Is it normal to gain weight on a diet and exercise daily?

mibster123

Hi I have been struggling with my weight loss journey I just started about a month ago dieting and only eating 1200 cal a day and eating very clean, no carbs, no dairy. I’ve been exercising for at least 30 minutes to an hour a day walking, running, and doing workouts for abs arms and legs. I have noticed that I am gaining weight and I don’t understand why it’s very discouraging. I’m just wondering if there’s anything I’m doing wrong I am on a very strict diet and I’m working out every day but for some reason I am gaining weight rather than losing weight. Anyone has any insight please let me know. For a reference I am 22 years old 5 foot 4 and 153 pounds and I would like to get down to 130

kshama2001

There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

AnnPT77

What kshama said.

Also, if someone completely revolutionizes their lifestyle - eats dramatically differently, starts a bunch of new exercise programs, etc. - it's common for water weight fluctuations to be a little crazy for up to the first month or so. That isn't fat, but it can hide fat loss on the scale.

If you're adult, female, not in menopause yet, that weirdness also happens against a backdrop of hormone-related monthly water retention patterns. This is unusual, but some women only see a new low weight once a month, at a particular point in their menstrual cycle. If you're new to this, haven't learned your personalized patterns yet - because it differs from one woman to the next - that could be part of the situation, too.

This has good background information on water retention and now it messes with scale weight, and our heads:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

Read the article linked in the first post. Highly recommended.

ETA: If you're truly eating only 1200 and doing all that exercise, you're putting quite a lot of stress on your body. Stress increases water retention. 1200 plus all exercise calories was way too low for me when I first joined MFP at 5'5" and 155 pounds . . . but at age 59, so with lower calorie burn expectations than you would have at age 22. I lost most of the rest of the weight at 1400-1600 calories plus all carefully-estimated exercise calories, and have been at a healthy weight since, currently a weight just a bit below your goal. It can work.

geltner1

Are you measuring your food portions? This isn't as hard as it sounds. You can measure what one cup looks like in one of your bowls and after that, just estimate. I know some recommend a food scale but I've never used one.

Xellercin

Well first, what do you mean by gaining weight? Over what length of time? Like are you consistently gaining week over week or is the scale sometimes going up for a week or two?

We need to know what kind of gain is actually happening and the timeline in order for people to give you good advice.

mhsluk

You’re likely not eating enough for the amount of energy you expend. I would guess that also means you’re not getting sufficient protein- which can greatly hinder your weight loss efforts. Additionally, a body under stress, combined with a very restrictive diet can cause water retention. The truest indicator of progress is going to be inches vs the scale. — lastly, perhaps consider getting your hormones checked, specifically TSH, free T3 and T4, cortisol and testosterone. Any imbalance in these sensitive hormones can wreak havoc on your hard work.

PAV8888

Xellercin wrote: »

Well first, what do you mean by gaining weight? Over what length of time? Like are you consistently gaining week over week or is the scale sometimes going up for a week or two?

We need to know what kind of gain is actually happening and the timeline in order for people to give you good advice.

QFT, because: BINGO!

and also how long have you been eating 1200Cal and were there any previous losses before the (recent?) bout of gaining?

onyxgirl17

No carbs and no dairy? Ouch. I’m just going to put out there if your doctor hasn’t advised you to take such extremes then you don’t need to. It’s better to build sustainable habits so you don’t gain more when you’re done with your “diet”.

Also, I notice that you also only want to lose 22 pounds. One month is not enough time to really see a difference when you don’t have much to lose. I’m losing slowly and sometimes don’t see a loss for awhile but trust the numbers and eventually the scale shows the loss. For context I was about the same weight as you a year ago and I’ve lost 20 pounds in a year eating ~1400-1500 calories a day with no additional exercise to my job related tasks. I also eat carbs and dairy every day with no problem.