Exericise, exercise...but the scale won't move!

Hi everyone! I had RNY in September of 2012. I have been recently back in the gym daily. I'm working out and pushing myself as hard as I can (I have hip pain). I currently spend an hour at the gym. 25 minutes on the treadmill (1 mile at various speeds from 3.3-3.8) and I also do 20-30 minutes on the elliptical. I did lose 7lbs when starting back at the gym but since I added light weights, crunches, and squats. I have gained 2 pounds back and the scale refuses to move. I'm steadily increasing how much I do at the gym but it's getting seriously frustrating. I'm almost 2 years post op so I know the honey moon phase is over. Any tips on how to jump start the weight loss back. I have 70lbs left until I reach goal and at this rate, I feel it will never happen.

Whenever you start weight training, you are going to retain water for 1-2 weeks. After that, a state of equilibrium is reached and weight loss picks back up again. 

If it's past that point, then you need to track your food to make sure you haven't started eating more in response to working out more -- that is VERY common and many people do it subconsciously and think they haven't changed their eating at all. I have friends who gained weight training for Ironmans and Marathons! You'd think someone working out 10-20 hours a week couldn't do that, but it happens all the time.

I'm not sure on what I'm suppose to be eating calorie wise. I have been tracking my food and taking in 1200 calories. I focus on protein as part of my meal before anything else. I'm thinking that it's time to take a trip to GNC and get started back drinking protein shakes. I drink at least 90oz of water a day but I do drink my coffee. It's so hard to break my coffee lol. I would say I'm just about to finish my 2nd week of working out.

If you are just at about the 2 week mark, I bet you lose next week.

And there is nothing wrong with coffee in moderation. Caffeine can increase athletic performance, in fact! That's why I do Nuun tablets with caffeine in them on my long bike rides.

oh cool :) never heard of those before. I'm praying next week shows some results. My husband swears he sees that I lost and toned up a bit but I just don't see it and the scale says otherwise lol.

The closer you get to goal, the less accurate your scale is as a measure of progress. This is my absolutely favorite post about scales and how they don't tell the whole story:

http://everydaypaleo.com/attention-scale-addicts-part-2/

If you don't have time to read the whole thing, just scroll down to the side-by-side picture.

And here's an article by a woman trainer:

http://rachelcosgrove.com/2010/10/the-final-nail-in-the-coff in-of-the-scale/

Now if you are a few weeks out from surgery and still have 100 or more pounds to lose, the scale works great. Even at 50 pounds out, it can work okay. But that's around when it starts to fail us. And it definitely fails us once we get to the last 10-20 pounds. So many people on OH have posted "I haven't lost a pound in the past 1-6 months but I've lost 1-2 dress sizes."

Excellent articles macmadame!! I think this is especially important for people who exercise regularly to understand!!!!

Defiantly enjoyed that article and I actually threw my scale away lol! That's the motivation I needed. The scale and those numbers have had me in such a funk these last few days that it was effecting my work out routine and my motivation to do more. So here's to today's work out and not looking at the scale every morning, worrying if that numbers change even though I personally feel a change and my husband sees the change. Thank you macmadame!

That's me too. Training for an ironman at the moment....put on 5 pounds....boooo

Kelly!  You and I both know that you did not put on 5 lbs of fat by training for an ironman! Keep it in perspective girl!  and keep up the amazing work!