Gaining not losing

nita494

Hi ! I have a question I have lost 130+ pounds over past 2 years need to lose 10 more but scale not moving actually scale said I gained 7 lbs in a weekend which I know can't be possible but I'm not sure if I'm messing up I eat anywhere from1700 to 2200 calories a day and burn 1500 doing elliptical so my question is am I taking in to little calories ? Should I cut back on my cardio ? HELP

CassidyScaglione

You can't gain 7pounds in a week.

But if you have radically changed your diet or exercise regimen then you are probably retaining water.
It's possible you aren't burning as muc as you think on your elliptical, since 1500 seems pretty high, unless you are spending all day on there. Do you use a heart rate monitor?

Finally, try recalculating your maintenance calories... Maybe on a couple other sites as well. You have lost a lot of weight over the years, so of course, what you need to maintain will be different. You don't need to eat drastically under maintenance to lose weight or push yourself to the limit exercising, just eating a couple hundred under maintenance will work.

jakeziskin1

CassidyScaglione wrote: »

You can't gain 7pounds in a week.

But if you have radically changed your diet or exercise regimen then you are probably retaining water.
It's possible you aren't burning as muc as you think on your elliptical, since 1500 seems pretty high, unless you are spending all day on there. Do you use a heart rate monitor?

Finally, try recalculating your maintenance calories... Maybe on a couple other sites as well. You have lost a lot of weight over the years, so of course, what you need to maintain will be different. You don't need to eat drastically under maintenance to lose weight or push yourself to the limit exercising, just eating a couple hundred under maintenance will work.

How would the elliptical take all day? I use the elliptical 4/5xs a week. I burn between 1300/1500 an hour. Keep a steady pace, don't get off the machine for the hour, watch tv, and see the results?

briggsykim

Time to change up your exercise routine. Your not burning as many calories as you think you are if your body isn't working as hard as it used to.

CassidyScaglione

http://www.shape.com/fitness/cardio/how-inaccurate-are-calorie-counters-gym

Estimates of caloric burn on an elliptical are pretty inaccurate.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

Machines are notorious for over estimating calorie burns. It s sensible to half the burn calories, eat back that amount. After 6 weeks of logging you will be able to tell if you need to tweak that % up or down a bit.

And congratulations on your HUGE weight loss

hopeandtheabsurd

How long are you on the elliptical? At a near normal weight and sustainable pace that would be about 250-300 net calories an hour for me (based on heart rate monitor--MFP and the machines are overly generous).

7 pounds in a short time is going to be water weight gain due to excess sodium or hormonal fluctuations and should come back off.

My first thought would not be that you should eat more or exercise less (unless you really are on the elliptical for 5 hours a day, that would be excessive). I would think the first thing to do would be to recalculate your TDEE at your current weight and tighten up your logging because it's more likely you are eating too much for your current situation if you are gaining.

CollieFit

jakeziskin1 wrote: »

CassidyScaglione wrote: »

You can't gain 7pounds in a week.

But if you have radically changed your diet or exercise regimen then you are probably retaining water.
It's possible you aren't burning as muc as you think on your elliptical, since 1500 seems pretty high, unless you are spending all day on there. Do you use a heart rate monitor?

Finally, try recalculating your maintenance calories... Maybe on a couple other sites as well. You have lost a lot of weight over the years, so of course, what you need to maintain will be different. You don't need to eat drastically under maintenance to lose weight or push yourself to the limit exercising, just eating a couple hundred under maintenance will work.

How would the elliptical take all day? I use the elliptical 4/5xs a week. I burn between 1300/1500 an hour. Keep a steady pace, don't get off the machine for the hour, watch tv, and see the results?

1500 calories from 60 mins elliptical?????????????? Is that confirmed with a HRM?? The only reason someone might burn that amount of calories from an hour on a crosstrainer is if you were enormously large. Average burn for a steady hour elliptical for me is around 450 cals.

CassidyScaglione

@CollieFit no kidding right? Think the highest I ever got in an hour was 500. Unless your 600 lbs this seems insane.

nita494

My elliptical calculates the calories I burned I'm on it for about 2+ hrs a day MFP has my calorie intake to lose a pound a week at 1700 , I have a Fitbit with heart monitor but when I wear it during my elliptical I wonder how accurate it is ? I have been keeping at current weight doing 1700 to 2200 calories in and 1500 calories out ( per elliptical) for about 5+ months so not sure how to restart the weight loss again I have ate more ate less worked out more worked out less at a loss , figured the 7 pounds is water but always helps to hear it instead of making it up or an excuse

nita494

Plus I also do total gym for 30 mins a day also

Ready2Rock206

How accurate is your food logging? Do you use a food scale? I'd say your calories for the elliptical seem extremely high. I'd cut back on eating the exercise calories - eat a portion but not probably not more than 1/2 or so and work on the accuracy of your food logging.

nita494

I don't use a scale but I'm really meticulous when logging anything that touches my lips is logged lol I have measured out certain foods I eat pretty much the same stuff week after week lol

mommazach

Drink more water. When I hit a block, it's generally because my water intake sucks. Also make sure your sodium intake isn't too high.

jacquifrench304

Bite the bullet , pick up a scale and weigh not measure , if you are maintaining you weight you are in energy balance , to lose weight you need to be on energy deficit , I think your Machine might be telling a few porkies when it comes to burn but would suggest weigh the foods , each week take 150cal a day away from what you eat until you start to lose again the energy in part is the easiest one to control .
Try trend weight /happy scale to track your weight so you can see the pattern .

CassidyScaglione

@nita494

Its more accurate than the counter on the elliptical. Unless you are going hell for leather, you aren't burning 1200 calories in two hours. And yes, buy a scale.

edack72

Oh yes the plateau Like everyone else has said I don't think that the calorie burn is correct for the elliptical make sure you are not eating back your exercise calories and weight train more muscle more calories burned.

ammo7

nita494 wrote: »

I have been keeping at current weight doing 1700 to 2200 calories in and 1500 calories out ( per elliptical) for about 5+ months

The awesome thing about keeping at the same weight for 5+ months is that now you know your maintenance calories. You have worked out that if you eat how you've been eating and keep up the same workouts, then you will maintain your weight. This means that if you want to lose weight, you'll need to make a change to your calories in/out balance such as eating 250 calories less each day to lose 0.5 lb per week.

The above is true regardless of what your specific numbers for calories in and out have been. However, you might find it incredibly useful to weigh your foods with a food scale, because you will likely find that you have actually been eating more than you realized. Without a food scale, you are not being meticulous about your logging. I certainly didn't initially realize that I needed to weigh pre-packaged foods like breads, since it tells me how many calories is in one slice... but each slice is usually 5-10% more than the label says! Now that I know this, I can plan accordingly.

It is not possible that you can eyeball the portions accurately (as humans, we all tend to suck at this!) Keep in mind that being off by just 250 calories each day can mean the difference between being in a deficit or being at maintenance.

nita494

I can get a scale , can anyone explain how to figure in the calories I burn based on fit bit I stopped wearing when I do elliptical because I read that it wasn't accurate, but even with doing that it states I burn anywhere from 2000 to 3000 MFP removes these calories when I manually put in elliptical calories and I don't think the elliptical is way off breaks down to 750 calories an hour and my heart rate is at 120 usually I know there is an equation that helps you figure out more accurately which I did when I first got my elliptical and it wasn't that off before I had elliptical I just walked 2 miles a day , after got elliptical the weight dropped off much faster

CassidyScaglione

Try eating back only a portion of exercise cals. I walk/run and eat back 60%. Try 75% for a week or so and see if you start dropping weight... If that seems slow, go to eating back 50-60%. Your at maintenance right now, so it shouldn't take much.

nita494

Ok thanks everyone

jacquifrench304

nita494 wrote: »

I can get a scale , can anyone explain how to figure in the calories I burn based on fit bit I stopped wearing when I do elliptical because I read that it wasn't accurate, but even with doing that it states I burn anywhere from 2000 to 3000 MFP removes these calories when I manually put in elliptical calories and I don't think the elliptical is way off breaks down to 750 calories an hour and my heart rate is at 120 usually I know there is an equation that helps you figure out more accurately which I did when I first got my elliptical and it wasn't that off before I had elliptical I just walked 2 miles a day , after got elliptical the weight dropped off much faster

There are online calculators that will help you to estimate the calories you burn a hr of 120 is good for low level steady state , but is not the only indicator you need.
Your Fitbit will under estimate on the elliptical I would think so using its calculation may be worth it and see how things go but honestly the easiest answer is to reduce the calories you eat by 150-250 a day for a few weeks as you have found your maintanence level. Now you need to find the calorie in amount that allows you to lose weight.
The other thing to keep in mind is when you have lost weight from your starting point example 10lb your body uses less energy to move your mass. So the calorie burn for the same duration/effort will reduce accordingly. Recalculation and recalibration needs to happen on both the energy in and out .

nita494

Thanks

Mischievous_Rascal

nita494 wrote: »

I don't use a scale but I'm really meticulous when logging anything that touches my lips is logged lol I have measured out certain foods I eat pretty much the same stuff week after week lol

Without weighing, you've been guessing, and with a lot of weight to lose, guessing will get you a lot farther than it will with only 10 pounds to go. It looks like you've hit your maintenance amount with guesstimates. You need to recalculate your calorie after such a huge loss and then tighten up the calorie count with a scale if you need to lose the last ten.

Two notes to this part: 1. I don't your stats, and 2. I'm going to assume your losing this amount of weight under a doctor's supervision. That being said, if you really need to see that particular number on the scale, then you'll have to diet down even further. Being in a deficit depletes your glycogen levels, so the water it's stored in (3-5 pounds) is going to come back once you start maintaining for real. That's just what "water weight" is. That's why you can lose such a huge amount the first week of dieting and then it starts to taper off, and why you can gain five pounds after Christmas dinner. (Just a heads up so you won't get disappointed once you've reached your goal.)

janekangaustin

1. You have lost a lot of weight already (Congrats! and Wow!), so be patient. sometimes your body just needs time to adjust and plateaus before losing again
2. Agree that you can't base calorie burn on the machine and then eat that many calories
3. Change exercise regimen or add weights. If you have mainly done elliptical for the past 2 years, it is no big deal for your body.
4. Agree with making sure you drink more water.
5. Are you stressed? Stress can make you gain weight.
6. Are you sleeping enough? Not enough sleep can also add to weight gain.