Almost In tears

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VegasBaby
VegasBaby Posts: 49 Member
in Challenges
I am so frustrated and sad. I have gained 40 pounds in 3 Years.

Just a few weeks ago, I had TONS of blood work done. Everything is normal. No Thyroid problem, hormone levels are normal, everything. And, they took 13 vials, so they tested many things.

I have been working out and eating roughly 1800 calories for the last week. I’ve also been drinking a ton of water. AND I AM UP TWO POUNDS. What the hell?!? I know it’s only been a week but it is crushing to see that I am up. Absolutely crushing.

I am also wanting to get pregnant and am afraid that my weight gain has prohibited it.

I’m just so devastated. Anyone have a similar experience? Any words of advice?

Ugh.
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Replies

  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited December 2017
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    You need to give it more time. It's very common to retain water when you start a new fitness routine, and it's very common for it to take more than a week for fat loss to show up, especially on pre-menopausal women. It is much, much too early to be devastated. You can do this!
  • Good_Morning_Glory
    Good_Morning_Glory Posts: 226 Member
    edited December 2017
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    I have. Usually it’s because I’ve begun working out and/or where I’m at in my cycle. Which is what was said by first poster. One week really isn’t long enough, as said by second. Water gain is oh so real and can really wreak havoc, especially for those of us who have an emotional connection to the scale. As poster three advises. Edited to add that. :)

    Hang in there. :)
  • JDMac82
    JDMac82 Posts: 3,192 Member
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    Take a deep breath, exhale, ok lets take this a step at a time. (not trying to be rude)

    Kudos for taking the first steps in your fitness journey, getting started.

    Working out is important to fitness. but nutrition is the key. Its what your eating that I would be interested in seeing. High sodium stuff can cause water retention which can lead to increased body weight.
    Not saying you do but if your meals are beer and pizza then youll be adding a lot of calories into your system that arent being worked off.

    Understand that its a roller coaster of ups and downs on this journey, embrace the downhill easy parts and embrace, dig in on the hard parts.

    Seeing an initial increase can occur cause your putting more water in the system then normal and sodium is elevated... see above. Sodium daily allottment is a T Spoon size amount of ketchup to give you a visual.

    Understand that this journey will take 21 days to become habitual and 6 to 8 weeks before you see any changes.

    You said you gained 40 in 3 years, it didnt happen over night and it wont come off over night either.

    I would encourage you not to get caught up in the diet fads and " quick fix gimmicks" far to many to list.

    What types of workouts are you currently doing
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    Deep breath, forty pounds is not that much. I know it seems like a lot, but you can easily lose this weight in less than a year at a pound a week. It's also very easy to gain fourteen pounds a year without really thinking about it, if you aren't very active and aren't watching what you eat, so don't beat yourself up about it.

    It's not unusual for the scale to show a jump when you start a new exercise routine due to your muscles holding water for repairs, which is probably what's happening to you. There are other possibilities: a change in diet can make you constipated, more water drinking and fiber will make you retain more water for a while. Also that time of the month will make most women go up a few pounds temporarily. You did not gain two pounds of fat while eating below your maintenance! It takes 3500 calories over maintenance to gain one pound of fat. You didn't accidentally eat 7000 extra calories and not notice.

    I'm guessing you have set yourself to lose as fast as possible and MFP gave you 1200 calories. Being only 40 lbs overweight you don't need to be losing that fast. Try a slower setting. Then eat back your exercise calories. You will probably find you can eat a comfortable amount of food if you're careful. Log everything, weighing it using a kitchen scale.

    Good luck!
  • klowieislyfe1
    klowieislyfe1 Posts: 46 Member
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    If you weren't drinking a lot of water before, some of it could be from that. Dehydration makes you weigh less but it's not the same as fat loss.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    See responses in your other thread...
  • DebLaBounty
    DebLaBounty Posts: 1,172 Member
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    I'm confused. MFP recommended you eat 1200 calories to lose weight but you're eating 1800. Consider splitting the difference and eat 1400 a day. This could very well help you see some progress.
  • WhereIsPJSoles
    WhereIsPJSoles Posts: 622 Member
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    Yeah, I'm confused too - are you eating 1200 or 1800? What are your stats?
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
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    1,800 cals a day is a great start, though I'd recommend using a food scale if you aren't already. If you're 100% accurate with your logging, 1,800 is enough of a deficit for most women to lose weight on slowly. Remember, when you were eating "well over 2000" calories, you were likely gaining weight still. Your maintenance calories might be something like 2,100 at your current weight. Hard to say without more information. With a small deficit there will be lots of meaningless fluctuations. I suggest getting a third party app like Libra (free) or Happy Scale (free) to log the overall trend of your weight so that little blips aren't so demoralizing.
  • Spliner1969
    Spliner1969 Posts: 3,233 Member
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    DebLaBounty wrote: »
    I'm confused. MFP recommended you eat 1200 calories to lose weight but you're eating 1800. Consider splitting the difference and eat 1400 a day. This could very well help you see some progress.

    Glad someone else caught that. The OP is not eating the suggested calories for the desired weight loss and not losing weight. Seems feasible to me.

    If the OP is saying 1200 is too low, then maybe they were too strict on their goals? Too many people jump right in and decide they have a large amount of weight to lose and want to lose it as fast as possible so they enter sedentary in the wizard, then select 2lb per week loss and bam they get the lowest calorie level possible.

    I'd suggest going back to the wizard again, enter your stats accurately (if you have a job, and you're on your feet all day, you are not sedentary, etc.) then select no more than 1lb/week loss rate and see what you come up with. Then eat at that calorie level and the weight should start coming off. If you exercise, eat back about half of those calories and you should still lose at your desired rate if not a little faster. Don't be so hard on yourself, this is a journey, and should be looked at as a new way of life (eating the correct amount of calories for your desired weight) rather than something you do quick as possible then stop. Good luck to the OP, but seriously, don't be so hard on yourself, ease into it a bit more, it's gonna take time, likely up to 40 weeks if 40lbs loss is your goal. That's nearly a year.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Did you begin to exercise? Eat a meal high in sodium/carbs in the past few days? Are you nearing ovulation or TOM?

    You aren't going to lose every week. My first two weeks I gained too. Be patient, make sure your logging is as accurate as possible, and it will start to come off.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    Why aren't you eating the number of calories MFP gave you? You say that you entered your stats, got a calorie goal, and then started eating substantially above that goal. It's also not clear how many calories you're actually eating.
    How much variation is encompassed by "roughly"? When you say "roughly" 1800 calories, does that mean 1775-1825, or does that mean 1600-2000?

    Given that you're eating well above your calorie goal and it sounds like there are some inaccuracies in logging, you may very well not be in a deficit.
  • peaky151
    peaky151 Posts: 13 Member
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    I can totally feel your pain. I have to get blood work done every year for my job as part of a get healthy program. The program gives me a discount on my premiums. ALL of my numbers came back RED and in the alert area. I actually kind of expected it. I had already made up mind that no matter what the numbers said I was never going to see them again. I have just been working slowly to build on good habits. Since that blood work about two weeks ago I have lost almost 9 pounds. Its going to take time. You have to start over and during this holiday time try not to GAIN weight. That two pounds is probably water. Be patient it will happen.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,867 Member
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    Also, yeah...didn't really click before, but 1800 calories is likely a very small deficit for you. You were eating well over 2000 calories, but you were gaining weight...have you put in your stats to see what MFP gives you for maintenance? It's probably pretty close to a couple thousand calories per day.

    If you're running a small deficit, it's going to be really hard to see things on the scale in the short run because natural weight fluctuations are going to mask things...when I've done really slow cuts like that, it usually takes me a couple of months to really start seeing a trend.

    If 1200 is too aggressive, you might just want to go with 1400 or 1500.
  • fiddletime
    fiddletime Posts: 1,862 Member
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    Lots of good advice here. Weight loss takes time. Maintenance is for life. In order to learn how to maintain, you need to learn the process. Many of us on here are struggling with maintaining weight loss. Fluctuations, usually up, cause lots of stress, but in time you’ll learn to understand what your body needs in terms of calories to lose weight, and then to keep it off. It’s a lifetime journey and you’re on week 2. Be patient!
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    OP - what is your age? Lots of wacky things can happen to your body as you approach menopause, which can start earlier than you may think. Same with certain types of birth control. When you had all these tests, did any of that come up?

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