gaining not losing. frustrated

kansas_km

Hi all. I'm so disappointed in myself. I've been tracking for 7 days now. I've gained 2.5. Pounds. I am doing strength training twice a week and try for cardio, pilates, or yoga everyday. I know the problem is my eating. I have digestive issues (possible IBS) so a lot of fiber or raw fruits and veggies give me issues. Things that keep stuff calm is soluble fiber.....bread, oatmeal, banana etc. So I guess that is why I'm gaining. My calories should be 1200 but I usually fall around 1400-1500. Should I try to cut back to that 1200 more?

I'm new to mfp community and have 5 or so friends and they are all losing. I'm embarrassed to post I'm gaining. :-(

GiveMeCoffee

First off welcome!

Your diary isn't open so hard to see how your logging is. But the big thing is it's only been 7 days! Patience is your friend.

Check out these links they will help:

Log your food accurately and honestly. Go for 80% good choices the other 20% don't worry so much about. I eat lots of delicious food and have consistently lost. Keep it simple find a REASONABLE deficit: Most people do not need to eat 1200 calories to lose.

If you have 75+ lbs to lose 2 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 40-75 lbs to lose 1.5 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 25-40 lbs to lose 1 lbs/week is ideal
If you have 15 -25 lbs to lose 0.5 to 1.0 lbs/week is ideal
If you have less than 15 lbs to lose 0.5 lbs/week is ideal

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide?hl=logging+step+guide

Find an activity you enjoy doing - I found I love to ride my bike and lift heavy stuff

Here are 2 more threads that will help take the time to read them:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1235566-so-you-re-new-here?hl=so+you're+new+here

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

ossentia

Can you up your exercise each week to compensate for the extra calories? While I would normally say to eat less caloric items to fix this, if you get a tummy upset every time, what good is that? One of the main goals of weight loss is to feel better. A bump in the workouts will help to manage the extra calories you're getting from the higher calorie foods.

ossentia

And some how I completely missed that you've only been at this for a week! Yes, patience is in order here. Weight loss shouldn't happen overnight. You are learning how to not only lose the weight but also keep it off. It is a journey, not a race.

buzybev

Did you set your weekly weight loss goal to 2lbs/wk?

laurenawolf

It's most likely water weight. Especially if you are new to strength training, and possibly have IBS. Could you open your diary for us?

Anonycatgirl

You haven't gained a "real" 2.5 pounds in a week if you've being even a little careful with what you eat. Possibly you haven't lost anything yet--it takes a while to get the hang of tracking your calories accurately--but 2.5 pounds of actual fat in a week would be a vacation in New Orleans eating tons of rich food with butter sauces and drinking like a frat boy. (Ask me how I know... ). If you're new to the exercise routine, you may be retaining water from the increased exercise. Or who knows...time of month! And can't IBS itself cause bloating? Changing your eating habits may be setting that off.

Read the links someone already posted (they're super-useful), weigh your food whenever you can, drink a lot of water, and don't despair.

kansas_km

Buzy I set my weight loss goals to 1.5# per week. Maybe that is hoping for too much? How do you open your food diary?

kansas_km

Ok food diary is unlocked

cwolfman13

If you're eating 1500 calories and exercising, there's no way you're gaining actual fat. If you're new to exercise and/or have changed up your routine and/or have increased intensity, etc of your exercise, your muscles will retain water for repair.

You also need to give this way more than a week...body weight naturally fluctuates and can be up or down 2-5 Lbs from day to day. You want to make sure you're weighing in at a consistent time and under relatively consistent conditions as well...from there, you really need to track the overall trend over time and not get too wrapped up in the individual numbers. I can tell you right now it's going to be a rough road if you don't start to wrap your head around natural weight fluctuations...you will have weeks with no loss, weeks with smaller losses...weeks with bigger losses and even weeks with gains like this.

Last Friday I weighed in at 179.2....today I weighed in at 183.4...I can assure you that I didn't gain 4 Lbs of fat in the last 5 days...it's primarily water weight due to I started a new lifting cycle after having taken a couple of weeks off to nurse and injury...when you exercise, your muscle get broken down and thus require repair...fluid is required for muscle repair and thus you retain fluids after exercise.

kansas_km

That is a lot of info I didn't know wolfman...thanks. I had no idea you could fluctuate that much due to fluid. Good to know!

diannethegeek

Your diary still appears locked. You can go here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings and then down at the bottom of the page choose Public and then Save Changes.

I'm going to agree with those who say you're retaining water weight if the exercise is a new routine. It's really, really common for people just starting strength training (or even those just increasing an old routine) to see a slight bump on the scale for a couple of weeks.

tiffanybrooks530

Many people underestimate STRESS as a factor that may be sabotaging your weight lost. :explode:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/can-stress-cause-weight-gain

It took me about 3 mths before i started seeing results. Although not clinically diagnosed I
have experience severe IBS and gluten sensitivity therefore I eat mostly
Paleo , Mediterranean, Flexitarian diet. In plain English its very little starch, no gas producing foods
most fruits, veggies, plant and animal protein.

What heart rate are you working at? It should be 60% to 80% of heart rate. Before
I was doing 80%-100% thinking I was SUPPOSE to be panting and dizzy on the treadmill
like it was a measure of success...WRONG:noway:
http://www.hanford.gov/health/?page=112

When you are over exerting yourself your body producing the stress hormone ....and
BOOM...you are not losing but gaining weight. :mad:
http://chriskresser.com/why-you-may-need-to-exercise-less

I've lost 20lbs over two years and 10 of those pounds was just in the last 12 weeks
which was right after I changed my regiment. Now I do more walking, hiking, a few high intensity for very
short intervals at home and a weight lifting class at the gym once in a while. :happy:

My calorie goal is 1200. Three months ago I was ranging 1600-1800, I was frustrated.
Now its within 1200-1400. Higher when Dining out, those days i walk more, hike a lil more etc.

HOPE THIS HELPS GOOD LUCK

buzybev

Buzy I set my weight loss goals to 1.5# per week. Maybe that is hoping for too much? How do you open your food diary?

jwhited71's post is a good guide. I started out with around 35lbs to lose and chose the 1.5lb option, but felt as if it was too aggressive for the amount I was trying to lose (my eating was also really wonky and I was losing too much too soon). Moved over to 1lb and I'm currently set to .5lb. As others have said, there are many factors that can cause a "gain". Increased activity/intensity, foods heavy in salt, etc. I would wait it out for a few more weeks to see if things are leveling out. What has helped me the most is weighing/measuring everything I put into my mouth. Good luck!

RosieRaz

Yup...The above links were very helpful when I started. In the last year, I've lost 30 lbs. Slow and steady wins the race. Sure you will have days where you splurge at a party or with friends. Start small. Work on breakfast. Then work on lunch. Before you know it you have a set of meals you rotate through.
I fell off the exercize wagon for about two weeks. When I started back up I gained weight. It came off in about 2 weeks and now I'm lower than when I started. YAY! Exercize works and it is pretty important to weight loss.
Also, water water water. If you have a high sodium day or whatever, the water is an amazing help. Also, your skin and face will look MUCH better as a plus (at least mine do :blushing: ).

LadyBos

I'm glad you opened your diary. It's hard to help without knowing what you're eating. Here are my observations, for what they're worth:

1. There is quite a bit of processed food in your diary. Try to eat a bit more whole foods that don't come from a package.
2. You can still eat vegetables and fruit even with IBS. Avoid broccoli, cauliflower and other gassy veggies. Cook one mild veggie and slowly incorporate it. Green beens are pretty mild on the stomach. So are carrots.
3. I don't see too many people sustaining weight loss at 1200 calories. Most exercise & eat much more than that, depending on their size. I just don't see 1200 as being workable in the long run/not a lifestyle.
4. Are you weighing/measuring your food? That is an absolute must for me. Eyeballing portions is a sure fire way to eat way more than you record. I was shocked at how small a 1/2 cup truly is.
5. Cut yourself some slack! You may be losing inches rather than pounds. I hope you measure yourself and don't use only the scale to measure success. I use a pair of shorts that I want to get into and try them on once a week. Each week I get a bit closer to being able to zip them up!

And as one of your friends, I've only recently started losing and that's because I record EVERY bite I eat and record it accurately. It's the only way for me. And as you know, I'm not exercising for hours every day. I truly believe that weight loss is MUCH more connected to what we eat vs. how much or how hard we exercise. Hang in there!:flowerforyou:

kansas_km

Tiffany thanks for info. I'm going to look into the diets you are using. I'm scared of all fruits and veggies right now! Ladybos thanks for your opinion on my diary. I had flipped off of anything with fiber after a bad episode and I'm struggling to find that middle ground right now. I will look into more real food and look at my serving sizes. I'm a natural grazer so sometimes I grab things here and there! Buzy I think I will take my goal down to 1# for now. Baby steps, right! Thanks for all your advice. I'm going to sites some of you suggested to learn more.