3 weeks on MFP and gained 1 pound

missbeautyb

Since I have started my weight loss journey I have gained 1 pound. Im not understanding why I didnt loose at least 2 pounds yet. I exercise 4 times a week doing cardio for 30 mins and take the stairs every chance I get. My calories were at 1300 the first week but starting the second week I changed it to 1550 to lose 1 pound a week. I have only went over a couple times maybe 3 times since i have started. My sodium is always under 2000 and i drink enough water. I am 188 pounds and trying to lose 30 pounds. Any advice?

hitsnooze

you won't be logging accurately. weigh your food and try doing more exercise

diannethegeek

Possibilities include water weight from the increased exercise or hormones (are you nearing your TOM?) or you're eating more than you realize and burning less than you think.

How accurately are you logging (a food scale would be ideal)?

Are you eating back any of your earned exercise calories? If so, how are you estimating your burn?

Would you be comfortable opening your diary for us? You can do this by going to Settings at the top of the page. Then choose Diary Setting and Public and then Save Changes.

cwolfman13

Possibilities include water weight from the increased exercise or hormones (are you nearing your TOM?) or you're eating more than you realize and burning less than you think.

How accurately are you logging (a food scale would be ideal)?

Are you eating back any of your earned exercise calories? If so, how are you estimating your burn?

Would you be comfortable opening your diary for us? You can do this by going to Settings at the top of the page. Then choose Diary Setting and Public and then Save Changes.

Brandolin11

First of all, congratulations on TRYING and way to go on being so disciplined for three weeks straight. Please understand that even though you haven't lost anything yet, the disciplines and self control you're building now are critical to your future success. So keep that stuff up!!

Secondly, I agree w/the 2nd poster - just curious how accurately you're logging and/or measuring and weighing your food. Can you give us some insight into that? In other words, if you eat one cracker, for example, do you skip logging it? BLT's (Bites, Licks, and Tastes) add up really quick so you have to track everything! If you eat a piece of cheese, do you weigh it? If you eat cereal, do you measure it? Many people have found that when they weigh and measure things for the first time they're shocked to find out they were way overestimating.

Another question would be, are you on any prescriptions that have side effects of weight gain and/or that won't let you lose weight?

Or, do you have a physical condition that makes it difficult to lose weight, such as thyroid problems?

If you are being that tight with the tracking and weighing, etc. and you don't have any pre-existing health conditions or take Rx's, then if I were you I'd give it another week and if you still gain more it might be time to go get some blood work done and see if there are any underlying health issues. This does NOT mean you have a disease or anything so I don't mean to scare you. It just might reveal something interesting that could be affecting this, like blood sugar or whatever. It's always good to see a nutritionist as well, just to make sure you're really on track.

Good luck!

thavoice

I think the telling part of this is "I have only went over a couple of times, maybe 3".
Doestn seem like a good grasp on what is going into the body.

Simply going over isnt terrible, it is how much and how often.

I go over some times, but it isnt much and still considerably less than before I was even trying.

madhatter2013

Smewhere in the mix

Pastor_John

Take in less calories and burn the rest by exercise.

kitlynnJ

I agree with other posters. How accurate is your logging?

If you have questions about what logging accurately means SezxyStef did a great post on it not long ago. You can find it here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

FIT_Goat

How often do you weigh yourself? How accurately are you logging?

If your data is unreliable, your results will be too.

I am not a fan of weighing once a week, simply because there's a lot of error. My last 3 Sunday weights were:

Week 1: 166.98
Week 2: 167.86 (up 0.88 lbs)
Week 3: 169.40 (up 1.54 lbs)
Total: UP 2.42 lbs

My Last 3 weekly averages were:
Week 1: 169.62
Week 2: 169.54 (down 0.08)
Week 3: 168.61 (down 0.93)
Total: DOWN 1.01 lbs

That's a difference in almost 3.5 pounds! The point I am making is that "gaining a pound" on the scale means nothing if you only have 3 measurements. During the same period of time, just having three measurements made it look like I gained weight... when using 21 measurements showed that my weight was really heading down.

That's just error possibilities with the scale fluctuations. If you're not accurately logging every bit of food, you have no idea how many calories you really are eating.

Basically, assuming you're eating as much as you think you are and burning as much as you think you do, I would change nothing for at least a few more weeks. Give the scale time to reflect what's really happening. I've never seen my scale weight go up (when I was losing) 4 Sundays in a row -- or 4 of any other day of the week for that matter. It takes time for results to start showing up unless you're collecting a lot of data in a consistent manner and are crunching the numbers to tease out what is really happening.


Edit: If you look at my Sunday weights and my weekly averages, you can see that the first two weeks were abnormally low days for me. They were well under my average weight. But, unless I was weighing every day, I would have no way to know that. The third Sunday is slightly above my average weight that week, but not by a huge amount. I've logged almost 26 full weeks of data and can see this pattern for almost every day of the week (Wednesday tends to be my most reliable day). More weights are better than fewer weights when it comes to determining if you are losing or gaining weight over time.

missbeautyb

Yea I don't measure my food with a weight scale I just go by what it says on the package. I guess to be more accurate I have to start weighing what I eat. Does anyone know where I can find a scale that weighs food? In addition, I will add more exercise. I am not too discouraged by the gain because I notice a difference my thighs are a little toner. Thank you all for the advice

StaciMarie1974

Walmart, Target, etc. type stores will have simple food scales. Also Amazon. Its not a major expense.

Weighing is so important. Even though many food items have info like '1 serving = 1/2 cup' its not necessarily the same as what fits in a measuring cup. Most foods have servings in terms of grams or ounces and that makes it pretty simple with a scale.

Beyond that, give it time. Its not unheard of to take 4-6 weeks to see a result on the scale. Hormones, stress, water weight, etc. can all affect the scale # but in time it will move down if you increase your activity and eat in a reduced calorie range. (Note: reduced but still nutritious. Don't try to cut your calories too sharply as your body needs fuel.)

diannethegeek

Yea I don't measure my food with a weight scale I just go by what it says on the package. I guess to be more accurate I have to start weighing what I eat. Does anyone know where I can find a scale that weighs food? In addition, I will add more exercise. I am not too discouraged by the gain because I notice a difference my thighs are a little toner. Thank you all for the advice

Food scales are fairly cheap and easy to find. I don't know where you're located, but, here in the US, Wal-Mart and Target both carry them. And Amazon has a lot of options, too.

AikidoZen

I exercise 4 times a week doing cardio for 30 mins and take the stairs every chance I get.

Have you used a measuring tape to measure waist, hips, thighs? If you've added all this exercise, I'm guessing you have gained muscle. Congratulations! And, as someone else said, you've started a very healthy exercise habit.

mzbek24

Ebay have some food scales too.

I think definitely keep track of what you're eating, and for when you go over as well. If you go over and log it, you will probably feel pretty bad but it might help to keep you on track and accountable. Or maybe set up yourself a challenge that if you do go over your calories more than 2 times a week, add in extra exercise session or lengthen the 30 mins to 45.