Gaining weight • under calories

laurenmburdette

I have been committed to this. I never eat more than 1,300 calories. Which is my goal for losing 1lb a week. I lost the first few weeks now I'm not losing any and it seems like I'm gaining. It doesn't make sense

iofred

It could, if you are not eating enough. At that point your body is keeping hold of reserves. The other option might be you building muscle (which it does not appear from your post), and then muscle would weigh more than fat.

amorfati601070

Thyroid/hormone issues. Go get your bloodwork done

veganbaum

First thing - weight loss isn't linear.

How long has it been since you think you haven't been losing?

How often of you weigh?

Are you near the start of your cycle? Or on your cycle?

How are you calculating your food intake?

Depending on your answers, it could be several things. Water retention due to your cycle (or ovulation), water retention due to higher sodium, if you don't weigh daily you could simply have weighed on a high day and missed the lows, if it's been a short amount of time it's just part of weight loss not being linear and you'll see a drop soon.

If it's been only a week or two, the accuracy of your food logging isn't necessarily something to look at as a reason. However, that's always a good thing to reevaluate. If you are eyeballing or measuring portions using cups, you may need to tighten that up. That will definitely be something to look at if it's been more than a few weeks with no scale movement. But, again, if you're a weekly or monthly weigher, you may have just missed the lows.


Edit: Frankly, I'd ignore the prior two posts. From your post it doesn't sound like it's been long. It's not time for thyroid checks, you're not gaining muscle, and you're not eating too little in relation to your question. Start with the basics.

CollieFit

It is more likely that you are underestimating what you're eating and overestimating your calorie burn.

Unless you are lifting heavy it is highly unlikely that any weight maintained or gained is due to building lean mass.

I'm sure someone will be along soon with a helpful flowchart which is usually shared on MFP in cases like yours.

CollieFit

well here it is... found it for you.

3dogsrunning

amorfati601070 wrote: »

Thyroid/hormone issues. Go get your bloodwork done

It's a little early to diagnose medical conditions. It could be any number of things at this point.

laurenmburdette wrote: »

I have been committed to this. I never eat more than 1,300 calories. Which is my goal for losing 1lb a week. I lost the first few weeks now I'm not losing any and it seems like I'm gaining. It doesn't make sense

What does "it seems like" mean? Did you gain weight? How much? Over what time frame?

It may simply be a matter of where you are in your cycle/water retention associated with your period. Or other factors affecting weight loss.

If you want more feedback, opening your diary would really help too.

lizlemon4

your probably building some muscle, or your near that time of the month. chill!! get a food scale and make sure your portions are good. you would be surprised at what on ounce or half a cup acually is. keep working out, keep eating healthy and it will happen. 1300 cals a day seems kind of low. I know MFP set mine at 1300 when I stated but I found that it just wasnt satisfying enough for me and I made mine 1500. surprisingly now, most days i come under the 1300 but at least I have a little slack. oh and make sure your not drinking your calories. those frappuccinos, coffees, and smoothies from major chains can add up quick!!

lizlemon4

OHHHH and if your working out and it says you burned 300 cals, dont go eat them back. its 1300 and thats it. dont eat the calories burned. youll stay the same or gain.

veganbaum

lizlemon4 wrote: »

OHHHH and if your working out and it says you burned 300 cals, dont go eat them back. its 1300 and thats it. dont eat the calories burned. youll stay the same or gain.

This is completely incorrect and bad advice. On MFP, the number you're given is to lose weight without exercise (presuming you told MFP you want to lose weight). You are meant to eat your exercise calories (though many people start off eating 50-75% to account for potential inaccuracies in burns). If you eat those calories, you are still in the deficit you told MFP you wanted and should lose weight. You WILL NOT be eating at maintenance or in a surplus, unless you are grossly overestimating those exercise calories or inaccurately logging your food.

1300 is already low, and if one is doing any significant exercise, you need to fuel your body appropriately to remain healthy.

3dogsrunning

lizlemon4 wrote: »

OHHHH and if your working out and it says you burned 300 cals, dont go eat them back. its 1300 and thats it. dont eat the calories burned. youll stay the same or gain.

No. That is not correct. IF she is following MFP's suggestions, MFP doesn't account for exercise. You are expected to log the exercise, eat those calories back and STILL lose weight. Some people do eat smaller portion of the exercise calories back to err on the side of caution as they are estimates.

Also, while it is possible to gain some muscle while at a deficit under certain circumstances, it is a small amount and would not be enough to outweigh fat losses.

booksandchocolate12

This is the answer everyone hates, the one no one wants to hear: you're eating more than you think you are.

If you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight. If you're not losing, you're not in deficit. So you're either eating more than you think you are OR you're overestimating the burns you get from exercise.

How do you measure your food intake?
How do you measure your burns?

Maxematics

There is a lot of poor information and advice in this thread.

1. The first thing you want to do is read that flow chart. Also, the posts by @3dogsrunning, @veganbaum, @booksandchocolate12, and @CollieFit.
2. Your body does not "hold onto reserves" if you eat too little, that's often referred to as "starvation mode" and it's a myth. If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight.
3. Before you go get tested for hormone or thyroid issues, you want to make sure you're being honest about logging. This refers back to the flow chart.
4. Please tell us what "it seems like I'm gaining" means. Weight loss is not linear and people hold water due to a multitude of things, including excess sodium, a higher carb day, a new workout schedule/muscle repair and, for us ladies, certain parts of our cycle. Look at my "gains" from the past month:
   
   I didn't actually gain weight, I just held water weight that released once I was menstruating and took a week off of working out and then I went back up after I started a new weight training program. So how long have you been stalled or have you actually stalled at all?
5. It's not muscle gain and muscle does not weigh more than fat. However, it is more dense than fat.
6. Yes, you should be eating a fraction of your exercise calories back. Though the burns calculated on MFP can be quite inflated, you should be eating back a portion of your exercise calories since MFP is designed for you to do so. 50% or less is the normal recommendation.

law102189

synacious wrote: »

There is a lot of poor information and advice in this thread.

1. The first thing you want to do is read that flow chart. Also, the posts by @3dogsrunning, @veganbaum, @booksandchocolate12, and @CollieFit.
2. Your body does not "hold onto reserves" if you eat too little, that's often referred to as "starvation mode" and it's a myth. If you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight.
3. Before you go get tested for hormone or thyroid issues, you want to make sure you're being honest about logging. This refers back to the flow chart.
4. Please tell us what "it seems like I'm gaining" means. Weight loss is not linear and people hold water due to a multitude of things, including excess sodium, a higher carb day, a new workout schedule/muscle repair and, for us ladies, certain parts of our cycle. Look at my "gains" from the past month:
   
   I didn't actually gain weight, I just held water weight that released once I was menstruating and took a week off of working out and then I went back up after I started a new weight training program. So how long have you been stalled or have you actually stalled at all?
5. It's not muscle gain and muscle does not weigh more than fat. However, it is more dense than fat.
6. Yes, you should be eating a fraction of your exercise calories back. Though the burns calculated on MFP can be quite inflated, you should be eating back a portion of your exercise calories since MFP is designed for you to do so. 50% or less is the normal recommendation.

Thank you. This post and the ones you reference within are helpful and I've uses similar posts over the past month to reset my thinking on the weight loss process. There is so much misinformation and woo out there that it is easy even for the most intelligent among us to get confused. Ive been hooked by a few over the years
I now get it - weight loss is a process and our bodies are highly efficient as long as we don't give it more fuel than it needs to do its job. To OP, don't give up
It takes time to hone measuring and logging skills and there will be ebbs and flows. I know from myself that it's easy to get impatient but keep your eye on the prize and realize that slow steady weight loss is much more likely to be maintained. CICO really is the key to your new forever lifestyle.

talraviv69

Same here. I lost weight nicely, at the rate of 2-3 LB a week for the first three weeks and then bump - a weight plateau for several weeks with some small fluctuations up and down. Mostly up. It was a great disappointment, but I decided to stick to my original intake goal, with a few glitches, I admit. Eventually, in the last two weeks I started to lose weight again at a lower rate, though. I am trying to adjust my mindset to the fact that I will have to observe a strict calorie limit for the rest of my life.

Yi5hedr3

You have to measure/track your bodyfat percentage to know what's going on.