Eating Healthy, Less: Gaining Weight

HealthierApproach

Hello,
I am 20 years old and eating 1200-1400 a day. I eat mainly nutritious foods; lots of fruits and veggies. However, since trying to eat less, my weight has gone up. I admit that I do not excercise, however. What am I doing wrong? I KNOW I am eating less calories that previously.

janejellyroll

How do you know? Were you logging before? Were you using a food scale before and now?

When did you begin this new food plan? How much weight have you gained?

HealthierApproach

Side note, I do have bingeing tendencies, and will binge every 1-2 weeks. However I don't think I eat enough at these times to gain.

janejellyroll

HealthierApproach wrote: »

Side note, I do have bingeing tendencies, and will binge every 1-2 weeks. However I don't think I eat enough at these times to gain.

Are you logging your binges?

diannethegeek

Opening your diary or sharing some more details might help us give more specific advice, if you're comfortable doing so. Otherwise here is my really general advice:

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so since you last saw a drop on the scale, 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.

jaqcan

If you're not weighing your food you don't know how much you are eating. You very well could be eating A LOT more than 1200-1400 calories AND with added binges puts you over maintenance.

diannethegeek

HealthierApproach wrote: »

Side note, I do have bingeing tendencies, and will binge every 1-2 weeks. However I don't think I eat enough at these times to gain.

They might. They could also be causing larger fluctuations to your water weight, which could mask fat loss in the short term.

HealthierApproach

I did log for a week before starting and ate 2000-2500 each day. I do not log my binges but they aren't huge (I.e. yesterday I ate 2 open faced peanut butter sandwiches in addition to my 1200/day, which would only put me at 1600).
I do not own a food scale, however I have been successful using calorie counting estimation in the past.

& I have gained 5 pounds in about a month

HealthierApproach

I know I must be doing something wrong, but it doesn't feel like I am. I feel that I should at least be maintaining.

GetThatRunnersHigh

What are your stats and selected rate of loss? Age, height, weight, goal, activity level?

There's no way to tell exactly how much you're eating without weighing your food. Take your peanut butter sandwiches for example. You estimate them to be ~400, but no one knows how much bread or peanut butter you're using. And peanut butter is very calorie dense.

Furthermore, 5 pounds if completely within range of day-to-day fluctuations.

HealthierApproach

GetThatRunnersHigh wrote: »

What are your stats and selected rate of loss? Age, height, weight, goal, activity level?

There's no way to tell exactly how much you're eating without weighing your food. Take your peanut butter sandwiches for example. You estimate them to be ~400, but no one knows how much bread or peanut butter you're using. And peanut butter is very calorie dense.

Furthermore, 5 pounds if completely within range of day-to-day fluctuations.

20, 5'2', 126 pounds and want to be 110, sedentary.

I think I'm going to try logging my binges & adding 2 days of excercise a week.

HealthierApproach

Maybe I could try using measuring cups/ spoons? Not really wanting to get a scale as I have a tendency to obsess over food

janejellyroll

HealthierApproach wrote: »

Maybe I could try using measuring cups/ spoons? Not really wanting to get a scale as I have a tendency to obsess over food

Are you not using measuring cups and spoons now? If you aren't using ANYTHING to measure your food, I strongly suspect the issue is that you're eating much more than you think you are. This is very common --study after study has found that humans are generally terrible at estimating portion size. Measuring cups and spoons are much less accurate than a scale, but if you think that a scale wouldn't be healthy for you, cups and spoons would be a good starting point.

I would log my "binges" (I don't think two sandwiches really count as a binge, although they could result in gaining weight). Bread and peanut butter are two calorie-dense foods -- it wouldn't take a whole lot to result in weight gain if this is a consistent pattern for you. I would start by logging everything and being as accurate with portion size as you think is healthy for you.

AMSmit88

FWIW - I have a history of binge/purge cycles so can be very (read extremely) obsessive when it comes to food. I have found that using a scale actually helps me to keep a healthy approach to my eating. I feel in control as I know exactly what I'm having and don't panic about eating too much and if I give myself a ridiculously small portion the scale tells me so and I add more. It also gives me complete accuracy which I love and actually find empowering. I know that for some people who get obsessive about eating that it is not the way, I've just found for me that it is so thought I would offer a less negative view of the scale from the point of view of someone who can relate!

I would also suggest that if you have an obsessive relationship with food that you ask to be referred to talk to someone. It's better really to deal with it, especially as I'm pretty sure you are already at a healthy weight. Then with the help of a specialist if you still chose to lose weight I personally would suggest going slow and steady at .5lbs a week while doing a progressive lifting programme.

Edit: MFP and my phone don't get on

HealthierApproach

Thanks for all of the input! I'm going to start with measuring cups and see if it makes a difference.

WBB55

HealthierApproach wrote: »

Thanks for all of the input! I'm going to start with measuring cups and see if it makes a difference.

Scales are better. Or at least get a scale and see what your regular foods weigh vs. how much of the measuring cup they use. And log your binges. Every thing.

Francl27

HealthierApproach wrote: »

I did log for a week before starting and ate 2000-2500 each day. I do not log my binges but they aren't huge (I.e. yesterday I ate 2 open faced peanut butter sandwiches in addition to my 1200/day, which would only put me at 1600).
I do not own a food scale, however I have been successful using calorie counting estimation in the past.

& I have gained 5 pounds in about a month

I think you're in denial of how many calories are in peanut butter and bread. Your '400' extra calories are probably closer to 800-1000.

So yeah.. you're eating too much.