Exercising and dieting but gaining weight?

LaPalmaGem
LaPalmaGem Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I’m fully prepared to be told I’m messing up somewhere. I must be. I feel like I’m doing all the right things, but the weight is not shifting.

I’ve got a calorie allowance of 1200, and I generally try and do 30 mins of exercise each morning. My Apple Watch isn’t terribly impressed with my efforts, I usually only burn 150 calories at a time, but after going through chemo for a year and having zero energy, trust me this is an improvement for me!

I’ll admit, I’ve had a couple of ‘cheat’ meals, like a pizza or I got some chips from the takeaway at the start of January, but the mad thing is, those were the only weeks I lost anything! Then I go back to being good and the weight comes back on! I cook from scratch, I generally try and adopt a kind of ‘Slimming World’ approach to cooking from scratch (but don’t necessarily follow the plan to a T).

Please help, where am I going wrong? I desperately want to lose weight for a holiday and I just feel like I’m hitting a brick wall. I’m sure there’s something totally obvious that I’m doing wrong but I‘m clearly missing what’s right in front of me.

Replies

  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    Work your way through this flowchart, report back :)

    Also, a 150 cal burn for half an hour of exercise is perfectly fine and normal (exercise doesn't burn anywhere near the calories people think it does). Are you adding those calories on to your 1200?

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  • LaPalmaGem
    LaPalmaGem Posts: 4 Member
    I will sometimes eat back exercise calories. I have switched up my exercise routine to incorporate more strength training recently, but I can’t remember if this aligns with the weight gain... I sit at a computer all day so maybe I shouldn’t be eating back any of my exercise calories?
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    No, MFP is designed so that you eat back exercise cals. Sometimes devices overestimate, so maybe go with 50-75% to start with and track your weight loss over 4-6 weeks to get an average. If it's less than expected, decrease cals, if it's more, increase.

    Any new exercise, or increase in intensity or duration, will cause water weight gain for muscle repair, so that may be your answer. Throw in monthly hormonal fluctuations too. Using a trending app to log your weight is really useful, because it smoothes out the fluctuations. This is mine for the past four weeks. As you can see, lots of bouncing around at times (all hormonal, I get the double whammy of ovulation and TOM fluid retention), but my trend line is on a steady downward trajectory.

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  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,127 Member
    edited February 2020
    Are you logging your cheat meals when you have them, with a reasonable estimate?

    If the strength training is new then that can cause water retention. Have you noticed any other forms of progress, clothes fitting better or noticeabley slimmer in certain areas? The scale isn't the only way to see if fat is being lost.

    Regardlesss of whether you're sitting at a computer all day you should be eating some exercise calories back.
    If you've set yourself to Sedentary (Desk Job) then that accounts for around 3000 steps per day, even most people in a desk job will get more than that unless they drive to/from work and sit on the sofa the minute they finish work until they go to bed. Exercise is not included in your calorie goal so you should be eating back at least some of them.
  • LaPalmaGem
    LaPalmaGem Posts: 4 Member
    What trending app is it you use Nony?

    I’ve noticed my muscles aching a bit more so I assume I’m doing something right exercise wise! I have logged my cheat meals to the best of my ability, as much as it pained me to see my calorie allowance go red.

    I think the Apple Watch gives a slightly more accurate reading than just guessimating with MyFitnessPal but of course it won’t be 100% accurate and chances are it’s showing I’m burning more than I have.
  • Nony_Mouse
    Nony_Mouse Posts: 5,646 Member
    I use Trendweight (web based, need a Fitbit account to log your weight, but don't actually need a Fitbit), there's also Happy Scale (iPhone) and Libra (Android), and a couple of others I think.
  • LaPalmaGem
    LaPalmaGem Posts: 4 Member
    I just downloaded Happy Scale.
  • donsenna
    donsenna Posts: 6 Member
    Hey all. I'm new, 7 days on the App. I am a 41-year-old man living in South Africa. I do Crossfit 3/4 times a week and eat below, or right on my calorie goal every day. I have given up all alcohol, but I must say, I am seeing centimeters drop off the waistline but no kgs. I often feel rather tired during the day despite getting to bed early every night. Any thoughts?
  • deannalfisher
    deannalfisher Posts: 5,600 Member
    donsenna wrote: »
    Hey all. I'm new, 7 days on the App. I am a 41-year-old man living in South Africa. I do Crossfit 3/4 times a week and eat below, or right on my calorie goal every day. I have given up all alcohol, but I must say, I am seeing centimeters drop off the waistline but no kgs. I often feel rather tired during the day despite getting to bed early every night. Any thoughts?

    recommend you start your own thread

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