Sorry - need to vent

MystiqueASAP

Ignore the scale. Your weight can fluctuate hugely on a day to day basis. It's related to hydration, bowel contents, a full bladder, menstruation cycle, etc. You're not in this for the day to day variations, but for the long haul. Stick with your plan. Eat well, exercise, drink plenty of water and enjoy the benefits of healthy living. It sounds like you're doing great!

^^^^^ This is so true. If you are going to give in to the scale, make sure you keep in mind what is going on with your body, especially at certain times of the month due to hormones. Also, like he said, keep bowel content and hydration in mind. Keep up the good work and don't get discouraged.

jeepwidow01

I took a quick look at your diary & just a couple things I would recommend: try eating back your exercise calories. Many people have had great success doing that. Also, approximately 300 calories a day are drinks (empty calories). Try cutting back on those drinks & incorporate healthier food that will sustain you longer.

Good luck!

itgeekwoman

YOU made my day!! I did the same thing last night and I've been bugged all day by the numbers. You did a big workout, you've got extra fluid in your muscles, you've got more muscle than before. There's tons of things that you've got more of than when you started.. EXCEPT FAT Cells!

Keep the faith, it will all come together!

MinaAriel

I took a peak at your diary and I think you should eat a bit more and make those extra calories healthy proteins and veggies. Your net calories seems way low to me. Your body will retain water if it isn't getting enough fuel.

Lorie66

I went 3 weeks without loosing anything.. and then boom! I dropped 4 lbs in one night...and it started coming off regularly after that.....When the trash pick up comes to your house to get the trash, you be waiting out there and slam these scales in the back of that truck girl! Hang a measuring tape on the back of the bathroom door....then go to Walmart once a month to weigh in..lol

MaximalLife

Ignore the scale. Your weight can fluctuate hugely on a day to day basis. It's related to hydration, bowel contents, a full bladder, menstruation cycle, etc. You're not in this for the day to day variations, but for the long haul. Stick with your plan. Eat well, exercise, drink plenty of water and enjoy the benefits of healthy living. It sounds like you're doing great!

Agreed....stick to your plan and do not waiver in the face of minor bumps....

^^^^^^^^
NOT THIS!
No, you need to change your plan or your ship will sink.
Some days you eat junk, and some days you eat less than 1000 calories.
No offense, but your plan is a program to err.
Starvation diets don't work.
Why?
Because if your calorie deficit is too great you can easily suffer from
loss of muscle mass (slows down your metabolism) and impaired general progress.
You have to find what is right for you but you also need to remember that your body
is a machine and without the right type and amount of fuel there could be problems
either with loss of muscle, loss of energy, less weight loss/plateaus, etc.

Stick with the MFP recommendations.
Break this cycle by going into settings to Update diet/fitness profile.
Set your goals for 1 lb weight loss per week.
NO MORE!
And eat lean meats, low fat dairy, nuts, whole grains, fresh fruits and veggies.
Do both cardio and resistance exercise.

AND EAT BACK YOUR EXERCISE CALORIES!
Remember, this is not a race, and you can reach your goals if you stick to a good plan as recommended on this site.

You have many people here ready to lend support, answer qustions and discuss any challenges.
You can do this.

All Is Possible!

bayles1

Stick to your plan,your clearly doing the right things as your having a lot of success along the way. A lot of thing's change in between weigh in's,whic is why it is best to not keep jumping on the scales all the time. Besides we are still a while away from Friday. Keep at it and stay positive.

AllanMisner

My weight can fluctuate as much as 5lbs from one day to the next depending on several things (time of day, water retention, bowel movements, etc.). You want a long-term downward trend. Up on a single weigh in isn't a big deal, you'll typically see that fall off the next time.

Listen to what people are saying about your diet. You have to fuel the fire or it goes out. Our bodies were built to equalize and stay where they are. You have to gradually work your body down. There are no short cuts.

Stick with it! You'll get there.

bcattoes

It's likely just water. Even if you drink a lot of water and eat low sodium, you will still sometimes retain water. Just stick with the plan and it will come off eventually.

Thad81

Weight definitely fluctuates and it does not mean you gained five pounds of fat back!

MikeSEA

OP, I know how you feel. Sometimes when I gain weight, I obsessively run different calculations on what my maintenance should be and then attempt to completely redesign my workout schedule. Don't feel bad about whining.

Bagman12002

Ignore the scale. Your weight can fluctuate hugely on a day to day basis. It's related to hydration, bowel contents, a full bladder, menstruation cycle, etc. You're not in this for the day to day variations, but for the long haul. Stick with your plan. Eat well, exercise, drink plenty of water and enjoy the benefits of healthy living. It sounds like you're doing great!

well said, stick to the plan for the long term..

jenlb99

Took a look at your diary....
You are not eating enough, and your metabolism is no doubt stifled.
You need to eat to goal, and that includes eating back your exercise calories.

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.

^^^^

This.

You also don't log your protein intake, and I'd be curious at what that is. To maintain my muscle mass, I need to get AT LEAST 100g of protein per day, so I use protein shakes to do that.

With what you're eating, I don't think you're gaining muscle mass; I think your body is holding on to water. EDIT: I would also add that some of your weight loss "success" was ALSO muscle...and that is NOT a good thing.

Eat more quality food, drink plenty of water, and I'm sure the scale will reflect those changes.

david_swinstead

While there is some truth in what some people have said, that you should be taking measurements, it's also not likely that you've done everything right and still gained a whole 5lbs, because to imply that it's 5lbs of muscle (which seems to be what people are implying, when they say you should measure inches not lbs), well it would take some serious lifting to build that. Unless you've been doing heavy weights, and a lot of them, it's more likely that the problem is elsewhere.

Are you weighing at the same time of day? Wearing the same or similar clothes?if not, you definitely should be. Are you drinking enough water after large intakes of sodium? These factors could be skewing it, but lets assume it's not something quite so obvious...

Weight loss is a simple matter of calories in minus calories out. If you have a deficit then you lose weight. Defying this rule (other than minor daily fluctuations) is physiologically impossible.

So why does it appear from your diary that you have a calorie deficit every day, but you aren't losing weight? Having scrolled back through a week, it seems most likely that, because you aren't eating enough, you have stopped your metabolism in its tracks, meaning that you aren't eating at a deficit at all. Your body may only be consuming (for example) 1600 calories, and if you think your TDEE is 2000, you'd class this as a deficit. But is you under-eat, pretty quickly your metabolism slows down, and your TDEE plummets along with it meaning that all of a sudden you're eating the same 1600 calories, and thinking you're burning 2000, but only actually burning 1200 resulting in calorie surplus and weight gain.

I need to be careful with my words here, because it could sound like I just implied you should be eating less. Far from it! Your metabolism has stopped because you're not eating enough. You are finishing every day with around 550 - 750 calories spare. This is way too much!

Eat more (eating back your exercise calories) and pretty quickly you should start to lose.

LaDiablesse

Lots of things contribute to a gain. Are you goin just by the scale or are you taking measurements as well?

Nicola0000

Feel really down today, I stupidly weighed myself this morning (instead of promising I'd only do it on a Friday) only to find I've gained 5lbs back, even though I've been exercising, drinking plenty of water and trying to eat fairly healthy...And to top it all off, either I've shrunk my jeans in the wash, I'm gaining muscles in my thighs or they're just getting fatter coz my jeans are feeling a bit tighter round my thighs! Can't bloody win!!

Sorry to whinge on here, but (cue the violins) I don't like to talk to my few friends that I have about my weight loss as they're all either their ideal weight/size or underweight and I just generally don't like having to burden people with my issues - so, sorry random t'internet people, you're lumped with it instead (its easier to type and not see someone!!)

Remember, 1lb is 3500 cals. So have you really eaten an excess of 17500 cals if youve been eating healthy? Probably not. Dont stress, it'll probably come off again quick. Our bodies are weird!!