Fell WAY off track.

jaysanchez4

So i've lost about 21 pounds, on December 19th i weighed in 204.1 which i was extremely proud of. Since then with the holidays and all the partying and food, i've really lost track with my eating. Some days i go over my calories by only a couple of hundred, some days i don't go over at all.

Anyways my weight has gone up since then and i was worried it was actual fat. To my surprise, last week i weighed myself again after ALL of the terrible eating and i was BACK at 204.1 which was just about 7 days ago. Since then i've tried to stay within my calorie goal but again, went over each day by a few hundred or so. This morning i weighed myself at 210 !!!

I'm hoping this is all water weight, i'm hoping that after a drinking a lot of water again i will drop back down to 204 and continue my weight lost journey. Is it possible i really gained 6 pounds in a week?

MFP has me eating 1600 calories a day and these days i'm at around 2000 a day, maybe 2100 a day. Although somedays i'm at 1600 or lower.

I guess my question is, should i be panicking? worrying? How do i get back to routine? How do i lose all this water weight, hoping it is water weight and not actual fat.

Thank You

MelanieCN77

You're eating in a surplus so you will be gaining weight. No way to know what it is comprised of until you tighten up your intake again and wait it out.

jaysanchez4

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

You're eating in a surplus so you will be gaining weight. No way to know what it is comprised of until you tighten up your intake again and wait it out.

But i wasn't going over by TOO much, it wasn't anything too crazy to be honest. I went over my MFP calories of 1600 but i'm not sure if i went over my maintenance calories.

MelanieCN77

4-500 over daily is what I read, sorry if I misunderstood.

AnnPT77

Estimate your maintenance calories based on a couple weeks recent experience while eating at a semi-consistent level, by adding calories lost to (or subtracting calories gained from) calories eaten. (Calories lost/gained is roughly 3500 times pounds lost/gained, because there's roughly 3500 calories in a pound.) Divide by number of days to make it a daily average estimate.

Compare your recent eating that you're worried about to that maintenance estimate. If you haven't eaten anything in the vicinity of 21,000 calories (approximately) more than maintenance, cumulatively, over your period-of-worry, you probably haven't gained 6 pounds of fat (because 21,000 would be 6 times 3500).

Of your scale gain, how much is fat, how much water weight & digestive contents? You can estimate that, too.

Either way, what are you going to do? Get back on your healthy routine is the only logical answer that I can see. Oh, and stop worrying. Doesn't achieve anything productive.

nomorepuke

I'd recommend that you focus more on fat percentage loss rather than weight loss. Your goal is to lose fat and gain muscles. If you're struggling with staying on daily calories, try to eat something that suppresses hunger for example; high protein and high fat. Lowering your carbs is crucial. Get your daily carb intake thru green veggies that grow above the ground, nuts and greek yogurt. Forget about artificial sweeteners or any products that are labeled as "diet or light". Lift weights more often than cardio. Have a cheat day once per week where you eat whatever you want in order to keep you sane and stay on track. If you crave something no no, you always remember that you can eat it on the cheat day. If you really want to lose weight, there's no easy way ! You will have to tough it out if you stay true to your goal
Hope it helps.

ccsernica

If MFP has you eating 1600 calories to lose 1 lb/week, then at 2000 calories you're more or less at maintenance. You won't lose, but you shouldn't gain much either.

Yes, it's possible to have that much temporary weight, from a combination of water and undigested food in your alimentary tract and God knows what else. A few days ago I stepped on the scale to find myself unaccountably at 182, and rather miffed when I stepped off and it didn't tell me it needed a calibration. Today I stepped on and it told me I was back at 177. It's weird, but it happens.

If you feel you MUST have more, do some cardio and log it. MFP will add the exercise calories to your daily goal and you can eat more with impunity. You get the benefits of the cardio along with the additional food too.

Ignore that about cheat days. That way lies madness, and it can be a great way to eliminate a good portion of your progress. Much better to allow yourself moderate amounts of tasty stuff within your calorie allowance. CICO is all you need to lose weight. Experiment for yourself to find out what foods leave you most satisfied and least tempted to overeat.

Picking up heavy things is always a good idea though.

red99ryder

OP . I am kind of in same boat as you . Seems like it's taking me longer to get back on track than I would like .. I just try to hit my numbers and keep moving forward .. and that means not going over my numbers .. I'm not ready to start maintaince yet ...I guess I could lie to myself and call it a diet break lol

Good luck

SueSueDio

red99ryder wrote: »

OP . I am kind of in same boat as you . Seems like it's taking me longer to get back on track than I would like .. I just try to hit my numbers and keep moving forward .. and that means not going over my numbers .. I'm not ready to start maintaince yet ...I guess I could lie to myself and call it a diet break lol

Good luck

A little off track for the thread, sorry, but I just wanted to comment on this - If you want a break, take a break. Don't lie to yourself about it. A deliberate break to eat at current maintenance levels is a far different thing mentally and emotionally than constantly going over your deficit goal and trying to tell yourself it doesn't matter.

endlessfall16

SueSueDio wrote: »

nomorepuke wrote: »

If you can't let go of your cup cake or donut, you shouldn't even attempt to lose weight.

This way of thinking kept me fat longer than I care to admit. However, thanks to MFP and just counting calories, this past year I've lost nearly 50lbs while still eating pretty much anything I want to (just in reasonable portions).

Interestingly my experience is complete opposite. My success is at the highest point when I am truly under the belief that food is just fuel, eating can be a chore like cleaning your room. That was exactly when I needed to lose all the weight I needed.

On the other hand my weight control is at most risk -- like now -- when I don't feel I can let go of all the foods my wife makes for dinner.



nomorepuke's post might not have been tactful but he/she made some very good points. Overweighters might need to be decisive and try with one approach. Some people are good with moderation but others are horrible with it.

Dieting success is all about control or letting go from a different perspective.

SueSueDio

endlessfall16 wrote: »

Overweighters might need to be decisive and try with one approach. Some people are good with moderation but others are horrible with it.

Dieting success is all about control or letting go from a different perspective.

Very true - moderation works for me personally because I know that if anything was "off limits" I'd want it even more. The thought of having to give up things I love to eat was what put me off "dieting" for so long.

But yes, everyone is different and I do know there are some people who aren't satisfied with a small portion of something so they have to cut it out completely. I've learned that I can exercise control over most of the things I like, where I probably would struggle a lot more if I "couldn't" have them at all.

I was speaking from my own personal experience, and nomorepuke's blanket assumption that all people who like cake are incapable of losing weight hit a nerve.

red99ryder

SueSueDio wrote: »

red99ryder wrote: »

OP . I am kind of in same boat as you . Seems like it's taking me longer to get back on track than I would like .. I just try to hit my numbers and keep moving forward .. and that means not going over my numbers .. I'm not ready to start maintaince yet ...I guess I could lie to myself and call it a diet break lol

Good luck

A little off track for the thread, sorry, but I just wanted to comment on this - If you want a break, take a break. Don't lie to yourself about it. A deliberate break to eat at current maintenance levels is a far different thing mentally and emotionally than constantly going over your deficit goal and trying to tell yourself it doesn't matter.

Thats true Sue ,, i was joking around .. no one has made me eat anything and i do control how much i eat . At Christmas i went off plan and its just taking longer to see the types of progress i was seeing before Christmas ..
Just gotta keep moving and stay on plan , ill get there

good luck

SueSueDio

red99ryder wrote: »

SueSueDio wrote: »

red99ryder wrote: »

OP . I am kind of in same boat as you . Seems like it's taking me longer to get back on track than I would like .. I just try to hit my numbers and keep moving forward .. and that means not going over my numbers .. I'm not ready to start maintaince yet ...I guess I could lie to myself and call it a diet break lol

Good luck

A little off track for the thread, sorry, but I just wanted to comment on this - If you want a break, take a break. Don't lie to yourself about it. A deliberate break to eat at current maintenance levels is a far different thing mentally and emotionally than constantly going over your deficit goal and trying to tell yourself it doesn't matter.

Thats true Sue ,, i was joking around .. no one has made me eat anything and i do control how much i eat . At Christmas i went off plan and its just taking longer to see the types of progress i was seeing before Christmas ..
Just gotta keep moving and stay on plan , ill get there

good luck

I wasn't sure if you were just joking or not, so figured I'd stick my oar in just in case! Good luck to you too - we will get there!

savithny

MelanieCN77 wrote: »

You're eating in a surplus so you will be gaining weight. No way to know what it is comprised of until you tighten up your intake again and wait it out.

Since most people have MFP set to give them at least a pound a week of loss? Eating 2000 when her goal is 1600 won't result in gain.

remember: The MFP goal is with a deficit built in. It's not an issue of "eat this and lose, eat any more than this number and GAIN!" IT's "Eat this and lose more, eat more than this and lose less, eat LOTS more than this, and gain."

The world has conditioned us to think that 2000 calories are a ridiculous amount.
In reality? A moderately active 30 year old woman who is 5"5' and weighs 120 (ie, a very average woman of normal weight) maintains on 1,960 calories a day.