Actually GAINING Instead of Losing?! Discouraged in Bellevue

scoutsback

I'm grateful for this forum: thank you.

I'm a 54 yo woman who became fit and lean in her mid-forties. I ate my way through a depression the past few years, and am now focusing on losing the weight gained, and getting back into shape.
I weigh 158 lbs, and am 5'7". I'm eating 1200 calories a day, and am meticulously measuring/logging/tracking that. I'm trying my best for a 40/30/30 carb/fat/protein balance. I've been doing the Jillian Michael's "Beginner Shred" six days a week for over a month (and don't add those calories back into my allowance since it's probably only about 160 a day). I'm not drinking alcohol, and I'm getting sleep. I weigh myself every-other week.

Why the #*@#*+ then would I have GAINED 1.2 pounds in the past two weeks?! I was expecting a slow and steady loss of a pound a week, and was prepared to be patient, but this... this is confounding, and my body has never reacted like this. I'm so discouraged... and a bit scared.

cmriverside

If you were in fact eating 1200 calories you would be losing, unless you have a medical issue. 1.2 pounds is in the acceptable fluctuation range. I can go up/down three pounds in a day.

If you are in fact doing all you say, I would just stay the course. Eat more, would be my recommendation.

I lost the last 15 pounds (from 155-140, 5'7" 60 years old) at 1500, and 1800 on exercise days. It took a while, though, like nine months. When you're already at a healthy weight and just trying to lose a little more, there are very slim margins of error.

Can you open your food diary? Food>Settings

seska422

scoutsback wrote: »

I was expecting a slow and steady loss of a pound a week, and was prepared to be patient, but this...

Weight loss isn't linear. You want to look for an overall downward trend over time. As long as you are creating a deficit, the weight loss will eventually show itself on the scale and your average loss will reflect your average deficit.

Here's a three month time span where I was at or below my calorie goal every day:

Omnimous69

I am far from being an expert, but I think you need to eat a bit more to help boost your metabolism. Your body probably thinks it is almost starving, so it is packing away a bit of fat in response, when it can. You could also have lost 5 pounds of fat and gained 6 pounds of much heavier muscle. Stay the course, but eat a bit more IMO.

scoutsback

Thank you, @cmriverside . I want to lose 30 pounds, and in the not-too-distant past, was able to lose at a predictable rate. I had a baby when I was 43, and took off about 80 pounds afterward. I re-gained 10-15 lbs here and there over the past, 12, years, but shed it easily with a month of reduction and work. This time, it's very different. I am determined to not go below 1200 calories a day so as not to mess up my metabolism. 1200 isn't too low given my age, sex, weight, and height, (54,F, 158 lbs, 5'7"), and the fact that I'm working out only about 25 minutes a day, though!
I unlocked my diary.
Thank you, again.

GrumpyHeadmistress

Agree with the others (not @Omnimous69 - starvation mode doesn’t exist). If you are 100% on your tracking (ie you are weighing everything you consume) you haven’t gained fat. It’s probably water weight.

scoutsback

Thank you, @GrumpyHeadmistress (LOVE the name, btw).

GrumpyHeadmistress wrote: »

Agree with the others (not @Omnimous69 - starvation mode doesn’t exist). ...

Is "starvation mode" a myth? I've been so anxious about messing up my metabolism, and thought 1200 (given that I'll probably need to consume only 1800-2000 to maintain 130 lbs at my age/heigh)- was not too low. I was tempted to go lower!
Thank you, @seska422 : it's helpful to see a graphic.

I suppose what's frustrating is losing my goal: 30 lbs in 6 months felt reasonable. Shifting to it taking 9-12 months has me discouraged.

1houndgal

scoutsback wrote: »

I'm grateful for this forum: thank you.

I'm a 54 yo woman who became fit and lean in her mid-forties. I ate my way through a depression the past few years, and am now focusing on losing the weight gained, and getting back into shape.
I weigh 158 lbs, and am 5'7". I'm eating 1200 calories a day, and am meticulously measuring/logging/tracking that. I'm trying my best for a 40/30/30 carb/fat/protein balance. I've been doing the Jillian Michael's "Beginner Shred" six days a week for over a month (and don't add those calories back into my allowance since it's probably only about 160 a day). I'm not drinking alcohol, and I'm getting sleep. I weigh myself every-other week.

Why the #*@#*+ then would I have GAINED 1.2 pounds in the past two weeks?! I was expecting a slow and steady loss of a pound a week, and was prepared to be patient, but this... this is confounding, and my body has never reacted like this. I'm so discouraged... and a bit scared.

A gain of 1.2 pounds in 2 weeks could be from many things, and to be honest it is not something to get panicked over or upset about.

Here are a few possibilities:
1. Water retention
2. Too much sodium intake
3. Constipation
4. Errors in measuring food intake
5. A bad scale
6. Hot weather
7. Not enough activity, too sedentary
8. Time of day
9. Medication side effects
10. Time of month
11. Illness or disease
12. Etc

cmriverside

scoutsback wrote: »

Thank you, @cmriverside . I want to lose 30 pounds, and in the not-too-distant past, was able to lose at a predictable rate. I had a baby when I was 43, and took off about 80 pounds afterward. I re-gained 10-15 lbs here and there over the past, 12, years, but shed it easily with a month of reduction and work. This time, it's very different. I am determined to not go below 1200 calories a day so as not to mess up my metabolism. 1200 isn't too low given my age, sex, weight, and height, (54,F, 158 lbs, 5'7"), and the fact that I'm working out only about 25 minutes a day, though!
I unlocked my diary.
Thank you, again.

Okay, well that's on the low side so you'll need to be patient. 128 at 5'7" puts you at 20 BMI.

I'm going to disagree that 1200 is enough. It becomes very difficult to get enough nutrition. Believe me, I've tracked food religiously since 2007 on this site, and I was about your age when I started. I just don't see a need to be uncomfortable or to be malnourished. You're already just inside the healthy weight range and being too thin at your age leaves no room for error nutritionally. I can't possibly hit my nutrition goals at 5'7" Female at 1200 calories.

I am the same age (actually older) and I'm retired and I don't exercise a lot and I ate 1500 to lose. You don't have that much to lose - even though you *think* 128 is your goal, the body has a need to hold on to some fat, as you get down into the 140s you can always do some heavy weights for the look you want.

cmriverside

so. Looking at your food diary...

You are under-eating even according to the 1200. I don't know if you are measuring things or actually weighing them, it's hard to tell by the food entries you are eating. Lots of processed stuff - which is fine, it's just not things I'm familiar with.

You are under-eating your protein by quite a bit on nearly every day.

I would suggest really focusing on your protein and getting some more vegetables into your plan. If you look at your nutrition I would think you will crash and burn on that sooner rather than later.

How do you feel? How's your energy? You aren't eating very much and it's not very nutritionally sound.

diannethegeek

Omnimous69 wrote: »

I am far from being an expert, but I think you need to eat a bit more to help boost your metabolism. Your body probably thinks it is almost starving, so it is packing away a bit of fat in response, when it can. You could also have lost 5 pounds of fat and gained 6 pounds of much heavier muscle. Stay the course, but eat a bit more IMO.

The average woman can gain about 1-2 pounds of muscle per month under optimal conditions (a surplus, enough protein and carbs, and a heavy lifting plan). A man might be able to do twice as well. There is simply no way the OP has put on 6 pounds of muscle in a couple of weeks.

bwogilvie

"Starvation mode" as it is commonly portrayed is a myth. It is true that when people eat too little, their metabolic rates will start to drop somewhat. Most of that, though, is due to the fact that as they lose weight, they weigh less, so they need fewer calories to go through their daily life. In extreme cases, it slows down even more, because the body stops repairing non-essential parts (for example, their hair falls out, wounds don't heal, and other bad things). As long as they're in a calorie deficit, though, they keep losing weight; it's just that the CO of CICO goes down, so weight loss slows.

This article offers a pretty good account if you want to read more: https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

scoutsback

Thank you @bwogilvie : that's quite comforting, and I appreciate it. I've always wondered, as there's a LOT of miss-information out there surrounding stress (cortisol) and metabolic shifts, yet there is PLENTY of evidence to the contrary. (Too many tragic examples of stressed, starving, people who aren't "keeping weight on". Look at any refugee camp footage.) We're all so anxious for "the answer" and solution, we forget to think critically.
@diannethegeek : Weird to read about myself in the third person (it took me 3 minutes to figure out what "OP" meant.) Thank you for that (somewhat discouraging) info.
@cmriverside : Thank you for taking the time to look at my diary. I actually neglected to complete some days, but was tracking my intake on them. Some of the foods are actually recipes (and I think it's remarkable that you can locate a recipe on MyFitnessPal to log it!). I agree about the protein: that's been a hard one to keep higher than the fat (I am trying to stick with healthy fats: olive oil, nuts). I'll keep doing what I'm doing, because it IS healthy, and see where it takes me. I may try dropping to 1,000 cals., as a buffer, even though I am carefully weighing and measuring foods. This may all be a sobering reminder that our bodies shift dramatically between 45 and 55... just as they did between 35 and 45. (Aging is not for the faint of heart!)
Ahem. I may also be "chicken-little-ing" it a bit: and it could be a few water pounds. I'm sure you can all sympathize with the discouragement, and I'm grateful for the community.

deannalfisher

if you aren't building the recipe yourself, i would caution you against using them - because you don't know what all went into it when it was made and your recipe could differ

scoutsback

@deannalfisher : No worries. The nutrition count for each recipe is posted in the recipe book, it just happens to be posted in the MFP database too, making it easier to log. They must be popular books.

lois1231

Some days you are only eating 450 calories. Try eating a few more calories especially if you are exercising.

MelanieCN77

Would I be correct in assuming that you didn't log Friday dinner because you either ate out at a restaurant or with friends or just ate what you felt like?

scoutsback

@MelanieCN77 No.. because I forgot to, but knew I was at/under 1200. (I've pretty much assumed that eating out at a restaurant is not happening for a while: don't want to get de-railed!)
@lois1231: I'm actually always hitting 1000-1200: I just forget/neglect to log some days. As you can see, my food repertoire is fairly limited right now, so some days, I just know by adding it up myself. Thank you for the advice.

1houndgal

lois1231 wrote: »

Some days you are only eating 450 calories. Try eating a few more calories especially if you are exercising.

450 kcals is not enough calls for an adult Hunan being to eat for a day. I hope you aren't eating that little.

1houndgal

scoutsback wrote: »

@MelanieCN77 No.. because I forgot to, but knew I was at/under 1200. (I've pretty much assumed that eating out at a restaurant is not happening for a while: don't want to get de-railed!)
@lois1231: I'm actually always hitting 1000-1200: I just forget/neglect to log some days. As you can see, my food repertoire is fairly limited right now, so some days, I just know by adding it up myself. Thank you for the advice.

I think you should consider enlarging your food repertoire for health & nutrition's sake, and to make your diet more palatable. No need to restrict your eating so much.

kshama2001

< 1200 calories is too few for women our height. You're undereating, which is stressful to the body, and so you are likely retaining water due to elevated cortisol levels.

Tblackdogs

A few things...I'm 52, so in your age range. I'm only 5'4, so shorter than you. I'm eating between 1200- 1500 calories a day, not a lot of exercise and I'm losing about 1 pound per week. I think you should commit to weighing and measuring every single thing you eat and log it here. Also, maybe weigh every morning so you can get an idea of your fluctuations. Maybe the day you weighed you were retaining some water. Perhaps the next day or the day after that, you would have weighed less. No offense (I've been there) but instead of being discouraged, maybe really use this app and don't assume anything. It works, it really really works. (And most of all, don't eat below 1200 calories because your body needs fuel)

primekayprime

I know it sounds counter-intuitive but listen to everyone who is saying eat more calories.

Two weeks ago, I started working out more heavily and I was eating about 1100cal a day, even though my recommended caloric intake was 1770cal a day- and that's without exercise.

The 9 weeks prior to that, I consistently lost 2-3lbs a week. Two weeks ago, I only lost 0.8lbs. I also noticed that I was tired, foggy, and very unsatisfied no matter what I ate.

I reached out to MFP on how to fix it. The general census was to eat more protein, eat my exercise calories, and stay hydrated. I was skeptical but guess what? They were all right! This past week I did as suggested and ate approximately 2000cal/day and I am so glad I took their advice! I feel like my new-old self again and I dropped another 3lbs for this week!

scoutsback

@kshmama: Thank you for your concern. Actually, 1200 to lose a pound a week is not too little for a 54 yo woman: it's the intake recommended by MFP. Believe me: I"m not stressing my system; I'm feeling better than I have in years. (Btw: the effects of cortisol on weight loss/gain have not been proven. The theory sure did a lot for the supplement industry, though! Don't you wish they'd stop jerking our chains for a profit?)

scoutsback

@1houndgal Thanks for the advice. For me, in the beginning, discipline to see initial effects is more important than variety. Fear not: I'll branch out.

amyepdx

scoutsback wrote: »

@kshmama: Thank you for your concern. Actually, 1200 to lose a pound a week is not too little for a 54 yo woman: it's the intake recommended by MFP. Believe me: I"m not stressing my system; I'm feeling better than I have in years. (Btw: the effects of cortisol on weight loss/gain have not been proven. The theory sure did a lot for the supplement industry, though! Don't you wish they'd stop jerking our chains for a profit?)

But 1 lb a week is too much when you are already at a healthy weight. Because 1200 is the lowest MFP will set you, if you change to .5 a week, your calories won’t actually go up much, but you’ll be able to sustain your deficit easier and healthier.