Why am I gaining weight on 1200 calories?
nikkibay8
Posts: 23 Member
I'm 26. 5'4" and began at 131lbs one month ago. I work a sedentary job. For the past month, I have been eating 1200 calories per day (weighing/measuring all food with my scale and pre-packing all food for work). In the past two weeks, I have been to the gym 7 times lifting heavy weights with 4 times doing cardio, not changing my caloric intake. I just weighted myself at 139lbs!!! I have NEVER weighed this much before! What is the deal?!
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Replies
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1. Are you eating back at least half of your exercise calories?
2. What is your goal weight?
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Water retention from the new exercise routine?19
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How are your clothes fitting? Is it close to your period or ovulation? Are you constipated? I would bet it's water retention and/or food bulk still in your system.
Also, only weigh first thing in the morning right after you go to the bathroom. Your weight naturally goes up and down over the course of the day as you eat, drink, go to the bathroom and sweat. You even lose some weight when you exhale due to water & CO2 loss.11 -
Ready2Rock206 wrote: »Water retention from the new exercise routine?
Ding Ding Ding!
Also OP, how much weight are you trying to lose and what rate of loss did you select? You should be aiming for no more than 0.5 lb/week since you're already at a healthy weight, and potentially even consider not losing but doing recoup with strength training while eating at maintenance. You likely do not need to be eating 1200 to lose, and once you push back the initial water retention from the new exercise, the weight will be dropping rapidly if you're logging accurately.5 -
You're probably not eating enough for the amount of excercise you're getting. Your body will think you're starving and go into a starvation mode to protect you. 1,200 calories is low for a young woman. I am 62 and that is the area I am in to create a deficit.
I would up my calories to at least 1,400 to 1,600 and still do all of the things you're doing to be accountable for your intake each day.
As someone above stated, pay attention to your clothing. Weight can vary based on many factors. As you've already heard weight lifting produces more muscle mass and muscle is more dense than fat. This is good because additional muscle burns more calories in everything we do.
Make sure you weigh yourself in the morning on the same with your clothes off and before you eat breakfast.3 -
I understand...I experienced the same issue. I have been cutting back and changing my eating habits as well as staying just under my calorie count and I gained a pound. I just started my new regimen about a week ago so, we'll see hoq it goes1
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You're probably not eating enough for the amount of excercise you're getting. Your body will think you're starving and go into a starvation mode to protect you. 1,200 calories is low for a young woman. I am 62 and that is the area I am in to create a deficit.
I would up my calories to at least 1,400 to 1,600 and still do all of the things you're doing to be accountable for your intake each day.
As someone above stated, pay attention to your clothing. Weight can vary based on many factors. As you've already heard weight lifting produces more muscle mass and muscle is more dense than fat. This is good because additional muscle burns more calories in everything we do.
Make sure you weigh yourself in the morning on the same with your clothes off and before you eat breakfast.
NO NO NO - starvation mode DO NOT EXIST! there are long term effects of low calorie consumption and changes to metabolism - but hoping onto fat because of lack of calories isn't it24 -
Starvation mode is a myth.
Your body needs to burn energy to survive. Whether it gets it from food, fat or muscle. Its basically an engine. If you aren't burning fuel, the engine dies. The engine needs a base amount of fuel to keep running even when not doing any real work. You make the engine smaller(lose weight), it burns less fuel. You work the engine harder, it burns more fuel.
You cannot make the engine work, fill up the gas tank and not burn fuel all at the same time... if you could, our fuel issue would have been solved a long time ago.15 -
Clothes are fitting fine, I start my inactive birth control pills tmrw, not constipated at all.
My goal weight is 124lbs.
I did heavy lifting with lower body today and ran 3 miles (300 burned calories). I drank 100 ounces of water today.
That's a lot of water retention if that's the reason for my weight 'gain'!!0 -
I have a goal of losing one pound per week.0
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Clothes are fitting fine, I start my inactive birth control pills tmrw, not constipated at all.
My goal weight is 124lbs.
I did heavy lifting with lower body today and ran 3 miles (300 burned calories). I drank 100 ounces of water today.
That's a lot of water retention if that's the reason for my weight 'gain'!!
... The water you have drank alone today is over 6lbs, to put this in perspective. xD It'll go away.
Or is this weight from when you measured this morning?6 -
I measured it this evening (bad girl, I know. Now my mind is spinning). But I would think that I sweat out and urinated a lot of it... guess not!0
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A) what time of day were the weigh ins? From morning to night on the same day I can gain 5 pounds in food and liquid etc.
B)how are your sodium levels? Did you have Chinese or a lot of prepared foods recently?
Sometimes it looks like one big number change but it's really a perfect storm of food backed up in the intestines, too much salt, a new work out causing water retention for muscle repair, ovulation, menstruation, blah, blah, blah.
This is why I weigh every morning after the bathroom before the tea so I can average it all out and get an idea of the general trend.6 -
I bloat like crazy 10ish lbs of water right before my inactive pills. I went from 126lbs to 135 lbs this month before TOM. Once I start bleeding the weight falls off and I see a huge loss and usually lower than before my bloat! Exercise can cause retention too. Give it a bit more time and don't weigh the week before your cycle, it's depressing.5
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I agree with the perfect storm anology. I would still up my intake to 1,500 and see what it looks like over time. Weigh yourself everyday right after you get up and go the bathroom with no clothes on. You will eventually drop weight. So much of weight loss is based on what we ingest.1
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Sounds like you are gaining muscle weight- which is a good thing. If lifting is a key part of your routine I would focus on body composition rather than the weigjt on the scale. Are your clothes looser? That is a good sign you are losing fat weight but gaining muscle which will help you torch more calories moving forwards.1
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I agree with the perfect storm anology. I would still up my intake to 1,500 and see what it looks like over time. Weigh yourself everyday right after you get up and go the bathroom with no clothes on. You will eventually drop weight. So much of weight loss is based on what we ingest.
Why would she up her calories to 1500 if she's not losing weight on 1200?11 -
I would give it 4-5 days and weigh again.3
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I measured it this evening (bad girl, I know. Now my mind is spinning). But I would think that I sweat out and urinated a lot of it... guess not!
You also have the weight of any food that is still being digested in your system. Add to that water retention from your new exercise routine and possible retention from the time of the month you happen to be at. Then there is any fluids you drank that are still in your system.
Give it a few days and weigh first thing in the morning.5 -
I agree with the perfect storm anology. I would still up my intake to 1,500 and see what it looks like over time. Weigh yourself everyday right after you get up and go the bathroom with no clothes on. You will eventually drop weight. So much of weight loss is based on what we ingest.
Why would she up her calories to 1500 if she's not losing weight on 1200?
The weight gain is most likely from added exercise. And op is already at a decent weight if I read correctly, so 1200 seems low. I would think an increase might be in order after op checks her logging.1 -
Sounds like you are gaining muscle weight- which is a good thing. If lifting is a key part of your routine I would focus on body composition rather than the weigjt on the scale. Are your clothes looser? That is a good sign you are losing fat weight but gaining muscle which will help you torch more calories moving forwards.
She isn't gaining muscle on 1200 calories. And even if she were, it would be nowhere near five pounds worth.
OP, as others have said it's water weight to repair your muscles. It should start to drop off soon.13 -
Because I feel her intake is too low for a person her age. It can temporarily slow down her metabolism . Patience is huge when losing weight. Temporary factors such as water intake, periods and even going to the bathroom can make a difference on the face of the scale. That's why it is importsnt to weigh in at the same time first thing in the morning with no clothes on. Have you weighed yourself again?1
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Sounds like you are gaining muscle weight- which is a good thing. If lifting is a key part of your routine I would focus on body composition rather than the weigjt on the scale. Are your clothes looser? That is a good sign you are losing fat weight but gaining muscle which will help you torch more calories moving forwards.
LOL...you think she gained over 5lbs of muscle in SEVEN total workouts??? if so, she needs to tell us all her secret!!12 -
Sounds like you are gaining muscle weight- which is a good thing. If lifting is a key part of your routine I would focus on body composition rather than the weigjt on the scale. Are your clothes looser? That is a good sign you are losing fat weight but gaining muscle which will help you torch more calories moving forwards.
She isn't gaining muscle on 1200 calories. And even if she were, it would be nowhere near five pounds worth.
OP, as others have said it's water weight to repair your muscles. It should start to drop off soon.
^^^This.
I can gain upwards of 6lbs in water weight overnight after a heavy lifting session. You body may retain water for muscle repair for a couple weeks after you start a new / raised intensity of a workout before all of the water weight flushes out.5 -
Clothes are fitting fine, I start my inactive birth control pills tmrw, not constipated at all.
My goal weight is 124lbs.
I did heavy lifting with lower body today and ran 3 miles (300 burned calories). I drank 100 ounces of water today.
That's a lot of water retention if that's the reason for my weight 'gain'!!
1 pound is 3,500 calories. So if you eat 3,500 calories over your MAINTENANCE, you will gain 1 pound. 5 pounds is 17,500 calories.
Your maintenance is around 2,200 calories (I put moderate exercise). If you gained fat......you did some massive over eating. http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/5 -
Clothes are fitting fine, I start my inactive birth control pills tmrw, not constipated at all.
My goal weight is 124lbs.
I did heavy lifting with lower body today and ran 3 miles (300 burned calories). I drank 100 ounces of water today.
That's a lot of water retention if that's the reason for my weight 'gain'!!
I'm betting on a combination of pre-menstrual and muscle repair water weight gain.
Also--this should go without saying--weigh yourself in the exact same conditions each time you weigh: same time of day, same level of clothing (or naked), same scale. Keep scale on level, solid surface. Check scale batteries if it's a digital scale.3 -
Its water, happened to my husband and I both to varying degrees when I first introduced hubby to MFP 5 years ago. We both measured and weighed our food and kept very detailed food diaries. We also joined our local gym at the same time and started off with an hour of cardio and at least 30 minutes of weights 6 days a week.
The first day or two was promising with my weight going down 2 Lbs and his 1, but it was short-lived seeing progress on the scale for the next 3 weeks as both our bodies began holding onto water for all the extra expenditure with the new workout routine. My body let go of the water around week 3 and it took a full 4 weeks for hubby (I'm guessing the more muscle mass had a lot to do with it). Granted my husband was extremely frustrated by the number on the scale but I just kept reassuring him that it's impossible to have a calorie deficit and gain FAT. By the end of week one he had gained 2 Lbs, 2 more lbs by week 2, lost 1 lb by the end of week 3 for a net gain of 3 lbs. During the course of the fourth week he began losing about 2 Lbs PER DAY totalling 14 lbs by the end of week 4 for a net loss of 11 lbs since we had started working out or an average of almost 3 lbs per week! Great start, but it wasn't immediately obvious.
I gained 3 lbs the first week, 1 more lb the second week, and was down a total of 10 lbs by the end of week 3 for a net loss of 6 lbs in 3 weeks. Exactly 2 Lbs per week average.
Knowing it's physically impossible to gain or lose 10 lbs of fat in a week the only explanation possible is water weight. Try not to pay too much attention to the number on the scale in the first month of a new workout routine or diet as its likely it will only discourage you and that's the last thing anyone trying to make positive changes in their life needs.7 -
Water weight is the most likely explanation, but I'd also add:
1) counting all your food has to include all caloric beverages, cooking oils, and condiments. For at least a few days, look up everything in the database and make sure you're not surprised by what you find.
(Example: I wasn't counting the Werther's hard candies in the work candy dish, but man, those have way more calories than I expected). My daily coffees with their one tub of half-and-half also contributed way more calories than I thought they would have.
2) Prepackaged food is required to have *at least* as much food in the package as the label says, and they're penalized for having *less* food in a package but not *more*. Obviously, for profit purposes they don't want to give away lots of food, but in practice this can mean that pre-portioned foods can be off in their calories by a statistically significant amount.
3) Are you using entries in the database that actually make sense? I keep finding things that make me laugh because they must have been entered by someone with a serious interest in lying to themselves (or someone with really poor math skills).2 -
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