Im doing a 1300 diet plan but all i seem to be doing is gaining weight.

I weighted less before i downloaded this app. I am sick of putting on weight. Am i calculating my calories inaccurate? What am i doing wrong?

Replies

  • ThatJuJitsuWoman
    ThatJuJitsuWoman Posts: 155 Member
    1300 calories is pretty low, so it’s unlikely that your settings are wrong (unless you are very petite and don’t move much at all), but it’s easy to eat more than you think.
    Are you counting everything including things like drinks and cooking oil?
    Do you weigh your food or guess what size portions you’re eating? The difference can be big if you’re guessing.
    Do you log food in your diary when you eat it, or later in the day? I have to log everything straight away because I tend to forget things if I do it later.
    Finally, do you use the recipe builder when you cook something at home, or are you using entries already in the database? These could be completely different to whatever you’ve cooked so it’s best to put in your own recipes.

    Hopefully some of that helps, good luck with your goals!
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    Your food diary is on the private setting so it's very hard to say where you're having problems. One can only generalize. Change your setting to public and you'll get better information.
  • stephie_nyc
    stephie_nyc Posts: 96 Member
    You need to provide more information. How long have you been counting calories, how much weight did you gain and since when, what time of day did you weigh yourself, etc.
  • poisonesse
    poisonesse Posts: 526 Member
    Sounds to me like you're guessing at your portion sizes. Invest in a good digital food scale, and weigh everything that you eat! Measuring cups and spoons can be helpful, but they're not as accurate as a decent scale.

    Try not to eat your exercise calories, or at least not all of them. I found that the site gives WAY to much credit for exercise calories, and eating them always caused me to gain!

    Also, no "cheat" days, why would you want to cheat yourself???

    These are things I learned along the way, and they helped me to lose 60 pounds and basically keep them off. Give it a try, it's at least something to start with. ;)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,907 Member
    If you open your Food page for us to take a peek, we can probably spot some common errors in your logging.

    Go to FOOD > Settings, scroll down and click, "Public."
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    If you are gaining, you either have some kind of imbalance causing you to retain a lot of water or, if you are like 99% of people with the issue, you are not counting calories correctly.

    1) Get a scale and weigh all solids and semi solids (like peanut butter or mayo) and measure all liquids. Decent scales can be bought for $15 at places like Walmart and Amazon. Your local grocery store will have good measuring cups for liquid (don't get the sets of dry cups, they are not accurate for liquids). Try to use grams instead of ounces for accuracy.

    2) Never use generic or "homemade" entries in the database. If you are using something packaged, use the info on the package itself and either find where someone else entered it or create an entry. Whole food entries should be USDA entries

    3) Use the recipe builder when you make something. Always weigh things that absorb water (like rice, beans/lentils, or pasta) when they are dry and use the dry weight entry. I prefer to weigh my meat raw and use those entries. It is impossible to know for sure how much that cooked off is water and how much is fat.

    4) Start out by eating back 1/2 of your exercise calories and adjust after a few weeks. Some calorie estimates are reasonably accurate (like those you get from your own fitness tracker), some are a bit off (like the generic exercise ones in MFP), and some are wildly inaccurate (like the ones on things like treadmills and exercise bikes).

    Start with the basics like correct logging and go from there.
  • nutmegoreo
    nutmegoreo Posts: 15,532 Member
    Just a couple other questions:

    Have you started a new exercise program? If yes, what and how often?
    Are you close to ovulation or TOM?

    These things can cause water retention that will look like gaining weight to the scale, but is normal water fluctuations.