Why is my weight going up?

kwissten

Im hoping someone can help me out here and give me and idea of what I am doing wrong/ why ive been gaining some weight. First, heres some history on my health and fitness journey... About three years ago I weighed around 150 lbs (I am 5'4). From them I gradually lost weight and my lowest weight got to be around 110. That weight didnt look good on me, and I gradually gained weight and was sitting happy at around 115-118. I guess I can mention that I was also dealing with somewhat of an eating disorder and was obsessed with counting calories and would freak whenever I "ate too much" or missed a workout. My workouts used to be a half hour of a cardio machine and then various weight machines. I eventually changed to 20min cardio and the same weight machines, and was a lot less worried about counting calories and was a lot less obsessive. About a month and a half ago I started boxing at a gym which says that you can burn up to 1000 calories in an hour session, but I am pretty sure that is not accurate for me, but I cannot be sure. I have been doing that three times a week and going to the gym 2 times a week so im total five days of exercise a week. An idea of what I eat is 1/2cup oatmeal with 1 spoonful of pb, some berries and a whole banana for breakfast, for lunch i either eat a veggie sandwich on some type of grainy bread with hummus avocado and veggies or a salad with chicken veggie toppings some type of crunch and dressing. I eat a snack of usually a fruit and some boom chicka pop or carrots hummus and crackers (each around 200 calories). and dinner is usually some type of protein, starch and a veggie. I also eat a snack at night around 200 calories. Although i dont count calories anymore, im guessing I eat around 1600-1700 calories a day. I eat pretty darn healthy and am very active doing an intense workout quite a bit so im confused. I weighed in this morning at 125 which is the most ive weighed in a while. I know weight fluctuates, but this is scaring me. I guess I can also mention that I dont have the most consistent bowel movements (lol). I was starting to feel leaner and like I was toning up after starting boxing, but I am almost positive I cannot gain that much muscle that fast. Who knows if anyone has any answers for me, but it almost felt good just to write that out! I dont want to slip back into bad habits of obsessing, so if anyone has advice I would greatly appreciate!

happyfeetrebel1

It's not muscle. Because you are seriously overestimating your calorie burns and not logging accurately, you are eatind more than you are burning, thus causing weight gain.

Get a scale and weigh your food. This will be a huge eye opener for you.

Also, you aren't burning as many calories as you think. If you're eating them back, I'd recommend only one quarter to half.

Good luck

Lleldiranne

If you're gaining weight, you are eating more than you use. I would start by logging everything you eat. A kitchen scale is a great idea, as it will increase your accuracy greatly. I also agree with you that it would be very hard to burn 1K calories in an hour.

Try using a TDEE calculator to find out how many calories you should be eating. It will take exercise into account, so don't eat those back. I would suggest a slight cut (10%) from TDEE to lose weight, or you can maintain weight and do the lifting (and boxing) and work on a recomp. At 5'4" your current weight is okay, especially if you work on recomposition. Just putting that out as an option

jennifer_417

If you're not tracking your calories, then that's where you need to start. It's astonishingly easy to eat way more than you think you are. And if you're eating more calories than you're burning, no matter how healthy that food is , you're going to gain.

LivingtheLeanDream

There are some good replies to your post already mentioned.

I would add if you are having toilet troubles then thats causing bloat which equals what LOOKS like weight gain but isn't, try drinking more water which will help that issue, boiled water with lemon is good for constipation as are prunes.

Also you are doing a new workout routine which sounds demanding will also affect that scale number...

wkwebby

If you're going to get worked up about the number on the scale and nothing else, then just ditch the scale and start using the tape measure. If you haven't noticed your clothes getting tighter or uncomfortable, I wouldn't even worry about it. Since you were obsessive about your weight and calorie counting earlier, why start again now unless there are other signs that you are having true weight gain (such as the clothes getting tighter, etc.).

The scale only reflects a number, who knows...you might be holding in more than one days' worth of poop and it may be adding up to more than 5 lbs.

kshama2001

quiksylver296

kwissten wrote: »

Although i dont count calories anymore, im guessing I eat around 1600-1700 calories a day.

Found your problem...

Use a food scale. Log everything you eat. Stay within your MFP allotted calories. Don't overestimate your exercise burned calories (I would suggest only eating back 50%, based on your 1000 calorie boxing statement).

pollypocket1021

quiksylver296 wrote: »

kwissten wrote: »

Although i dont count calories anymore, im guessing I eat around 1600-1700 calories a day.

Found your problem...

Use a food scale. Log everything you eat. Stay within your MFP allotted calories. Don't overestimate your exercise burned calories (I would suggest only eating back 50%, based on your 1000 calorie boxing statement).

+1

blankiefinder

I'm quite surprised at the replies in here, the OP stated that she has previously had an eating disorder and an obsession with counting calories...

OP, how tall are you?

If you are recovered from an eating disorder and find that counting calories triggers it, then I would suggest starting by just making a small cut to your intake. Maybe cut out the banana with breakfast, and one small snack. Try it for 2 weeks, maybe weigh weekly if that's an issue for you, and see if you have any change, keeping in mind that two weeks really isn't long enough to see a trend necessarily because time of month and other factors can have a huge impact on a single weigh in.

GBrady43068

I ran 5 miles this morning...my RunKeeper app said that would be a burn of around 800 some calories. I only entered it as 2/3 of that so your calories burned are probably not as high as you think. (Although I've heard boxing can be really intense in terms of energy expenditure)

I agree also with those saying that if you are weighing super frequently, you may be obsessing about the scale number too much. You are looking for an overall downward trend. Water retention due to the new routine, excess "used calories" in your intestines, extra water held in from a particularly sodium-laden meal, even your period (I see you're female) can affect fluctuations (the ladies could give you better tips on how much that might be but it's a frequent subject on MFP).

I am NOT a big fan of the food scale..mostly because I'm lazy and I've been able to keep the scale movement happening without it but I agree with the others saying that if you can confirm that you are properly counting exercise then the next thing to verify is that you are not UNDERreporting your calories in. If my own weight loss stagnates and I'm doing all the other stuff, it will be "weigh it all" time for me at that point.

Again, the formula for weight loss: Calories out > calories in

It's not as hard as we try and make it...

PeachyCarol

I have to agree with blankiefinder here.

You've had issues in the past with calorie counting, so it sounds like doing it now won't work out well for you.

In addition to what she suggested, I'd like to add that you should familiarize yourself with the sources of calorie-dense foods in your diet like hummus, avocado, and salad dressings and scale back on the portions of them.

Sadly, the fact is that most people are horrible at estimating caloric intake, so don't even try. Just use your scale for feedback if your weight is important to you. Or use a really tight fitting pair of jeans as a gauge. Adjust your food intake up or down and you'll eventually get the results you want.

This is a less precise method than calorie counting, but it's worked for lots of people. It should work well for you and your particular issues.

SLLRunner

I agree with Blanketfinder and PeachyCarol.

In addition to what they've said, I suggest speaking with a counselor because it sounds like you still have obsessive thoughts around weight management, therefore you may not be fully recovered from your eating disorder.

Liftng4Lis

Exercise calories are overinflated, thus you should eat only a portion (most do half). Additionally, since you're not actually counting calories and just guessing, you're most likely not in a deficit. Have you looked into recomp?