Why am I gaining weight?

jc0123

I have exercised every day for the past month for around an hour and a half each day. MFP tells me I should eat 1200 a day but I do eat some of my exercise calories. My net for the day is usually not that high at all. For the past 2 weeks I have gained a pound each week and don't understand why. I don't know what I should do differently and am losing motivation.

lin7604

keep you net at 1200 no less. if you exercising as much as you say you are then you don't have enough calories in you.

carrie_eggo

Are you weighing/measuring your food? Are you being accurate with your diary?

engineman312

Are you weighing/measuring your food? Are you being accurate with your diary?

this. most people tend to over estimate how much they work out, and under estimate their food intake. you need to weigh every slice of deli meat, count every nut, measure every serving of peanut butter. borderline obsessive compulsive.

SuddenlyPickles

Open your diary so we can help...

Without seeing what you're eating/exercising, we can really only guess. Your exercise calories might be overestimated, you might be netting waaay too low, your carb/fat/protein macros might be out of whack, your water intake might suck, you might be entering the wrong foods into your diary (beware of misleading items in the MFP database)...

JJinWI

Keep sticking with it. I gained three pounds my first month - very frustrating. I had been working out weekly with a trainer and doing lots of weights and cardio. Imagine my disappointment when we weighed in a month later - UP three pounds! He told me not to stress about it. We then used a device to measure body fat and I was down 1%. (I didn't know much about body fat percentages and thought 1% was atrocious.) He said that it was terrific and I was going in the right direction.

Keep on plowing through and start taking measurements with a tape measure!

ddelynn5

Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:happy:

jc0123

I am doing a lot of weight training but I didn't think it was possible to put on a pound of muscle in only a week. I opened up my diary though I am a little embarrassed lol. Thank you everyone for your help! I try to be pretty accurate and am for the most part with meals but sometimes its hard when I am picking at things so a lot of times for snacks i do the 'Quick add' option
For exercise I have been doing Biggest Loser power sculpt and cardio max videos as well as working on the elliptical.

SuddenlyPickles

Good for you for opening it up -- I know it's scary, but it's also freeing

On a cursory glace, you're netting pretty low (on average). Remember that MFP has already built in a deficit, so you should be eating more to give your body that fuel to work out. There's some awesome threads on here about the big should I eat exercise calories/should I not eat exercise calories debate. Search for 'em and give 'em a read. I used to be of the "non eating" camp, but (proud to say that) I'm now reformed. Since it's hard to accurately estimate your caloric burn without a heart rate monitor (did you say you had one?), you might not want to eat *all* your exercise calories... But some, certainly. You don't want to be netting 500 calories per day -- your body deserves more than that! That said, your food choices look great. So keep doing that... Just eat more.

And, like others said, be true to your diary and log everything!

carrie_eggo

Reading through some threads may help you....I'd start here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/429284-if-you-re-not-losing-and-in-a-calorie-deficit-update

juliesummers

Where are your fresh fruits, vegetables, and legumes?

Rae6503

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

bjfmade

Be careful eating all exercise calories back if you are not using a HRM. The numbers on MFP are estimates, does not take into account your weight and how much effort you are putting into your workout!

itsuki

Try getting your net calories to 1200. Your net is 300-500 on many days - this could be preventing you from losing weight! Also, I'll second the "more veggies" sentiment I'm seeing.

bizco

It's one or both of these:
1. You're consuming more calories than you're logging
2. You're overestimating the amount of calories burned during exercise.

Do you use a digital food scale to weigh everything that goes into your mouth? Are you logging all beverages? Are you logging everything used to cook with (oils, butter, marinades, etc)?

Do you wear quality HRM to accurately log calories burned from exercise? Are you subtracting the number of calories you would have burned any way without exercise?

To lose weight you need a calorie deficit, period.

If you're doing hard core weight lifting make sure you take and log your measurements in MFP.

kenyonsmom10

I have exercised every day for the past month for around an hour and a half each day. MFP tells me I should eat 1200 a day but I do eat some of my exercise calories. My net for the day is usually not that high at all. For the past 2 weeks I have gained a pound each week and don't understand why. I don't know what I should do differently and am losing motivation.

If you are exercising honestly for 1.5 hours a day your calories should be closer to 1800 (net about 1300) .... you need to eat more.

becoming_a_new_me

Remember that muscle weighs more than fat. When my scale lies to me, I get out the measuring tape...it never lies!

moylie

If you're really burning that many calories, than YOU NEED TO EAT MORE. You should at least hit 1200 net everyday. Eat at least 75% of your exercise calories back. I know it sounds scary, but eating more has it's benefits. And it helps to include healthy fats (nuts, avocados), plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, lots of lean protein, legumes, and/or protein replacement powders. Is your goal set to lose 2lbs/week? I would try changing it to 1lb/week, and then have your calorie net around 1400-1500. Hang in there!

3dogsrunning

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

^^^^^^ this. You have to copy and paste the link in your browser since MFP on allows their links to be clicky, but it is a must read in your situation.

Tori_356

try something new. mix it up a little bit. your body may be used to the same routine everyday. i'm currently trying to do this myself. it's hard to break out of a rut!

havingitall

Eat real food....whole grains, lean meats, fruits and veggies. Get rid of the sangria, the pizza and the processed stuff

karinaes

you are eating
Bread - Italian, 1.5 oz
Hormel - Chili With Beans, 3 cup
and white chocolate chips and you are wondering why you are not losing any weight? :noway:


edit: read this-- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/416542-i-hope-this-helps

arlo1028

Are you weighing/measuring your food? Are you being accurate with your diary?

this. most people tend to over estimate how much they work out, and under estimate their food intake. you need to weigh every slice of deli meat, count every nut, measure every serving of peanut butter. borderline obsessive compulsive.

Ditto!

Best advice, keep protein and carbs (mostly fiber) as priority, and keep sugar and fat on the lower amount (20%-30%).
Also, log in your measurements DON'T just go by the scale.

Good Luck. and STAY FOCUS!

jc0123

Yes, I admit yesterday wasn't one of my best days

Thank you everyone for your help and all the responses I've gotten !

Rae6503

you are eating
Bread - Italian, 1.5 oz
Hormel - Chili With Beans, 3 cup
and white chocolate chips and you are wondering why you are not losing any weight? :noway:


edit: read this-- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/416542-i-hope-this-helps

You can lose weight just fine eating the above foods. You don't have to eat perfectly "clean" to lose weight.

It appears that the OP is eating too little and/or exercising too much. Our bodies do not respond well to this. It causes our bodies to release hormones that mask (through water retention), slow and even stop weight loss. Additionally large calorie deficits can lead to a lot of muscle loss. Moderate calorie deficits are key.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/setting-the-deficit-small-moderate-or-large.html


Also, you won't be gaining pounds of muscle in a calorie deficit. So the argument "muscle weighs more than fat" is not valid here. (and it doesn't weigh more than fat it is more dense).

auticus

Eating too little is one main affector.

The thing about muscle: you don't typically gain muscle from a deficit. So everyone saying "maybe its muscle"... no. If you are starving yourself I'm willing to bet the bank that you aren't gaining muscle.

A healthy male can gain upwards of 2 lbs of muscle a month if he's lifting heavy AND taking in the appropriate calories (ie not starving).

Keep that in mind.

erickirb

Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:happy:

No muscle gaining on less than 1200 Net cals/day. You need a caloric surplus to build any measurable amount of muscle.

jeffazi

Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:happy:

This! I have a tape measure and a body fat caliper that I use along with my scale. If you're doing lots of strength training and cardio you are putting on muscle and burning fat. It's my understanding that muscle weighs more than fat (someone correct me if I'm wrong). That probably doesn't account for all of the weight you're adding but it could explain some of it. Do your clothes fit better? Do you look leaner? The only way to tell is to know your measurements and body fat. Several years back, I was working out HARD and I stayed at the same weight for months but my bodyfat percentage dropped a couple percentage points. My 2 cents. : )

Ge0rgiana

And some of the sodium numbers are not very good. Cutting back on processed food will bring that number down. You don't gain fat or muscle that fast, but you can pack on water pretty quick.

MaximalLife

Yep, you've engaged in a typical form of self sabotage in that your metabolism is shutting down in response to your poor food intake.

Once again....
MFP has already figured out your total calories you need to eat per day to lose 1lb etc. a week. That's WITHOUT exercise. You'll notice that when you actually add exercise in, the calorie limit goes up. Why? Because it's telling you to eat your exercise calories. Large deficits aren't really good to do because while you will lose weight, what kind of weight will it be? In many cases you'll lose lean muscle tissue which LOWERS your metabolic rate even more. Then you have to eat even less to compensate for less of a calorie burn to continue to lose the same amount of weight each week.
Be efficient. Exercise hard and eat back the calories. The hard exercise will RAISE your metabolic rate and burn more fat at rest.

TWrecks1968

Are you weighing/measuring your food? Are you being accurate with your diary?

this. most people tend to over estimate how much they work out, and under estimate their food intake. you need to weigh every slice of deli meat, count every nut, measure every serving of peanut butter. borderline obsessive compulsive.

I agree. I overestimate my calories in and underestimate the calories out. The loss has not been huge for me, but consistent and eerily accurate.