Gained weight. No idea what I'm doing wrong.

snorklr
snorklr Posts: 28
edited November 16 in Health and Weight Loss
5 or 6 wks now weighing and measuring everything, exercising as much as possible... And I've gained 4 lbs. not a quarter inch down anywhere. I'm willing to work hard, do whatever it takes. I would own it if I was laying on the couch eating chips. But I'm busting my butt with 20 mile bike rides, drinking at least 3 and sometimes 5 qts of water a day.... I am extremely discouraged to the point of depression.
One year ago I was 117 lbs. bmi 18, that was too low. Had lost due to stress and wasn't really eating. Last summer 125, felt great. Started riding bike a lot and was hungrier... Fast forward to now 167 lbs.
would love any advice please.
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Replies

  • mikevandewetering
    mikevandewetering Posts: 155 Member
    Whats your calorie intake and macro breakdown?
    Would like some more information like your activity level. and maybe there are some medical issues involed that we should take into account.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    Do you eat back your exercise calories? Can you open your diary?
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    Made my diary public, can you see it?
    At first mfp told me to eat 1000 cal a day, that didn't work so I upped it to 1200. Even on days I rode bike 2 hrs, was not eating back exercise cals. Then started eating more like 1500 on days I ride hard.
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    edited April 2015
    Your diary is still private. How tall are you? How old are you? Are you currently on any medication and do you have any medical conditions that you already know about?
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    edited April 2015
    5'7. 43 yrs. take birth control pills. Have been on Wellbutrin for years.
  • mikevandewetering
    mikevandewetering Posts: 155 Member
    Do you weight your food?
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    Yes I weigh my food
  • PeachyCarol
    PeachyCarol Posts: 8,029 Member
    Generic entries. Are the home made recipes yours? Entered through the recipe builder with individual ingredients weighed? You're not weighing your produce, your PB2, and quite a few other things.

    Lots of ingredients measured using measuring cups and spoons. Lots of restaurant entries which are merely averages and not always accurate.

    You're eating more than you think.

    With regards to exercise, what are you using to calculate your burns?
  • mikevandewetering
    mikevandewetering Posts: 155 Member
    Yes the american metric system is not really accurate for messuring your food.
  • jcondeee
    jcondeee Posts: 72 Member
    Gaining muscle?
  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
    You should log more accurately....
    You arent losing because you are taking in more.
    If you are, then perhaps it has something to do with the exercise calories burned...you should maybe eat 50% of what you burned? Try that.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    jcondeee wrote: »
    Gaining muscle?
    Not on a caloric deficit with Cardio as the main form of exercise... if anything she should be losing muscle along with fat.

    OP, have you had your thyroid checked?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    I see days not logged, lots of entries by size or cups not weight not only do you have to weigh food you have to log it that way choosing entries that are correct.

    jcondeee wrote: »
    Gaining muscle?

    Yah no.

  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    Ok thanks. When at home I weigh everything but at work will use measuring cup or spoon. Even when I weigh food I will pick a listing that is in cups or oz if it corresponds. Maybe I have to create my own food listings, not pick ones already in the system? Yes we do eat out a lot because of travel, I will log best I can. And yes I know there were days I missed logging.
  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
    Eating out...that is the problem...
    No ones what really goes into the foods...
    So estimating calories on foods at restaraunts is a bad idea...
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    hhnkhl wrote: »
    Eating out...that is the problem...
    No ones what really goes into the foods...
    So estimating calories on foods at restaraunts is a bad idea...

    funny, i eat out all the time and still lose weight. i must be special :/

    OP, you are eating more than you think though, barring some sort of anomalous medical condition
  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
    callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »
    hhnkhl wrote: »
    Eating out...that is the problem...
    No ones what really goes into the foods...
    So estimating calories on foods at restaraunts is a bad idea...

    funny, i eat out all the time and still lose weight. i must be special :/

    OP, you are eating more than you think though, barring some sort of anomalous medical condition

    Ok...well OP might be eating more than their fair share outside... i have seen restaraunts where the serving size is not normal...

    I eat out too. I also lost weight like you.
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    edited April 2015
    Ok. Thought it was about making better choices, salad with tiny bit of low fat dressing as opposed to hamburgers, grilled instead of fried, more veggies, smaller portions... Guess I was wrong. I really thought what I was doing would make some tiny bit of progress, not gaining. Hhnkhl you look fabulous so you obviously know what you're talking about.
  • mumblemagic
    mumblemagic Posts: 1,090 Member
    An ounce is 28g. If you're off by even half an ounce of Peanut butter that's 90 more calories than you thought.

    Measure in grams on a digital scale.
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    Yeah I love peanut butter but limit to not very often I thought. I do weigh it in g on digital scale. Again maybe I'm selecting the wrong entries because I don't take the time to scroll through them all, I pick the first one I see that looks right.
  • BettyM1017
    BettyM1017 Posts: 616 Member
    Are you only doing cardio? After I hit 40, I really struggled with my weight. I jumped over 40 pounds in a very short time and couldn't get it to budge. I started lifting light weights and lost ten pounds before hitting a plateau. I got on here and started logging my food, and lost another fifteen. I've hit another plateau so I've started increasing my weights a bit and added a couple more cardio workouts to get the scale moving again.

    Also, get your hormones checked out. After 40, things can get a little wonky.
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    Thanks Betty. I've been doing what's fun like biking and kayaking and not lifting weights. Guess I need to.
    Honestly it seemed like I went from underweight to overweight so fast I was confused and didn't really know what to do.
  • Tabithas_Transformation
    Tabithas_Transformation Posts: 93 Member
    snorklr wrote: »
    Yeah I love peanut butter but limit to not very often I thought. I do weigh it in g on digital scale. Again maybe I'm selecting the wrong entries because I don't take the time to scroll through them all, I pick the first one I see that looks right.

    I've personally found that I've had to manually enter a lot of my own data just because of the inaccuracies on the database. If there's food you eat a lot (like peanut butter for example), get it out, look at the nutritional information and if it doesn't match up to the data on MFP then create your own entry.

    Also, if you've measured in grams, then log the food in grams. Calorie dense foods (again, like peanut butter) can easily add extra calories to your day just by being a few grams off. Or by selecting the tablespoon entry - since we know that it's always going to be a generous spoonful with something as delicious as peanut butter :smile:

    Tighten up your logging and keep up with the exercise - you'll soon see the weight coming off! You can do it!
  • BettyM1017
    BettyM1017 Posts: 616 Member
    snorklr wrote: »
    Thanks Betty. I've been doing what's fun like biking and kayaking and not lifting weights. Guess I need to.
    Honestly it seemed like I went from underweight to overweight so fast I was confused and didn't really know what to do.

    Yep. I felt like I went from fit to fat in five seconds flat! You're getting some great advice on here about logging your food and exercise. You got this! !
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,294 Member
    Gaining that much weight in a short time I would think there may be some hormonal issues, you may want to have some blood work done to determine this.
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    erickirb wrote: »
    Gaining that much weight in a short time I would think there may be some hormonal issues, you may want to have some blood work done to determine this.

    I wouldn't go that far...from 2009 sept to July 2010 I gained about 40lbs...it was easy trust me...I ate everything, cooked and didn't move my *kitten*....newly wed what can I say.

  • dpwellman
    dpwellman Posts: 3,271 Member
    edited April 2015
    A Cautionary Tale
    Have you ever be that person that wakes up and says, "Hey, today I'm going to eat light. Make up for that junk I ate last night"? So you start the day with an apple and a yogurt, or maybe nothing at all. Salad with dressing on the side for lunch. Maybe a snack bar for a snack.

    By evening comes you've had maybe 500 calories total. Maybe a little peckish by now. So while chicken tenderloins are baking in the oven, you'll snack on these crackers. Oh, maybe a cheese stick. Two cheese sticks. And a banana-- whole fruit is good for you. Yes it is! By the time you start having your dinner you've had, pretty much a dinner calorie-wise: crackers plus cheese plus banana: 430 calories and now throw in 150 calories worth of chicken another 120 of mixed veggies. And while catching up on Netflix queue the 180 calories of light frozen yogurt (who eats just 1/2 cup, really? Please. . .). Even with these fairly reasonable, dare I say "healthy" food choices, you've eaten 880 calories in pretty much one sitting. You feel overfull, a bit guilty and the next morning resolve ""Hey, today I'm going to eat light. Make up for all that junk I ate last night. . . ."

    I'm that person. Its worse on cycling days. I cycle. At least 100 miles a week. Usually more than 125. If I've eaten sparingly pre-ride, I'll easily down 800-900 calories (usually high fat/carb "convenience" foods) because I'm literally starving. It's extremely important on those longer rides (two hours or more) to freaking eat something-- or better yet drink something (carb calorie laden with a small bit of protein).

  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    snorklr wrote: »
    Made my diary public, can you see it?
    At first mfp told me to eat 1000 cal a day, that didn't work so I upped it to 1200. Even on days I rode bike 2 hrs, was not eating back exercise cals. Then started eating more like 1500 on days I ride hard.

    It is my understanding that MFP won't give you any less than 1200 calories...

    Even at 1200 calories...2 hours of bike riding...not eating back exercise calories...you were netting less than 1000...

    I wouldn't have had the energy to move.

  • Jessikin13
    Jessikin13 Posts: 52 Member
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    erickirb wrote: »
    Gaining that much weight in a short time I would think there may be some hormonal issues, you may want to have some blood work done to determine this.

    I wouldn't go that far...from 2009 sept to July 2010 I gained about 40lbs...it was easy trust me...I ate everything, cooked and didn't move my *kitten*....newly wed what can I say.

    Haha, I too gained everything back as soon as we got married. Took about 4-5 months but I put on a good 25lbs. Now I'm about back to my wedding weight
  • snorklr
    snorklr Posts: 28
    dpwellman wrote: »
    A Cautionary Tale

    If I've eaten sparingly pre-ride, I'll easily down 800-900 calories (usually high fat/carb "convenience" foods) because I'm literally starving. It's extremely important on those longer rides (two hours or more) to freaking eat something-- or better yet drink something (carb calorie laden with a small bit of protein).

    Thanks. I "bonked" on a ride once and it scared me. Now I always take pouches of unsweetened applesauce, Gatorade and clif bars. I know Gatorade is full of sugar but really just a couple swallows can really help. I have always had issues with low blood sugar. Clif bars also I can just eat a couple bites or split with my bf. I sometimes will eat the wrong thing after like a hamburger but I don't know that the calories are ever way high. I don't seem to often go over on calories for the day.
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