Help I'm Gaining instead of losing. Suggestions Please!

Dropp100

Hello All,
A little background I am currently 302 pounds. I have been working out 4-5 days a week with a personal trainer, since the 31st of December. I had a Dr. Appointment on the 9th and I was 293 pounds. Last week the scale said 300, this week(yesterday) 302. This doesn't make any sense. I use to eat out 7 days a week 3 meals a day, whatever I wanted when I wanted. Now I have not had any fast food and have been preparing meals for the month and working out and i'm gaining. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Sample of My diet.
Lots of baked chicken usually boneless thighs, Rice, broccoli, ground turkey, corn tortilla's, cheese, cheerios, almond milk

Nothing is in excess the rice comes in a box and is 600 cals for the box Which I eat over a couple of days, same as cheese.. a bag of cheese is 8 servings of 80 cals takes days to finish, im not over indulging.. my cals range from 1800-2200 a day.

Sample Exercise Routine.
20-45 mins of walking and running.
20-45 mins of variety of exercises, boxing, stretches, core, strength..

This week I did (2 a days) for 3 days an hour of walking/running and an hour of training. So 2 hour session. And 1 hour sessions the other 2 days.

I don't understand this. I'm trying so hard and haven't lost a pound. I'm gaining.

Christi102012

The best way to manage your calories in is to get a food scale. All nutrition labels have a weight (usually in grams) for what is considered a serving. Weigh all your solid foods and measure your liquids. I've found the USDA website to be very helpful. Log everything.

moto450

Christi102012 wrote: »

The best way to manage your calories in is to get a food scale. All nutrition labels have a weight (usually in grams) for what is considered a serving. Weigh all your solid foods and measure your liquids. I've found the USDA website to be very helpful. Log everything.
Yep.

Laurend224

Christi102012 wrote: »

The best way to manage your calories in is to get a food scale. All nutrition labels have a weight (usually in grams) for what is considered a serving. Weigh all your solid foods and measure your liquids. I've found the USDA website to be very helpful. Log everything.

If you aren't weighing your foods, you are likely eating more than you think.

juleszephyr

Who set your calorie goal, what are your stats age, gender, height? Have you plugged all this into MFP for a guideline amount? 2200 seems an awful lot of cals, especially allowing for weighing logging +/- factors!!

BeTheChange352

DO NOT TRUST SERVING SIZES ON FOOD LABELS. you have no idea how much you're actually consuming. if there's just one extra serving of cheese in that bag (and there most likely is) that's an extra couple hundred calories a week that you're not accounting for. get a scale and weigh your foods accordingly. don't even trust single serving packages as those weights are often wrong as well.

mrhonesty

What works for me is portion control and watching carb intake. Those tortillas can be up to 20g each which adds up. When I started, I got a trainer which also helped a lot. Don't give up, it's a long process but you can do it! Reach out if you need moral support. Good luck.

CupcakeCrusoe

Another +1 for a food scale. You would be amazed what the serving size of breakfast cereal actually looks like when you weigh it.

A scale means you can be as accurate as you possibly can with your intake, to take the guesswork out of it.

Springfield1970

First you need to be meticulous about your food weighing and calories.

Then you can look at the possibility that your muscles are retaining water for repair after working out. Try taking a couple of days off exercise, then weigh yourself. There are loads of threads about this if you feel like doing a search.

queenliz99

It's all about calories in versus calories out. The only possible explanation is you are eating more than you think or your exercise calories are wrong. Do you use a food scale and how do you calculate your calorie burns?

Springfield1970

juleszephyr wrote: »

Who set your calorie goal, what are your stats age, gender, height? Have you plugged all this into MFP for a guideline amount? 2200 seems an awful lot of cals, especially allowing for weighing logging +/- factors!!

Not at 300 pounds.

Go to Scooby's calculator and put some stats in.

Of course, with each 5 lb you lose you need to re assess your calorie needs.

RoxieDawn

1800 to 2200 a day is 400 calories difference. 400 x 7 = 2800 calories extra you can be eating more in the week. I am confused as what is your daily calories for MFP and how much exercise are you doing (how many is the calories you burn)? And you are eating back those 400 calories if this is what you burn on exercise day?

Weight your food like others said. It would be helpful to see your diary.

GiveMeCoffee

Are you logging your food, it sounds like lots of guessing going on. If you are open your diary please.

SergeantSausage

You are eating too much. Period.

Weigh, measure, and log everything that goes in.

Everything.

ana3067

juleszephyr wrote: »

Who set your calorie goal, what are your stats age, gender, height? Have you plugged all this into MFP for a guideline amount? 2200 seems an awful lot of cals, especially allowing for weighing logging +/- factors!!

2200 is not a lot for her weight. It's not even enough for me to maintain MY 160-lb frame.

TheFatBrokenGirl

I started at 305lbs and it gave me a daily allowance of 2100 (plus odd numbers) to lose 1lb a week. So if she's 300lbs then 2200 sounds about right for just under a 1lb loss a week.

You probably just need to weigh your food instead of guessing based on serving sizes.

Fivepts

mrhonesty wrote: »

What works for me is portion control and watching carb intake. Those tortillas can be up to 20g each which adds up. When I started, I got a trainer which also helped a lot. Don't give up, it's a long process but you can do it! Reach out if you need moral support. Good luck.

I second this!

ChefSteveUrso

I know what you're going through. Similar to you I was 351 last April and have lost 94lbs so far. Especially at first, I needed to consistently log and weigh my food in order to lose weight. I could not lose anything if I was eating 2200 cals a day. You just have to get used to eating less, but better quality food. At 1400-1600 cal a day I consistently lost 11lbs a month for 8 months, it slowed down during the holidays but I didn't gain any this year. Eat 300-400 calorie meals and a couple 200 calorie healthy snacks like almonds and dates, fill yourself with plenty of vegetables and keep your protein a 4oz per meal. Brown rice, potatoes, and whole wheat pasta eat no more than 1 cup per meal which is around 200 cals. Drastically reduce your sugar and simple carb and processed food consumption. And also get cardio exercise several times a week. I ride my bicycle and swim a mile in the ocean for exercise because it's fun and I enjoy it, and I will do it. Good luck, If I can do it you can do it. Friend me if you want, I also share a lot of my personal healthy and delicious recipes.

GiveMeCoffee

ChefSteveUrso wrote: »

I know what you're going through. Similar to you I was 351 last April and have lost 94lbs so far. Especially at first, I needed to consistently log and weigh my food in order to lose weight. I could not lose anything if I was eating 2200 cals a day. You just have to get used to eating less, but better quality food. At 1400-1600 cal a day I consistently lost 11lbs a month for 8 months, it slowed down during the holidays but I didn't gain any this year. Eat 300-400 calorie meals and a couple 200 calorie healthy snacks like almonds and dates, fill yourself with plenty of vegetables and keep your protein a 4oz per meal. Brown rice, potatoes, and whole wheat pasta eat no more than 1 cup per meal which is around 200 cals. Drastically reduce your sugar and simple carb and processed food consumption. And also get cardio exercise several times a week. I ride my bicycle and swim a mile in the ocean for exercise because it's fun and I enjoy it, and I will do it. Good luck, If I can do it you can do it. Friend me if you want, I also share a lot of my personal healthy and delicious recipes.

Sounds like a lot of unnecessary rules in here.

Log accurately and honestly a food scale can help with this
Be consistent
Eat foods you like and that you fit into your day, after you've done it awhile you will find which foods keep you feeling fuller longer.

Dropp100

Thank you for all your responses.... more experiences and responses are welcomed lol i'm trying to get to the bottom of this, unfortunately what I think it boils down to is I need to eat less cals which is going to be super hard. MFP has me at 1550 a day(I just signed up last night). I will not be eating cals back. My height is 5'3" age 33 gender Female, Weight 302.

I think I will have to purchase a food scale I over estimate all my food.

Breakfast was cereal and almond milk (300)

Lunch was Turkey Tacos 200 for tortillia 300 meat 200 cheese (700)

Dinner was Turkey Tacos 200 for tortillia 300 meat 200 cheese (700)

2 bottles of gatorade (400) (no more gatorade empty cals)

2100 is the estimate for yesterday.

Now I know I over estimate I did not eat 3 servings of cereal and the almond milk is 30 cals and i dont drink it.

The ground turkey is 800 for the whole package. I did not eat 70% of it. A bag of cheese is 800 cals no way I ate anywhere near half a bag of cheese lol...But i will certainly get a scale and start logging either here or with a pen and paper.


I'm getting ready to go workout with my trainer now! I really need this rest day but he wouldnt take no for an answer. How much exercise is too much exercise I know it sounds foolish, because really no exercise is too much, daily exercise is good. But I dont want to burn myself out or workout too much. Like I dont think i'm going to work out 6 days a week for 1hr plus 3(2 hour 2 a days) that seems like a lot with no results.

GiveMeCoffee

Just to give you an idea I'm a 43 year old female started at 285 lbs and lost over 120 lbs eating 1500-1900 calories. That included eating my exercise calories. I would suggest logging on here not pen & paper. Without logging you don't know how much you are eating.

Rest days are important, you don't have to workout 6 days a week.

Read this link it will help:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

ana3067

|At your weight, you don't need to lower your goal. You simply need to log accurately, which you are clearly not doing. Until you log properly then you have no idea how much you are eating. You don't need to work out to lose weight at all. It's for health.

You'd benefit from making your diary public and buying a food scale (or at the very least measuring your food).

ncfitbit

GiveMeCoffee wrote: »

Just to give you an idea I'm a 43 year old female started at 285 lbs and lost over 120 lbs eating 1500-1900 calories. That included eating my exercise calories. I would suggest logging on here not pen & paper. Without logging you don't know how much you are eating.

Rest days are important, you don't have to workout 6 days a week.

Read this link it will help:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

Great advice and awesome success, GiveMeCoffee! Here's another wonderful success story:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1454303/2-years-of-maintenance-130-pounds-lost/p1

Good luck and stick with it!

ncfitbit

I forgot to ask if you are weighing yourself on the same scale. It sounds like you started at the Dr. office scale, but is that where you are weighing in each week? I found out early in my MFP days that my scale was way off so I invested in a really good one.

jnv7594

You said you're eating a lot of "baked chicken usually boneless thighs, Rice, broccoli, ground turkey, corn tortilla's, cheese, cheerios, almond milk." The thing is, it's not about what you eat, it's how much of it you eat. As others have said, make sure to use a food scale, and weight EVERYTHING. Even prepackaged foods. Going over several grams here and there on serving sizes adds up very quickly.

ndj1979

gia07 wrote: »

1800 to 2200 a day is 400 calories difference. 400 x 7 = 2800 calories extra you can be eating more in the week. I am confused as what is your daily calories for MFP and how much exercise are you doing (how many is the calories you burn)? And you are eating back those 400 calories if this is what you burn on exercise day?

Weight your food like others said. It would be helpful to see your diary.

given OP's stats 1800 to 2200 should still be a deficit…

OP if you are gaining you are somehow overeating and putting yourself into a calorie surplus..

get a food scale and weigh/log/measure everything you eat for two weeks and see how that goes...

ndj1979

ChefSteveUrso wrote: »

I know what you're going through. Similar to you I was 351 last April and have lost 94lbs so far. Especially at first, I needed to consistently log and weigh my food in order to lose weight. I could not lose anything if I was eating 2200 cals a day. You just have to get used to eating less, but better quality food. At 1400-1600 cal a day I consistently lost 11lbs a month for 8 months, it slowed down during the holidays but I didn't gain any this year. Eat 300-400 calorie meals and a couple 200 calorie healthy snacks like almonds and dates, fill yourself with plenty of vegetables and keep your protein a 4oz per meal. Brown rice, potatoes, and whole wheat pasta eat no more than 1 cup per meal which is around 200 cals. Drastically reduce your sugar and simple carb and processed food consumption. And also get cardio exercise several times a week. I ride my bicycle and swim a mile in the ocean for exercise because it's fun and I enjoy it, and I will do it. Good luck, If I can do it you can do it. Friend me if you want, I also share a lot of my personal healthy and delicious recipes.

this is all unnecessary …

just get in a calorie deficit…food type does not matter, unless OP has some undiagnosed medical condition that would make her sensitive to certain foods, carbs, or sugar…

HockeyGoalie35

focus on inches, you could be building muscle you didn't have before

ndj1979

HockeyGoalie35 wrote: »

focus on inches, you could be building muscle you didn't have before

highly doubtful...

Camo_xxx

Fat loss = calorie in - calories out To create a deficit. Don't over complicate it.
fitness and strength is achieved from working out. Aerobic workouts for stamina, lifting for muscle mass.

1. If you are not losing fat you are not in a calorie deficit.
2. If you are not weighing ever bite of food that you eat you have no clue how many calories are going in. Get a scale, be diligent.

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