Hi! I would like some help

seehowyousoar

Hey guys!

So uh, I'm somewhat new here and new to this weightloss thing. I was hoping I could get some help, hopefully guidance?

Basically, I'm 19, female, currently at 231lbs. I started weight loss a month and a half ago, when I was at around 243. Dropped to 228, then regained some back...

As far as exercise and food goes, A month and a half ago I'd do fairly light exercise 2-3 times a week (not counting walking to and from college), and last week I upped it a bit more, so I'm doing it 3-4 times a week now and pairing it with 1-2 hour long walks (again, not counting walking to and from college which takes around... an hour a day I guess)

So, I have a few questions.
First is, naturally, why did I start gaining weight after I upped my exercise? I don't think it could be muscle mass or water retention since I don't feel very sore, plus most of my exercise is walking or some cardio, not a lot of strength training...

I'm not sure if I should eat more or less or.. I don't know. I usually eat at 1200 cals and I'm not usually hungry... So I figured that'd be okay, but turns out it's not. =(

Also, what exercise would be good? I feel like walking and doing 20 mins of total body isn't cutting it for me... But then at the same time I'm scared that if I up my exercise even more the scale will go up even more... And I figured that at my weight, if I exercise at all I should be losing not gaining but apparently I gain
Should I start a 30 day shred or p90x or something? I kind of want to go with the 30 day shred but I'm not sure if I'll be able to, and I'm not even sure how it works... Does anyone know?

TLDR how do I exercise
how do i life


Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a great day

emirror

First, 1200 calories is not enough. Recalculate your goals through MFP. How many calories does it give you?

Second, log everything you eat. It all adds up, even ketchup. Measure out your food. Get a digital scale. KNOW exactly what you are eating.

My guess is you are either overestimating your exercise, or underestimating your food, or both. It is doubtful that you are building very much muscle without doing strength training.

:flowerforyou:

megsmom2

First, 1200 calories is not enough. Recalculate your goals through MFP. How many calories does it give you?

Second, log everything you eat. It all adds up, even ketchup. Measure out your food. Get a digital scale. KNOW exactly what you are eating.

My guess is you are either overestimating your exercise, or underestimating your food, or both. It is doubtful that you are building very much muscle without doing strength training.

:flowerforyou:

This..accurate logging is key. Any exercise is helpful, walking is great! But don't overestimate the burn... MFP numbers trend really high. Be patient and consistent, you can do this!

RagingThespian

3 lbs is not really a weight gain that you should stress about. Your body weight fluctuates throughout day/month... could be water retention, cyclic related bloating, different time of day weigh-in.

Be consistent. Weigh yourself once a week at the same time... wearing the same clothes if you can. Better still, get out a measuring tape and take your measurements as the scale won't always tell you what's going on with your body.

Upping your exercise will not increase your weight. You will gain leaner muscle mass and that helps your metabolism and the burning of fat.

Weigh / measure everything you eat. Log everything you eat. Check your TDEE (google it) and up your caloric intake. 1200 is not enough... it is the bare minimum before your body goes into starvation mode and tries to hold onto all the fat you have in your body.

Eat lots of fiber. Drink lots of water. Check what the MFP guidelines are for your carb/fiber/fat requirements and stay within those ranges.

Add strength training! Resistance bands, hand weights, planks, core strengthening. Your body needs to have the exercise change up - work on different muscle groups. It will get used to you doing the same thing all the time. You need to mix it up to get the best results.

Most of all - don't quit. Keep working at it. YOU WILL GET THERE. Enjoy the journey as that is what it is. Not a diet, but a lifestyle.

seehowyousoar

Thank you so much for replying!

Well, when I started MFP gave me 1200 cals. I messed with it a bit and now it's at 1400, so I'll try and eat at that amount now. Unfortunately digital scales are expensive, so I measure my food on an older one, but it does the trick fairly well

And yeah, that was my thought as well. I wouldn't know why the scale would go up 3-4 pounds in a day and then not go down for 3-4 days still, though. But I will do my best to fix it! Thank you again!

RagingThespian

I bought a digital scale at Walmart for under $20. Not as expensive as you think... and very worth the money!!

seehowyousoar

Thank you everyone for replying, it means a lot to me.

I live in Croatia, so we don't have walmart or amazon available.
I am however going to buy a digital scale from ebay, but for the HRM, I don't think I am able to get that one yet, much expensive...
I guess I will up my calorie intake to 1400-1500 and try that for a few weeks. And I think I will start the 30 day shred.

I don't think I'll be able to feel good about the scale being wonky just yet, but I'll work to it... Thanks you guys again for helping me You guys are amazing, I hope you all have a great day!

KKishaA

You can probably eat even more then 1400k and still lose. At your starting weight and with all the walking you are doing you probably have a pretty high daily burn. You may be able to eat around 1800k! You will see a lot of posts by people ( and I was one of them) that say they can't fathom eating that many calories and losing weight. Now that I have been weighing and measuring my food more consistently I can see that I was easily eating 2400k + a day while eating "healthy" and thinking I was eating less. So yeah, if I eat 1800k now compared to how I used to eat I will lose weight - I bet this is true for most people. The thing is, just like someone above already stated, those calories ADD UP FAST. Your ketchup DOES HAVE CALORIES. Everything you put in your mouth other then water for the most part has calories. Most things that you eat, if you have never been a calorie counter, have way more calories then you assume. And unless you are consciously watching it you eat way more often then you think you do! At least I know I did! Those random bites of things bite you back in the end :laugh:

Track your food more accurately and eat more. Walking is fantastic. If you are on campus I bet there are some awesome group classes available for you to take too, possibly Zumba, kickboxing or a group weight lifting/circuit class. If you do a class you will be pushed harder then if you are exercising on your own so you will get a higher burn. Your lbs will basically fall off!! Good luck!

seehowyousoar

Thank you, I will start to try and measure what I eat accurately starting today!
I will also up my calories to 1400-1500 for now.

Hopefully my scale will go back down to 228 soon, I was really liking that number.
Thanks everyone!