I am gaining more weight the more I walk
lalalalalaurie
Posts: 80 Member
And not losing. And I am obese.
I am counting calories. It's almost magical how wrong this is going.
It's disheartening. But I am addicted to walking and don't want to stop.
I am counting calories. It's almost magical how wrong this is going.
It's disheartening. But I am addicted to walking and don't want to stop.
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Replies
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Start with the basics. Losing weight is about a calorie deficit. Log everything you eat and measure accurately by weighing and choosing USDA food entries. If you are not losing weight, it is nearly always a tracking problem.0
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How accurate is your logging? Do you pick the right entries from the database? Do you use a food scale to weigh all your food?0
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If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
I would go back to meticulous weighing of everything you eat with a digital food scale and make sure that your activity level and stats (height, weight, age) are set correctly in MFP to account for any errors with logging and to be sure that MFP is giving you the correct amount of calories to eat. If you are eating back your exercise calories, scale it back to only eating back half (or maybe a third) and see if that helps.
Just don't give up, and keep on walking!0 -
If you're gaining weight over a reasonable timeframe, you're eating above maintenance.
How are you counting calories? It sounds like you're eating substantially too much.0 -
How much are you logging for the walking?0
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Setting your diary to public or giving us some more details might help get you more specific advice. Until then, these are my really general tips. Maybe something will help you out.
1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, don't sweat it! Normal fluctuations happen and unfortunately sometimes we stall for a week or two even when we're doing everything right. Give your body some time to catch up with the changes you're making.
2. If you aren't already, be sure that you're logging everything. Sometimes people forget about things like veggies, drinks, cooking oils, and condiments. For some people these can add up to enough to halt your weight loss progress.
3. Consider buying a food scale if you don't already have one. They're about $10-$20 dollars in the US and easily found at places like Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Measuring cups and spoons are great, but they do come with some degree of inaccuracy. A food scale will be more accurate, and for some people it makes a big difference.
4. Logging accurately also means choosing accurate entries in the database. There are a lot of user-entered entries that are off. Double-check that you're using good entries and/or using the recipe builder instead of someone else's homemade entries.
5. Recalculate your goals if you haven't lately. As you lose weight your body requires fewer calories to run. Be sure you update your goals every ten pounds or so.
6. If you're eating back your exercise calories and you're relying on gym machine readouts or MFP's estimates, it might be best to eat back just 50-75% of those. Certain activities tend to be overestimated. If you're using an HRM or activity tracker, it might be a good idea to look into their accuracy and be sure that yours is calibrated properly.
7. If you're taking any cheat days that go over your calorie limits, it might be best to cut them out for a few weeks and see what happens. Some people go way over their calorie needs without realizing it when they don't track.
8. If you weigh yourself frequently, consider using a program like trendweight to even out the fluctuations. You could be losing weight but just don't see it because of the daily ups and downs.
9. Some people just burn fewer calories than the calculators predict. If you continue to have problems after 4-6 weeks, then it might be worth a trip to the doctor or a registered dietitian who can give you more specific advice.0 -
Walking is great for your body, heart, and spirit. However, it is very easy to out eat any calorie burn from exercise. As so many others have mentioned above weight loss is all about how many calories you can consume. Start tracking if you aren't and get a food scale, if you can, so that you can track accurately.
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Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.0 -
lalalalalaurie wrote: »Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.
Yes, studies have shown that humans tend to be TERRIBLE at eyeballing portions. We frequently underestimate what we eat, even when we are very honest people with excellent intentions. I found a food scale absolutely essential for my weight loss -- I found I had been off, sometimes by hundreds of calories, on some items.0 -
janejellyroll wrote: »lalalalalaurie wrote: »Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.
Yes, studies have shown that humans tend to be TERRIBLE at eyeballing portions. We frequently underestimate what we eat, even when we are very honest people with excellent intentions. I found a food scale absolutely essential for my weight loss -- I found I had been off, sometimes by hundreds of calories, on some items.
I read an article recently about a study done with one person in particular who knew that they'd be verifying her logging against her actual calorie intake with some kind of fancy machine. Even though she really tried, her logging was off by 40%. 40% is a lot. And she was really, really trying.
A kitchen scale is definitely your best friend when counting calories! Over time, it'll help you get better at eyeballing portions, too. At first weigh everything. Even things like salad dressing usually have a serving size in grams. You'll find that many packaged foods will give you a portion size on the label but the food won't actually be divided into that exact portion size. Use the tare function to weigh multiple items going into the same container.0 -
gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
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That treadmills might be off by more doesn't mean that MFP is accurate. Afterburn is relatively minuscule. Your body doesn't really horde calories; it burns what it needs to burn.
It's not really complex, no, unless you're striving for some unreasonable and unnecessary -- for 99.999+% of people -- level of precision.0 -
lalalalalaurie wrote: »Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.
I picked this link up from one of the recommended threads to read here. When you have a moment, check this out, skipping to the middle - around the 18-19 minute mark.
http://www.documentarytube.com/videos/10-things-you-need-to-know-about-losing-weight
It follows the progress of a woman who is overweight, active, eating healthily and believing her weight to be due to a low metabolism. However it turns out to be because of her portion sizes. It's quite an eye opener
The whole programme is pretty good really, if you have the time. I'm following the advice on soup!
Good luck from a fellow obese walker ^^
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ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
I've actually found that MFP's estimates of walking and running calories to be pretty close if you choose the proper speed. It's things like weight lifting, cooking, cleaning, aerobics, etc. that can be really far off. With the walking and running entries, your speed helps to determine your level of exertion to some extent, with those other entries MFP has no clue how much of the hour you were lifting weights or how hard you were actually exerting yourself.0 -
Yep...too much walking. You need to pump iron. Make it so!0
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Even for walking and running, MFP is at least 15-20% higher than my UP2 or HR Charge for the same exercise. Sometimes more.ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
I've actually found that MFP's estimates of walking and running calories to be pretty close if you choose the proper speed. It's things like weight lifting, cooking, cleaning, aerobics, etc. that can be really far off. With the walking and running entries, your speed helps to determine your level of exertion to some extent, with those other entries MFP has no clue how much of the hour you were lifting weights or how hard you were actually exerting yourself.0 -
lalalalalaurie wrote: »Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.
you also need to make sure you're choosing accurate entries from the database...weighing and measuring is important, but choosing accurate entries are where a great many people actually go wrong. Do not use generic entries like "homemade lasagna" or something...that's just some random person's entry and you have no true idea what went into it or what their portion was, etc...
for homemade recipes you should use the recipe builder...you could also enter items individually; for example, when I logged and would make a sandwich I would enter my exact brand of bread, my exact brand of cheese, my exact brand of deli meat (weighed out), any mayo or mustard, as well as any side items individually...rather than just selecting "chicken sandwich" or something.
also keep in mind that weigh loss isn't a linear function and you really have to look at trends over time. if you're weighing in daily you have to keep in mind that daily fluctuations are going to show up on the scale...if you're weighing at different times throughout the day, you have to realize that you are also weighing any food or liquid you have ingested and the inherent waste that comes with it.
you should pick a day as your official weigh in day...weigh in at roughly the same time of day and under roughly the same conditions...i.e. when you get up, after restroom, and before any food or beverage is consumed. having an official day will help you track trends over the weeks and month...getting wrapped up in day to day minutia derails a lot of people because they simply don't understand natural fluctuations in weight.
like i said, weight loss isn't a linear function...you're going to have weeks with bigger losses, smaller losses, no losses, and even gains...but it's really the overall trend over time (lots of time) that matters.0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »
Even for walking and running, MFP is at least 15-20% higher than my UP2 or HR Charge for the same exercise. Sometimes more.ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
I've actually found that MFP's estimates of walking and running calories to be pretty close if you choose the proper speed. It's things like weight lifting, cooking, cleaning, aerobics, etc. that can be really far off. With the walking and running entries, your speed helps to determine your level of exertion to some extent, with those other entries MFP has no clue how much of the hour you were lifting weights or how hard you were actually exerting yourself.
It depends on how far you are from the "average" person. That's all any calorie calculators are based on... averages.0 -
Most people here, the ones who are overweight, aren't the "average" person used in the calculators, though.DeguelloTex wrote: »
Even for walking and running, MFP is at least 15-20% higher than my UP2 or HR Charge for the same exercise. Sometimes more.ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
I've actually found that MFP's estimates of walking and running calories to be pretty close if you choose the proper speed. It's things like weight lifting, cooking, cleaning, aerobics, etc. that can be really far off. With the walking and running entries, your speed helps to determine your level of exertion to some extent, with those other entries MFP has no clue how much of the hour you were lifting weights or how hard you were actually exerting yourself.
It depends on how far you are from the "average" person. That's all any calorie calculators are based on... averages.
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lalalalalaurie wrote: »And not losing. And I am obese.
I am counting calories. It's almost magical how wrong this is going.
It's disheartening. But I am addicted to walking and don't want to stop.
So are you sure you're counting calories accurately? And what do you mean you're addicted to walking? How often do you do it? For how long? How far do you go? If you're burning that many calories (which you would burn a decent amount if you're very obese as the bigger you are, the more it will take to keep you moving) then you're more than likely eating back more than what you burn.
With walking, depending on how fast and how far, your calorie burn will be far less than more intense exercises. I'm not saying that makes it wrong, I'm just saying you need to take that into account. You're not going to burn nearly as many calories walking as with something like running, eliptical, rowing, HIIT circuit training, etc. And that's ok - perhaps those are your goals and you're working your way up. Either way, you really have to take into account the fact that you need to burn more than you consume to lose. It's not easy, especially when it's SO easy to gain the weight, but there's a very real potential you're eating more than you think you are.
You should be weighing/measuring everything as accurately as possible. It's not easy to do, and it can be time consuming but it will help you to see how much you may have been over eating in the past. I've gone from 340lbs to 255lbs. It's not easy . . . but you can do it if you want to. I work out six days a week, now but didn't always.
Good luck to you Feel free to add me, or reach out if you ever need anything. 0 -
I think a lot of the exercise calorie issues are merely that a lot of devices report gross calories, while MFP (if you're not syncing a fitness tracker) expects net calories. Essentially the devices report the total calorie burn over that time, not the additional calories burned from exercising compared to sitting still.
A prolonged exercise with entering gross numbers into MFP will essentially double count your BMR for that time, since MFP already factors that in to the calorie goal.0 -
Do you really think that it is the increased walking causing your weight gain?0
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lalalalalaurie wrote: »Thanks everyone.
This has been helpful. I think the problem is likely my loose eyeballed portion size. I have never weighed my food. So maybe that is the golden ticket to solving this.
That sounds like a great place to start. Let us know how it goes! :flowerforyou:0 -
Good point. I always forget it and I always tell myself I'll remember it next time. This time I really will. Really.rankinsect wrote: »I think a lot of the exercise calorie issues are merely that a lot of devices report gross calories, while MFP (if you're not syncing a fitness tracker) expects net calories. Essentially the devices report the total calorie burn over that time, not the additional calories burned from exercising compared to sitting still.
A prolonged exercise with entering gross numbers into MFP will essentially double count your BMR for that time, since MFP already factors that in to the calorie goal.
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ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
So some of what you said is true . . . but the rest, I'd like to know where you got the information? Your treadmill might give you one number, MFP might give you another number . . . the best and most accurate (although not entirely accurate) way to know is by getting an HRM. If we know MFP grossly overestimates calorie burn, and your treadmill gives you a readout that's almost double that then . . . realistically your treadmill is also grossly overestimating and you should use caution when determining how many of those calories you should eat back. I'm curious - how fast do you walk, and for how long? And based on that, what kind of a read out does your treadmill give you in terms of calorie burn? I'm not trying to be rude, I'm genuinely curious
If you eat more frequently regardless of before or after a work out it will rev up your metabolism - and of course you need to eat smaller portions more frequently. If you eat before a work out you might throw up (I know I would) but I still eat 6 times/day. Also this caveman protect the life source bit . . . I don't even know what that is - are you suggesting starvation mode? Because that's also a myth.
Further, cardio does not do this "feeding" off of exercise quite like weight/resistance training does. When you weight train, you're more likely to essentially rip or tear your muscles - and that tearing is how muscles grow: you rip them, they repair and grow, you rip them again, they again repair and grow and so on. Afterwards, your body uses energy to repair those torn muscles which effectively burns calories.
When you do cardio, you don't tear your muscles in quite the same way if at all - depending on intensity - so really cardio calories are just good for creating a higher deficit for your day . . . or if you're a runner or training for something, it will help you to train. Weight/resistance/strength training are the biggest forms of the after workout burn you described.
Getting and staying healthy are relatively simple - but in today's society it takes a lot of discipline and commitment to doing it, and that's where people often struggle.0 -
Do you really think that it is the increased walking causing your weight gain?
If the problem were that she'd been really overestimating walking calories, then it could. The more she walks, the farther over she goes. The more she gains, the more she feels she should walk. Kind of a vicious cycle.
But, OP already said she'd been eyeballing portions so that's the most likely culprit.0 -
ReeseG4350 wrote: »gaelicstorm26 wrote: »If you are eating back your exercise calories, please know that the calories burned you are given by MFP can be a gross overestimation.
Y'know, I see that same comment over and over again on MFP. Thing is... my treadmill tells me differently. I always... ALWAYS log a higher calorie burn on my treadmill - by almost double - over what MFP gives me. There are so many things that come into play with something like that. How fast are you walking? Two miles an hour? 3? Five? Are you working on flat terrain or going up/down hills?
Even the question of whether you ate before the walk or if you eat after makes a difference in your calorie burn. (If you eat before, your body tends to more freely burn the calories whereas, if you do not eat until after, you body will 'horde' calories in a "caveman protect-the-life-source" kind of mode.) Furthermore, your body will continue to 'feed' off of that exercise for as much as two to four hours after the exercise period is over. You will continue to burn calories at a higher rate than someone who has not exercised. And the more vigorous the exercise, say walking at 4/5 mph rather than 2/3 mph, your body will burn calories at a higher rate longer.
*sigh* Maintaining a bone bag is so much more complex than merely monitoring how much/how many calories you consume in a day. Human beings are a very complex species on every level. So getting and staying healthy and fit is, likewise, complex.
And this is where YMMV comes in. I said that it "can be a gross overestimation" and suggested that if the poster was meticulously weighing her food, not eating back all exercise calories could be helpful. I know that my walks are really overestimated by Map My Walk, and MFP really overestimates my calorie burn for activities like cycling and using the elliptical trainer. I tend to trust the lower burn number I get from the machine over MFP because the machine is monitoring my heart rate, knows the resistance level and speed, and I enter my weight before I get rolling.
I just think that people should be aware that you can get some funky numbers from MFP when you add in your exercise.0 -
Do you really think that it is the increased walking causing your weight gain?
Actually, yes, pondeee, I did. And reason being, I read an article in which they did a study where women who excercized vigorously and gained more fat than the ones who didn't.
I assume the reason is because they were eating more because the exercise was making them hungrier or the weight gain was from some other nefarious, mysterious and unknown reason. Maybe over extension releasing some weird hormone thing.
And frankly? I do wonder if something is wrong with my body.
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But, yes, I do eyeball my portions more than I should. The mysterious thing for me is that I always did and I lost more weight when I wasn't walking, hence the confusion.
I could just be fudging the portions to fit my hunger. I have been very food minded recently.0
This discussion has been closed.
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