Help! Why have I lost?

famsstr36

I am trying to gain as I am very far underweight my goal weight is 145 . I weigh 112. When I found out what I weighed I took 2 days to see why. It didn't take me long. I was only eating a little over 1700 calories in a day. For almost a week I have made sure I have had at least 2500 calories and sometimes crossed the 3000 mark, but I lost a lb. Any thoughts on this? I have not done cardio at all just light reps.

cwolfman13

You're going to have to look at the overall trend over time. Bodyweight fluctuates naturally and 1 Lb is well within the realm of normal bodyweight fluctuations. If the trend over the next few weeks doesn't start trending up it means you're not getting enough calories to gain weight.

famsstr36

Thank you.. cwolfman. I appreciate it.

pinggolfer96

Because of science....that’s why.
Eat more than you burn....gain weight
Eat less....lose weight
Aside from daily weight fluctuations.....it’s that simple

GreatApe2017

pinggolfer96 wrote: »

Because of science....that’s why.
Eat more than you burn....gain weight
Eat less....lose weight
Aside from daily weight fluctuations.....it’s that simple

That is a bit too simplistic

For instance consuming 3000 calories of protein is different from consuming 3000 calories of carbs as it takes much more energy to break down excess protein and convert it to fat than it does to break down carbs and convert it to fat.

Actually it's even more complicated than that as the body doesn't readily convert carbs to fat for storage it is possible but what tends to happen is you need excess carbs which allows your dietary fat to be stored as fat

And of course for a lot of people what they really mean is why am I not craving more food and how do I consume more.

The best answer is probably to measure and reocrd everything. So my answer wouldn't be to 'eat more' it would be to buy a food scale so you can actually track what you are eating and thus be able to eat more consistently and accurately

Also famsstr, fat is your friend in trying to add weight so find fatty foods you like and eat them. Buy a food scale and make sure you are eating 3000 calories a day. Perhaps split it roughly 70 grams protein, 130 gram fat, 390 gram carbs.

If you are able try and eat a high calories snack before bed. Some evidence shows if you eat more calories you tend to be more active which burns some of it away. So consuming 1000 excess calories an hour before bed should work better than consuming 1000 excess calories in the morning as in the morning the extra food makes most people more active throughout the rest of the day.

famsstr36

Thank you for this info. I will look to doing as you suggest. I have gone to eating dinner later so we will see what happens. I will take everything anyone suggests at this point. Thanks so much.

GreatApe2017

famsstr36 wrote: »

Thank you for this info. I will look to doing as you suggest. I have gone to eating dinner later so we will see what happens. I will take everything anyone suggests at this point. Thanks so much.

Gaining weight or losing weight just needs consistency and time

Buy a food scale and measure everything.
Eat 3000 calories a day and you will put on weight both fat and muscle. More fat than muscle but that is probably your aim

Find something you like and have it an hour before bed. Granola is perhaps a good choice have 200 grams which would be close to 800-900 calories and a good mix of fat and carbs. But you still need to record total daily food intake because if you don't your body own internal hunger signals will mean if you eat more at night you will eat less at other times you won't even realise you are eating less.

So record everything and be consistent with 3000 calorest a day every day. You also need time I would give it at least two weeks or better a whole month and then compare

You can eat pretty much anything so long as you count the calories and measure everything to hit your goal of 3000 calories a day every day.

GreatApe2017

famsstr36 wrote: »

I am trying to gain as I am very far underweight my goal weight is 145 . I weigh 112. When I found out what I weighed I took 2 days to see why. It didn't take me long. I was only eating a little over 1700 calories in a day. For almost a week I have made sure I have had at least 2500 calories and sometimes crossed the 3000 mark, but I lost a lb. Any thoughts on this? I have not done cardio at all just light reps.

You don't need to do any weights or cardio to lose or gain weight.

Your weight depends almost 100% on how much you eat. People can do weights to build muscle or do cardio to build endurance but they don't help much in weight targets without controling food intake

Eat 3000 calories a day for a month but you have to be consistent and not guess your calories. Buy a food scale it's the best thing anyone can do who wants to gain or lose weight. Measure everything and hit your 3000 calories a day

Also don't do fad diets you need protein carbs and fats the main thing is be accurate and consistant and give it time.

Good luck

robertw486

As others have said, properly track everything you eat to try and figure out what calorie level you need for maintenance or to gain. This will also help nail down your TDEE so you can properly set your activity level for use here on MFP.

Also consider what your "normal" is for exercise, and make sure to eat back those exercise calories. If in doubt about exercise calorie burns, do some research and/or ask around, since in your case underestimating calorie burn would make it hard to gain weight back.

If you actually struggle to eat your calorie goal, find some calorie dense things you can easily and quickly eat or drink.


As @cwolfman13 said, watch the weight trend, since daily fluctuations are normal. Happy Scales, Trendweight, Libra.... various apps or computer based depending on what you want to use.

thaevilgenius

Dont eat back your calories unless you set sedentary as your lifestyle. In calculating your tdee calories from exercising are included in your tdee, you cant have them counted and eat them back that will be eating above your tdee

middlehaitch

thaevilgenius wrote: »

Dont eat back your calories unless you set sedentary as your lifestyle. In calculating your tdee calories from exercising are included in your tdee, you cant have them counted and eat them back that will be eating above your tdee

MFP does not calculate ones TDEE, it calculates ones NEAT. That means exercise is not included no matter what activity level.

If one uses an off site TDEE calculator then exercise would be included. With MFP it isn't.

Cheers, h.

thaevilgenius

middlehaitch wrote: »

thaevilgenius wrote: »

Dont eat back your calories unless you set sedentary as your lifestyle. In calculating your tdee calories from exercising are included in your tdee, you cant have them counted and eat them back that will be eating above your tdee

MFP does not calculate ones TDEE, it calculates ones NEAT. That means exercise is not included no matter what activity level.

If one uses an off site TDEE calculator then exercise would be included. With MFP it isn't.

Cheers, h.

I assumed when one is talking about tdee it's not talking about MFP as it doesnt calculate tdee. Worth clarifying