Gaining and don't understand what I'm doing wrong

mripley71
mripley71 Posts: 11
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been working out for over three weeks now doing Zumba and Golds gym cardio workout on the Wii, also bought myself a strike bag that occasionally will throw some punches and kicks at for about 5 to 10 minutes after previous workouts. All in all find myself working out over an hour. This week I decided I needed to track my calories so I got the app installed to my phone and have been doing great logging everything I eat throughout the day, every day I work out I have any where from 500 to 700 calories in the green. My problem is that after 6 days I have gained 1.5 pounds what am I doing wrong?

Update since I posted that in another post 10 days ago I have been tracking everything I eat and have been doing the same routine for the most part, I am now even more frustrated as I have gained more weight. Have increased around 3 pounds since I started. DONT UNDERSTAND WHY????? Believe me I want to cry. I have measured and haven't even noticed a difference there. My calorie burn I have been taking from my Lifetrak. Will open my diary up and will be grateful to all that can suggest where I'm going wrong
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Replies

  • AJ_G
    AJ_G Posts: 4,158 Member
    Do you weigh and measure everything you eat before you put it in your mouth?
  • djs2303
    djs2303 Posts: 93 Member
    you sure like those sausage, eff and cheese muffins....500 calories every morning, then on another day you've had fries? for breakfast?

    Try balancing all your meals throughout the day, bakes beans on toast (1/2 tin) is a great morning starter. Also try having different meals in the mornings, sure have your S/E/C muffin on a weekend, but I don't think having it daily is great
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    You're logging huge calorie burns for a very small amount of exercise time and then eating back all those calories and sometimes more...
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    I agree its not the best breakfast but I work at a convenience store opening 5 days a week at 5 in the morning so it is something that I have already made up. Not many other options there. The fries aren't french fries they are potatoes cooked on a grill.
  • djs2303
    djs2303 Posts: 93 Member
    You cant take healthier foods into work with you? Or have cereal at work? even taking a fruit medley and having it packed up the night before work. There has to be alternatives for breakfast :) your lunch's often involve subways or nuggets, again, make a pack up for work if still there.
  • peleroja
    peleroja Posts: 3,979 Member
    You're logging huge calorie burns for a very small amount of exercise time and then eating back all those calories and sometimes more...

    This. You're overestimating your exercise burn and underestimating your portions. Get a food scale, weigh everything including cooking oil and condiments, and try eating back only half (or fewer) of your exercise calories.
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    I do an hour of zumba and going by my lifetrak is what calories I input for that workout. As far as measuring most of it is premeaaured and if not I over estimate.
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
    you sure like those sausage, eff and cheese muffins....500 calories every morning, then on another day you've had fries? for breakfast?

    Nothing wrong with that at all, they actually have a decent macro balance. No sense fear mongering food.

    Rigger
  • djs2303
    djs2303 Posts: 93 Member
    Something isn't right somewhere then, Do you have a HRM on when doing zumba? You seem to be doing a lot of exercise, so it must be your diet and food intake.
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    Yes my lifetrak has a heartrate monitor on it that is what I use to get my calorie burn for my workouts.
  • djs2303
    djs2303 Posts: 93 Member
    Don't think its great to have daily though, do you? seriously....looking at the rest of the diary as well, on a daily basis its not a balanced daily meal imo
  • MissMaryMac33
    MissMaryMac33 Posts: 1,433 Member
    1. Fix your macros .. the default MFP macros are backwards for most people. You protein should be much higher than carbs .. especially since your carbs are almost all the bad kind.

    2. Bring a protein shake or healthier food to work

    3. Skip the buns/fries

    4. Get a good HRM with a chest strap so your calorie burn is more accurate. You don't mention your height/weight but it looks like whatever you're using is highly overestimating.
  • Othelie24601
    Othelie24601 Posts: 21
    I do an hour of zumba and going by my lifetrak is what calories I input for that workout. As far as measuring most of it is premeaaured and if not I over estimate.

    - Don't estimate weigh and know for sure.
    - Don't eat back more then half your exercise calories.

    In addition I wouldn't go down to 1200-something calories as you have done since I doubt your BMR is that low.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    I'm seeing homemade loaded pizza in your tracker for 181 calories/slice. Is this a home made veggie pizza on a tortilla or something? How are you getting the calories?

    Also, if you're eating a prepared breakfast sandwich from a convenience store, it's likely far higher in calories than 1 egg+1 kraft cheese slice + 1 franz english muffin + 1 sausage patty. It's probably more like 500 calories all on its own. If it doesn't come with nutritional information, don't eat it regularly. Buy all the elements and make them at home. Then you know what's in them.

    But yeah the things you're logging I'm assuming are guesses from the database. If you want to do a home made pizza, use the recipe builder tool in the food tab on this site and divide by the number of slices you made.

    You are likely well underestimating calories consumed.
  • TKhamvongsa
    TKhamvongsa Posts: 287
    I'd adjust carbs/fats and increase protein - maybe replace some of your meals with whole foods rather than processed. And like others have said - don't eat back your calories. Always weigh your food to ensure you know exactly how much you're eating. Buy a heart rate monitor (I personally don't have one, I don't know how much I'm burning, I just give a rough estimate; I'm still losing so the estimate can't be that bad) and be patient.
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    I have been trying to follow what this app has recommended for me due to my weight and height.
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    I personally make the breakfast sandwich with those ingredients so not sure why the calories would not be that.
  • Some_Watery_Tart
    Some_Watery_Tart Posts: 2,250 Member
    I'm also highly suspect of the large calorie burns. But I don't know your stats. It also looks like your calorie settings are probably too low. Have you accurately calculated your BMR? Start here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    Also, weigh and measure everything even if it is pre-portioned. You can't be sure that you're overestimating. And I can't put enough emphasis on how important this is. Weigh and measure everything consistently for 30 days and see what happens.

    I just about cried the first time I measured peanut butter. True story.
  • tech_kitten
    tech_kitten Posts: 221 Member
    It doesn't tell us how much you weigh, but I assume you're not obese because you only show 20 lbs to lose. Have you used this calculator? http://caloriesburnedhq.com/zumba-calories-burned/

    It looks fairly reasonable as long as you don't overestimate your intensity.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Your results are telling you that you are taking in more calories than you're burning. Either you're underestimating your intake or overestimating your burn. (I'd bet a little of both, although burning 1,151 calories from exercise on Saturday seems wildly optimistic. What were you doing?)

    You've gained 3 pounds in like 2 weeks, is that right? That's within normal fluctuation range, so it's not necessarily something to worry about right away. How stable was your weight before you started tracking and weighing? Did it fluctuate a lot?
  • easjer
    easjer Posts: 219 Member
    you sure like those sausage, eff and cheese muffins....500 calories every morning, then on another day you've had fries? for breakfast?

    Try balancing all your meals throughout the day, bakes beans on toast (1/2 tin) is a great morning starter. Also try having different meals in the mornings, sure have your S/E/C muffin on a weekend, but I don't think having it daily is great

    Oh ffs. While healthy, balanced meals are a noble goal, and important for overall fitness, I've been losing 1.5-2 lbs per week with multiple McDonald's runs during a very busy and stressful time at work. Someone isn't gaining because they eat a sausage mcmuffin instead of beans on toast (which I personally could not stomach in the morning).

    OP: I ditto the others - are you accurately logging or guessing from entries previously loaded. Just today, I logged a tall chocolate chai tea latte from Starbucks. Per their nutritional menu, it's 250 calories made normally - every single normal entry I could find was only 190 calories, which is correct for a regular chai tea latte and 60 calories short for the chocolate chai. My point is that the entries for MFP are not always reliable, and you want to verify the listings if you want accuracy.

    I would also be careful of exercise burns. I use a Fitbit to get my TDEE daily and eat to that - 1000 calories, which seems to work for me.

    Beyond that, sometimes I just fluctuate. I was down to 307 last week, and after the weekend, I was up to 309. It's not linear, which is frustrating as all hell, but if you know that you are logging correctly and accurately and maintaining a caloric deficit, then if you stick with it you will lose. February was exceptionally frustrating for me, as I bounced all over the place while I started exercising and trying to sort out my diet/intake - I dropped to 313, then was up to 319 and it was driving me insane. But when I got settled and was eating enough calories each day and working out appropriately, the weight shifted and started coming off the way it should be. Plateaus and even small gains are a part of this, even though they are crazy-making.
  • mripley71
    mripley71 Posts: 11
    Wasn't tracking my weight previously at least not for the last 7 months or so. Saturday I did an hour of Zumba took calorie burn from my lifetrak heart rate monitor plus walked 5.5 miles in an hour and a half. Took calorie burn for that from the app. I am 5'1" and now currently weigh 151#
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    Don't think its great to have daily though, do you? seriously....looking at the rest of the diary as well, on a daily basis its not a balanced daily meal imo

    tumblr_mbybmqVSPD1rpcgwq.gif

    OP this is a simple calories in vs calories out issue.

    you need to be accurate with your food. burns are tough to be accurate with so many people (myself included) employ the 80% of TDEE method. using this method, you dont need to worry about logging burns, as exercise is taken into account for you.
    it works quite well.
    what method are you using?
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    Wasn't tracking my weight previously at least not for the last 7 months or so. Saturday I did an hour of Zumba took calorie burn from my lifetrak heart rate monitor plus walked 5.5 miles in an hour and a half. Took calorie burn for that from the app. I am 5'1" and now currently weigh 151#

    I weigh 157 lbs and if I did an hour of zumba there's no way I would have burned more than about 500 calories. I can get a little under 700 running at 8:30/mile for an hour solid, which is harder than zumba.
  • Some_Watery_Tart
    Some_Watery_Tart Posts: 2,250 Member
    I have been trying to follow what this app has recommended for me due to my weight and height.
    Yeah, the calorie intake the app spits out can be kind of ridiculous. It had me at 1200 cal/day when I'm 5'9" and somewhat active. I was so miserable and STARVING like that. Now I'm losing on 1700/day plus exercise calories. Definitely go read the link I posted.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    I personally make the breakfast sandwich with those ingredients so not sure why the calories would not be that.

    Sorry. I misunderstood. I thought it was something from a convenience store. If those are the actual calories for the elements used in the sandwich that's probably right.
  • Othelie24601
    Othelie24601 Posts: 21
    I just about cried the first time I measured peanut butter. True story.

    You too? That and finding out the calorie count for one Oreo.
  • cingle87
    cingle87 Posts: 717 Member
    I just about cried the first time I measured peanut butter. True story.

    You too? That and finding out the calorie count for one Oreo.

    What 53 calories for 1? I think thats perfectly reasonable
  • Othelie24601
    Othelie24601 Posts: 21
    I just about cried the first time I measured peanut butter. True story.

    You too? That and finding out the calorie count for one Oreo.

    What 53 calories for 1? I think thats perfectly reasonable

    Sure, but I don't want one, I want the entire pack (and I have eaten the entire pack in one sitting). But turns out it wasn't that bad. Just the shock of knowing that tiny cookie has that many calories.
  • Some_Watery_Tart
    Some_Watery_Tart Posts: 2,250 Member
    I just about cried the first time I measured peanut butter. True story.

    You too? That and finding out the calorie count for one Oreo.

    What 53 calories for 1? I think thats perfectly reasonable
    Not when I'm starving and only have 8 calories left. Why must you be so delicious and calorie-dense, cookies? Why?!

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