measuring my food but gaining rather than loosing!!

tdog213

I've never posted on here. I am 38 years old, 5'4", female, not flabby but fit. Last year around this time of year, I used MFP and lost 1/2 lb a week for a total of 10 lbs (was 148, dropped to 138) which was great. Then last Feb. my husband convinced me to go on the Paleo diet which required cutting out all grains & dairy. I went on that diet for 2.5 months hoping to loose another 7 or 8 lbs. By May, I had gained 12 lbs in 2.5 months!! (went from 138, to 152). I slowly started eating normal again & my weight went back down to 145. This time around I decided to use MFP and stick with it. I just made it through the first week!!!! yay for me.

I measured all my food, I tracked all my calories & came in just below my goals each day. I exersized 6 days this week. I was expecting to see a 1 pound loss this morning. I only weigh myself once a week. I got on the scale & I gained 6 lbs!!!! I am now 151 lbs! how is this possible???? I'm so discouraged. I'm scared that I've broken my metabolism. My calorie goal is to eat 1500 calories net per day. I achieved that every day & I felt soooo hungry & cranky all week so I thought for sure I was loosing weight! but my clothes are now tighter.

what am I doing wrong??

itsmandible

Most likely, you're not doing anything wrong! If you exercised vigorously 6 days last week and have exercised in a while, it might be water weight from swollen muscles.

WalkingAlong

I agree. You most certainly didn't break your metabolism. Good work on week 1, just ignore the scale for a little while if you're doing a new & harder workout routine.

Phoenix_Warrior

You just started exercising again, right? I would say you've got water retention. Do you weigh in at the same time, same clothes, etc? Best time to weigh in is once a week right when you get up and naked. That way, you don't have variances by what your wearing or what you've eaten throughout the day. Give it a couple weeks. Drink plenty of water. Patience! You'll get there

SmartAlec03211988

How are you tracking your exercise calories?
What are you measuring your food with?
Did you just start exercising again after a long hiatus?

ElizabethIrish

You could be gaining muscle from all the working out, or retaining water weight from inflammation if you are working out more than normal. Also - you said 1500 cals a day? Re examine your normal daily level of activity. That is what determines you baseline calorie needs when you are first putting your info into FMP. I realized I had set my daily level to more activity than I have on days I don't exercize - for instance if your daily job is quite physical, like a mail carrier then your daily calorie intake needs to be higher. I am about your size and my daily calorie goal is only 1400 calories so relook at this! Don't quit!

Chrisdoc1984

Agree, it could just be water retention. My own example, if it helps... I weighed 167lbs yesterday, but 172lbs today... I know I've not gained 5lbs overnight, but do know that I had some very salty bacon for breakfast yesterday so the sodium has likely caused my body to hold on to any fluids taken in (if I understand how this works). It'll level out

RGv2

You could be gaining muscle from all the working out, or retaining water weight from inflammation if you are working out more than normal. Also - you said 1500 cals a day? Re examine your normal daily level of activity. That is what determines you baseline calorie needs when you are first putting your info into FMP. I realized I had set my daily level to more activity than I have on days I don't exercize - for instance if your daily job is quite physical, like a mail carrier then your daily calorie intake needs to be higher. I am about your size and my daily calorie goal is only 1400 calories so relook at this! Don't quit!

It's not increased muscle mass, it has only been a week.

It's most likely water weight. My weight can fluctuate 6+ lbs depending upon my workout that morning.

bcc112986

Are you on the Paleo diet now?

Brittany

tdog213

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the encouragement. So you're saying it might be water? and it will go away hopefully? I'm not sure why I would be swollen or inflamed really. I've always gotten at least 3-4 days of exercise per week, but I'm just doing low-key things like yoga, elliptical, jogging & speed-walking. I'm hoping not to build too much more muscle. I tend to get big muscles easily for some reason even though I'm a woman. Last week, I increased from 3-4 days of exercise per week to 6 days per week. I'm no longer doing the Paleo diet, but I'm only eating foods with very few ingredients & nothing I can't pronounce.

Maybe you're right, I have overestimated my base calorie needs? How do I know what my basic calorie needs are? When I'm not excising, I'm sitting at a desk or laying on the couch or driving in a car, or just doing errands. I am counting my calories using the app by scanning the bar-codes & entering recipes for things I cook using the computer. I'm counting the exercising using the choices that are built into MFP.

Guess I'll stick with it another week & weigh in again next Monday. I guess I will try weighing in with no clothes each time. I can't remember what I was wearing when I started it. I think just shorts & a t-shirt. Ugg. I was just hoping for a loss!

tdog213

I think maybe you're right. I should set my goal at 1400 calories & see what happens. Most of the days last week though I didn't even reach the 1500 calorie mark because I was so tired of eating vegetables & chicken breast. I reached it last night because I had 300 calories left, so I drank 2 glasses of wine. I wonder if maybe the wine caused the weight gain?

geekyjock76

You say you measure your food but do you use a digital food scale and weigh everything? For you to gain 12 lbs in 10 weeks would require you to be in a calorie surplus.

Secondly, you eat 1500 net calories - what is your gross calories?

tdog213

That is true. I'm not weighing the food on a digital scale. Using a measuring cup for most things like egg whites & frozen berries & just using individual fish fillets like tilapia where the calories are shown per piece. Or adding carrots where it says 6 baby carrots = 35 calories. My gross calories last week ranged from 1580 to a high of 1800 one day. Most days it was around 1580 or so. I came in at least 100 calories below my 1500 net goal each day except for yesterday, I exceeded it by 28 calories. So I think you are right, I will get a digital scale & weigh the food!

AnnaPixie

Gaining 5 or 6lbs is definitely water retention. Either you were dehydrated when you started, or you're retaining water due to TOM, salt, muscle bloat, stress!

You really need to watch the trend over 4 - 8 weeks, not base it on 1 week.

Good luck :flowerforyou:

RGv2

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the encouragement. So you're saying it might be water? and it will go away hopefully? I'm not sure why I would be swollen or inflamed really. I've always gotten at least 3-4 days of exercise per week, but I'm just doing low-key things like yoga, elliptical, jogging & speed-walking. I'm hoping not to build too much more muscle. I tend to get big muscles easily for some reason even though I'm a woman. Last week, I increased from 3-4 days of exercise per week to 6 days per week. I'm no longer doing the Paleo diet, but I'm only eating foods with very few ingredients & nothing I can't pronounce.

Maybe you're right, I have overestimated my base calorie needs? How do I know what my basic calorie needs are? When I'm not excising, I'm sitting at a desk or laying on the couch or driving in a car, or just doing errands. I am counting my calories using the app by scanning the bar-codes & entering recipes for things I cook using the computer. I'm counting the exercising using the choices that are built into MFP.

Guess I'll stick with it another week & weigh in again next Monday. I guess I will try weighing in with no clothes each time. I can't remember what I was wearing when I started it. I think just shorts & a t-shirt. Ugg. I was just hoping for a loss!

You just stated you increased from 3-4 days per week to 6. That would be enough to cause the water retention right there.

Don't worry about building muscle, you're not eating enough to do so if you are only taking in 1500 caloroes, and with being female you don't have the testosterone to do so either unless you're some sort of genetic anomaly.

conniedj

Your net calories are the calories minus exercise. So, if you're eating a total of 1500 calories/day, and burning let's say 400 calories/day, your net would = 1100 calories.

Do a search on:
BMR=Basal Metabolic Rate

TDEE=Total Daily Energy Expenditure

You should always net above your BMR, and a small defecit below TDEE.


My BMR is over 1600 and I generally net between 2000-2200 calories/day. This is maintenance for me. HTH!

SmartAlec03211988

That is true. I'm not weighing the food on a digital scale. Using a measuring cup for most things like egg whites & frozen berries & just using individual fish fillets like tilapia where the calories are shown per piece. Or adding carrots where it says 6 baby carrots = 35 calories. My gross calories last week ranged from 1580 to a high of 1800 one day. Most days it was around 1580 or so. I came in at least 100 calories below my 1500 net goal each day except for yesterday, I exceeded it by 28 calories. So I think you are right, I will get a digital scale & weigh the food!

Bingo.

You cannot possibly know how many calories you're consuming if you aren't weighing the food. Just because it says 6 carrots is a serving doesn't mean it is - the serving size is actually the weight, which as you may find could be more or even less than 6 carrots.

Same with tilapia fillets. Just because it says a serving is "1 fillet (4 oz)" doesn't mean the tilapia in the package actually weighs 4 oz. Most likely it weighs more.

Same with with eggs and berries - the volume measurement is vastly, supremely inaccurate to weight.

So yes, invest in a food scale ASAP.

Also if you're going by the calorie burns on MFP... well they're known to be inflated. Do not trust them at all. At the least half the number for a more realistic burn.

So you're most likely underestimating calories eaten, and overestimating calories burned.

tdog213

Ok thank you all so much!!! I will get a food scale and keep at it. I also didn't realize the calorie burn from the different exercises were inflated. Today I used an elliptical machine at the gym where you punch in your weight & it measures your heart rate & speed & tells you your calorie burn. Hopefully that is accurate at least!