4lbs weight gain after 1 week of 1200 cal or less???? HELP

danarandall

I now wish that I didnt step on the scale tonight. I am almost on my 2nd week of 1200 cal. I have not gone over except 1 day maybe. I started out at 152 and when I got on the scale tonight it said 156! Has this happened to anyone? My food diary is open so if you have any suggestions on that please feel free to comment. Just a little frustrated at this point, I know its only been 2 weeks, but I was hopeing for a loss not a gain..of 4 LBS. Thanks in advance for your comments! :sick:

Stinger97

Your diary is actually private.

irishrose22

did you weigh yourself at the same time of day as last time? That makes a huge difference. Also, how were the other numbers, protein, fat, etc? Those need to match pretty close too.

bekkyhughes

First of all, did you weigh at the same time of day to your last weigh in? Your weight fluctuates throughout the day depending on how much you eat, etc.

Other things could be water retention if you're coming up to your time of the month.

If you're eating less than 1200 calories your body may have gone into starvation mode (if it was less for more than a few days)

JenSpinnaChick

did you weigh in at the same time of day??? The morning is the most accurate.

Wolfena

Did you exercise heavily where you weren't before?? Your muscles may be holding on to water.

Is your "Time of the month" expected very soon?? You will gain a few pounds right before and the first day or so....

Did you eat WAY less than 1200 calories? Perhaps your body is hoarding fat expecting starvation.

Did you eat lots of salty foods?? They're another water retainer - drink lots of water and cut back on salt, it'll come off.

Did you weigh yourself at the same time of day in the same clothing? Could be that your belly was full of food and drink, your bowels were full or your clothing was just heavier.

Could be many reasons for this!

katbass

There are a LOT of reasons this could have happened. My first thought is "DO NOT weigh yourself at night." Try only weighing yuorself in the morning in your undies. I step on the scale once a day, right after i get up, and I do NOT step on it again until the next morning. Ive seen those 4lbs weight gains in one day, too, and I learned my lesson

Also, 1200 calories may not be the right number of calories for you. That is just the lowest MFP will allow anyone to set their goal. If you dont have much to lose or if you have a goal of losing too many lbs per week, it will automatically give you 1200 calories.

Use the tools at the top of your home page to see what your BMR is. Eat that number. It is the bare minimum number of calories your body needs in order to function (ie, keep your organs funcitoning, heart beating, eyes blinking, hair growing, etc) Then, any activity you do will automatically be causing a deficit and yield a weight loss.

Good luck!

lgeren

The best time of day to weigh is first thing in the morning, completely naked, after you have used the restroom. I weighed myself the other night just for kicks & I was mad at myself for even doing it. And also only try to weigh once a week. For me, any other time is just a discouragement & I feel like I either have to go above and beyond to exercise more or eat less. So your best bet is to only weigh in the morning & pick one day a week to do it. For me it's never on the weekend or on a Monday. We usually eat out on the weekends & we have more social gatherings so I know that if I eat a little more than normal, that is the time I do it.

jennlee80

If you haven't already-I would weigh yourself first thing in the morning, once a week and on the same day.

KL2010

I wouldn't weigh yourself every 2 weeks. Your body changes from day to day, it could be water retention, if your working out it could be muscle mass, it could be a number of things but by weighing yourself a lot you might get more frustrated than anything else. Taking measurements is much more reliable at least in my opinion. Measure your neck, waist, thighs, & hips every 3-4 weeks and you'll see the difference especially if you are working out.

cecirn1990

agree with the others - I was using the Wii for a while and the weight difference ran between 2-4 pounds depending on the time of day I weighted in. I also have a friend who joined a boot camp and worked her buns off along with strict adherence to dietary changes, and for the first two weeks she actually gained weight. By the fourth week she had lost 14 pounds. Hang in there!

Also remember to mix your exercise and your dietary habits - this also helps to confused your very comfortable BMR.

danarandall

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I did weight myself in the morning last time, so I will not be doing the late night weight in anymore!

LisaMC124

1200 calories may be too little. When you consume an inadequate amount of calories, your body "hang's on" to whatever it gets, therefore resulting in weight GAIN. And if you previously consumed the recommended 2000/day, the drop from that to 1200 is substantial. Either give your body time to adjust or up your calories to say 1400, then go down to 1200 in a week or so. Our bodies adjust accordingly and fairly quickly, just not always as quickly as we'd like. Oh yea, only weight in the morn! Gravity is worse during the afternoon hours therefore....we weight more. Good luck!

LindaReInDE

About four years ago I was trying to lose weight for my daughter's upcoming wedding, and I was eating "right" (so I thought) and exercising, but I wasn't losing weight. I recently learned that if I eat protein and healthy carbs earlier in the day, say for lunch--something like grilled chicken and brown rice OR 3 ozs. of sweet potato (not both) and some veggies, and then protein and lighter carbs and veggies in the evening--something like a nice salad with veggies and tuna on it, or an omlett with 1 egg, 3 egg whites and veggies, I am not only much more satisfied, but it works in my favor when it comes to weight loss. It helps me to eat the healthy carbs early in the day and cut them in the evening. You need those healthy carbs early to give you energy to get through the day, especially if you're exercising. You need them so you won't be hungry. Also, if you are exercising and using weights, you may be adding muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat, but you need muscle to burn fat, so you could be slimming down but gaining muscle weight, which is a good thing! Don't go by the scales!! I am happy to say that I am finally losing some weight just by switching my carbs to earlier in the day and eating every 3 hrs., and I haven't even started weight training yet! It's important that you eat. You don't want your body to go into starvation mode. Also drink lots of water, even with your meals. My daughter is a personal trainer and she upped my calorie intake and told me to eat every three hours. She said this program wasn't giving me enough calories, so she upped my calories. Another thing...She said the best thing to do is right away when you wake in the morning, first thing, grab a bottle of water and do 30 mins. of cardio, then eat breakfast within the 1st hour of waking. This gets your metabolism moving. Don't skip breakfast, and make sure you eat every three hours. I hope this is helpful to you. Let me know how it's going!! Keep on keeping on!

danarandall

Thanks Linda!

SweetToothMelissa

Well I just took a look at your food diary for the last few days, and you're eating way less than you should be. A lot of different sources say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and you aren't eating anything, just coffee. If I were you, I'd have some eggs and whole wheat toast or maybe some fruit and oatmeal for breakfast. The other meals look good, to me at least. You have to remember that eating too few calories will cause your body to hold onto all the calories you are taking in because it will be in starvation mode. Also, I didn't see any exercise logged in. (I'm not sure if you just didn't log it in here). But getting moving always helps too!

pricebs

I have experienced the same thing lately. I have been intaking my 1360 calories and walking on the treadmill, but after weighing myself the other morning, I had gained weight. I was very disappointed. But Im determined to continue with what I am doing and hopefully one day, I will see pounds lost. However, I am more worried about losing inches. I want to drop sizes and if that happens. I think it will be more benefical in the long run.

I think we all get fixated on a "number" but honestly we need to focus on sizes because that is what people aka society sees. For example, I look at someone and automatically go she is small/medium/large/extra large....I dont go she weighs 100lbs, 150lbs etc. We honestly dont know what a person weighs but we do know whats someone's figure looks like.

Good Luck to everyone.

WildcatMom82

1200 calories was not enough for me in the past. I felt like I was starving myself and I was either maintaining or gaining. Through experimenting I found my "sweet spot" at 1500-1700 calories. I know it seems counter-intuitive to eat more, but depending on your activity level and metabolism that can be the difference. I also started eating every 2 hours after I read once you start feeling hungry your metabolism is already slowing down to conserve energy. After making those two changes I didn't feel hungry anymore during the day and was losing consistently.