After two week of hard work, I've gained 4 lbs!!!

carriemm27

I have been attending insanity classes four times a week for two weeks and doing small cardio workouts at home the other days. My goal is to lose 30 lbs. I've been logging food and eating so well. I've even hit my goals for water intake each day and after two weeks, I've gained 4 lbs. What am I doing wrong???

diannethegeek

1. If it's been less than 3 weeks or so, 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.

jemhh

Two possibilities:

1. You are nearing ovulation or the start of your period. Water weight gain is common at these times.
2. You are retaining water due to recently started exercise programs. The water is retained by your body as part of the muscle repair process.

Both of the above water retention issues can mask fat loss, which should be happening as long as you are eating in a deficit. At a certain point, the water retention will subside and, voila, you'll see scale movement. For some people this happens all in one fell swoop--losing a few pounds overnight--and for some is is a gradual slide.

carriemm27

That makes sense! thanks a lot

Bearbo27

New exercise routine and your body is retaining water. Happens to me every time. I'd give it a few days and you should see it disappear. Just remember, 3500 cal = 1 lb. You would have had to consume 14,000 calories over maintenance over the last two weeks for it to be fat. If you were in a deficit the whole time then it is most definitely water weight. *This is the exact self talk I have to have with myself every time I go up due to water weight.

GotDangerDave

Muscle weighs more than fat in the body. I notice after running that my weight was going up before it started coming down. I am noticing more of a difference in the mirror rather than on the scale lately.

SCoil123

I gained about 5lb when I first started Insanity but I was toning up and started to see the weight fall off a few weeks in

thatdesertgirl777

What everyone else said is great. Also its best to stick with something (calorie goal/exercise program) for a full month, then evaluate your progress and decide if you need to switch things up.

Graymanstole

Keep in mind that the number on the scale only represents how gravity is affecting you AT THAT PARTICULAR moment. It's not who you are. I lost two inches off my waist before I lost a single pound. Scales can be deceiving. Except food scales, everyone needs one of those (they work way better than people scales).

vespiquenn

GotDangerDave wrote: »

Muscle weighs more than fat in the body. I notice after running that my weight was going up before it started coming down. I am noticing more of a difference in the mirror rather than on the scale lately.

Please do not spread this misinformation. This person is not making significant muscle gains, enough to affect the scale, in just a few weeks. To say so could cause misleading understanding of what is happening to their body. Gaining muscle has to be deliberate, include progressive weight training, and eating close to maintenance or in a surplus. Running is not going to gain you much muscle.

Also agreeing with water weight. Give it a bit more time. If there still is no loss, adjust accordingly by taking a look at your logging accuracy.

JeromeBarry1

There's nothing wrong with being a woman. However, to try to lose weight and be a woman at the same time is to be vexed with complexity as explained above. Keep your intake calories below and near your mfp allowed calories. If your exercise program makes you feel famished, eat back some of the exercise calories as protein and fat. Give the program several months to work. The 2 weeks you've given are not yet enough for the vexation complexity of womanhood to reveal the weight you've been working off.

AMVilla

I've really been focusing on tracking everything I eat and I noticed one of the reasons I was failing before is because I was allowing cheat days. I was great all week, so why not reward myself? Right now I'm working on the theory that it takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound. If you take your BMR plus calories burned per day less the calories you eat it takes a while to lose that pound. My cheat days were eating up all the good I was doing!

cerise_noir

jemhh wrote: »

Two possibilities:

1. You are nearing ovulation or the start of your period. Water weight gain is common at these times.
2. You are retaining water due to recently started exercise programs. The water is retained by your body as part of the muscle repair process.

Both of the above water retention issues can mask fat loss, which should be happening as long as you are eating in a deficit. At a certain point, the water retention will subside and, voila, you'll see scale movement. For some people this happens all in one fell swoop--losing a few pounds overnight--and for some is is a gradual slide.

This.

It's not muscle, it's water retention. Happens to everyone who starts a new exercise program or increases exercise.

capaul42

AMVilla wrote: »

I've really been focusing on tracking everything I eat and I noticed one of the reasons I was failing before is because I was allowing cheat days. I was great all week, so why not reward myself? Right now I'm working on the theory that it takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound. If you take your BMR plus calories burned per day less the calories you eat it takes a while to lose that pound. My cheat days were eating up all the good I was doing!

That's why I don't do "cheat" meals/days. I incorporate all that stuff into my daily calories. Have small amounts of chocolate daily, cookies/cake weekly. I didn't restrict any foods.

emdeesea

capaul42 wrote: »

AMVilla wrote: »

I've really been focusing on tracking everything I eat and I noticed one of the reasons I was failing before is because I was allowing cheat days. I was great all week, so why not reward myself? Right now I'm working on the theory that it takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound. If you take your BMR plus calories burned per day less the calories you eat it takes a while to lose that pound. My cheat days were eating up all the good I was doing!

That's why I don't do "cheat" meals/days. I incorporate all that stuff into my daily calories. Have small amounts of chocolate daily, cookies/cake weekly. I didn't restrict any foods.

I did used to do "cheat" meals but I would bank calories all week for them. So for example I would eat 1,200 every day and then eat 800 on Saturday up until dinner and I'd be able to "spend" an extra 1,500 for a dinner of a burger, fries, a beer. I still managed to lose weight that way. If you're disciplined and you plan for it, it's doable.

senennieves

I was originally walking and eating at a deficit, and lost 35 lbs, then for 2 weeks no weight change but I lost inches, then I started P90 from beach body. I am doing th he Sculpt schedule. Which uses resistance bands for overhead presses, curls, also lots of squats and pushups and for two more weeks no change on the scale, but lost a inch, this last Sunday I weigh myself for the 5th week, and lost 1.5 lbs and 1 inch. My family is saying I look like I am getting smaller, I see muscle definition in my legs and face, and I was tllx th he same new program, added retaiming. Water, it cold last a month or even two months I was told