Sorry - need to vent

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!!