I am getting nervous

mrfriess

My weight has been increasing each day for the past 5 days and I'm now doubting just about everything I'm doing with regards to my diet and exercise. This may not sound like a problem to most but it's very troubling to me so I would welcome some feedback please. I am a 60 year old guy in very good health. I exercise 4 times a week at a gym (mostly aerobics and a little weight training) and for about 4 months I have weighed in the 152 to 154 lb range. Prior to that I was at 175lbs and went on a very low calorie diet (I know now how bad a strategy that was). So I have been maintaining my weight and since last Friday, I have gone from 151lbs to 156 lbs today.

My calories last week averaged 1,780 (net were 1,000). My MFP goal is 1,910 and my BMR is 1,530. I drink a lot of water and do not hunger for food since I eat many small meals per day. Can anyone figure out what I am doing wrong? I would greatly appreciate your feedback.

Many thanks.

susanloveszumba

sounds like you are weighing too often for one thing

sjtreely

Would you consider opening up your diary? Then people can see what you're logging and make specific suggestions.

Lo39

I'm guessing it might be your building muscle...

helenmelon29

I think your Net calories are too low per day - unless I'm misunderstanding. I dont think you should go below 1200 net (including exercise calories).

I also wouldnt weigh more than once a week as it can easily differ from day to day depending on what you have eaten, e.g more salt etc.

Not sure if thats any help though.

cramernh

My weight has been increasing each day for the past 5 days and I'm now doubting just about everything I'm doing with regards to my diet and exercise. This may not sound like a problem to most but it's very troubling to me so I would welcome some feedback please.

Actually it is a problem because you are weighing yourself daily and the scale IS NOT an accurate way to detail your weight. Weight, regardless if you are a guy or woman, fluctuates day to day..... The scale should NEVER be used on a day to day basis due to that variable. Stop weighing daily - seriously.

Secondly, its difficult to help anyone out such as yourself, when your diary is not made available.

It could very well lie within what you are reporting on your food logs...

cramernh

By the way - what is your current height and weight?

rsmithy89

Water weight most likely. Monitor and limit sodium and carbohydrate intake.

mrfriess

I am 5' 11" and weigh 156. I weigh myself every morning at the same time when I wake up before eating - I was told long ago that by doing so I would be able to spot issues immediately and then take appropriate action. I have opened up my food journal if that would provide some further insight.

Thanks all!

TwinMumCork

Just a quick look at your diary says you might be taking in way too much sodium, this will cause you to retain fluid. I'd watch your sodium intake and see if this helps. I also try to limit my wheat intake as this makes me retain water, look closely at what you eat each day in case you have a trigger like that too.

I weight myself daily too and as people say to me you can't put on a lb in a day but you can retain enough water to make it seem like you have. I always notice if I eat food with high salt it causes and increase straight away and takes a couple of days to loose. Also I notice my weight goes down the day after my rest day from weights.

sjtreely

Here's what I noticed in my very quick once over - and I only went back about a week or so. But most days you're over on sodium. That could be part of the problem.

However, you stated you lost the weight by going on a very low calorie diet. I'm not sure what that means in terms of total calories, but my guess your body is adjusting to what you're eating now. It's really tricky to figure out maintenance calories - especially if you're coming off too low of calories. It may take a while for your body to catch up with your new lifestyle.

Are you calculating your calories burned accurately? It's difficult at best to know for certain how many you burn during a workout session, but if you're only using MFP as your calculator you may be over estimating. I've found it's Santa Claus. My HRM is always lower than MFP. The longer I exercise the more it's off.

And as for weighing yourself daily - I see no harm in it. I do it, too. I make a mental note each day, but only record once a week.

claresusan

I am certainly no authority but as has been mentioned before the sodium content of your chosen foods is very high.

I have also noticed that the bulk of your calories seem to be consumed at your evening meal. Perhaps try increasing your breakfast and lunch calories and decrease your dinner ones.

I find that if i eat a huge, calorie-filled meal at night and then go to sleep, my weight is up the following day.

I would also refrain from weighing oneself every day but rather once per week on the same day upon waking.

Hope this helps. Inbox me if you have any success with it.
Onward and upward or should i say onward and downward!!

japruzze

As others have mentioned you sodium intake may be high. Also, I too noticed that your evening meal is a considerable % of you calories. As we hear so often, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. I'd switching it up and eating more in the morning and at mid-day and lighten the evening meal. I weigh myself daily too. Like you I was told it would help me identify problems before they become big. I find that if I don't weigh myself everyday, I tend to go off plan. I don't "live by the scale" however I do take note and when I see a multi-day trend like you did, act on it. If none of this and suggestions from others helps and the weight gain continues for no apparent reason, contact your doctor. Something else may be going on that has nothing to do with diet and exercise. You can't be too careful!

gregpack

Diet looks pretty good in my uneducated opinion although you might want to track sodium.

I weigh daily, and enter the data on a spreadsheet. I then average the last ten days weigh ins, so daily fluctuations are smoothed out.

Probably the best weigh to track whether it is fat or muscle is keeping track of your waistline measurement. If the waist circumference is decreasing, you are losing fat.

SteveTries

Sorry, but I am going to disagree with the sodium theory.

In your case you describe a sudden shift from weight loss to weight gain starting 5 days ago and continuing daily. When I review your diary I can see that your sodium levels actually have been constant for the 2 weeks I reviewed. Therefore I discredit sodium intake as the cause of the changes.

I do observe though that whilst your carbohydrate intake is pretty constant, there has been a bit of a shift upwards and certainly towards higher carbs per meal (balanced by none/reduced carbs between meals).

I believe that this could be the cause, and just like the sodium argument its is increasing the water volume in your body. When you were consuming your carbs in a drawn out manner accross the day you never took on enough to replenish glycogen stores in the muscle cells. Glycogen bind with water (I think at ratio of 1:4) and so when you replenish glycogen stores your will add quite a bit of water weight.

This isn't bad weight, it isn't fat. and I would bet if you depleted your glycogen stores you would see a dramatic drop within 2 days (this is why people starting a diet "lose" 6 pounds in a week).

Just my opinion but I would drop your carbs per meal to 30-40 grams of low GI carbs per meal and add in some fruit between meals. I believe this avoids insulin spikes and keeps us in fat burning mode 24 hours a day at a more constant level than the spike-dip-spike-dip effect you get when eating higher amounts at each meal with long gaps between.

MaximalLife

You are good to doubt, because what you are doing going to sabotage your progress.
Your deficits are too large, and it does not look like you're eating back your exercise calories.
That's why you're stalling.
MFP has calculated our total calories required each day WITHOUT exercise to lose 1lb per week.
And after we log in our exercises, our calorie limit goes up.
Why?
Because it's telling us to eat our exercise calories.
Large deficits are unhealthy, because while you will lose weight, what's the quality of the weight loss?
In many cases you'll lose lean body mass - MUSCLE - which LOWERS your metabolic rate, making weight loss harder.
Then you have to lower calories even more to compensate, and the cycle continues.
Be smart.
Exercise well both cardio and resistance, and eat back the calories.
The exercise will RAISE your metabolism and burn more fat at rest.

ajfrench

I can understand getting nervous about gaining weight, but my question is, how much more (if any), do you want to lose? You're 5'11 and weigh between 151 and 156. That's a healthy weight range.

andrejjorje

Diary sounds good with two exceptions. Sodium a little bit high and sugar. 60-65 g of sugar/day. Try to lower sodium under 2 g and sugar around 30. Do it for 3 weeks and see the results. Good luck.

andrejjorje

Good advice here. Your weight is in the healthy range (lower part of the range). You should be in the management phase.
Meal timing is irrelevant.

Diet looks pretty good in my uneducated opinion although you might want to track sodium.

I weigh daily, and enter the data on a spreadsheet. I then average the last ten days weigh ins, so daily fluctuations are smoothed out.

Probably the best weigh to track whether it is fat or muscle is keeping track of your waistline measurement. If the waist circumference is decreasing, you are losing fat.

Lynda4aska

regarding sodium.......what is the ideal daily consumption? or where can i find this based on my height/weight/goals?

maryjay51

i would suggest trying something that worked for me when i was in your shoes..first of all the sodium is too high. you might want to learn to eat with less condiments on your food which is where alot of that sodium seems to be coming from . i use a ton of alternatives like spices,herbs, onion,garlic and red bell pepper .

another suggestion i would make is to scale down the number of calories in your lunch and dinner.. i would suggest eating 5 or 6 times a day with smaller meals . some people may argue with me on that but i lost 80lbs and when i started laying lower on the salt and eating more often during the day i noticed a difference in the numbers on the scale.

aside from that you might have gained some muscle mass and loss some body fat. i went through that last year for like three months . i lost 8 % body fat and not one lb on the scale ..also went down a size in clothing

Missjilly1025

All I can say is what others have said. Your sodium is pretty high and the majority of your calories are eaten in the evening. Also, how much water are you drinking? Either you don't drink it or you don't log it. Might want to try the easiest thing first.

mrfriess

This has been great feedback and will move me in the right direction. I will do something about my sodium levels immediately as I understand that can be a contributor to water retention. I will say for those who ask that I do drink about 70 ounces of water/day and I am in maintenance and would be very pleased if my weight remained in the 153lb range. I am still a little unsure whether my caloric intake (gross/net) as outlined in my original post is conducive to weight maintenance and if it is, could you just let me know?

Thanks.