Stuck to my calories and gained????

ablymiller

Hello,

I have stuck strictly to my 1200 calories, and low carb for 2 weeks now. Last week I lost 3 pounds. This week I gained 1.4 pounds. How is this possible? I weighed at the same day and at the same time both times. I don’t get it? 1200 calories definitely is putting me in a deficit. Why am I gaining? I have a fairly sedentary job and have not been working out so I am pretty sure it is not muscle gain. HELP getting very frustrated, and discouraged 😔

SuzySunshine99

Even if you are extremely accurate with your calorie counting, you will not lose weight consistently every week. There are so many factors that lead to weight fluctuations, such as sodium intake, hormones, food waste in your system, etc.

You have lost 1.6 pounds in 2 weeks. You need to be more patient and give it a lot more time. Monitor your progress for at least 6 weeks. If the general trend is downward, then you are making progress.

SuzySunshine99

Also this:

wilson10102018

Its all about the water and the waste elimination. Ignore daily fluctuations.

Tesha231

Agree with the previous posters. Have to keep in mind we didn't gain this "extra" overnight so we need to be patient as we take our bodies back!

Carp614

I agree with the others. This is well within a normal intraday weight fluctuation. You could be fooling your body into trying to store calories with such a restrictive diet and no change in activity level.

I'm sure you know about this already, but in a nutshell, if you severely restrict calories your body may start trying to store fat as a starvation response. To lose weight you have to avoid triggering this starvation mode. I think that's why most of the fitness people recommend a deficit of no more than 500 calories per day from your base metabolic rate.

Regardless, don't be discouraged! you can do this.

harper16

Carp614 wrote: »

I agree with the others. This is well within a normal intraday weight fluctuation. You could be fooling your body into trying to store calories with such a restrictive diet and no change in activity level.

I'm sure you know about this already, but in a nutshell, if you severely restrict calories your body may start trying to store fat as a starvation response. To lose weight you have to avoid triggering this starvation mode. I think that's why most of the fitness people recommend a deficit of no more than 500 calories per day from your base metabolic rate.

Regardless, don't be discouraged! you can do this.

Starvation mode isn't a thing.

debrakgoogins

Lietchi

Here's an interesting read:
https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

You might also want to start using a weight trending app to smooth out the fluctuations, for example Happy Scale or Libra.

springlering62

Tesha231 wrote: »

we didn't gain this "extra" overnight so we need to be patient as we take our bodies back!

theres so many good quotes on this site I want to steal. Or at least save someplace.

sijomial

Two weeks is simply too short a timescale to come to any meaningful conclusions.

If you are getting discouraged after just two weeks you really need to have a serious think about your mindset TBH.
Think where you are going to be in months and not days.

cwolfman13

ablymiller wrote: »

Hello,

I have stuck strictly to my 1200 calories, and low carb for 2 weeks now. Last week I lost 3 pounds. This week I gained 1.4 pounds. How is this possible? I weighed at the same day and at the same time both times. I don’t get it? 1200 calories definitely is putting me in a deficit. Why am I gaining? I have a fairly sedentary job and have not been working out so I am pretty sure it is not muscle gain. HELP getting very frustrated, and discouraged 😔

Losing weight isn't a linear process. Your weight fluctuates naturally and weight loss and weight management in general is about long term trends and averages. You will have weeks with bigger losses, smaller losses, no losses, and gains...that's how it works. Losing weight and then maintaining your weight in the future is all about the long game, not days or a couple of weeks.

AshHeartsJesus

I agree I have watched weight go up and down on a scale by 2 pounds in one day eating really lean and exercising. I agree with fluids and 💩 With low carb you are probably eating lots of protein and dairy with less veggies and fruits that make you 💩.

Also working out is good too carve out some time for it 👍