I'm Gaining Weight!? What the HECK!!

kyleefreeman

So I started using MFP again on August 29th, after deciding that I want to lose some weight before trying for baby #2. Well, I have done extremely well and have not strayed a bit. I eat 1200 cals a day and walk at a "brisk pace" with my daughter in her stroller for 50 minutes everyday, sometimes twice a day. I eat some of my exercise calories as well. Well I have not weighed myself since beginning my journey, because I was really wanting to start noticing the difference with-in myself and not on the scale. Which I have! Not so much in the clothing department but it seems as though my walks are getting "too easy" I also didn't want to weigh myself and get discouraged if for some ODD reason I did not see results!! WELL today I was at KMART and just happened to pull 2 different scales off the shelf and just take a peek at how much i've lost, and to my surprise and FRUSTRATION I had gained 2 LBS!!! To be honest I was really hoping to lose AT LEAST 5lbs!! can someone please give me some advice! I am so bummed out I just want to cry!!

FYI: I am 5'3
Starting Weight 218.6
Todays Weight: 220 (

Jenks

Were the scales still in the box? That will mess with the reading.
Where you dressed the last time you weighed? If not that could be a difference too.

mslana504

sounds to me like your on a good regimen, is it possible the maybe your gaining some muscle mass??? Muscles weigh more than fat. Also its best to weigh yourself in the mornings before you eat or drink, (ex. 16oz of water is equal to 1 lbs)... Are your clothes fitting loser or tighter?

meganlynn1984

I'm no expert by any means...I have just started myself and this is my 3rd week. But, since you were at the store I am sure you were fully clothed, and that makes sometimes a 2 lb difference. When you first started, did you get on the scale with clothes and shoes on? Maybe you havent gained weight, but maintained instead. I am doing what you do, a 1200 calorie diet, and am trying to drink only water and burn 300 calories a day. So far its taken me 3 weeks and I've lost 7 lbs. Not as much as I've hoped for, but I'm going to keep going. Keep up your good work! I'm sure next time you weigh you will have lost 5lbs! Good luck!

fitterpam

I woudl guess first and foremost that you're not eating enough. If it's giving you 1200 cal and you're exercising you should probably be eating at least 1300-1400. You don't mention your water intake or your daily sodium levels.

Don't look at this as a frustration, but an opportunity to learn about what doesn't work for you. And you gained 1.4, not 2.0

klmmoore

It could be that you were weighing yourself completely clothed. Try doing it before you get in the shower. Also, I am in the same position. I have gained back the weight I lost while exercising 2 times a day 6 days a week and staying under my calories. Its most likely water retention or muscle gain. It is very frustrating though. I spent Saturday crying in the shower after I weighed myself. Just don't give up and keep at it. It will happen. Some of us may just be a bit slower to lose than others.

Kerri

4lafz

Don't get discouraged - I gained for the first two weeks. I believe, now, that it was water and muscle weight. The third week I lost 5 lbs. Be real sure you are drinking your water and keep it up. Also - the time you weigh yourself has something to do with it as well. I weigh once a week first thing in the morning. Weight fluctuates during the day so it is important to weigh on the SAME scale at the SAME time. If you ate and did your walking prior to weighing that may make a difference. Stay on track - you WILL lose!

skadeetin

First, here's some love for ya--- LOVE! Second, I feel ya sista! Started dieting six or seven weeks ago and BLAM! Started gaining. Numba one, yes, yes, everybody says muscle weighs more than fat. But, let me tella ya, muscle weighs ALOT more than fat. However, one pound of fat is the same as one pound of muscle I does stand to reason that if you burn off a square inch of fat and gain a square inch of muscle, you have gained weight.

Second, YES, you should probably eat more. This level you have created works for a lot of people but you need to listen to your own body. I started off in the same place. I weighed 155 and shot up to 158 in two weeks. Then, I upped my calorie count from 200 to 400 depending on how much I worked out (this site is so awesome for that!). And then, blam! the weigh started shedding off. Now I'm at 150.2. Me? well, I would recommend adding 100 calories per day at a time and see how that works for you.

Best of luck!

paynetopia

1) Weigh yourself <pick a day and time> completely naked and then always weigh yourself on the same scale, same time completely naked.
2) Eat your calories, but do not eat over your calories.
3) Drink your water.
4) If you exercise and truly want to lose weight I highly recommend getting a fitness watch with a heart rate monitor and a chest strap. The heart rate monitor will measure your actual calories burned (and the chest strap ensures accuracy). There are watches without them, but it is hard to walk/run/exercise while every few seconds trying to touch the watch with your other hand. :0) Make sure the watch is one you need to put your height, weight, age and gender, because those are the most accurate. The calories burned doing exercises in the MyFitnessPal database are on average and everyone is different! PS you do not have to spend hundreds. I think we got ours at WalMart for $30-$40 and have used them for almost 2 years.
5) Do not starve yourself. If you exercise and show that you have calories left for the day eat those calories! Your body needs the nutrition to feed the muscle you are trying to create by exercising! The more muscle you have the more calories you burn.
6) Eat right. Check the nutrition facts of everything you eat. You don't have to go nuts, but eating right was huge for us. We didn't diet (horrible word) we just changed our eating habits. We checked all of our recipes and either got rid of them or changed them to make them healthier.
7) Don't give up. We have ALL been there and are here if you need us!

chrisylim

Weight can fluctuate a few lbs a day, depending on how much you just ate or how much you drank etc. On top of that , clothes make a big difference also. I like to weigh myself regularly and at the same time every time, and not get alarmed when it's up or down 1 to 2 lbs. My experience tells me sometimes the extra 1-2 lbs may look bad but it's only because I had a huge bowl of vegetable. The food is still in my body, and the physical weight is still there.. but when it gets through, the calories aren't there to actually make me really gain the weight.

Example is that I do weigh myself every day first thing in the morning with no clothes on (Some people don't like doing it every day cuz they get too hung up on the number; I do it now because i aim for the general direction). My weight recording can be something like this: 180, 179, 180.5, 178.5, 181, 179. So what I take away from those reading would be about 179. And if I start seeing 178 more often, then I'll know i'm more around 178 and that I'm losing.

Oh, and I had to gain a lil weight (about 2 lbs) back first before I started losing weight because i wasn't eating enough calories before. I was on 1200 a day and didn't eat my exercise calories, making my NET calories at the end of the day too low...

themyriadthings

Before getting too worried it would be a good idea to weigh yourself on the same scale you took your original weight on. Scales can vary a lot! We have two at home and they are 5 lbs different!

HealthyChanges2010

So I started using MFP again on August 29th, after deciding that I want to lose some weight before trying for baby #2. Well, I have done extremely well and have not strayed a bit. I eat 1200 cals a day and walk at a "brisk pace" with my daughter in her stroller for 50 minutes everyday, sometimes twice a day. I eat some of my exercise calories as well. Well I have not weighed myself since beginning my journey, because I was really wanting to start noticing the difference with-in myself and not on the scale. Which I have! Not so much in the clothing department but it seems as though my walks are getting "too easy" I also didn't want to weigh myself and get discouraged if for some ODD reason I did not see results!! WELL today I was at KMART and just happened to pull 2 different scales off the shelf and just take a peek at how much i've lost, and to my surprise and FRUSTRATION I had gained 2 LBS!!! To be honest I was really hoping to lose AT LEAST 5lbs!! can someone please give me some advice! I am so bummed out I just want to cry!!

FYI: I am 5'3
Starting Weight 218.6
Todays Weight: 220 (

I skimmed the responses rather quickly so perhaps it's already been mentioned. But I see in your profile you'd like to lose at least 80# more. Why on earth would you only be eating 1200 cals right now?? That's what I eat with no workout time and I'm a few lbs. from goal. When I started out here I was over 1800+ in MFP cal allotment without workout cals. Are you sure MFP gave you only 1200 cals to eat a day or is that simply what you're eating to try and lose faster? That might be exactly why you're gaining, not eating enough! Eating less food doesn't equal losing weight faster when it's healthy food. It simply doesn't work that way. We've got to fuel our bodies enough to give them plenty to run on.

It's good your eating back some workout cals but......if MFP is only allotting you 1200, seems a bit low.:ohwell: for someone looking to lose 80 lbs.

I hope you consider eating more if that's what's needed, it'll be worth it in the end and save you from gaining and plataues.:flowerforyou:

kyleefreeman

Thank You all for a little bit of encouragement and words of wisdom...MFP did only give me 1200 calories to work with so that's what I was doing, but it totally makes sense to up my calories...I am almost positive that I was not eating enough, not because I was hungry but because although I did my walks in the morning and evening the rest of the day I was tired, Food=Fuel. I plan to up my calories to about 1400-1500 and see if that makes any difference.

HealthyChanges2010

Thank You all for a little bit of encouragement and words of wisdom...MFP did only give me 1200 calories to work with so that's what I was doing, but it totally makes sense to up my calories...I am almost positive that I was not eating enough, not because I was hungry but because although I did my walks in the morning and evening the rest of the day I was tired, Food=Fuel. I plan to up my calories to about 1400-1500 and see if that makes any difference.

Sounds like a great plan Kylee:drinker: :flowerforyou:

greendirl

frustration is easy whe we are just starting out.. just for your information i started on august 26th here myself.. so i feel your pain totally!!!
i gained 4lbs when i ate two pieces of chicken at elpollo loco and can feel?see the water weight on me!!!! im down 15lbs thus far, don't really exercise, since i just had tubes ties at beginning of aug, so i try to bond with the evil tredmill...(he secretly hates me)lol..
i have been really up-ing the water intake. when i feelhungry i drink water.and those eas choco-crisp bars help..besides we all need choclate once in a blue moon right?
so i do also have scale OCD and weigh in the morning after wee-wee...and then write it down.if its a good day and its down then it show. if not then its all self loatheing and im soo staving off the urge to goto robertos tacos and get my shrimp burrito with extra cheese on!!!seriously..
i wish you the best.. you sound so strong.. walking your little one..im sure you will do great things!!smiles
michelle