what am I doing wrong

missfree33

Hi I'm Freda I'm 37yrs old weight 190lbs approx 5" 5.5. I have been going to the gym regularly fit about 3months now I do cardio 4 times a week burning approx 500 calories each of those days doing cardio and I also weight train, I go dancing at least 2 days a week, I walk regularly, very active sexually, and pretty much don't sit down until the end of the day, I've cut my eating down a lot problem is that instead of losing I'm gaining I started at 189 months ago dropped down to 184 and picked it all back up plus a pound. I don't over indulge in food, I only consume one substantial meal a day the other two are extremely light no fried foods, only salads and baked chicken occasionally sone ice cream and fruit. I'm not flabby except in my tummy area everything else is muscular and firm so why am I gaining weight do I have to cut down to one meal a day I'm getting desperate?? Any clues add to what I'm doing wrong?

SLLRunner

HI Freda,

Your diary is not open, which would make it easier for people to provide feedback. That said--

Do you weigh all your food and measure/weight liquids?

Do you log everything you eat?

Keeping accurate track of all the food you eat and exercise and eat within your calorie goals. If you use the MFP method to calculate calories, it does not account for exercise calories therefore you need to eat them back to properly fuel your body.If you use MFP calorie estimations, only eat about half back because they are way overestimated.

I think you are on the right track by not cutting out any foods you love. Losing weight is not about the type of food you eat but how much. Moderation is the key.

missfree33

I don't have anything open because I just joined, desperate to find some way of getting the weight off. Unfortunately the methods you mentioned I am clue less about ive just been doing what I always have in the past to lose weight. I almost feel like if I cut any more of my food I'm going to be darn near starving I'm always hungry as it is. I will look into what fitness pal has to offer and see if Ican get an understanding of the things you mentioned I'm moving so much all day I don't know how I'll find the time to log everything I consume but will make an attempt thanks

LKArgh

The exercise will make you fitter and help you get in shape, but unless you eat less than you burn, it is not going to help lose weight. Set a weight loss goal of half to one lb per week, calculate how much you should be eating, and start logging your calories. Use a scale to weigh everything you eat, at least the first weeks until you can get better at estimates.

SezxyStef

I don't have anything open because I just joined, desperate to find some way of getting the weight off. Unfortunately the methods you mentioned I am clue less about ive just been doing what I always have in the past to lose weight. I almost feel like if I cut any more of my food I'm going to be darn near starving I'm always hungry as it is. I will look into what fitness pal has to offer and see if Ican get an understanding of the things you mentioned I'm moving so much all day I don't know how I'll find the time to log everything I consume but will make an attempt thanks

Exercise is for health a calorie deficet is for weight loss.

To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficet...and to know if you are in a calorie deficet you have to log accurately. With your diary closed it's hard to tell if you are but...

To log accurately you need to weigh your solids, measure your liquids, enter into your diary using the correct entries and stay as close to the calorie goal given to you by MFP as you can without going over.

The key is to set a reasonable weight loss goal. With 25lbs to lose choose 1/2lb a week and choose an appropriate activity level not including exercise.

That should give you lots to eat and you will still lose weight, then when you exercise you log that and eat back a portion of those calories ensuring you don't go below 1200 calories a day.

editorgrrl

You're underestimating your food & overestimating your burns. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh all your food.

Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

emstethem

Thought about getting your thyroid checked?

missfree33

Thanks for the advice considering how little I eat I assumed I had to be burning more calories than I was taking in between cardio, and dancing, and walking I'm not a big eater I cut my calories alot I guess not enough strangly I weighed less when I wasn't working out at all seems since I started gym I've put on more weight even though I eat less than before. I'm just going to limit myself to 800 calories a day and I'm starting a cleanser tonite. I did my cardio and burned over 700 calories today plus I will be doing an aerobic tape later going to burn another hundred or two. I'll log if I have lost any weight at end of week

missfree33

If this new regiment doesn't work that's my next step cause I feel I'm way too active to weigh as much as I do

kimazoo

Be careful that you don't cut too many calories as your body will slow down on weight loss. Your body will use your muscle as fuel - defeating the purpose of loosing fat/gaining muscle. I'm 5'6 and 139 pounds. I eat anywhere between 1700-2200 calories a day and still loose weight (I burn 300-800 calories during my workouts). It's important to fuel your body for those workouts so that you are burning fat and not muscle. If you want to add me as a friend, you can see my daily food log.

editorgrrl

Thanks for the advice considering how little I eat I assumed I had to be burning more calories than I was taking in between cardio, and dancing, and walking I'm not a big eater I cut my calories alot I guess not enough strangly I weighed less when I wasn't working out at all seems since I started gym I've put on more weight even though I eat less than before. I'm just going to limit myself to 800 calories a day and I'm starting a cleanser tonite. I did my cardio and burned over 700 calories today plus I will be doing an aerobic tape later going to burn another hundred or two. I'll log if I have lost any weight at end of week

Your takeaway from all the advice you were given is "eat 800 calories a day"?!

Weigh your food. Read the Sexypants link: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

MinnieInMaine

Thanks for the advice considering how little I eat I assumed I had to be burning more calories than I was taking in between cardio, and dancing, and walking I'm not a big eater I cut my calories alot I guess not enough strangly I weighed less when I wasn't working out at all seems since I started gym I've put on more weight even though I eat less than before. I'm just going to limit myself to 800 calories a day and I'm starting a cleanser tonite. I did my cardio and burned over 700 calories today plus I will be doing an aerobic tape later going to burn another hundred or two. I'll log if I have lost any weight at end of week

OMG, no! Eat whatever MFP sets for your daily goal based on what you entered in for your stats or go to that thread that editorgrrl linked and follow along to custom set goals. You realize that if you only eat 800 calories and burn off 700 that means you've only consumed 100 NET calories, right? That is pretty much the definition of starvation! Hell, people in the Nazi concentration camps ate more than that! A newborn baby eats more than that. You are setting yourself up for some major health issues if you try to handle weight loss that way!

There. Is. No. Need. To Starve. Yourself. To. Lose Weight.

Also, forget the cleanses - complete waste of money. Just give the food tracking a chance for a few months and see how you do. No need for extremes!

missfree33

I've never weighed food I'm new to this so forgive me if I don't exactly get what you mean by weighing my food I keep getting told that I must be eating more than I'm burning so I'm cutting what I'm eating so that I have a deficit at the end of the day. I thought that was the point of cutting calories ok now I'm really confused so don't cut calories? So should I be burning even more than 700-800 calories working out. I'm gonna look at this link That was given cause I'm lost

A_nori

It is a little confusing, but at the end of the day our bodies work best when they are within a range of calories. If you go too low, your body will think it is starving and begin to burn muscle mass which is really really bad. If you go too high, you gain weight. So you need to figure out what that range is for you. Myfitnesspal arbitrarily sets the lowest calorie count at 1200 per day, although there is lots of debate on if that is the right number or not. Regardless, I would avoid going beneath that.

Myfitnesspal will give you a recommended number of calories to eat each day. You can figure this out by going to the home page, clicking on goals and click change goals. Follow the prompts and it will give you an idea of what you need to eat in order to lose weight. Do not select to lose more than 1 lbs a week, as that will likely not give you enough calories.

Once you figure out how many calories to eat, you need to start journaling. If you can afford it, buy a food scale. Weigh or measure everything that goes into your mouth and record it under the diary on MyFitnessPal. When you exercise, enter that as well. The number of calories you will be able to eat will vary depending on how active you are on a given day. Try to stick as close as you can to the recommended number of calories that MyFitnessPal tells you to.

Give this a few weeks, you might not see a change right away but over time you will. Good luck! It is a journey, but it is lots of fun to experiment with new foods and new workouts.

missfree33

Thank you A nori I appreciate your taking the time to explain mfp has given me a calorie goal which I think is too high for me so I will diviate slightly. I've started tracking my food and exercise. I've worked hard weight training keeping my arms, legs, butt etc firm so I don't want to lose my muscles. I've just grown sad and weary watching the scale go in the opposite direction and not understanding why, when I work so hard to stay active and eat better considering m months ago I did no cardio and ate what I wanted. Now I eat better and exercise and am gaining. I've never had to use any kind of aid to help when I've wanted to lose I've always been able to so guess I gotta learn some new ways. I don't desire to be skinny I'd rather weigh around 165-170 as I like curves definitely prefer to be muscular

djwife03

I've been struggling with this very thing since i started on MFP! i have actually gained 2-3lbs since my starting weight. I just can't seem to find that magic number i need to lose weight. I find that I get hungry too, but then you get told to "just drink some water". Well, I do that, and i'm still hungry. I started this journey at 168lbs, and wanted to lose 10lbs, but I now weigh 171 on a good day.(I'm 5'11) I run 3-4 days a week, 3-4 miles, and then I do some weights, lunges, squast, that kind of thing. Other days, I do a Jillian Michael's DVD. I don't work out EVERY day, but aim for 4 days a week. My legs feel tighter, and my butt, and I have lose a couple inches, which i'm proud of, but.....I've went back up a size! I have a desk job also.
I eat lots of raw fruit and veggies, so I do try to eat healthy. Today is my first day back logging my calorie intake in a while. I got to be pretty inconsistent at logging, but still tried to eat healthy.
So, i'm just as frustrated as you are! I drink my water all day, and even some green tea. I just turned 40 and I know that metabolism tends to slow, but yet I'm hungry! I'm hungry right now, as I type this. I had a fat free light greek yogurt with some fresh frozen mango chunks mixed into it at about 2:15, and I'm starting to feel hungry again already. By the time i get home, my stomach will be hurting.

A_nori

How many calories is MFP giving you? I would track accurately for a week or so without trying to cut out many calories. Just get a benchmark of what you are eating. You know that what you are doing now isn't working, but unless you are weighing and measuring everything you don't know what that is. So track for a week to see what not to do, then re-assess.

editorgrrl

mfp has given me a calorie goal which I think is too high for me so I will diviate slightly. I've started tracking my food and exercise. I've worked hard weight training keeping my arms, legs, butt etc firm so I don't want to lose my muscles. I've just grown sad and weary watching the scale go in the opposite direction and not understanding why, when I work so hard to stay active and eat better considering m months ago I did no cardio and ate what I wanted. Now I eat better and exercise and am gaining. I've never had to use any kind of aid to help when I've wanted to lose I've always been able to so guess I gotta learn some new ways. I don't desire to be skinny I'd rather weigh around 165-170 as I like curves definitely prefer to be muscular.

The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off. With only 25 lb. to go, set your goal to .5 lb. per week, and be patient.

Trust the system. Follow your MFP goal for a few weeks, then reevaluate. Work on your logging. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Get a food scale. Weigh all your food. Measure your liquids. Learn to use the recipe builder: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/box

RamonaFr

Muscle weighs more than fat. As you build muscle you can actually gain some weight. So, combine calorie deficit and workouts to reach your goal. I agree with everyone else, you have to measure all your food and record calories accurately. I also think that sometimes the calories MFP assigns to exercise/activities is too high. I usually record less exercise than I actually do, and have found a balance that lets me lose one pound a week.

missfree33

Mfp gave me 1500 calories a day I'm gonna do 1300 May be less sometimes as I'm not gonna go out of my way to put on the calories at the end of the day if I'm under that. I'm so freaked right now about having gained I'm meticulously more aware of everything that touches my lips darn near afraid to eat even though I'm hungry right now lol, because I feel I eat so little as it is and gaining but I'll try it and re evaluate at end of week I'm constantly on the go I can't carry a scale every where and weigh every thing I've got to teens and a preteen how are you able to that with everything?

missfree33

I

Twigglete

Muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of feathers, or one pound of anything. It just looks different.

missfree33

Muscle weighs more than fat. As you build muscle you can actually gain some weight. So, combine calorie deficit and workouts to reach your goal. I agree with everyone else, you have to measure all your food and record calories accurately. I also think that sometimes the calories MFP assigns to exercise/activities is too high. I usually record less exercise than I actually do, and have found a balance that lets me lose one pound a week.

So if musle weighs more than fat then could that explain my gain?

missfree33

If muscle weighs more than fat then could that explain my gain. I definitely look smaller even my fiancee says my waist is smaller and my clothes fit better but the scale says I've put on lbs. I weight train a quite bit especially on my legs, back, glutts, and arm's the only thing giggly on me is my belly I'm pretty tight other wise, so could be the issue?

sally884

I would definenitly go with the number MFP gives and eat back 50-75% of cals.
Sometimes people eat way to little for so long their body's just get into a rut...rev up your metabolism by eating more. It took my body 6 weeks to adjust to eating less (opposite of you) but showed me it can take time.

I've noticed people on here saying to lose only 1/2 per week...can those people let
Me know if this is what I should do? I've lost 8 and have 20 more to go and I'm
At 1 lb a week and so hungry!!! Let
Me know please!!!

missfree33

Well I just read that the whole muscle weighs more than fat is a myth a lb if muscle just looks Bette than a lb of fat I was so going that might explain the gain but it doesn't do back to the plan:ohwell:

sally884

Use the scale and make your plan the day before or that morning then weight it before you go out. If I pack a lunch I weigh it and its very fast.

csontos

Track your measurements along with your weight. Sometimes the scale won't budge much, but you will be losing inches and look slimmer.

Weigh all of your food and log it accurately. Yes, all of it.

If you want a more accurate estimate of your calories burned during steady state exercise, invest in a heart rate monitor. A lot of members here recommend the FT4 or FT7 by Polar, but you can shop around.

Figuring out how many of your exercise calories you should be eating back will be a bit of an experiment. Some people eat all of them back, some only a portion, and some none of them. Over time, you'll get more in tune with your body and figure it out. I'd say start by eating half of the back for a few weeks and adjust from there.

kimmik22

I'm seeing a nutritionist & she told me to eat 1500 calories per day & exercise everyday. Definitely work off more than you eat & DON'T EAT your exercise calories & you should lose weight. It helps to get a Heart Rate Monitor & use it while exercising - that way you know what you are burning off.

chargraves

.... Definitely work off more than you eat & DON'T EAT your exercise calories & you should lose weight.

For the love of God, please do not follow this particular advice. The other posters have given you some very solid info. Best of luck to you.

missfree33

Don't know what's causing the fluctuations in my weight yesterday I weighed twice and was 190lbs today I'm back at 184 weighed myself twice once this morning and once this evening could the gain have been 5 lbs of fluid??