and she rewards herself with a black dot on the calendar every day she manages it.
I lost three pounds this last fortnight which is good for me - I’m now only 14lbs (a stone) away from my self-imposed target weight.
I’m afraid I bailed out of SparkPeople very quickly though, it just does nothing for me at all so I haven’t really bothered looking at it much after the first week or so. I have a website for my slimming club that I use so that’s been a lot of help and I don’t really have the time or inclination to read yet another one.
Booo Hiss! Only 200g down again (half a pound) this week. I was a click further down the other day but it went down a lot and when it does that it always bounces back up again for a while. Still, not all bad news and it is DOWN at least.
So, Weight last Monday 74.4kg, this morning, 74.2kg
However I measured myself last week and then again this week and those numbers have gone down (though so little that it could be that I was just measuring myself in slightly different places. Ah well, I’m going to believe it!)
Bust down 1cm.
Underbust down 2cm
Waist at natural point: the tape measure thinks I went down 6cm but I must have measured wrong the first time… Though I do my belt up a notch tighter now!
Waist at belly button: down 3cm
Hips: down 2cm
Thigh: down 2cm (this one I know is right because I have a mole that I line up to measure along!!)
So all in all I feel happy! I think it is the building muscle thing so not putting on weight. Those Leslie Sansone walking DVDs have a lot of scope for me both in cardio and in strength training because I am so weak and floppy so I think I am getting quick results.
I found an aerobics class that I can do, that is kind and friendly and even better, is held at my local community hall about 200 yards from my house! I shall start in February because till then that time isn’t free most weeks.
Quasimodal, that’s really inspiring! We can do it too! Actually five years ago I did it and was at my perfect weight and fitness. Then we moved, I started my own business and it all went downhill… FINALLY I feel in control of the rest of my life and can pay attention to me again. Hopefully my lifestyle will be stable enough for the next few years for this to be a really good, fixed habit!
Meyer6 how about for now, not changing your habits but sort of lengthening/shrinking them a bit? For example, “TEN more pages and I give you half an apple with peanut butter on it.” You are still in the reward habit which might be a bit much to stop if you are under so much stress already, but you are spacing them further and making them slightly less damaging…
Just checking in… I had a good week last week. I walked 4-miles at a time on four different days. I also kept my eating in check and only had one or two meals that were bad for my progress (though fantastic for my belly!). Here are my stats:
10/13/08 - 291.0
11/10/08 - 280.5
11/17/08 - 278.0 (2.5 pound loss!)
Current Goal - 265 by 12/31/08
You’re doing great, on what sounds like a similar plan to what I was using a year ago, and from a similar starting point (measured high of 288.0, probable high a week before of 290.0+). That target’s well and truly achievable - go for it! 