Two weeks and gained weight!

magerum

After a winter of pure gluttony I decided it was time to get on track. I have been in a deficit and working out daily for two weeks. I have gained 2 pounds! Clearly the whole calorie in / calorie out model doesn't work for me. Seriously demotivating.

TimothyFish

You need to eat less.

sgthaggard

How big of a gain? How often do you weigh yourself? Do you weigh your food? How do you record your calorie burn? Do you eat back all of your exercise calories?

The issue could be a number of things - water weight, inaccurate calculation of calories in or calories out. What the issue isn't is CICO.

AliceDark

1. Two weeks isn't long enough to see the results of any changes you've made.
2. Everyone naturally fluctuates across anywhere from 2-10 pounds. Most people don't realize it. If you weren't weighing yourself regularly before now, you have no idea what your natural fluctuation range is.

blktngldhrt

How are you sure you're in a deficit? Do you weigh and measure your food? Cico works for everyone. Were you not exercising before?

magerum

sgthaggard wrote: »

How big of a gain? How often do you weigh yourself? Do you weigh your food? How do you record your calorie burn? Do you eat back all of your exercise calories?

The issue could be a number of things - water weight, inaccurate calculation of calories in or calories out. What the issue isn't is CICO.

2 lbs.

Weekly

Yes

HRM

Yes (mostly)

ljones27uk

treat it as a lifestyle change.. two weeks isnt long enough.. measure everything, make sure you are in calorific deficit and then come back in two months if youve still put weight on..

sgthaggard

If you are weighing your foods, I would suggest that your issues are probably on the calories out side largely because even HRMs rely on algorithms based on estimates. If you're looking for advice, I would start with eating back fewer exercise calories.

Out_of_Bubblegum

From your post count, I would guess you've been around a while and are coming back after a break... You probably know the drill pretty well.

Drink lots of water..
Wait for your muscles to get over the shock of returning to exercise and drop the excess water they are holding.
Eat less of your exercise cals back (even with a HRM, I find eating half back works well for me).

Be patient... it WILL happen if you don't give up.

blktngldhrt

magerum wrote: »

sgthaggard wrote: »

How big of a gain? How often do you weigh yourself? Do you weigh your food? How do you record your calorie burn? Do you eat back all of your exercise calories?

The issue could be a number of things - water weight, inaccurate calculation of calories in or calories out. What the issue isn't is CICO.

2 lbs.

Weekly

Yes

HRM

Yes (mostly)

Calorie burns calculated can be off by quite a bit. Maybe try not eating all of your exercise calories back.

klkateri

Ok, so Thanksgiving to New Years was a food free-for-all for me. Gained like 15 pounds and then hit it hard to lose it. The first month the scale wouldn't budge... and I think I gained too. Very disheartening BUT

Then, after a bit it moved... and now it's been moving. I'm still up and down by a pound or two and still have a couple more holiday pounds to lose but sometimes it just takes time.

You don't put the weight on overnight so don't expect it to come off overnight either. If you took the winter off... then expect to need the spring to take it off.

Just stick with it. And, my clothes fit better before there were any measurable changes but give it time.

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

magerum wrote: »

sgthaggard wrote: »

How big of a gain? How often do you weigh yourself? Do you weigh your food? How do you record your calorie burn? Do you eat back all of your exercise calories?

The issue could be a number of things - water weight, inaccurate calculation of calories in or calories out. What the issue isn't is CICO.

2 lbs.

Weekly

Yes

HRM

Yes (mostly)

2 lbs is nothing. Could just be fluctuation
Most folks don't eat back all calories, more like 50%. This takes into consideration that even an HRM is not entirely accurate. Nor is your estimate of required calorie intake, which can take some time to get right.

Be patient. This is a marathon, not a sprint.

trinatrina1984

magerum wrote: »

After a winter of pure gluttony I decided it was time to get on track. I have been in a deficit and working out daily for two weeks. I have gained 2 pounds! Clearly the whole calorie in / calorie out model doesn't work for me. Seriously demotivating.

It works for everybody unless there is something medically wrong with you.

Smallc10

When I started working out and lifting weights I gained about 5lbs that stuck around for several weeks before they just shed. It was most likely water retention due to muscle inflammation. Every once in a while I still get that gain that then sheds in a few days or a week. 2 weeks isn't really enough to gauge such a significant change in lifestyle.

mathjulz

You're logging very high calorie burns for exercise: 800-1300 a day. And eating back most of those calories. I can't think of an exercise that would burn that much unless you're working out multiple hours a day. (Granted, I don't know your stats, but still ... ) Remember that HRMs generally aren't accurate for things that aren't mostly steady-state cardio. So that may be your problem, right there.

I also agree that in two weeks, you may still be seeing fluctuations. Give it more time, especially if you are just starting up that intense exercise.

In the end, CICO does work for everyone. You just haven't found the right numbers yet (most likely for calories out, although there is a chance that calories in may be off too)

LearnFromTheRed

I gained two pounds overnight yesterday after doing some circuit training. It will fall off again, and probably with more, providing you are counting properly.

triciab79

The calorie in calorie out model 100% works. The trick is to accurately figure out the number of calories you are using and the number you are eating. It is like a class of water. If you take more out than you pour in there will be less in the glass. Every single diet uses the calorie deficit model. The differences between them come down to how to make it easier. Some limit the calories from fat, some limit the calories from carbs, some want you to burn more, some want you to eat less, but they are all saying the same thing. Even the ones that do not make you count calories are really cutting your calories by making you eat things that will either make you full faster or be so unappealing that you will lose interest in food. If you want to lose weight you have to commit. You have to say I am doing this even if it doesn't seem to work for weeks. There has never been a person in all of history that ate fewer calories than they burned and did not lose weight.

slittle80

I'm not sure of your stats, but 3077 calories for a goal is pretty high unless you're shooting for a bulk.

mitch16

mathjulz wrote: »

You're logging very high calorie burns for exercise: 800-1300 a day. And eating back most of those calories. I can't think of an exercise that would burn that much unless you're working out multiple hours a day. (Granted, I don't know your stats, but still ... ) Remember that HRMs generally aren't accurate for things that aren't mostly steady-state cardio. So that may be your problem, right there.

I also agree that in two weeks, you may still be seeing fluctuations. Give it more time, especially if you are just starting up that intense exercise.

In the end, CICO does work for everyone. You just haven't found the right numbers yet (most likely for calories out, although there is a chance that calories in may be off too)

I would also like to point out that it appears that you are simply copying and pasting your previous exercise days in... 60 minutes of elliptical is always 900 calories? Seems unlikely.

blossomingbutterfly

From seeing what everyone else has written and your responses, it seems that you are overestimating your calories burned and eating back too much of it, thus creating eating at gaining instead of losing.

Calories in vs calories out does work.

I would suggest eating at the calorie goal set for you and not eat back the calories burned from exercise for a bit and see how that goes. Also to note: two weeks isn't long. It can also be caused by many things.

Otterluv

I've lost 1.5 lbs. in 2 DAYS of accurate logging. Clearly your numbers must be off somewhere.