Why am I gaining weight?

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24

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  • karinaes
    karinaes Posts: 570 Member
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    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
    arlo1028 Posts: 76 Member
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    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
    jc0123 Posts: 6 Member
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    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
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
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    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
    auticus Posts: 1,051 Member
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    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
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:tongue::happy:

    No muscle gaining on less than 1200 Net cals/day. You need a caloric surplus to build any measurable amount of muscle.
  • jeffazi
    jeffazi Posts: 198
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    Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:tongue::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
    Ge0rgiana Posts: 1,649 Member
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    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
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    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
    TWrecks1968 Posts: 138 Member
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    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.
  • TWrecks1968
    TWrecks1968 Posts: 138 Member
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    Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:tongue::happy:

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

    this
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
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    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.

    It's normal for weight training to cause a weight gain due to water retained by your muscles as part of the recovery process. Muscle isn't the only thing that weighs more (by volume) than fat, so my advice is to put the scale away for now and take out the tape measure.
  • smurfee11
    smurfee11 Posts: 33
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    sounds like your in starvation mode... make sure that you eating enough to sustain. 1200 is bare minimum calories and if you workout like that you are living on nothing.
  • cryspetstalerson
    cryspetstalerson Posts: 147
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    Measuring well help tell you if you are losing weight. Also taking pictures. front, side and back.
  • Articeluvsmemphis
    Articeluvsmemphis Posts: 1,987 Member
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    eat more, get plenty water, take a rest day 1-2 times a week. . . get plenty fresh fruits and vegetables
  • Stompp
    Stompp Posts: 216
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    Maybe, your gaining musle. I did that before don't give up ! Its awesome you can excerise!:tongue::happy:

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

    This...

    Also, just remember at the end of the day it's all a numbers game, and accuracy > everything.

    Calories in - Calories out...
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
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    If you are not using a heart rate monitor I bet you are way overestimating calories burned. I was doing this by hundreds until I got my HRM and now I know exactly what I burn!
  • DBiddle69
    DBiddle69 Posts: 682 Member
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    Not knowing what your exercise program is I will offer up this. When I began my program I used the calories that were shown on my treadmill as my daily exercise. Not knowing at the time that unless the treadmill allows you to enter your weight that the information would be wrong!! The treadmill was registering calories for a person who weighs about 150 lbs. If I were still using this I would be in deep trouble!! I am currently burning 915 calories per workout however, the treadmill says I burned 1400 calories….so you can see how I could over eat!!

    I found this site that helps me identify my calories based on my activity and my weight.
    http://42.195km.net/e/
  • sarah44254
    sarah44254 Posts: 3,078 Member
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    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.

    It's normal for weight training to cause a weight gain due to water retained by your muscles as part of the recovery process. Muscle isn't the only thing that weighs more (by volume) than fat, so my advice is to put the scale away for now and take out the tape measure.

    ^ here's your answer.

    Keep your net = to your MFP goal (or at the very least, at/above 1200)
    drink enough water (8 cups for some folks, 20 cups for others, find your happy place!)
    keep an eye on your sodium consumption
    keep lifting weights!! :bigsmile:
  • JJinWI
    JJinWI Posts: 197 Member
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    "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. "

    You're not putting on muscle. Your muscles are retaining water in an effort to heal. This is especially true for those very new to weight training.

    Yes, make sure you are eating enough!

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