I keep gaining weight...what am I doing wrong?

pcastagner

sigh...

this is seen all too often around here. If you don't weigh your food, it's not even possible to know if you are eating more or less the next day.

The problem with telling you that eating less to lose weight is a myth, is that it isn't. If you put people in a controlled setting, the more you feed them the more the grow, and the less you feed them the more they shrink. It's only in unicorn land that the opposite can happen, because in unicorn land, it's never a mistake someone made in their logging, and it's always a problem with the basic laws of physics that govern reality outside of the area affected by the singularity created when one diets.

davert123

How long have you been doing this for without loss ? I know my weight goes up and down over a couple of weeks, I've most probably lost a lb of of fact since Friday but i am weighing 4 lb heavier i.e. my scales measure the total content of everything under my skin not just body fat - I am storing water at the moment but still losing fat). I know that the downward trend will continue though over the next few weeks even though my weight has increased. If you weigh yourself every day (I do and it works fine with me) but have only weighed yourself for a week it could be the scales are just playing tricks.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

How long have you been stalled?

WriteRunWrite

I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.

It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.

It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?

Two weeks is not very long. Try the food scale first. I'm a proponent of smaller deficits because personally I find that being hungry and tired all the time leads to overeating. If you're unsure about the exercise calories maybe start with just eating back half. You really need about 4 weeks of tracking to make a determination about whether what you're doing is working. All kinds of things can make your weight fluctuate so just focus on whether you're seeing a downward trend.

But yeah the starvation mode thing is a big debate here. Next try starting a thread on clean eating.

Love4fitnesslove4food2

I think your body image is the only thing that needs fixing. I don't mean that to be rude but to be honest--your weight is not your problem. Perhaps an improvement in your body composition would give you the results you desire but SEVERELY restricting your calories the way you are is not sustainable in the long term especially considering you said you're always hungry.

Try weight lifting, eating at MAYBE a 10% deficit, and giving it time. I can't fathom you possibly needing to lose weight.

wilsoje74

I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.


(5'8 and 138lbs)

If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.

If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!

wilsoje74

I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.

It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?

If you are gaining, you are eating too much.

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.

It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?

If you are gaining, you are eating too much.

Generally, if she were gaining gradually over a longer period of time I'd agree. But her "gain" is only after 2 weeks. She runs every day. It seems more like that she's dealing with fluid retention and normal weight fluctuations.

WriteRunWrite

I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.


(5'8 and 138lbs)

If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.

If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!

According to the limits, heavy exercise is if you workout 6-7 days a week. Daily exercise is if you workout 7 days a week and have a physical job as well:

Heavy exercise (ex: exercising 6-7 days/week)
Daily exercise (ex: exercising 7 days/week and working a physical job)

pcastagner

I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.


(5'8 and 138lbs)

If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.

If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!

According to the limits, heavy exercise is if you workout 6-7 days a week. Daily exercise is if you workout 7 days a week and have a physical job as well:

Heavy exercise (ex: exercising 6-7 days/week)
Daily exercise (ex: exercising 7 days/week and working a physical job)

I can guarantee you don't need that many cals. let's just start at the beginning, by knowing how much you eat for the next three weeks. wwe will weigh you every day until then. after, by comparing your net change to your accounting, we will know if you had a negative, positive, or neutral energy balance over the three week span.

then we will have your actual TDEE instead of this ridiculous conjecture, and you'll have clear parameters for achieving your goals.

WriteRunWrite

I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.


(5'8 and 138lbs)

If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:

http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html

Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.

If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!

According to the limits, heavy exercise is if you workout 6-7 days a week. Daily exercise is if you workout 7 days a week and have a physical job as well:

Heavy exercise (ex: exercising 6-7 days/week)
Daily exercise (ex: exercising 7 days/week and working a physical job)

I can guarantee you don't need that many cals. let's just start at the beginning, by knowing how much you eat for the next three weeks. wwe will weigh you every day until then. after, by comparing your net change to your accounting, we will know if you had a negative, positive, or neutral energy balance over the three week span.

then we will have your actual TDEE instead of this ridiculous conjecture, and you'll have clear parameters for achieving your goals.

Sounds good! While I'm at work today, I'll have to figure out how to make my diary public (it's set at private right now, I think). And add pics...maybe. :embarassed:

I appreciate everyone replying...much better to hear I'm probably not doing it right and need try to figure out how to fix it than sitting here crying into my coffee...ha

wilsoje74

I understand you run daily, but running 5 miles is not really what if consider heavy exercise. You are female right? You won't need over 2000 cals. I'd gain for sure eating that much. You shouldn't be hungry eating that amount.

annalicous

Aside from some of the comments that have already been mentioned I recommend that you 'Try a different scale'. Some scales are not that accurate and it would help just to have a second one just incase one is delivering faulty readings.

Love4fitnesslove4food2

I understand you run daily, but running 5 miles is not really what if consider heavy exercise. You are female right? You won't need over 2000 cals. I'd gain for sure eating that much. You shouldn't be hungry eating that amount.

Wrong. While I can't say with any degree of certainty that she does need more than 2000...most women running 5 miles a day would NOT gain on that amount (2000 calories). I'm substantially smaller and eat 2000 daily without weight gain and I don't run 5 miles a day.

rileysowner

So to be clear, in the last week or so you started running a whole lot more? If that is the case, and you are measuring your food and drink consumption very carefully, you likely have something like this going on, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis

cafeaulait7

Yeah, 'weight' gain can definitely be water, and that won't be figured in any calories in vs out sort of math. The tape measure is better than the scale for me with water issues (from heavy exercise or TOM), but even then bloating can mess up the measuring.

Basically, patience is the biggest thing you need to do if that's the problem The weight loss trend will outnumber the water weight lbs given enough time. The water pounds can go away, too, but for me they typically come up again, lol. The entire trend line goes down, though, but it took weeks for me to see mine do that. 3 weeks would definitely not ever be long enough for me because of hormonal water weight fluctuations in that short a period. People who lose at a fast rate, generally those with more to lose, could do with 3 weeks and still see their downward trend, probably.

SammyyRae

Water weight. just have patience and keep working hard. You could be losing inches so that's a good thing too! ive been working out and lost maybe 2 lbs but ive lost 5 inches off of my waist. im slimming before losing pounds I guess! Everybody is different! don't give up!!