3,100 calorie deficit and still gained a pound?...What gives

p90xokc

I did my weekly weigh in this morning. My calorie burn has been up on my workouts and I just calculated my calorie decficit since sunday. It's just under 3100. So how the heck am I up 1 pound? I'm eating a banana everyday among other things and drinking anywhere from 8 to 12 cups of water per day. Someone help because this has me really confused.

gamecock

Don't know the answer to this...but I feel your pain. I have been working my butt off at the gym and I have not lost anything in the last two weeks:sad:

aippolito1

If you're working out harder than you were before, your muscles could be holding water. Wait a couple more weeks of doing the same routine so your body can adjust and then you should see a drop.

JadeMonroe

There's a good chance your body is holding on to fat because you're burning so much so fast. Are you eating your exercise calories? It's important to do that! I know that it's SCARY to add...400 extra calories in that you just burned off. But after reading about the importance of it on the sight-I read it, and forced myself to eat 1600 calories a day (when I was just eating 1200 and exercising) and I broke my plateau that I'd been at for MONTHS! Try "zig-zagging" for awhile. Eat whatever it is you're eating, then eat at least half of the calories you are burning in the gym the next day, then go back down. Your body will be kicked into starvation mode otherwise, and will hold on to weight for energy (I didn't believe it at first. But it works, I promise!)

geicko

Weight can fluctuates by a few pounds every day for a number of reasons. Maybe if you jumped on the scale yesterday, you'd see a 2 pounds lost instead of a 1 pound gain. My point is don't focus too much on the number. and rather look for a trend.

Keep pushing !

tammietifanie

Take your measurements !!!!!!! If your working out that much you might be gaining muscle which weighs more then fat. So if you gained a pound it might be because your now building muscle. I always take my measurements because i might not lose a pound but i might lose a few inches from working out. Don't let 1 pound let you down!!!! Keep doing what your doing and start taking your measurements so you can see all the results from your work

starheartbeam

Depends what kind of workout you are doing. You might be losing fat but gaining muscle. And muscle weights more then fat does. So that would explain the weight gain.

NWCountryGal

Lot's of factors to look at as I have learned from the winners on this site. Muscle could be the extra lb. It's possible if you aren't eating a "balanced" diet your body is "storing" food to avoid starvation, or your scales could be off;) I look more at inches then the scale. Also, I eat my exercise calories, at the least, 2/3 of them. I also vary my calories usually. Not on purpose but one day I eat a little over(even 2 or 300 cals)and other days I will just come up short by 100 or more. Most often though I am sticking close to my bodies needs. I need 1200 calories that will burn up just laying in bed. If I burn 400 that makes only 800 left and if I don't fuel my body that extra 3-400 calories, I'm going to get in trouble, sooner or later.

Hope this might help. I don't know what your food intake is like but if you are that active then you really need to fuel:):drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

I did my weekly weigh in this morning. My calorie burn has been up on my workouts and I just calculated my calorie decficit since sunday. It's just under 3100. So how the heck am I up 1 pound? I'm eating a banana everyday among other things and drinking anywhere from 8 to 12 cups of water per day. Someone help because this has me really confused.

lessertess

I wish I could help but I'm in the same situation. For MONTHS now my calorie deficit has been between 500 and 1000 calories a day with just a few days where I'm at maintance or a little over and I'm not losing or gaining. Or, to be more accurate, I lose and gain the same five pounds over and over.

I've come to the conclusion that I must be miscalculating my food somewhere. I do have to eat out a lot for business. I find it hard to beleive that I'm off by that large amount but there simply isn't another explanation that I can find.

p90xokc

Thank you for all the replies. However I do know for a fact that you can't gain a pound of muscle in a week with out taking loads of steroids and eating a 20 oz porter house for most of your meals. I hope to be gaining lbs. of muscle at some point, but I do want to burn the fat off and get down to 200 first. Jademonroe, I will try what you asked, sounds like it may work.

NWCountryGal

I have to pay as much attention to what I am fueling my body with if I am going to lose fat. You may not be getting enough water and your meals may need to be tweaked. If you need help with meal planning let me know. I have gotten pretty good at it and I don't work out that much. I am more of a walker and physical labor type person. Only for the time being because I can't get any equipment, join a gym or swim right now;) :drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

Don't know the answer to this...but I feel your pain. I have been working my butt off at the gym and I have not lost anything in the last two weeks:sad:

NWCountryGal

I have a hard time calculating food I don't cook myself as well. You've lost 75 lbs and that is so awesome! Have you changed anything? Are you eating those exercise calories? I've heard of "plateaus" but not for 2 months. That could be it though. I don't know the answers but I just try to pass on what I have learned from the winners;):drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

I wish I could help but I'm in the same situation. For MONTHS now my calorie deficit has been between 500 and 1000 calories a day with just a few days where I'm at maintance or a little over and I'm not losing or gaining. Or, to be more accurate, I lose and gain the same five pounds over and over.

I've come to the conclusion that I must be miscalculating my food somewhere. I do have to eat out a lot for business. I find it hard to beleive that I'm off by that large amount but there simply isn't another explanation that I can find.

fxdl2k2

I can't let this one go because I see it so very often. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same amount, a pound. Fat is less dense, so it takes up more room.

It is possible that water is being retained as the muscles repair themselves from the increased workouts. Give it time. I bet you are in for a pleasant surprise in the next few days as the scale moves in the direction you want.

leftyy2k4

The first thing you should do is make your diary public so we can see if it's something diet related. Like too high sodium.

NWCountryGal

Agreed:drinker: :drinker: :drinker:

I can't let this one go because I see it so very often. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same amount, a pound. Fat is less dense, so it takes up more room.

It is possible that water is being retained as the muscles repair themselves from the increased workouts. Give it time. I bet you are in for a pleasant surprise in the next few days as the scale moves in the direction you want.

NWCountryGal

I think I will do that. I know I am getting too much salt. In fact, I was shocked to see how much salt is in foods I didn't even think of as being salty!! Thanks, Denise;)

The first thing you should do is make your diary public so we can see if it's something diet related. Like too high sodium.

candican

There are many factors and the least likely being that you gained a 1lb of muscle. You might weigh tomorrow and see that the scale tells you something totally different. You really can't go from just one reading. Your diet will answer a lot also. If you're not eating enough, or eating a lot of sodium, your body could be retaining water and/or be in starvation mode. When you exercise that much you need to make sure you are eating the right fuel to help build the muscle that's going to burn the fat. By the way, I lost 2 lbs in the last 3 days from increasing my protein, balancing my carbs and eating my exercise calories (or at least most of it)!!

NWCountryGal

I agree. I hope we all keep communicating here(sharing)because too many times, someone is suffering, struggling, depriving themselves of needed fuel(not speaking of the OP/original poster but anyone who might be). Starvation, dehydration. In my opinion it is because of the lies we are fed through different sources i.e., don't eat, lose weight, don't eat normal food, you'll get fat, or, you can't eat a donut or piece of pie ever again. Healthy should equal feeling good physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually in my opinion. You go girls and guys, and have a great day!! denise:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

There are many factors and the least likely being that you gained a 1lb of muscle. You might weigh tomorrow and see that the scale tells you something totally different. You really can't go from just one reading. Your diet will answer a lot also. If you're not eating enough, or eating a lot of sodium, your body could be retaining water and/or be in starvation mode. When you exercise that much you need to make sure you are eating the right fuel to help build the muscle that's going to burn the fat. By the way, I lost 2 lbs in the last 3 days from increasing my protein, balancing my carbs and eating my exercise calories (or at least most of it)!!

candican

Oh, I meant to add that for about the last 3 weeks, I lost 3lbs. I lost 2lbs in 3 days doing something different. Before, I was eating 1200 calories and exercising about 3-5 days a week. In the last 3 days, I've lost 2lbs eating 1600-1800 calories a day and exercised 2 out of those 3 days. Big difference. My nutrition ratios before were 55% carbs and I dropped it to 40% carbs. All of this stuff matters, so unfortunately, we don't have enough information to see what your case may be. You probably just need to weigh in tomorrow. For instance, I will weigh in a 1lb heavy in the morning if I ate something heavy for dinner sometimes.

Stewie316

I'm in the same situation, so I wish I could be of more help. I weighed myself this morning and I gained 1.3 pounds since last Friday. My calorie deficit for the week was 4680, so I should've lost at least a pound

Before this week, I wasn't drinking more than 4 glasses of water a day and this week I've been drinking 8-9 a day. I've also been working out a lot more the past 2 weeks. Could I be retaining water? I took my measurements this morning, so hopefully I'll see progress this way.

sexyvirgo911

Not for sure if i really believe that muscle weights more than fat. Got this info from the web.

5 lbs. of fat is much bulkier than the 5 lbs. of muscle, but five pounds is still five pounds. Muscle does not weigh more than fat.

Fat is bulky and lumpy so if you carry an extra five pounds of fat, you'll be lumpier than with five pounds more muscle. A five pound pile of fat will take up more space (volume) than a five pound pile of muscle; but five pounds is still five pounds. The correct way to state the muscle weighs more than fat scenario is, "Muscle is heavier by volume than fat."

A woman weighing 150 pounds with 19% fat will look much smaller (and be much healthier) than a woman at 150 pounds with 35% fat. They weigh the same, yet the composition is different. Because muscle is more dense than fat the person with less fat and more muscle will look smaller.

This commonly cited gym cliché is somewhat misunderstood and misused. The rationale that muscle weighs more than fat is often cited as an explanation for why a person might find that they aren’t losing weight, or are gaining weight, when they kick off an exercise regimen. The idea seems to be that if you are exercising—and theoretically losing fat and gaining muscle at the same time—the effects cancel each other out. So, in theory, you won’t see desired weight loss as measured by pounds on the scale, even though you may be improving how you look.

You certainly can improve your appearance with exercise without always seeing a change in your body weight—by becoming firmer, more sculpted and sometimes leaner. But that doesn’t mean that you are gaining massive amounts of muscle, or losing lots of fat.

NWCountryGal

Hi Stewie, what do you mean about 4680 deficit? Do you mean that's how many calories you burned working out? I don't know what your daily caloric intake needs to be for your size and weight but I know for me, right now, it's 1200 minimum calories. When I exercise, it usually runs around 1500 per day. Do you eat your exercise calories? I know I have seen many, including myself, not grasp that concept but the more you work out, the more you need to fuel your body so it doesn't start burning lean muscle mass instead of fat. Someone wrote the other day the way your body burns. It went like this:

1st - burns food you have eaten that day
2nd - lean muscle
3rd - fat

Like in other words, you need to eat calories which build muscle, so it doesn't get torn down I mean. Then, as the muscle develops the fat is burned. I am not an expert and can't say this is how it works for everyone, but for me it does. Also, I know many winners on this site it works exactly that way.

Again, I am not saying I am right, it is just an opinion. And for all I know, when you say deficit, you are eating those calories. And I don't eat all of mine but I try to. No one's perfect right;)

Anyway, I am beat up good tonight and got to hit the hay after a long week of work. I have lost 4 lbs in I think 15 days and I also have lost 3 inches in my waist and butt. Haven't measure my upper parts, lol:) But maybe I'll get to that this weekend;) My food diary is open to anyone that wants to see how I eat. Some of it is repetitious and boring but that's just because I am not that creative, yet. But I hope to learn from many of you here;) Denise

I'm in the same situation, so I wish I could be of more help. I weighed myself this morning and I gained 1.3 pounds since last Friday. My calorie deficit for the week was 4680, so I should've lost at least a pound

Before this week, I wasn't drinking more than 4 glasses of water a day and this week I've been drinking 8-9 a day. I've also been working out a lot more the past 2 weeks. Could I be retaining water? I took my measurements this morning, so hopefully I'll see progress this way.

Stewie316

Hi NW, My deficient is how many calories below my maintenance. I maintain my weight at 1800 calories/day or 12,600/week. I averaged 1130 net calories/day or 7,920 for the week. Since I ate/burned 4,680 calories below my maintenance weight, I should've lost at least a pound. It's frustating, I hope I see weight loss next week. It seems like when I exercise and really try to do a healthy diet I either see no results or very slow, but if I don't exercise and just watch my calories and barely try, I lose weight easily. I'm trying to make a lifestyle change with regular exercise, especially since I just turned 30.

lilmissy2

I agree that it's unlikely you would gain a pound of muscle in a week... but it's just as unlikely that you would gain a pound of fat. You would have to be taking in a LOT more calories than you required. So even if your estimations were slightly off it wouldn't explain it.

I think everyone's point with the 'muscle weighs more than fat' by the way was that you could still be getting smaller and weighing more... I don't think anyone ever truly means '1 pound of muscle weighs more than 1pound of fat'. I don't really understand why the saying annoys people so much.

Naokoheart

I'm in the same boat I gained a pound this week too,I burned over 6000 cals. ;/

NWCountryGal

I sure know what you are saying. I am doing better now because I am not trying so hard. I am not able to do my regular exercise because I have some pain going on. I am so excited though as I get to see a sports medicine doc the 19th. I'm sure it's only some carpel tunel thing;)

Have a beautiful 4th!! an mfp pal, denise:)

Hi NW, My deficient is how many calories below my maintenance. I maintain my weight at 1800 calories/day or 12,600/week. I averaged 1130 net calories/day or 7,920 for the week. Since I ate/burned 4,680 calories below my maintenance weight, I should've lost at least a pound. It's frustating, I hope I see weight loss next week. It seems like when I exercise and really try to do a healthy diet I either see no results or very slow, but if I don't exercise and just watch my calories and barely try, I lose weight easily. I'm trying to make a lifestyle change with regular exercise, especially since I just turned 30.

NWCountryGal

Good points:) I know I sure like the looks of a pound of muscle over a pound of fat though;) Have a great 4th!! an MFP pal, denise:drinker: :drinker: :drinker: :flowerforyou:

I agree that it's unlikely you would gain a pound of muscle in a week... but it's just as unlikely that you would gain a pound of fat. You would have to be taking in a LOT more calories than you required. So even if your estimations were slightly off it wouldn't explain it.

I think everyone's point with the 'muscle weighs more than fat' by the way was that you could still be getting smaller and weighing more... I don't think anyone ever truly means '1 pound of muscle weighs more than 1pound of fat'. I don't really understand why the saying annoys people so much.

Dreaj79

This might seem crazy, but if you've had any disruptions in your routine that could also contribute. I had a few sleepless nights this week and ended up with a 0.8 pound loss on the scale when I've been averaging about 2.2lbs per week. The only thing I can point to is a lack of adequate rest and a disruption in my schedule.

highgear

I just returned from vacation and was 15 lbs heavier (in 10 days!). Three days later after being back on my program I have shed 10 of those pounds. All the eating out put a TON of salt into my diet and I was retaining water.

Usually after a week of heavy running I'll put on a pound or two. I attribute this to the muscles in my legs being swollen and holding onto water.



Weight Loss / Fitness is more like Chess than Checkers.
You have to look at the long term results, not short term gains / losses.

mnmike59

If you drink Pop, you could be retaining more water weight than you should. Among other bad things.
I had this problem. Soda is something I have a hard time giving up. I have in the last couple weeks and have seen rewards for it. By way of the scale and the way I feel.

SAY NO TO SODA.

NWCountryGal

Oh yeah, that can throw me. Especially if I skip a meal or get less sleep then I need which is about 7 hours. There are so many things that can make me fluctuate that I like to stay off the scale. I like that tape measure much better;) Happy 4th, denise

This might seem crazy, but if you've had any disruptions in your routine that could also contribute. I had a few sleepless nights this week and ended up with a 0.8 pound loss on the scale when I've been averaging about 2.2lbs per week. The only thing I can point to is a lack of adequate rest and a disruption in my schedule.