Why am I gaining weight?!

AshleighAnn72

Im generally sticking to 1200 calories a day sometimes under sometimes slightly over.
If I do decide to have a day break, I never have enough to gain weight..
Saturday just gone I was 15.0 stone, today I'm 15.5 so WTF. I'm drinking enough (3-4 litres a day). Im using scales to weigh everything out. I'm adding in exercise and eating the calories I've burnt off so I'm not under eating.
I used mfp a few years ago, and lost 2/3 stone, I'm doing the exact same thing I did then.

LivingtheLeanDream

How long since you started ?

kommodevaran

AshleighAnn72 wrote: »

Im generally sticking to 1200 calories a day sometimes under sometimes slightly over.

It's the average over time that counts.

If I do decide to have a day break, I never have enough to gain weight..

But you said you were gaining weight?

Saturday just gone I was 15.0 stone, today I'm 15.5 so WTF.

Weight fluctuates from day to day. You can't see fat loss/gain on the scale unless there's a trend, which takes weeks.

I'm drinking enough (3-4 litres a day).

Has no impact. Sounds a bit much unless it's hot.

Im using scales to weigh everything out. I'm adding in exercise and eating the calories I've burnt off so I'm not under eating.

Undereating does not lead to not losing weight. Have you seen pictures from hunger strikes or hunger catastrophes or concentration camps? But you could possibly be overeating. But you can't tell whether you're losing weight or not if you're just comparing two weigh-ins a week apart.

I used mfp a few years ago, and lost 2/3 stone, I'm doing the exact same thing I did then.

Did you start form the same weight then?

Silentpadna

AshleighAnn72 wrote: »

Im generally sticking to 1200 calories a day sometimes under sometimes slightly over.
If I do decide to have a day break, I never have enough to gain weight..
Saturday just gone I was 15.0 stone, today I'm 15.5 so WTF. I'm drinking enough (3-4 litres a day). Im using scales to weigh everything out. I'm adding in exercise and eating the calories I've burnt off so I'm not under eating.
I used mfp a few years ago, and lost 2/3 stone, I'm doing the exact same thing I did then.

From Saturday to today is 5 days. If everything you're measuring is accurate this is simply a normal fluctuation - nothing more.

I can gain or lose 5 pounds from first thing in the morning to mid-afternoon in the same day. That's not fat - it's fluid fluctuation.

If you are using a food scale, and you are weighing everything out, trust that more than the bathroom scale. Give the bathroom scale enough time....like 4-6 weeks (not days). You might be losing fat linearly, but your fluctuations are much bigger in magnitude every day than your weekly goal. No way around it.

[Edit to add] In my case I've been in a cut recently and lost about 12 pounds in the last 2 months. The past two weeks, despite a 750 calorie per day deficit average, I am up 3 pounds. But I've been at this long enough to know that I have not gained 3 pounds of fat. I trust my food scale.

Stockholm_Andy

Are you sure your starting weight was correct?

Weight loss isn't linear and you will bounce around a little but half a stone in 5 days is a lot of weight. That's about 14lbs (6kgs) 7lbs right?

So my first thought is that you miss weighed yourself somehow either initially or today.

My second thought it you need to give it more time also. How much are you trying to lose per week?

EDITED Due to my own stupidness.

LivingtheLeanDream

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

Are you sure your starting weight was correct?

Weight loss isn't linear and you will bounce around a little but half a stone in 5 days is a lot of weight. That's about 14lbs (6kgs) right?

So my first thought is that you miss weighed yourself somehow either initially or today.

My second thought it you need to give it more time also. How much are you trying to lose per week?

Half a stone is 7 lbs.

Caralarma

Dont weight yourself more than once a week. It's not a true reflection on fat loss

TavistockToad

so your 'day break' you eat more food, more carbs and sodium and then weigh yourself after, and the scale has gone up?

that's water weight....

Stockholm_Andy

LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

Are you sure your starting weight was correct?

Weight loss isn't linear and you will bounce around a little but half a stone in 5 days is a lot of weight. That's about 14lbs (6kgs) right?

So my first thought is that you miss weighed yourself somehow either initially or today.

My second thought it you need to give it more time also. How much are you trying to lose per week?

Half a stone is 7 lbs.

Opps sorry so it is That's a more understandable fluctuation. Still on the high side but not unbelievable for water weight I suppose.

I've been out of the UK so long I can't really think in stones any more

LivingtheLeanDream

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »

Stockholm_Andy wrote: »

Are you sure your starting weight was correct?

Weight loss isn't linear and you will bounce around a little but half a stone in 5 days is a lot of weight. That's about 14lbs (6kgs) right?

So my first thought is that you miss weighed yourself somehow either initially or today.

My second thought it you need to give it more time also. How much are you trying to lose per week?

Half a stone is 7 lbs.

Opps sorry so it is That's a more understandable fluctuation. Still on the high side but not unbelievable for water weight I suppose.

I've been out of the UK so long I can't really think in stones any more

no problem, I mostly think in pounds now because of this app or in kgs
Yeah if I can see a 4 to 5lb fluctuation even at maintenance then someone weighing more/needing to lose will probably see much higher spikes.

pinuplove

That kind of change over the short term is likely just noise - water weight, as others have noted, digestion (ponder your bathroom habits for a moment to decide if you have more food in transit than usual), possible variations in hydration/clothing/time of day you weighed.

This is why I like weighing daily and recording it in a weight trending app like Libra or Happy Scale.

bikecheryl

You say your eating all your exercise calories back?
Perhaps they are over exaggerated?
I try not to eat more than half of mine if they look high.

LivingtheLeanDream

That gain is most probably all that extra water you're drinking! there's really no need to be drinking so much - Yes it can help us feel fuller, its for hydration but it doesn't aid weight loss. And if you're over hydrating, your body will probably be hanging on to it hence the higher number on the scale.

cerise_noir

Also, where you are in your cycle can cause fluid retention.

Check your exercise calories. If you’re adding them from mfp, eat a portion of those back since they’re a bit high.

kshama2001

Caralarma wrote: »

Dont weight yourself more than once a week. It's not a true reflection on fat loss

Actually, weighing every day is how I learned I retain water when I ovulate as well as premenstrually.

@AshleighAnn72 where are you in your menstrual cycle? Have you started any new exercise recently? You can retain water from that as well.

kommodevaran

Caralarma wrote: »

Dont weight yourself more than once a week. It's not a true reflection on fat loss

And even a week of fat loss can be masked by water weight fluctuations.

I recommend daily or monthy weigh-ins.

PAV8888

kommodevaran wrote: »

Caralarma wrote: »

Dont weight yourself more than once a week. It's not a true reflection on fat loss

And even a week of fat loss can be masked by water weight fluctuations.
I recommend daily or monthy weigh-ins.

And even a MONTH of 3 to 5lbs of fat loss can EASILY be masked by water weight fluctuations (a meal out, exercise, airplane flight, time of the month, glycogen replenishment if low carb-ing) etc.

The answer to the measurement section of the question is NOT less frequent measurements.

LivingtheLeanDream

I recommend daily weigh in too - even in maintenance I can fluctuate by up to 4lbs, I often think if my weigh in day was on that heavier day in the week it wouldn't bode well for my attitude but at least with seeing fluctuations I know the score.

ruqayyahsmum

kshama2001 wrote: »

Caralarma wrote: »

Dont weight yourself more than once a week. It's not a true reflection on fat loss

Actually, weighing every day is how I learned I retain water when I ovulate as well as premenstrually.

@AshleighAnn72 where are you in your menstrual cycle? Have you started any new exercise recently? You can retain water from that as well.

Yup me too. If I didn't weigh daily and was aware of my cycle norms I would be angrily stomping around because of a 3lb "gain"

Back in my days of fat clubs and weekly weigh ins this would have led to a "*kitten* it I might as well just eat what I want" mentality

1BlueAurora

One thing I found helpful in addition to daily weighing: taking body measurements. Grab your tape measure and record your bust, waist and hip measurements. Next month, take them again. You may find some changes in your body shape over time.

My guess is water retention. See whether you can get by on 2 litres of water a day. Eat back about 75% of your exercise calories instead of the whole allotment, because MFP might overestimate the calorie burn (at least, that has been suggested by other MFP folks, and I found more success doing that than eating back 100% of earned calories).

You're on the right path. Keep going!