why am I gaining weight?!

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missbutterfly92
missbutterfly92 Posts: 31 Member
edited April 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
My friend and I have started jogging/running about two weeks ago now and he has already lost some weight and his diet is slightly worse than mine as he still likes his biscuits lol however with me, I have cut down on portions, drinking slim fast shakes and haven't touched any crisps or chocolates, eat lots of greens and healthy meals, substituted wheat for wholewheat, couscous instead of rice, cut down on sugar etc, i and I am fairly active as my occupation is a housekeeper and I also jog every evening but the scales are telling me I have gained 4lb! What is happening? I weigh myself first thing in the morning so I haven't eaten or drinken anything.

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  • Ideabaker
    Ideabaker Posts: 509 Member
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    I read this article and it really helped me take a closer look at why I was not losing weight... maybe it will help you? http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
  • atypicalsmith
    atypicalsmith Posts: 2,742 Member
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    You are retaining water from using your muscles. SlimFast shakes have a LOT of calories and don't fill you up. What's the difference between wheat and wholewheat? Regardless, almost everyone who embarks on a weight loss program gains in the beginning. I suspect your friend didn't just start jogging at the same time you started jogging with him.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Firstly, weight fluctuates everyday, often by several pounds, so it may be that. A few days ago I was 3lbs heavier than I was the day before and the day after, for example. This is perfectly normal. Do you weigh everyday or weekly? If you weigh weekly then it's possible the 4lbs was just a fluctuation. If it's everyday and you've been consistently higher, it could be something else.

    Secondly, are you counting calories? It doesn't matter what you eat, if you're going over your calories you won't lose weight. Plenty of people here (including myself) eat biscuits and chocolate everyday and lose weight.

    Thirdly, if you've just started a new exercise regime your muscles will retain water while they repair. Though this is mostly the case for strength training rather than cardio, it may be contributing a bit.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    You don't know how many calories you're eating
    You can't out-exercise a bad diet
    Slimfast shakes .. bleurghh
    And water weight with new exercise programme, TOM, sodium etc
    calories in rice / couscous - wheat / wholewheat .. how many are you eating - don't know? that's your problem
  • missbutterfly92
    missbutterfly92 Posts: 31 Member
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    I Know that I don't eat a lot. I lost weight before so I kind of know what to eat and what not to eat. I think perhaps I need a more intensive exercise regime and really need to see what else I can incooperate in my diet :/ so frustrating.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    missbutterfly92 wrote: »
    I Know that I don't eat a lot. I lost weight before so I kind of know what to eat and what not to eat. I think perhaps I need a more intensive exercise regime and really need to see what else I can incooperate in my diet :/ so frustrating.

    Or... you could count calories so you know exactly what you're eating instead of guessing. If you can lose weight without counting calories that's great, but if you're having troubles like you are at the moment, you might as well start. At least if you know you're eating the right amount of calories then you can narrow down the problem to something else.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    missbutterfly92 wrote: »
    I Know that I don't eat a lot. I lost weight before so I kind of know what to eat and what not to eat. I think perhaps I need a more intensive exercise regime and really need to see what else I can incooperate in my diet :/ so frustrating.

    You're eating enough to not lose weight

    You lose weight 80% by your diet (food intake)

    You can't out-exercise a bad diet
  • missbutterfly92
    missbutterfly92 Posts: 31 Member
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    Thanks all. I think I need to change my diet then! Definitely need to lose weight all this hard work will be for nothing otherwise. So its More fruit and veggies on my shopping list.
  • Babykeys32
    Babykeys32 Posts: 36 Member
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    Cut the shakes...they're not good for you and they don't fill you up properly.

    Either you've put on water from the exercise or your eating too much, rabbitjb is correct - you cannot out-exercise a poor diet. Try counting your cals to the absolute exact amount for say...3 days. I bet you'll be surprised how many cals you're actually eating. Literally weigh the butter for your toast, weigh your salad dressing, weigh your greens, weigh your rice. Be exact, or it isn't worth doing....if at the end of the 3 days you find your eating at a reasonable deficit then at least you know you can continue as normal! If not, you will know where your going wrong.

    Well done and keep going! Weight loss is trial and error. Good luck xxx
  • Ideabaker
    Ideabaker Posts: 509 Member
    edited April 2015
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    Ditto on the weighing-- a food scale changed my life! You might benefit from actually weighing your foods to know exactly how much you are consuming. :smile:
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
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    missbutterfly92 wrote: »
    Thanks all. I think I need to change my diet then! Definitely need to lose weight all this hard work will be for nothing otherwise. So its More fruit and veggies on my shopping list.

    That's not what people are saying, they're saying to count your calories!
  • scottacular
    scottacular Posts: 597 Member
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    missbutterfly92 wrote: »
    I Know that I don't eat a lot. I lost weight before so I kind of know what to eat and what not to eat. I think perhaps I need a more intensive exercise regime and really need to see what else I can incooperate in my diet :/ so frustrating.

    Unless you're counting calories, you don't know that for sure. Quite often people eat more than they think, sure there are actual studies on that. Everyone is naturally biased towards underestimating what they eat, give counting a try and see how that works out. If you're not losing weight over a month, it's because you're not eating at a deficit.
  • Babykeys32
    Babykeys32 Posts: 36 Member
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    I just wanna add that i was just like you last year...i ate a super health nutrition filled vegan,amazing, all organic, flying, magic diet...and i didn't understand why i was gaining weight. I didn't believe in calorie counting. Then i started counting calories and realised i was eating over 3000 cals a day!!

    Really hope you do well xxx
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Babykeys32 wrote: »
    I just wanna add that i was just like you last year...i ate a super health nutrition filled vegan,amazing, all organic, flying, magic diet...and i didn't understand why i was gaining weight. I didn't believe in calorie counting. Then i started counting calories and realised i was eating over 3000 cals a day!!

    Really hope you do well xxx

    A very nice way to get the message across :)
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    missbutterfly92 wrote: »
    Thanks all. I think I need to change my diet then! Definitely need to lose weight all this hard work will be for nothing otherwise. So its More fruit and veggies on my shopping list.

    No. It is eating less calories. If you think that eating more fruit and vegetables instead of other things will help you get to this goal, awesome. But if you end up eating more than you burn in apples and tomatoes, you still will gain.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    you dont need to change your diet, you need to measure (with a food scale) how many calories you are eating

    i eat 'crap' food every day, work out almost every day, and still lose 2 pounds +/- a week.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    If you are gaining weight, it is because you are eating more calories than you are burning. Your friend is losing weight while eating biscuits because he isn't eating as much of the other stuff that you mentioned, in relation to what he is burning. Don't confuse eating healthy foods with weight reduction. Eating healthy foods is good. Exercise is good. You need to do that, maybe even more than you need to lose weight. But to lose weight you have to cut calories.

    Use MFP to log everything you eat and drink, and the calories burned during exercise and you'll quickly see that you are eating too much.

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