What sucks more than a plateau?? Gaining weight!!

gabbo34

At this point all I can do is laugh. I dropped 30 lbs in the fall of 2014 mostly by maintaining a calorie deficit and eating clean. I took up running at the very end going from a C25K to running a couple of 5ks. Got to my lowest weight in November of 2014.

Gained a few lbs over the next year and got a little lax in my eating. But I still kept up running, doing a half marathon in April and October. I got really bad near the holidays and by the end of 2014 I was up 15 lbs. I really just wanted to lose 10 lbs to get back to my 'fighting weight'. No problem. Eat clean like I did before and with the running, it should melt off.

So here I am 2 full months later and I haven't lost a pound or an inch. In fact, I've gained 3 lbs. My calorie totals are almost identical to when I lost weight before. I got tired of just running and added Camp Gladiator 3-4 days a week. I'm definitely getting stronger and my overall fitness has improved...but the pants are just as tight as they were at the beginning of the year.

I was like a lot of people in that 'if you just do X, then Y will happen. I asked my doctor about it at my physical. He said there really shouldn't be that big of a difference in a year. Nothing came back in my lab work that showed a problem with my endocrine system.

At this point all I can do is laugh. I am working 5 times harder than I did 18 months ago and getting none of the results.

malibu927

Is your logging as close to accurate as possible? Meaning you're entering 100% of what goes into your mouth, weighing it on a food scale, and using the correct entries for it? If you aren't losing, you aren't in a deficit.

emmycantbemeeko

If you stopped doing enormous amounts of daily cardio and started doing what sounds like a strength program 3-4 times a week, your calorie needs likely changed pretty dramatically. You can be eating exactly to target, but if your target doesn't put you in a deficit, it's not going to make you lose weight.

blues4miles

Do you log everything that you eat?

Do you use a food scale?

Are you eating back some of your calories from running? How do you calculate the burn?

gabbo34

I log everything I eat. In January I didn't eat more than 2,000 calories on any given day. I can be a creature of habit when I want to be, so I tend to eat the same thing every day. I'm eating almost the exact same thing I hate as when I was losing weight. I also eat pretty clean, no processed foods, white bread, pasta, etc. I don't like sweets, so I don't have a lot of refined sugar in my diet. Mostly drink water other than 1-2 beers after golf on the weekend.

I didn't eat back my calories from days I worked out. If anything, I probably wasn't fueling enough. Though CG isn't like Crossfit. It doesn't focus on heavy lifting as much as overall fitness - lots of push ups, bicycles, squats, lunges, burpees HIIT, sprints - some jogging, plyo etc. I'd conservatively say we burn 350-400 calories...probably the same as 30-40 minutes of running.

Maybe my metabolism got used to all the running I did in 2015. I feel like I literally would be cutting down to 1500-1600 calories a day if I ate less...which seems really low if I work out 4-5 days a week.

queenliz99

Logging food and weighing food, two different things.

gabbo34

queenliz99 wrote: »

Logging food and weighing food, two different things.

I'm eating the exact same thing I ate when I lost 30 lbs. (creature of habit, can eat the same breakfast/lunch every day and rotate dinners). And burning way more calories. I don't think it's the difference between 4 oz of chicken or 6 oz - a big banana or a small banana.

queenliz99

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10012907/logging-accuracy-consistency-and-youre-probably-eating-more-than-you-think/p1

queenliz99

https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY

abatonfan

gabbo34 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Logging food and weighing food, two different things.

I'm eating the exact same thing I ate when I lost 30 lbs. (creature of habit, can eat the same breakfast/lunch every day and rotate dinners). And burning way more calories. I don't think it's the difference between 4 oz of chicken or 6 oz - a big banana or a small banana.

4 oz of chicken = 133kcal
6 oz of chicken = 204kcal
Total difference = 71kcal

1 "small" banana (apprx 100g)= 90kcal
1 "extra large" banana (apprx 150g)= 135kcal
Total difference = 45kcal

Total difference from these foods = 116kcal. If you eat 3 meals a day with a similar 116kcal discrepancy, then you would have consumed 348 extra calories. If you're set to lose at 0.5lbs a week (a 250kcal deficit), you would end up seeing a weight GAIN instead of loss or maintenance.

gabbo34

abatonfan wrote: »

gabbo34 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Logging food and weighing food, two different things.

I'm eating the exact same thing I ate when I lost 30 lbs. (creature of habit, can eat the same breakfast/lunch every day and rotate dinners). And burning way more calories. I don't think it's the difference between 4 oz of chicken or 6 oz - a big banana or a small banana.

4 oz of chicken = 133kcal
6 oz of chicken = 204kcal
Total difference = 71kcal

1 "small" banana (apprx 100g)= 90kcal
1 "extra large" banana (apprx 150g)= 135kcal
Total difference = 45kcal

Total difference from these foods = 116kcal. If you eat 3 meals a day with a similar 116kcal discrepancy, then you would have consumed 348 extra calories. If you're set to lose at 0.5lbs a week (a 250kcal deficit), you would end up seeing a weight GAIN instead of loss or maintenance.

I get what you're saying. I totally do. And I appreciate you trying to help. I learned about accurate logging when I lost weight back in 2014. Underestimate portion size/underestimate net exercise calories. Heck - I preached the same advice as all of you to a bunch of people. It all sounds great when it works...but gets really frustrating when it doesn't.

I'd read posts like mine and assume they weren't doing it right because logging what I ate and simple calorie deficit worked for me. But now I see what people were talking about.

DanSTL82

Looks like you just have to go lower, because whatever your workout is, it must not be burning as many calories as your previous routine. That is the only possible explanation, if you are still eating exactly the same stuff.

kimny72

gabbo34 wrote: »

abatonfan wrote: »

gabbo34 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Logging food and weighing food, two different things.

I'm eating the exact same thing I ate when I lost 30 lbs. (creature of habit, can eat the same breakfast/lunch every day and rotate dinners). And burning way more calories. I don't think it's the difference between 4 oz of chicken or 6 oz - a big banana or a small banana.

4 oz of chicken = 133kcal
6 oz of chicken = 204kcal
Total difference = 71kcal

1 "small" banana (apprx 100g)= 90kcal
1 "extra large" banana (apprx 150g)= 135kcal
Total difference = 45kcal

Total difference from these foods = 116kcal. If you eat 3 meals a day with a similar 116kcal discrepancy, then you would have consumed 348 extra calories. If you're set to lose at 0.5lbs a week (a 250kcal deficit), you would end up seeing a weight GAIN instead of loss or maintenance.

I get what you're saying. I totally do. And I appreciate you trying to help. I learned about accurate logging when I lost weight back in 2014. Underestimate portion size/underestimate net exercise calories. Heck - I preached the same advice as all of you to a bunch of people. It all sounds great when it works...but gets really frustrating when it doesn't.

I'd read posts like mine and assume they weren't doing it right because logging what I ate and simple calorie deficit worked for me. But now I see what people were talking about.

The thing is, when you eyeball portions, you have to keep in mind that all sorts of things affect how much food looks like "a portion". Your appetite, the level of lighting in the room, the dishes and utensils you use, etc. It is completely possible that if you poured out "a cup" of cereal in 2014 and poured out "a cup" of cereal in 2016, they would actually be different amounts, even though your perception is that they are the same.

If weighing food isn't your thing, that's fine, but using a food scale for even just a couple of weeks may shine a light on where you are going wrong. It should be even easier for you since you tend to eat the same things all the time. Weigh your portions out into the bowls or plates you normally eat them on to retrain yourself to see what a typical amount looks like for future reference.

And if you find you were eating exactly how much you thought you were, the at least you have eliminated "eating more than you think" as a possibility! Good luck

queenliz99

Yep, calorie creep

meritage4

You are also 15 lbs lighter than when you lost last time (Lost 30 gained 15 back). So you are burning lass calories per run or any other exercise. Try carrying a 15 lb pack everywhere and see what that does.

AnnPT77

Any chance there's a change in your non-exercise routine that could account for at least some of the difference?

This may be a silly question, but I checked your profile to see where you live, and you don't share that. I seem to have enough less non-exercise activity (up here in a Northern state) in Winter vs. the warmer seasons, for example, to make a difference in my "seasonal TDEE". The occasional (very high cal) snow shoveling doesn't outweigh the more regular minor Spring-Summer-Fall yard work, recreational activities I don't think of or log as "exercise", etc. On a small deficit, this would be enough (for me) to wipe out a decent chunk of it.

Of course, season isn't the only possible thing that can do that: more overtime at a sedentary job, kids no longer around the house, etc., are also possibilities.

Like I said, probably silly.

gabbo34

I ordered a food scale tonight and will give it a try. Maybe I am adding more to the plate than I used to. I'll also switch over to logging everything on MFP. I started logging things on Lose it years ago and it's hard to give up that history (plus I got really used to the app).

@AnnPT77 - I live in Dallas, so I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay pretty active all year round. We were lucky enough to have a very mild winter this year - so I've been able to exercise outside 90% of the time.