Why Did I Gain Weight?

denee05

I've started really counting my calories again, and I decided to keep a food diary this time, which has been a great help. I'm slowly but surely trying to exercise, but even by cutting my calories, I should be set to lose 2 pounds a week. I went to weigh myself (on my wii, I don't have a normal scale) and it said I gained like .2 pounds. I don't understand how that is even possible. I'm only eating 1200 calories a day, and I write down everything. I'm usually out with my mom walking around most of the day, so I'm not even as sedentary as I used to be. I'm about 223 pounds and 5'5. According to MFP, I should be having about a 7000 calories deficit a week just by eating 1200 calories a day. I was expecting to finally see some type of result, and now I feel like giving up already, which is what always happens whenever I try to lose weight and nothing happens.

During my last diet, I worked out every night and cut calories and never lost anything as well. Is there something wrong with me?

I just feel so discouraged and I just want to quit. I'm sorry, but I'm tired of eating a quarter of the food my family eats, and still struggling with weight issues.

WarriorWomanMaxine

I would buy some normal scales i weighed myself last week once on the wii then on my normal scales there was 6lb differents dont always think the wii is right

weightoffmom

have you had a physical with a doctor?

maybe a different food plan might work better for you. not everyones body reacts the same to a food plan.

weightoffmom

for sure...and if the board is on the carpet you will get much different results.

ChubbieTubbie

Maybe you aren't eating enough--I never lose at 1200 calories, but I lose spectacularly at 1400.

BlueEyedTwin333

I'm also 5'5" and I'm 200lbs as of my last weight in. It's tough when you first get started so don't get discouraged. It takes time for your body to really start burning the fat and show you some results. If you keep up with the calories and start doing some cardio a few times a week i Promise you'll start seeing it.
You may have weighed yourself at the wrong time, as I've currently learn, your body can fluctuate by about 5-10lbs throughout the day depending on clothing and what you've eaten. Try weighing yourself in the morning right after you wake up. Thats when everything from the previous day has been digested and you're at your current weight. Don't give up girly! We're all here you ya!

MissLedford87

im taking a class on weight loss, i just started but i also just started dieting last sunday. they said to keep your carbs and protien at about the same level or even your protein a little higher. try that, it might help. i have also cut my cals. and ive lost 7lbs since last sunday but had pizza for dinner last night (still staying in my 1200 cal range) and woke up weighed myself on my wii and had gained a pound. not sure if that will work for you, but maybe give it a shot. :]

armywifeinpink

When I first started out the same thing happened. I gained up to 5 pounds before I started dropping pounds, and I was told it was because your body goes into some what of a shock because of going from eating so many calories to so few of calories that it tries to do like a back up and I swelled and everything for about a week and a half. But once my body got used to it the number started going down. But I went from eating almost 2500-3000 calories a day to 1200 a day so my body hated me for a while, lol. That may be your case....but I agree with the other posts, best to get you a good scale from walmart....I bought one for like 15 bucks and it is pretty accurate for me

Izzygirl1985

PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP....I know it is discouraging but it happens to us all. On my first week, I thought I only lost 1.5pounds and almost cried (actually i did). The next day, After letting out some waste (:)) I weighed myself again and overnight i lost 3.2 pounds in addition making a total of 4.7. We are women....our bodies SUCK and play tricks on us. Just keep on pushing yourself and maybe add a more intensive workout session at least 3X a week and see what happens.

Keep it up hun...You are doing GREAT!

jrich1

1200 cals a day, if you are exercising then you arent eating enough

LorinaLynn

If you haven't recently, it might not hurt to check with your doctor and have a full bloodwork panel done. There MIGHT be something medical going on, like a thyroid condition.

hpsnickers1

You gained a fifth of a pound. I wouldn't worry about that minute of a number. Our weight fluctuates by pounds each day.

KellyBurton1

Sounds like your not eating enough, 1200 calories dont seem to be enough for you. Are you eating your excerise calories back? Your body might think it starving its self. It holds on to everything when that happens. How much water are you drinking. You can drink way to much as well.

denee05

The doctor is simply out of the question. I have no health insurance. And I'm not really exercising. Right now I'm just really trying to watch what I eat and slowly start to work out so I don't panic and feel overwhelmed. I usually have a low blood pressure, so I don't think I have any weird medical problems besides being hungry all day long, which I don't think is a medical problem, lol. And I weighed myself this morning on my wii, which sits on my carpet.

I also haven't had the best start in terms of being weighed. When I first joined this site I just entered my weight that I thought I was, which was about 220. Then some guy weighed me at my school, and it said I weighed 212 pounds, which got me pretty excited. Then I weighed myself on my wii, and saw that I was really almost 223 pounds. So I'm just having issues understanding what I really weigh, so disregard any weight loss in my profile, lol. Perhaps getting a real scale will help, which I can't do because I get anxious if I do anything "weight-related" in public, which is also why I'm terrified of going to a gym.

sara_xo

Sounds like your not eating enough, 1200 calories dont seem to be enough for you. Are you eating your excerise calories back? Your body might think it starving its self. It holds on to everything when that happens. How much water are you drinking. You can drink way to much as well.

you can't really drink too much water. average person just to stay hydrated NORMALLY should be having 8oz a day.. I drink 5 liters.. if you're working out you're going to want WAY more than just a couple glasses.

cchapps

This is the cycle for me and sounds like so many others. I want to loose below a certain weight and for more than 15 years have not been able to. I even had a trainer last year. i woke up at 4;45 am three times a week , and he worked me hard. I felt better and people said I looked better but I didnt like the number on the scale. or how i looked. I often wonder if its an emotional weight gain and there is something i need to let go of emotionally and then my body will let go of all its harboring to protect itself. Weight included. I dont really have an answer but offer support for the discouraged feelings. I see people do it so I know it is possible. Be patient and dont give up somethings got to give. You cant fail if you keep trying, Its when we give up that we let go of want we really want.

dlaplume2

I know it;s hard but try to give it more time. You could be retaining water, building muscle or the Wii might be off. Mine is always off from my scale. I didn't realize I was storing my board wrong. I had it on it's side.
The other thing is if you are only eating 1200 calories but moving aroung more maybe you aren't eating enough calories.

7000 is a huge deficit your body may be resisting the weight loss and storing it because it thinks you are going through a famine.

That's the way your body is. It's a survival mechanism.

mnheather

I am going through the same thing this week. I lost 4 pounds on last Monday's weigh in. This morning I had gained 3 freaking pounds! I have exercised my butt off and counted every freaking calorie. I am also doing the 5 day pouch test to get back to using my weight loss tool in the correct manner. I just don't know why I had such a large gain. Watching what I am eating and facing that horrid Jillian Michaels every day, you would think I would have a slight loss. No such luck. Sorry I can't help you, but know that you aren't in the boat alone.
(((HUGS)))

denee05

I also drink a lot of that zero calorie sparkling water. I'm sorry, I know that I should be drinking the real stuff, but I get bored with it and I just can't drink it all day. On my last diet, I ate 1600 calories a day, and never saw results. My mom has basically gone anorexic and has lost about 80 pounds in 3 months, while my little brother only ate salad and worked out three hours a day and lost the same amount of weight in about 5 months. I'm the only one who just can't seem to lose anything no matter what I do. My mom didn't even work out and she's accomplished what I've been trying to do most of my life. I just don't get why I can't lose. I'm just tired.

KellyBurton1

Sounds like your not eating enough, 1200 calories dont seem to be enough for you. Are you eating your excerise calories back? Your body might think it starving its self. It holds on to everything when that happens. How much water are you drinking. You can drink way to much as well.

you can't really drink too much water. average person just to stay hydrated NORMALLY should be having 8oz a day.. I drink 5 liters.. if you're working out you're going to want WAY more than just a couple glasses.

Im not talking about a couple of glasses, Im talking about about 20 or more and thats not even by working out. There have been studies shown that you over drink on water.

denee05

Now I'm really worried. I took the advice and just disregarded the small change in weight and continued my 1200 calorie limit. I weighed myself on the Wii just now, and i've gained 6 pounds since I started this topic. I mean, what the hell? Excuse my language, but I'm just in shock. Is that even possible? The way I've been watching my calories, I should have at least lost 6 pounds. That's it. I'm quitting. Sorry, but that is just ridiculous and proves that no matter what I do, I'll just be fat. Oh wait, I can't even call myself fat. I'm beyond obese, according to that wii. Wow. I'm just...wow. Sorry.

wolfchild59

Get a real scale and stop using the Wii Balance Board. It's not designed to be 100% accurate as a scale, that's really just a general reference for the games on the system. My Wii weight is never anything close to what my scale says. Back when I first got my Balance Board I did multiple side by side comparisons because I had been told in advance about the weight inaccuracies with it. So I wanted to get a sampling so I could see the median difference. In two weeks of almost daily comparisons (this was awhile ago, close to when they first came out, this wasn't for calorie counting weigh ins or anything), all but one time the Wii weight was higher than what my scale said. The highest difference was 12 pounds heavier than my scale and the closest was two pounds heavier than my scale. With the one random lower being one pound lower. And my weight on the scale only fluctuated by a few pounds on any given day.

My advice is to go get a decent digital scale. If you have a Bed Bath and Beyond nearby, grab one of their 20% off coupons and head there, that's what I finally did. I'd been using a $10 spring scale to start with and just changes in humidity and air pressure affect those, so you always have to adjust the dial to make sure it's on zero before you weight yourself. But a digital scale is gonna start the same everytime, no adjusting, and will always stay consistent. Plus a lot of them show fractions of a pound, so you'll be able to see even smaller than a pound losses from week to week.

Don't get discouraged, stay with it and just get yourself some better tools. The weight will come off as long as you stick with it.

missxena

I would buy some normal scales i weighed myself last week once on the wii then on my normal scales there was 6lb differents dont always think the wii is right

yes get some normal scales and make sure it on even hard suface not carpet , dont give up , you can do this

denee05

I took my wii board off that step thing, which I had completely forgot about, and weighed myself again. It looked a lot closer to the weight I had imagined myself to be, even though it still means that I haven't lost any weight. Oh well, at least I know now to buy a real scale and end this foolishness. I ended up binging and getting sick, then jogging for an hour just to feel like I was back on track. That's not like me at all, so maybe I'm being way too hard on myself with the exact number of calories. I think I'm going to start eating the calories I earn from any exercise I do, even though it seems counterproductive.

aynur05

I took my wii board off that step thing, which I had completely forgot about, and weighed myself again. It looked a lot closer to the weight I had imagined myself to be, even though it still means that I haven't lost any weight. Oh well, at least I know now to buy a real scale and end this foolishness. I ended up binging and getting sick, then jogging for an hour just to feel like I was back on track. That's not like me at all, so maybe I'm being way too hard on myself with the exact number of calories. I think I'm going to start eating the calories I earn from any exercise I do, even though it seems counterproductive.

Yes, it seems counterproductive, but you need to be eating something like 1/2 of the calories back, unless you're under the 1200 calorie mark even after that then you need to eat more.
I'm agreeing with some of the others, you need a real scale ... and it's possible that 1200 is too low.

I know what you mean about being frustrated, although I *know* I'm eating 400-600 calories too much but still I'm disappointed that I'm not losing weight because I've been running and I never used to do that.

servilia

The doctor is simply out of the question. I have no health insurance. And I'm not really exercising. Right now I'm just really trying to watch what I eat and slowly start to work out so I don't panic and feel overwhelmed. I usually have a low blood pressure, so I don't think I have any weird medical problems besides being hungry all day long, which I don't think is a medical problem, lol. And I weighed myself this morning on my wii, which sits on my carpet.

I don't have much time to respond but wanted to let you know that low blood pressure actually is a symptom of hypothyroidism which can make it hard to lose weight and easy to gain it. I'm sorry you can't go to a doctor though..

grace_ful

I am not a doctor but you sound like way my sister in law was. She had actually a thyroid problem and something else. Well have her meds and started losing the weight. I would talk to your doctor about maybe it is something of concern. Hope it goes well and done give up. I have Lupus and tend to have wait when I am on predisone. It upsets me but I know I can do it again and again.

jane77

when did you start watching calories? Are you really tracking everything (eve that bite from someone plate)?
After being sure we are 100% honest with yourselves think about this our bodys need time to figure out whats going on Do we really think we gain 1 lbs when we overate by 3500 cals no we did not Why do we think your bodies should give up that easy these goals should be life long eating and exercise goals not how much did i Lose or gain today how about this year First be kind to you, second be honest, move everyday. You will get there

hpsnickers1

I'm also 5'5" and I'm 200lbs as of my last weight in. It's tough when you first get started so don't get discouraged. It takes time for your body to really start burning the fat and show you some results. If you keep up with the calories and start doing some cardio a few times a week i Promise you'll start seeing it.
You may have weighed yourself at the wrong time, as I've currently learn, your body can fluctuate by about 5-10lbs throughout the day depending on clothing and what you've eaten. Try weighing yourself in the morning right after you wake up. Thats when everything from the previous day has been digested and you're at your current weight. Don't give up girly! We're all here you ya!

I'm learning this. I'm not overweight - just trying to get a few pounds off. On Tuesday or Wednesday morning I weighed myself and the scale said 125.2. Here it is 4 days later and it says 129.2. I know I haven't gained 4 pounds. My eating wasn't spectacular and I did go over on calories. I had a little too much sodium and sugar during these days. But I didn't eat enough to gain 4 pounds - I would've had to eat 14000 calories over what my body is burning . I'm beginning to think for me it's exercise. I started doing 45-60 treadmill walks. Part moderate and part hard. But I'm not doing enough of them. I can't seem to get up to 5 days a week. For 3 months the scale has been going up and down with 4 pounds. BUT - on a positive note - I'm wearing pants I haven't been able to wear for a year and a half. So something is happening.

Try not to worry about the scale numbers so much. Concentrate on how you feel and how your clothes fit. .2 pounds is nothing.

janski2

For one week pay attention to your sodium when you look at your report at the end of the day. Keep it under 2000 mg. If I have a bowl of soup, I weight two pounds more the next day because of the sodium. If my ring is tight I don't weigh myself, cause I get discouraged and It's just water weight. It will go away in a couple of days, but if you keep it steady then you will have a true weigh-in each time. I also lose easier when I keep my fat intake down.

KokomoJoe

I will tell you what is working for me. I am keeping a food diary, however I am not really focusing on calories that much.

First eliminate anything white. White rice, white bread, white sugar, potato and I have eliminated almost all dairy (no milk cheese) and regular table salt. Replace with whole grain bread, brown rice or quinoa, sweet potato and stevia for sugar unrefined sea salt for salt. Eat 5 meals a day of 250-300 calories each (total for the day 1250-1500) making sure you get some protein at every meal. Almond butter and half a banana as a meal. Make sure you get some fat. Avocado, flax seed oil on a salad etc. Eat fresh fruits and veggies preferably raw. I love cashews which again have protein and healthy fat in them (however are expensive). Stay away from Aspartane, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils. All calories are not created equal in my books.