Weight plateau followed by 2lb gain HELP!

fknlardarse

Please help, I've read a number of similar posts but none that really explain what I'm doing wrong. I've been losing 1 to 2lbs a week for around 8 weeks and lost a stone. I am 5ft 7 and my weight reached 10st 11, my goal is 10st. I have logged everything, ate 1200 calories a day, cycled and walked and have done some weights, ate back my exercise calories and drank water. Then I hit a plateau for 3 weeks so took everyone's advice and increased my calories to 1400. After 3 days I dropped another pound. Then 2 days ago I went to a party I logged everything and ate 3000 calories that day. Yesterday I ate plenty of fruit and veg and exercised for 2 hours but today I weigh 2lbs more! I didn't think I had eaten enough at the party to have put on 2lbs and I am frightened now about what happens if I try to maintain my weight in the future and increase from 1200 will I just get fat again. I am so demoralised its the only day in 8 weeks that I have gone over and people say you should have cheat days so what am I doing wrong? Do I keep eating 1400 or go back to 1200 to lose the final stone? Why don't I seem able to lose weight anymore? Ps I weigh everything so it's not my portion sizes.

andrewjcarter

Maybe you ate a load of salty food and you are temporarily retaining fluids.

It's not scientifically possible for you to have gained 2lbs of fat based on those calorie numbers.

Just give it a few days and realize you are in it for the longer term, not just a day to day level on the scale.

fknlardarse

Thank you, I really need reassurance that I haven't gained 2lbs of fat. But what about the 3week plateau I can't seem to get past it. Should I continue on 1400 or go back to 1200? It's so demoralising because soon it's gonna be a month of hard work and no weight loss (assuming the 2lbs comes off otherwise it's a month of hard work and a 2lb GAIN!)

fknlardarse

Ps I think I have managed to open my diary if that helps?

fknlardarse

I've definitely put another pound on. Scales aren't shifting. Basically I was 10 st11 and now I am 11st, and it's gone on in a week. Please any advice on how many calories I should eating? Should I go back to strict 1200?

janimei

I can tell you what not to do: give up.
Look at the way you are eating as a way of life. Healthy amounts and kinds of food can't be bad for you. You can experiment in two areas: (a) change some of your healthy food choices to other healthy food choices and (b) try different kinds, intervals, or intensities of exercise. Experiment within your healthy framework and know that what you are doing is permanent, not a diet. Your can experiment but you can't throw in the towel.

tonytoo

Going back to 1200 is entirely up to you. However I always give any scale weight gains 4 days to rectify themselves and so far they've always been phantom weight gains. Just disappearing again after 4 days.

j6o4

Its unlikley that you gained 2 pounds of fat from eating 3000 calories for that one day, your probably holding on to water weight from sodium and/or carbs. When you want to go to maintenance after you hit your goal just up your calories by 100 every week untill you hit your maintenance caloric need, so within that time your working up to maintenance your still in a small dificit and might still lose a few pounds. If you can still lose on 1400 calories theres no need to change that, just get back on track. Its normal to gain a bit of weight after a cheat day

stinasn

Every single time I go out on the weekends I gain between 2 and 4 pounds, usually it's 2 days later that the added weight shows up, exactly like you are talking about. I then usually just stick to a 12 - 1300 kcal diet for a day or two and the weight comes right off, often followed by a loss in the next few days. I wouldn't worry about it

vmc57

I hit a platau when I was doing less then 1200 calories and it last about three weeks. then I started loosing again, but if you eat a lot of salt or salty foods it can cause you go gain water weight, try to stay away from salt as much as possible. good luck you can do it.

TheFitnessTutor

Quit worrying about hitting some specific number and eat healthy. It's not about hitting some number. A lb of fat is 3500 calories. You didn't gain a lb of fat otherwise you'd be violating the first law of thermodynamics(generally speaking of course). You gained water weight and/or...for some reason, people act like scales are perfect. It could be the scale, or humidity, temperature, depending on what kind of scale you have.

Plus fat loss is not going to be linear. There will be starts and stops and sometimes your fat cells will store extra water after losing fat (as it should, to ensure your survival) which is another issue you may be experiencing at some point. Plus your metabolism will slow down more and more with the more weight you lose(again, as it should to ensure your survival). The human body doesn't like to lose fat.

You want to lose weight with the highest amount of calories possible. Eat at 1400 for a while without cheating and see what happens. Plus, if you're exercising often and eating low carb, your body is going to swing water weight regardless of what you do because it uses water to store the carbs. This is how you can cheat with a few pieces of cake, gain 3 lbs and go crazy. Also, If you've been low carb(carb/glycogen depleted) you may "super saturate" which will have you holding onto even more glycogen/and water(as it should, to ensure your survival). No big deal and totally healthy. Don't panic and do the usual over exercise or under eat cycle of failure and metabolic slowdown.

fknlardarse

Thanks everyone! Really appreciate all the advice it has totally spurred me on. I had alcohol and a slice of cake last night as I was so disheartened I could feel myself starting to give up but now I am determined to lose this last stone. Great advice cheers!

feelthelove1964

Hi , i know how you feel i am the same i gained a few pounds this week but not giving up infact i am more determined, it could be water that caused the weight gain but who knows . I know one thing though and that is that i feel slimmer and my clothes fit me better and everyone are noticing the weight loss so i am not going by what the scales say

good luck

fknlardarse

Can I just say you were all right!!!
Got weighed this morning 4 days after the cheat day and I am suddenly back to 10 st 11 so I dropped 3lbs overnight clearly water weight.
I have also come to the conclusion that sugar bloats me instantly so now staying away from sugar (and alcohol if I can manage it) and eating plenty whole/natural foods.
Thanks for the advice, before MFP I would have given up and put it all back on again!

Joehenny

With dieting you bmr slows down for various reasons:

You weigh less therefore need less energy to fuel your smaller self

Metabolic adaptation

Activity level starts to decrease (almost a subconscious alert) you start doing less things than you used to without even noticing

leptin levels fall

fknlardarse

With dieting you bmr slows down for various reasons:

You weigh less therefore need less energy to fuel your smaller self

Metabolic adaptation

Activity level starts to decrease (almost a subconscious alert) you start doing less things than you used to without even noticing

leptin levels fall

This makes sense but in this case I put 3lbs on overnight which would have meant consuming an extra 10,500 calories above my BMR whatever it happened to be (see I listened to everyone) it just wasn't possible and it came off again 4 days later so must have been water caused by too much salt and sugars?