Gained weight, Doing "everything right" FRUSTRATED

shelbygeorge29

Just got back from weekly weigh in w trainer and I've gained 1.5 lbs this week. No, I did not indulge one iota on Thanksgiving, treated it like just another Thursday. I did have to work, so it wasn't hard.

I'm at 304 right now, been back to logging and working out for 3 weeks. Do super intense bootcamps for 60 mins 4 times a week. Weigh, measure and track very closely. (Sadly I'm doing this again, I was very successful 15 years ago, ugh) I only drink black coffee, water and plain soda water. My diary is open.

This just doesn't make sense, I should be dropping weight. I'm beside myself in tears, trainer told me not to stress out as cortisol affects weight loss. I'm just so frustrated, I don't know what else to do!

quiksylver296

A food scale is the best tool I found to help with my weight loss. Check out this thread.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

shelbygeorge29

Oh, trainer said I've gained 4 lbs of muscle...that doesn't make sense either.

pinuplove

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

Oh, trainer said I've gained 4 lbs of muscle...that doesn't make sense either.

You didn't, but you might be retaining water for muscle repair. Have you been sore?

deannalfisher

your weight will naturally fluctuate - are you weighing yourself daily or only on the days you see your trainer? you might consider a trending app that will give you a visual of weight loss over a time period

TeaBea

One week? 1.5 pounds of fat would be 5,250 calories over your maintenance for the week. This is not fat.

I would chalk it up to water weight. Sore muscles = water weight. Time of month = water weight. Higher sodium (or higher carbs if you've been low carbing) = water weight.

quiksylver296

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

Oh, trainer said I've gained 4 lbs of muscle...that doesn't make sense either.

Females, if doing everything perfectly, can gain approximately 0.25 pound of muscle per week. Perfectly means adequate nutrition, enough protein, and a proven progressive lifting program.

Did your trainer judge your muscle gain with one of those hand-held bioimpedence devices? They are notoriously inaccurate.

cathipa

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

Oh, trainer said I've gained 4 lbs of muscle...that doesn't make sense either.

If your trainer said this you need a new trainer. To echo the others - a food scale will be more accurate than measuring with cups/spoons. New or more activity will cause DOMS which causes you to retain more water during times of muscle repair.

ETA: I would recommend using a weight trend app like Libra or Happyscale so you can see the trend rather than a random data point. Take your weight the same time every day (typically first in the morning, before eating, after "necessities" are completed and naked) for improved accuracy.

AmyC2288

Also, I hope your trainer is going by more than just the scale #. How about measurements? Sometimes you will see a decrease in inches even if the number on the scale is not going down. This has happened to me several times and then the weight will seem to "catch up" all at once later on. Just a thought!

danigirl1011

i think there can be a lot that contributes to that. I have weeks i hate that i call loading weeks. They are the week after my period where your body is trying to get you pregnant. I can do everything right and still not lose and it's so frustrating. I also agree with others if you are doing things like bootcamps and have sore muscles there is always water retention involved. I only do weights sat-tues to try and not be sore for my weigh ins on friday, because my scale is ALWAYS up when my muscles are sore. The main key here is no matter how frustrating it is, remember consistency is key. If you keep working out and stay at a calorie deficit the scale will move eventually. Just remember how healthy you are getting in the meantime.

danigirl1011

Also, i took a peek at your diary. If you are logging everything you are eating, I would call your diary somewhat impressive! Looks like you are doing a good job. I would stay consistent and drink a lot of water.

shelbygeorge29

I'm already using a food scale to measure everything. Everything.

Trainer weighs me on a Rice Lake scale, you stand on and hold out 2 devices by your side for 60 seconds and it gives you this detailed report. How accurate the bf/muscle percentage is is definitely debatable. But it is accurate in that I gained this week. My period was 2 weeks ago, so it's not that.

I just don't know how motivated I can be if it's going to be this crazy hard to lose small amounts of weight. It's not like I only have 10 pounds to lose, at this stage of weight loss it should be coming off a little easier.

deannalfisher

i ask again - are you ONLY weighing weekly? if yes, then you may be missing variations that occur with normal weight fluctuation

pinuplove

Some women also retain water during ovulation (about right for 2 weeks ago if you have an average cycle length). I tend to gain as much or more then as for TOM. And those readings are notoriously inaccurate for everything except weight.

Instead of thinking about how much weight you have to lose all together, break it up into smaller increments and celebrate your victories along the way.

Running2Fit

Start weighing yourself every day and track it in an app like Happy Scale (Apple) or Libra (Android). The app should give you a moving average and it will help you understand you weight fluctuations. There are a bunch of reasons that you could be up 1.5 lb on the scale that have nothing to do with fat gain. It could be that you had an usually high sodium day or you are ovulating or on your period (those are the most common reasons my scale goes up). For all you know the scale was down 1.5 lbs yesterday.

Weighing in only once a week just doesn’t give you enough data points to understand how/why your weight is fluctuating. Ever since I started using Happy Scale I don’t get discouraged by the scale jumping up a couple pounds and it’s made it mentally easier for me to keep on track.

cwolfman13

1.5 Lbs could easily just be a normal weight fluctuation. And if you're weighing in at the gym I'm assuming that you're doing so clothed...are you wearing the same thing? Did you eat or drink anything before the gym? All of those things are going to mess with the scale. I don't even pay attention to my weigh ins with my trainer because one session I might be training fasted...another session could be a couple of hours after a large breakfast...what shoes I'm wearing at a particular session...pants or shorts, etc.

an0nemus

So, if you're positive that your calories in are accurate, how are you measuring your calories out?

nutmegoreo

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

I'm already using a food scale to measure everything. Everything.

Trainer weighs me on a Rice Lake scale, you stand on and hold out 2 devices by your side for 60 seconds and it gives you this detailed report. How accurate the bf/muscle percentage is is definitely debatable. But it is accurate in that I gained this week. My period was 2 weeks ago, so it's not that.

I just don't know how motivated I can be if it's going to be this crazy hard to lose small amounts of weight. It's not like I only have 10 pounds to lose, at this stage of weight loss it should be coming off a little easier.

If you are weighing everything, that's not showing in your diary. I see cups and tablespoons logged (particularly on things like olive oil), these are going to be less accurate, as well as whole items such as egg, tomato, bell pepper. Veggies won't be a huge difference, but these do add up over time and will likely impact your progress.

That being said, I doubt this is the cause for your "gain" on the scale this week. As others have said, water retention is the most likely suspect. Some women also retain water during ovulation, since your period was 2 weeks ago this could be partial culprit, along with water retention for muscle repair due to strenuous exercise. Have some patience.

As for those who have mentioned daily weighing, fluctuations, and trending apps, here's a graph of 3.5 months of daily weights (I took a diet break in the middle, that's what the hill is):



Notice all the ups and downs from one day to the next? Notice the overall downward trend (except the diet break)?

shelbygeorge29

Only weighing weekly. I've had issues w scale, but I thought I needed more accountability and that maybe I would have better results if I tracked my weight closely. The scale makes me crazy, I've always had a very hard time losing weight. I just thought this go around I had all the right tools lined up and it wouldn't be such a struggle.

nutmegoreo

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

Only weighing weekly. I've had issues w scale, but I thought I needed more accountability and that maybe I would have better results if I tracked my weight closely. The scale makes me crazy, I've always had a very hard time losing weight. I just thought this go around I had all the right tools lined up and it wouldn't be such a struggle.

But it's only one week. If the scale bothers you, then daily weights may not be right, although the trending app took a lot of the frustration over the higher days out of it for me. You don't know if you weighed even less yesterday and today is an anomaly. I understand the frustrations of wanting to be there yesterday, but the reality is that this is a long-game. It's going to take longer than you would like. There will be days when you want to give up. There will be tears and disappointment. Your response to these things will determine your success. Will they lead you to give up, or will you persevere through them?

There was a time when I started weight lifting and my weight stalled for about 4-6 weeks (I don't remember anymore, it's been a couple years). I was so frustrated, but I also knew that I was doing everything else I could. So I had to just keep trusting in the process and push through it. If you are certain you are doing everything right, then keep pushing. Your success isn't measured in days or weeks, it's months. In January, you will be able to look back to today and be happy with your progress. In the spring, same thing, in the summer, again you will be amazed at how far you can go in that time, but in the meantime, things can suck once in a while. It's okay, just keep moving towards your goals.

shelbygeorge29

Sometimes the entry doesn't have a gram or ounce option, so I'll manipulate the measurement in cups/tsp/tbsp to make calories match. I weigh tomatoes and onions, but not peppers. I'm really trying to be accurate!!!

nutmegoreo

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

Sometimes the entry doesn't have a gram or ounce option, so I'll manipulate the measurement in cups/tsp/tbsp to make calories match. I weigh tomatoes and onions, but not peppers. I'm really trying to be accurate!!!

If you enter USDA into the search bar along with the item, I think most of those entries have gram/ounce options in the dropdown box. Particularly for whole foods, you should be able to find weighted options.

leanjogreen18

Retaining water from new workout, eating a salty meal or food/waste in the system can make you appear to gain weight. Especially if you are only weighing once a week you may not notice these daily ups and downs.

Even though I know these things it sometimes messes with my head too. I have to just tell myself to trust the system and continue eating in a deficit and sure enough the next time I step on the scale I'm down a bit.

Weight loss is not linear and you will see ups and downs even though you are doing everything right because our bodies retain water, food, waste in our system at any given time.

The deal is just to hang in there and don't let it mess up your progress. You are making progress you just didn't see it on the scale this week. Take pictures and body measurements. These will help you to see non scale changes.

Hang in there!

Edit: Also I'd be cautious eating back 100% of your workout calories they can be wrong. Most here eat back only 50%.

shelbygeorge29

I am not eating back exercise cals. Was hoping that since I'm so overweight that I could safely lose larger amounts by running at such a large deficit.

I know I just need to stay the course, not sure if daily weigh ins or monthly is the answer for me. Tape measure? Pounds do matter.

One thing of note, I'm very tired often. I bartend 3-4 nights a week at a very busy bar. I had been fairly sedentary other than work. I've been staying busy outside of work, on an attempt to increase my NEAT. So now I'm eating at a large deficit, exercising intensely and moving more.

Where am,I going wrong? Is this too much?

nutmegoreo

Being tired all the time is a sign that your body is not being fed enough. You can mess up your hormones that way.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10569458/why-eating-too-little-calories-is-a-bad-idea/p1

leanjogreen18

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

I'm at 304 right now, been back to logging and working out for 3 weeks. Do super intense bootcamps for 60 mins 4 times a week.

This is a reason you could be tired as well. You are taking on by your words an "intense" workout schedule when you were just 3 weeks ago sedentary after work, you body maybe isn't used to it yet. Maybe you are doing too much too soon.

Best of luck!

elisa123gal

I find less is more.. I'm forcing myself not to overexercise to work off my Thanksgiving calories. I do this because I know that if I over exercise it makes my weight loss much slower. I'm better off keeping it to one hour and fighting the fat in the kitchen. you may want to keep tracking your food and lighten up on your exercise and see what happens. ...

Clau_Ioana1202

Have you had your thyroid checked? Feeling tired and not losing weight easily are both symptoms of hypo. Not necessarily the answer, but worth checking it. I do have Hashimoto (auto-immune hypo -thyroid, not influenced by food or something) and under treatment for years. It was clearly a huge difference when the treatment was not enough and I was struggling to lose even a pound while doing everything right.

One can lose weight with a hypo-thyroid just fine but make sure you are getting all the hormones as needed.

bigbandjohn

I know that gains can be frustrating. There have been a couple times I gained, but my clothes fit better. Transition from fat to muscle. Also, I agree with a lot of people depending on factors you may be retaining water. Have you checked with a doctor to see if there may be other factors you should be concerned about?

angmarie28

shelbygeorge29 wrote: »

I'm already using a food scale to measure everything. Everything.

Trainer weighs me on a Rice Lake scale, you stand on and hold out 2 devices by your side for 60 seconds and it gives you this detailed report. How accurate the bf/muscle percentage is is definitely debatable. But it is accurate in that I gained this week. My period was 2 weeks ago, so it's not that.

I just don't know how motivated I can be if it's going to be this crazy hard to lose small amounts of weight. It's not like I only have 10 pounds to lose, at this stage of weight loss it should be coming off a little easier.

I use one of those scales, theres a guy that our work contracted with to promote being healthy, He comes monthly for everyone who wants to participate. Its really cool, and I feel its a great tool and I love it, BUT it can be quite inaccurate. It can confuse water for muscle. If I get on it a day after heavy lifting, it tells me im up like 1 to 2 lbs in muscle, but its really just water retention.

Theres also a thing called the whooshing effect (correct me if Im wrong and just blurting out a bunch of "woo") but its where your fat cells lose fat but fill with water waiting for the fat to come back, and keeping your weight the same, but eventually with the fat not come back, the water empties and you suddenly lose like 3 to 5 lbs or more sometimes. that happened last month to me, I did everything right and sat at the same weight for 3 weeks, then the 4th week I was down 5lbs.

shelbygeorge29

What is most frustrating to me is that with 150 lbs to lose, and it still being the first month, I should be losing pretty quickly. If this was a couple months into things I'd be expecting a plateau or slow down.