Calories under but no weight loss?

Jenaonfire

Hi all. I'm a noob. Go easy please.

I've just started using this app but for two days I have been below my target calorie intake. This is nothing new. I've never been a big eater and I eat fairly healthy. Trouble is I was on a medication of which one of the side effects was "significant weight gain". I gained 110 pounds.

My question is, if I am no longer taking this medication and my calorie intake is lower, shouldn't I be losing weight?

I start back at the gym Monday and hope that speeds things up but I don't understand.

Eta: I'm not sure if this means anything or not but my weight fluctuates quite a bit. I'm no slave to the scale, there are some weeks I gain eight pounds then the next week lose it all and then some, only to keep the cycle repeating.

compgeek812

Firstly, if you were on medication you should check with your doctor, I have no idea how long the side effects of your medication can be in play but have heard for some it can take a few months.
If you are only two days in I wouldn't worry about not seeing a scale change, my weight can change by ten pounds between 8am and noon. For weighing I would recommend weekly checks under similar conditions, many people find first thing in the morning to be best.
Nutritionally, make sure you are accurately tracking all your food, a food scale helps here. In the beginning it can be very easy to try and eyeball your intake and end up several hundred calories over/under.
I highly recommend reading the guide to sexypants sticky in this thread as it is much more comprehensive.

jenmom2myboys

Are you weighing your food? Your diary isnt public.

jakegold

If you are working out it will take a week or two to see significant progress on a scale because muscle weighs more then fat, wait a while and check back, I would wait a month.

Christine_72

Give it a good month or so before you start panicking As Jenmom said, are you using a food scale? The first place to look if weight loss is not happening is correct logging. Weigh, measure and log everything that passes your lips. Don't rely on the burns the machines at the gym tell you as they usually way overestimate calories burned.

999tigger

jakegold wrote: »

If you are working out it will take a week or two to see significant progress on a scale because muscle weighs more then fat, wait a while and check back, I would wait a month.

Honestly it doesnt.

OP readjust your way of thinking and look more long tern. You are expecting to see progress immediately, whereas weight loss is much slower and it takes time for your body to adjust. Expecting progress after 2 days is unreasonable. Its also very hazy about what you are doing and whether you have a right to be expecting any progress.

Are you doing enough to have created a deficit of 3500 calories per lb.
Are you weighing and logging all your food?

It will be helpful of not essential for you to understand and control your deficit.

DawnieB1977

You're not going to notice a difference after 2 days! Give it time. Personally I only weigh every 4-6 weeks, but I also go by measurements as well as how clothes fit.

So long as you're at a deficit you should lose. Before you took the medication that made you gain weight, were you at a healthy weight? If so, did you have to work hard to be at this weight? Chances are if you've been at a healthy weight before and you gained because of medication, then you'll be able to get back to the healthy weight eventually.

Make sure you log your food accurately so you're in a deficit.

Jenaonfire

I didn't mean that I expected to see results in two days, only that I had been using this app for 2 days. . I have been off the medicine for six weeks. Prior to taking it, I was at a healthy weight.

I will get a food scale.

DawnieB1977

It'll probably take a while for the medication to leave your system, especially if you've been taking it for a while.

I'm sure you'll get back to your healthy weight. Good luck

macgurlnet

First off - good luck! You can do this

Get the food scale - it's going to be very helpful in keeping track of how much you're really eating. Be consistent with your logging, as well as weighing yourself and taking measurements, for 4 weeks or so. Do measurements every other week or once a month if you don't really see changes.

You already know your weight fluctuates, so it's up to you if you just want to weigh yourself once a week or pop on the scale a few times.

Another member here suggested using trendweight.com to see the pattern of weight loss/gain, and I've found it immensely helpful. You may want to check it out!

Also, keep in mind that your muscles will hang on to some water after working out, so the day after a workout you may see an increase (or more of an increase than usual). Nothing to be concerned with!

And as an added bonus, your body may hang on to some water around that time of the month - and then once that's over with, the extra weight magically disappears.

Be consistent & stick with it. You'll get there.

~Lyssa

samivenbutterfly

Were you on Prednisone??

angieleighbyrd

How low are your calories? Eating too few calories can hurt you almost as bad as eating too many.

tinascar2015

Sure, one pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat, just like a pound of feathers weighs the same as one pound of iron.

But when it comes to the volume of weight versus fat, sure, you can lose inches without losing pounds, to a point:
bamboocorefitness.com/one-pound-of-fat-versus-one-pound-of-muscle-clearing-up-the-misconception/http://

isulo_kura

tinascar2015 wrote: »

Sure, one pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat, just like a pound of feathers weighs the same as one pound of iron.

But when it comes to the volume of weight versus fat, sure, you can lose inches without losing pounds, to a point:
bamboocorefitness.com/one-pound-of-fat-versus-one-pound-of-muscle-clearing-up-the-misconception/http://

But you don't gain muscle in a calorie deficit. You need to lift heavy and and eat a surplus (except in a few very specific circumstances) Also it's bee 2 days and the OP hasn't been weighing food so using some common sense I would guest that if she weighs her food and has some patience then progress is more likely than her miraculously building muscle

acorsaut89

Can I ask a question, I genuinely curious.

From my understanding, medication doesn't make you gain weight. Medication can have side effects which increase appetite or decrease your metabolic rate, but medication itself does not make you gain weight as medication doesn't (usually) contain calories.

Is there something I'm missing?

DawnieB1977

acorsaut89 wrote: »

Can I ask a question, I genuinely curious.

From my understanding, medication doesn't make you gain weight. Medication can have side effects which increase appetite or decrease your metabolic rate, but medication itself does not make you gain weight as medication doesn't (usually) contain calories.

Is there something I'm missing?

What about cancer patients who take a real mix of drugs and gain weight? My mum has gone through chemo (she had leukaemia) and she couldn't eat because she felt so awful, and she was throwing up, but she didn't really lose a lot of weight considering. I think some people can gain weight due to steroids.

kristiru

If medication was the cause of your weight gain, you may have other issues going on with your body chemistry that could prevent weight loss. You can eat right and work out all you want with no results if you don't find the root cause and treat that first.

Here is what I would do in your situation:
1. Make an appointment with your doctor for 2 weeks out.
2. Log your food, water, and excercise *dilligently* for 14 days. "if you bite it, write it"...
3. Weigh your self at day 1, day 7, and day 14, and record your results.
4. Have your doctor do a physical, including blood work. Show your doctor a few days of your diary, and work with them to improve your overall health, including losing the weight.

sharon9597

Hello I'm a pharmacy technician and in answer to your question, yes certain medicines will indeed make you put on weight but mainly for the reason you stated. If you have increased appetite you are going to eat more and unless you choose lower calorie healthy foods you will obviously gain weight. Then yes others affect you metabolic rate so obviously if you cary on eating exactly the same amount of calories you always have you will steadily gain weight. Other affect your hormones also resulting in weight gain. Others make you hold onto excess fluid, sometimes a lot of fluid making you bigger and heavier but this kind of weight generally disappears quite quickly once medication. Is stopped.
However having said all this, truthfully there are not that many medicines that have these side effects and an awfu lot of people that cite weight gain as a result of their medication are wrong, they have just eaten too many calories each day for too long just like the rest of us.

Jenaonfire

I think I have made my diary public but it looks like (and sounds right to me before I started tracking) that I'm a few hundred calories shy a day of a goal of 1.5 lb a week.

I wasn't on prednisone, I was on respiridone and took it for years. I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm hoping that the pounds will just melt off since I'm under calorie and not taking the medicine.

It is the very first side effect listed on the site I used. I believe it has to do with hormones...my menstrual cycle is completely out of whack, I lactate (and i am not nursing), my hair is thinning...I would say yes medicine can cause weight gain.

I'm starting back to working out tomorrow. I have school when they offer group classes so I'm just gonna do an aerobic machine and weights.

Thanks for all your advice!

DawnieB1977

Jenaonfire wrote: »

I think I have made my diary public but it looks like (and sounds right to me before I started tracking) that I'm a few hundred calories shy a day of a goal of 1.5 lb a week.

I wasn't on prednisone, I was on respiridone and took it for years. I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm hoping that the pounds will just melt off since I'm under calorie and not taking the medicine.

It is the very first side effect listed on the site I used. I believe it has to do with hormones...my menstrual cycle is completely out of whack, I lactate (and i am not nursing), my hair is thinning...I would say yes medicine can cause weight gain.

I'm starting back to working out tomorrow. I have school when they offer group classes so I'm just gonna do an aerobic machine and weights.

Thanks for all your advice!

I took domperidone after my 2nd baby as lactation is supposed to be a side effect and i wasn't producing enough milk. It's an anti nausea drug. I piled on weight so fast, and I definitely wasn't eating enough to explain the weight gain. I also took fenugreek which is supposed to make you gain weight. I took that after my third, who's now 10 months, and I gained weight. I was logging again from when she was 3 weeks old, so I know I wasn't eating enough to gain weight.

Eurekaintampa

How do you weigh good? Cooked or raw?

Eurekaintampa

Food