Gained Body Fat While on Calorie Deficit

myisha00
myisha00 Posts: 12 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’ve female 5’9 and trying to lose weight and tone. I’ve been using MyFitnessPal to calculate my calories for about a month now and I take in 1300 calories a day. I recent bought a scale to track my weight loss and BMI and all has been going well except this morning I somehow gained a pound of body fat and loss muscle according to my scale. I weightlift 3 times a week and do cardio 5 times. How is it possible that I gained weight? My Macros are 30 carbs, 40 protein, 30 fat. Am I doing something wrong?1tnpkv53dcao.png
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Replies

  • endermako
    endermako Posts: 785 Member
    Composition scales are not the most accurate. They can track a trend over time however, and that's what i use mine for. If you are weighing everything and tracking accurately with your food then there is no way you gained fat. It's water weight at the most.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    It takes about 3500 calories in addition to your daily maintenance calories to gain a pound of fat. It is helpful to remember that in the early stages of weight loss when you step on the scale and it goes up. Even if your food log was off some it is unlikely that you ate at least 4k more calories than you realized yesterday.

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    myisha00 wrote: »
    Thanks everyone! I was aware that my scale might not be the most accurate at measuring my weight composition but I thought that it would at least remain consistent. Im bit disappointed if that is not true but glad that I did not mess something up. I was doing once a week weigh ins before but read that daily was better to get more insight in my progress. I’m going to try to continue with daily measurements to track the trends. If it drives me too crazy I’ll go back to weekly. My main issue is want to build muscle and lose fat which I’ve heard is difficult to achieve simultaneously. This is kinda why I’m not too concerned with the weight but more concerned with my body fat and muscle mass reading. I wish there was a better way to get a more accurate reading. Maybe I’ll switch using a tape measure or combination of both.

    I tried using a tape. I can't get the same number twice, so am using it once a month only. I weigh daily (and get a BF% daily) because it's easy. Stand on the scale and am done, but mine is wifi so I don't even have to type numbers in. :)

  • CTcutie
    CTcutie Posts: 649 Member
    You can weigh daily/every other day and use a trending app- there are several options (Happy Scale, Scelta are 2 I’ve tried). These apps are not really useful if you only weigh once a week.
  • TrishSeren
    TrishSeren Posts: 587 Member
    Body comp scales are wildly inaccurate.
  • SpyLuna
    SpyLuna Posts: 10 Member
    I read a study on those body comp scales and they are tremendously inaccurate. They are basically useless. There are local places (some places) where they have those pods and it's fairly inexpensive to use them and they are accurate.
  • SpyLuna
    SpyLuna Posts: 10 Member
    I read a study on those body comp scales and they are tremendously inaccurate. They are basically useless. There are local places (some places) where they have those pods and it's fairly inexpensive to use them and they are accurate.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    edited February 2019
    alicemarshall2 wrote: »
    When I had my appraisal at the gym the woman told me that when you under over eat your body starts to store fat.. I was given an ideal daily calorie goal based on my body fat %, weight, height etc... It had a fancy name which I can't remember

    FIFY
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Body weight fluctuates naturally up and down, even when you're in a deficit. Scales are not accurate at measuring bodyfat...think about it...how could they be. It's a gimmick.
  • jseams1234
    jseams1234 Posts: 1,219 Member
    edited February 2019
    myisha00 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Body weight fluctuates naturally up and down, even when you're in a deficit. Scales are not accurate at measuring bodyfat...think about it...how could they be. It's a gimmick.

    I agree that they may not be the most accurate but I don't think they are a gimmick. I've been eating in a caloric deficit and weight lifting 3 to 4 four times a week for about two months and my scale has shown an increase in my muscle mass and for the most part loss in body fat since I first started. I feel like if they were just a gimmick then I would be seeing more random readings instead of just one or two fluctuation here and there.

    They use an algorithm that is partially based off of BMI. They can show a trend if used properly (sometimes) but these types of scales can be highly inaccurate... up to 8% or more on a reading. It could be telling you that you are 20% body fat and in reality you are closer to 28%. That's not acceptable in my opinion. Besides, the electric impulse it uses typically travels up one leg and down the other, completely ignoring your upper body... or if it's a hand held device, up one arm and down the other - ignoring your core/chest and lower body. Once again, they use a calculation based on a statistical mean. If you fall outside of this that calculation is going to be highly inaccurate. If you want an example of how this works on your bathroom BIA scale - hold a weight in your hands and take a new measurement. Viola! ...you suddenly gained a ton of body fat according to your BIA device and the only thing that changed is your total body weight.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited February 2019
    I'm using that same app, its so unreliable other than just gathering scale weight, actually BIA scales in general are unreliable but that app software went though a complete overhaul and its crap now compared to what it used to be. Hydration effects results immensely no matter the device you use.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,252 Member
    edited February 2019
    Yes, you're doing something wrong: you're believing the results of your BMI scale!

    Or to rephrase: you believe that your BMI scale is capable of giving you actionable results.
  • myisha00
    myisha00 Posts: 12 Member
    Does anyone have any suggestions on what tools to use to get a more accurate body fat and muscle mass readings? I mainly want to make sure I am not losing muscle mass while I am on my calorie deficit. My goal is to get down to 20% body fat. Thanks to everyone who has replied!
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    Others have already covered the inaccuracy of the scale you are using.

    I wanted to inquire about your stats and goal - you are 5’9, currently 152 lbs and you have a calorie goal of 1300? What rate of loss did you choose, because it really shouldn’t be more than 0.5 lbs/week assuming you have less than 20 lbs to lose. So you may also need to adjust your expectations.

    How are you measuring intake? Are you using a food scale?
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,479 Member
    Depending on my level of hydration etc, my scales will read anywhere from 19 to 26% bodyfat within a 24-hour window...so, definitely don't put too much stock in the bodyfat reading a scale gives you!
  • mackfoo
    mackfoo Posts: 28 Member
    Body fat percentage is NOT body fat.

    If you had a certain amount (mass) of fat, and you lost water, your body fat PERCENTAGE would go up, though you may have even lost actual fat.

    That reading says that your water percentage went down. That just means that your other numbers will go up, 'cause you know, it all has to add up to 100.

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