Help!! I gained a pound!

AChristopher09

Ok, so I was going under my calorie intake. Supposed to take in 1700(not even but around that number) I was taking in as close to 1200 as I could and stopping there and was losing weight perfectly. Someone told me I should be eating what they recommend me to eat, so I eat to my 1700 calories and stayed in my numbers on fats/carbs why did I gain a lb!

agthorn

a) It can take up to 2 weeks for your body to get used to a new "normal".
b) Consuming more food volume means more food weight in your stomach (make sure you're weighing at a consistent time).
c) Bodies normally fluctuate as much as 3-5 pounds just due to hydration levels, water retention from a workout, sodium, etc.

In short, don't sweat it.

Fatbuster205

Too many calories - stick to what feels right for you. I don't eat back all the calories I exercise off.

meg7399

If it says I gained a pound I always ignore...normal fluctuation of the body. I never record new weight loss/gain until its consistently 1 pound more or less for a week or 3 pounds over or under!

innerfashionista

When you increase you food, and you're not used to eating that much, yeah, you're going to gain.

You went from a 1000 calorie deficit, since MPF gives you 500, and now you're closer to the 500. Your body's going to temporarily hold onto anything since you may not have been eating enough.

It sucks, but stick with it. Your body will adapt and you'll start losing again. Same thing happened to me.

AChristopher09

thank you! I was freaking out! I couldnt help thinking I haven't worked this hard to start going to other direction! lol

Bencribb

The body can hold as much as 10lb in water weight (in cases of extreme dehydration). Even just after a workout, if you had your water bottle with you, you probably have gained weight from putting water into your system, much of which will come out later. Your water level varys significantly. (as others have said, 3-5 pounds)

If you enter a day's food diary before you have any items on it will give you something like this: *Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum.

this is based on your current weight. You absolutely should not go under the calorie amount listed in that dialog.

You should be aiming closer to your recommended calories. But you can generally feel safe if you're between your minimum and recommended. I kinda aim at 2/3 towards the recommended.

You can choose weather to replace calories lost to working out or not. It's not strictly mandatory, especially with heavy workouts.

It seems like you've added alot of protein to your diet, you should add some lifting exercises to your workout to gain the benefit of the extra protein. Protein coverts more easily to muscle than fats or carbs, that is it's main advantage, but otherwise it doesn't have a lot of benefits over carbs and ultimately just breaks down to stored fat if it's not used. Lifting exercises potentially speed up your metabolism in the long run, but aren't the greatest for calorie burn out right. However, there is also direct benefits, like strengthening your legs will allow you to more comfortably run farther during cardio workouts.

Anyways, like others have said, don't sweat a 1 pound gain. There are many possible explanations.

Sidesteal

a) It can take up to 2 weeks for your body to get used to a new "normal".
b) Consuming more food volume means more food weight in your stomach (make sure you're weighing at a consistent time).
c) Bodies normally fluctuate as much as 3-5 pounds just due to hydration levels, water retention from a workout, sodium, etc.

In short, don't sweat it.

^ /thread. Good reply.

lizziebeth1028

one pound, seriously, hardly any reason to panic. your weight can fluctuate a few pounds up or down through out the day/ day and day.

trishlambert

I humbly suggest that expecting a consistent downward trend may be setting yourself up for failure. The human body is a wondrous thing, and there are a lot of factors that influence it. As folks here have already said, it's going to fluctuate...water, time of day, time of month, outside temperature...laugh...I don't think even the degreed experts fully understand all the factors!

If it helps, my weight loss journey has been in the form of a sawtooth. Down, up, down, up---but always with a net downward trend. I've had some weigh ins that were 2 pounds up...but I don't worry about it. As long as I know I'm following the guidelines MFP provides me, I am confident that the net movement will be down.

I used to be so sensitive to my scale that my whole mood would swing whichever way its numbers went. Thank heavens I'm free of that "no win" relationship...and I hope that if you aren't yet free of the grip of your scale, part of your MFP journey will be unlocking you from it!!!!

AChristopher09

I'm realizing now I over reacted. I have just battled my weight for 3 years now and I was finally losing massive weight right when I had my now 2 month old. It's starting to slow down which is expected, but I really want to keep moving, I am really hard on myself and a self critic, which stinks.