Tear me a new one,gained 8lbs despite diet and exercise, please help

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sciencenovice
sciencenovice Posts: 40 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
i started really getting serious about MFP and working out on April 6. I've lost a lot of weight before, but I'm not sure if it because I'm in my thirties now or what but I just can't drop any weight.

Anyway, I started logging everything, even my cheat days. Which was eye opening! After a week of deficit and working out I'd actually eat an entire pounds worth of calories in one day! Negating the entire 6 days. So I reigned that mess in and just stuck within maintenance of cheats were to come up. That's been just over 2 weeks.

I also had a calculated TDEE of 2270 and put my calorie goal at 1470. I workout 5 days a week and try not to eat back my calories. If I do eat back my calories, its about 100-200 calories over 1470, and not everyday.

No, I don't have a scale, though I measure and portion almost all of my food. Plus I try to add a bigger size or 10% more calories to what I'm unsure of. I feel like it's better to over shoot calories than under.

I think my diary is open, so you can see sometimes I sneak chips or ice cream in if my calories allow it. I know I haven't been perfect, but I don't know how it's *kitten* possible I gained almost 10lbs in a month!!! My clothes are not fitting any better. My only improvement is muscle definition in my arms. I Jazzercise, kickbox, and do interval strength training about 50 minutes at day. Sometimes more sometimes less.

Please tell me how I can possibly have *kitten* up this bad??? I mean I never gained this much not trying!

I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work but I was hoping for a conservative sustainable way of life. And yesterday's entry was my *kitten* it all to hell in eating 8lbs I beer and pizza because it doesn't matter anyway.
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Replies

  • LeanButNotMean44
    LeanButNotMean44 Posts: 852 Member
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    Open your diary, please.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    I really recommend getting a scale. I was going over the same four pounds up and down consistently until I began weighing my food out.

    You don't have to live on egg whites and celery, that's just ridiculous. What you need is to have an accurate understanding of your portions and a scale is one of the best tools to do that.
  • sciencenovice
    sciencenovice Posts: 40 Member
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    I opened it*cringe*
  • Chewitz
    Chewitz Posts: 217 Member
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    Some of it could be water weight

    Perhaps it could help to start weighing all foods
  • JustAnotherGirlSuzanne
    JustAnotherGirlSuzanne Posts: 932 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Also, you don't have a scale. If you were weighing on two different scales that could be an issue. Also, you should weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you've eaten anything.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
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    Urgent---get a digital scale as soon as possible---and use it. No excuses, "portioning", "eyeballing" etc.. don't cut it. You have no idea how much you're eating. In the beginning you have to be very exact. Once you really know how many calories you're eating, you can ask for advice. Best of luck. B)
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    sciencenovice wrote: »
    I opened it*cringe*

    The bad news: Your logging is not very good.

    The good news: Your logging is not very good, improving it will help you solve this issue!

    Scales are cheap, cheap, cheap. I would buy a scale and begin logging your foods by weight. Try to limit your use of generic database entries (you can't be sure whether or not the person who, say, fried the egg fried it the same way you did -- log the fat and the egg).
  • shreddedtrooper
    shreddedtrooper Posts: 107 Member
    edited May 2015
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    water, likely but not over 1 day, j/k. :)

    Reviewed.
    Protein rarely goes over 100g daily, largely 40-60g/daily.
    Carbs 200-300 whilst fats remain at 80-100 and/or exceed certain days which conversely has lower protein days.

    Please consider reviewing TDEE once more in addition to looking at your exact protein/fat requirements and try to include this on your future entries for targets.

    in addition, a cup of avacado, here is an example of how cup vs weight can differ. If one were to "pack" a cup it would be different from "cubed" etc, by weighing you remove this error and uncounted calories.

    My 2 cents is all. I'm sure a large number will concur your protein is fairly low considering what it "appears" your goals are and based on your activity level. This is not the only factor, multiple things noticed but this was the first immediate. thanks.
  • Mexicanbigfoot
    Mexicanbigfoot Posts: 520 Member
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    I really recommend getting a scale. I was going over the same four pounds up and down consistently until I began weighing my food out.

    You don't have to live on egg whites and celery, that's just ridiculous. What you need is to have an accurate understanding of your portions and a scale is one of the best tools to do that.

    ^this - I purchased a food scale for less than $20 and it has made a huge difference.

    I don't live on egg whites and celery and I don't work out 3 hours a day.

    I've lost 47 pounds. My diary is open if you want to look at it.

    I would suggest you eat more protein for one thing. Especially if you are working out as much as you say you are. My trainer suggests to eat at least 100g/day since I am lifting weights and doing a lot of cardio.

    I don't log my exercise so I don't eat back any of those calories. I think MFP greatly overestimates burns.

    Try to stay closer to your macros (mine are set 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein)

    Plus, lots and lots of patience. You didn't gain the weight overnight and you won't lose it overnight. Good luck!
  • Dave55412
    Dave55412 Posts: 88 Member
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    You need an understanding of how alcohol throws off the body's metabolism. And the pizza and chips are pure garbage.

    http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-alcohol-affects-metabolism.html#b
  • rosiebenfield213
    rosiebenfield213 Posts: 3 Member
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    If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?
  • rosiebenfield213
    rosiebenfield213 Posts: 3 Member
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    If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Get a digital scale. Log accurately by weighing in grams or ounces and using verified choices in the MFP food log. By that I mean search for entries that are based on the USDA nutritional info or look at the food labels on what you eat and verify it against the entries you find in the system.

    You have a lot of entries like "Aladdin BBQ Chicken Breast, 1 breast." A chicken breast can be small or huge and the calories change accordingly. Same for "Watermelon, 3.13 cup." It's great that you appear to be measuring in some way but stuff like that needs to be weighed whenever possible. Especially since all of your watermelon measurements end in .13 cup. The odds of all of your watermelon servings ending in .13 cup are low, which makes me think that you are bs'ing your measurements.

    You also seem to drink a lot of your calories. That is a personal preference but keep in mind that you may find solid foods more filling than liquids.
  • Mexicanbigfoot
    Mexicanbigfoot Posts: 520 Member
    edited May 2015
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    @rosiebenfield213 - a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the same. The difference is density.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    Dave55412 wrote: »
    You need an understanding of how alcohol throws off the body's metabolism. And the pizza and chips are pure garbage.

    http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-alcohol-affects-metabolism.html#b

    Even if you eat "pure garbage," you aren't going to gain weight if you're eating at a deficit.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    rosiebenfield213 wrote: »
    If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?

    Too short a timeframe and nope not in a defecit ...and no progressive overload ...it ain't muscle

    More likely innaccurate logging means eating at maintenance
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    rosiebenfield213 wrote: »
    If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?

    This is crap. Don't listen to it. Building muscle in a deficit is difficult. It is generally said to be possible for overfat beginners and returning athletes. Even if OP falls into the former category, she has not gained enough muscle in a month to make her clothes tight. The only thing you are likely right about is her having increased her fat.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I looked at your diary (not commenting about yesterday... it happens, lol).

    Too many generic entries, like donuts, half a potato (a potato can be anywhere from 100 to 300 calories, really), one piece of bread etc etc.

    Seriously though, get a food scale. It takes 2 seconds to use (all you do is put the plate on the scale and hit a button a couple times) and it was an eye opener for me. The main issue is that you eat a lot of high calorie items (chips, bread, potatoes, rice, cookies etc), which is totally fine, but you have to be accurate or you can easily underestimate by a lot (and most bananas are 100 calories, not 77, for example).
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    sciencenovice wrote: »
    i started really getting serious about MFP and working out on April 6. I've lost a lot of weight before, but I'm not sure if it because I'm in my thirties now or what but I just can't drop any weight.

    Anyway, I started logging everything, even my cheat days. Which was eye opening! After a week of deficit and working out I'd actually eat an entire pounds worth of calories in one day! Negating the entire 6 days. So I reigned that mess in and just stuck within maintenance of cheats were to come up. That's been just over 2 weeks.

    I also had a calculated TDEE of 2270 and put my calorie goal at 1470. I workout 5 days a week and try not to eat back my calories. If I do eat back my calories, its about 100-200 calories over 1470, and not everyday.

    No, I don't have a scale, though I measure and portion almost all of my food. Plus I try to add a bigger size or 10% more calories to what I'm unsure of. I feel like it's better to over shoot calories than under.

    I think my diary is open, so you can see sometimes I sneak chips or ice cream in if my calories allow it. I know I haven't been perfect, but I don't know how it's *kitten* possible I gained almost 10lbs in a month!!! My clothes are not fitting any better. My only improvement is muscle definition in my arms. I Jazzercise, kickbox, and do interval strength training about 50 minutes at day. Sometimes more sometimes less.

    Please tell me how I can possibly have *kitten* up this bad??? I mean I never gained this much not trying!

    I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work but I was hoping for a conservative sustainable way of life. And yesterday's entry was my *kitten* it all to hell in eating 8lbs I beer and pizza because it doesn't matter anyway.

    without a food scale there is no way to know how accurate your logging is.

    I would suggest getting one and weighing all your foods for about two to three weeks, I think the results will be eye opening.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    rosiebenfield213 wrote: »
    If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?

    highly doubtful

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