Is there something else I should be doing??

chuchuboogie

So I've been losing weight off and on for a while now. I'm down about 80lbs now but I still have a decent amount to go to get to my goal (about 50lbs left). Recently I've had some trouble where my weight will get stuck for weeks at a time. Currently I weigh 188ish and my daily calories are set to 1200. I do a solid cardio and weight lifting workout 4 times a week. I've noticed on days that I exercise I tend to gain weight? I count my sodium to try and keep it low so I thought this would help with water weight and I drink about 1.5 gallons of water a day. I also try to keep my protein up, but that is difficult for me as I do not really enjoy any source of protein very much (i'll eat it but I'm not a big fan, so it's hard to get the massive quantities in that people suggest).

So recently the thing that has made me confused it a couple days ago I weighed 187.6. This was at the end of a weekend, which I do not work out on so I tend to lose more weight during it (counter intuitive to me...). So then I had a workout day and it stayed the same. Fine. But then I had another non workout day. I was 73 calories under my calorie goal, which is normal for me. I'm usually somewhere around 50 to 100 under. Usually these are the days where I see my weight loss. And I gained weight! I was 188 the next day! So I thought maybe it was some weird water weight and it would drop off the next day. So that day was one of my exercise days. I ran for 33 minutes and burned 369 calories. I lifted weights (specifically in my arms that day). And I wound up being 399 calories under that day (after the calories for my exercise had been added in). I find it difficult to eat all my calories on exercise days sometimes, because I really don't have that big of an appetite. Anyway, I was under, I exercised and I woke up, weighed my self and I had gained again and was now 188.2! Am I missing something I should be doing? Is it normal to gain weight even when you have a calorie deficit when you exercise??

Mokey41

First off you're obsessing about fractions of a pound. Quit weighing yourself so much. Anyone's weight can vary by up to 5 lbs based on water retention, waste in your system, etc. .2 of a pound is not something to even think about.

Next, I really really doubt that you should be eating 1200 calories. I'm tiny and 56 and my BMR is 1200 calories so there is no way you aren't under eating and while that may sound like a great way to lose weight, it isn't. All your doing is teaching your body to live on fewer and fewer calories. Do some research and find out what you BMR and TDEE really are then eat somewhere between the two. Less is not always the way to go.

chuchuboogie

What really?? I thought I was eating a lot! I just was doing whatever my app told me to eat and it was more than what I was eating before so I thought I was good! Part of my problem I guess is I really just don't have a very big appetite. Like I never feel hungry on this diet. But I will try looking that up.