Confusing weight gain after diet and exercise??

oldfieldct

Hey friends!
I am wondering about a weird problem I discovered yesterday. My initial weight at the beginning of January was 145 (I am 5’4”). I’ve always worked out but now I do HIIT/cardio/barre/yoga 6 days a week, switching up workouts and increasing intensity as I go. I also keep a food journal and have been eating much better, almost always less than 1800 calories a day (even if I work off 500).
But I weighed myself yesterday and I’m at 161!! What is going on? I feel smaller and in better shape but still have a ways to go and I can’t make sense of how 15-20 lbs showed up...any ideas/suggestions?

janejellyroll

Was it the same scale? Increasing intensity/duration of exercise can lead to temporary water weight gain (to help with muscle recovery), but 16 pounds is a lot.

The other potential issue is logging accuracy. I can't see your diary, but if you open it we may be able to help troubleshoot.

oldfieldct

Hey! I did use the same scale but to be fair I used it in the evening yesterday. I try to keep meals as healthy as possible and I don’t have cheat “days” so much as a once a week cheat meal, and I don’t go all-out on it, either. I could eat a little better probably but it still seems really drastic to me

oldfieldct

And I did make it public, thank you! Good idea

deannalfisher

weigh yourself at the same time of day for consistency - 16lbs is a lot, but i can easily be up 5-6lbs at the end of the day; so you have probably gained some weight

healthy don't mean jack if you are eating more than you are burning

aeloine

oldfieldct wrote: »

Hey! I did use the same scale but to be fair I used it in the evening yesterday. I try to keep meals as healthy as possible and I don’t have cheat “days” so much as a once a week cheat meal, and I don’t go all-out on it, either. I could eat a little better probably but it still seems really drastic to me

A gallon of water is over 8lbs. If you're staying hydrated, eating food, and maybe not eating enough fiber, you could be up quite a bit over the course of a day. Weigh under the same conditions.

oldfieldct

I’m working off an average of 500 calories a day and eating about 1800 each time so netting about 1300. Do you mean I’d have to burn off 1500 a day to see a difference, or are you including avg calories you burn just going through a regular day?

deannalfisher

you have a lot of cup and tsp measurements - so your logging could be inaccurate - recommend you get a food scale and weigh in g/oz all your food - it will be eye opening for you

aeloine

ceiswyn

Are you eating back ALL your exercise calories? If so, be aware that MFP’s burn values may be overestimates. Maybe try eating back 50%-75% for a while and see if that helps.

oldfieldct

No, definitely not all! And I spent some time reading up on calories burned in the classes I was doing so I enter calories burned manually. My calorie limit is set to 1470 so after burning 300-500 or so I try to make sure there are still about 200 leftover most days.

deannalfisher

even a fitbit or similar can overestimate calories burned - they typically use HR technology but that can be highly variable depending on someones fitness level

500cal in a class is a fairly significant burn - that is equal to about 6 miles running for me

AliceDark

Some fluctuation on the scale is totally normal, especially when you're weighing at a different time of day. However, gaining 16 pounds in 8 weeks sounds like actual gain and not just fluctuation. What method are you using to measure your food? (Food scale, measuring cups/spoons, eyeballing?)

cwolfman13

Check the batteries on your scale.

Even with normal fluctuations, 16 Lbs in 8 weeks would be actual gain, not fluctuations...if it's not your batteries, you're eating a lot more than you think you are.

oldfieldct

What’s weird is that I’ve been going by how my clothes fit, which is better than they used to. I use a food scale and measuring spoons/cups.