Why am I still gaining?

benitastory

I lost 5 pounds the first week, and while I'm still working out 3-4 days a week and coming in under my calories each day, I am slowly gaining back those pounds. Can anyone tell me why and what is it that I am doing wrong?

50Rose

Well I'm no expert, but what I read is under on my intake. Are talking about couple calories here or more. Your body needs the fuel when you are exercising. I have been on WW for almost 2 yrs and have started gaining back weight. I know what I have done wrong, I have a little more in my servings and a extra here and there. Well here I'm gaining back 25lbs on my 66lbs lost and paying for it $$$$.

I would stop look at what your eating, be true to yourself on what you write down. Make sure your putting healthy food into your body and keep exercising. If you have not exercised before you will gain muscle weight.

Just one thing don't give up!!!!

billthekill

I lost 5 pounds the first week,

You would need a deficit of 17,500 calories if it was "real" weight loss.

and while I'm still working out 3-4 days a week and coming in under my calories each day, I am slowly gaining back those pounds. Can anyone tell me why and what is it that I am doing wrong?

If you are absolutely sure that you are under your calories than you are doing good. Keep it mind, that most people underestimate their serving size. Measure / Weigh your food if you have the slightest doubt.


The reason why your weight is fluctuating is because of WATER WEIGHT. You have to make for allowance in variation for that.
A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds. If you were to drink a gallon of water right now, you would gain 8 pounds. It's not real weight gain though.

Loislaine61

My comment is in regard to portion control. That's one of the keys I learned at WW. I do not mean to imply that you are not watching your portions because I don't know. As a reminder be sure to read the food labels and see what the serving size is. I make sure I'm within my serving sizes and daily points when I plan my meals. MFP will calculate your calories for you, so easy. I'm sure your WW leaders emphasized weighing and measuring your food and using the calculator to find points.

I lost 30 pounds in 6 months with WW and became a Lifetime member. Life spun out of control for a while and I gained some back so I am trying to lose it and get back to my goal weight and then return to WW. I don't want to pay them anymore but I do like the program and enjoy going to the meetings. I'm currently using the old points system, it's what worked for me four years ago so it can't be all that bad. I'm not fond of the PointsPlus, but I believe that is because I just haven't worked with it enough to get comfortable with it. About the time they introduced PointPlus is when my life started spinning out of control and I stopped going to weekly meetings. I do miss it, but I don't want to pay them anymore. If I go back before I'm at goal they'll want money.

MFP is great! This is a great place to find help, support and motivation. If you would like you may friend me. I will be glad to support and encourage you. It's always more fun to lose weight with a buddy.

Lois

HeidiHoMom

I agree with what others have said.

You need to check your portion sizes and weigh and measure what you are eating for a few weeks.

Also, maybe your calories are set to high. Are you set at sedentary, moderate etc. for the actual amount you do in a day?

Are you eating exercise calories? Are you over estimating them?

jaymek92

if you open your diary, we can help you more.
chances are, though:
-you may be underestimating what you are eating
-you may be overestimating what you are burning
-you may not be eating enough calories
-you may not be weighing yourself on the same scale under the same conditions
-you may be retaining water for one reason or another

AddA2UDE

You really need to open up your diary in order for anyone to be be able to begin to help you. Also, how did you determine your TDEE? I had a 4 month period of trying to get the numbers figured out. Whatever you do, don't give up. Once you get it figured out, it's all downhill from there. Find a bunch of friends on here who are close to your age/height who have done what you are trying to do. Lean on them for knowledge and support. We don't know what we don't know. You can do it!

***edit*** That's another thing. True calories burnt are indicative of what the elipticals and treadmills say. Get a BodyBug or FitBit for a more accurate account of calories.

Cheers!

kstep88

high sodium can make you retain water, thus leading to a higher number on the scale.

jenkinsjerry

It's probable that you've gone into starvation mode from not enough calories. When cutting back on cals it's far easier to keep everything working and the Lbs coming off, by exercising daily. Even a 15 minute walk is enough to give you more calories for the day. Don't let all of the passivists talk you into taking exercise passively. We can easily do something every single day... Best move I've ever made in 47 years. Yep, I do take an ocassional day off, but it's now down to maybe 2 days a month.

freyja17

I would like to add that you should log your measurements. As someone else stated, you could be adding muscle mass, which is denser than body fat. A true sign things are going well is if you start losing inches. Your scale can be deceptive; the tape measure won't be!

Good luck, stay positive, you will get there! )

jenkinsjerry

if you open your diary, we can help you more.
chances are, though:
-you may be underestimating what you are eating
-you may be overestimating what you are burning
-you may not be eating enough calories
-you may not be weighing yourself on the same scale under the same conditions
-you may be retaining water for one reason or another

This is great stuff, right here. For MFP to work, you have to be spot-on with calories consumed. This requires measuring out your servings (e.g. 3/4 cup of cereal and x Oz. of skim milk)... It also can mean a big cutback in restaurant eating for so many restaurants don't publish their nutrition guides... Pasta, Rice and Bread? Big red flags! Sub in sandwich thins (they're great) and seriously cut back on eating bread, rice and pasta. Tastes great, but way too many calories for too little benefit. The barcode scanner is a dream for MFP too, if you have the app loaded on your smart phone. I also don't think you can be as successful with MFP without access to it when you're out and about. I've been in so many situations where I'll open up MFP to check if what I'm about to eat or if where I'm about to go to is MFP friendly and what items are going to work for me that day. For an italian restaurant this might mean a cup of minestrone soup... Sad but true.

jenkinsjerry

Also, for exercise, a must - have is a decent heart rate monitor that includes a heart rate 'strap', that you wrap around your heart area to measure your calories burned when exercising. MFP estimates what various exercise burns, but it's wise to know what "you're" burning when you do what you do. For example, when I do an hour of eliptical, I burn on average 40% more than my wife... Thus there can be a wide distribution of who burns what and at what intensity...

if you open your diary, we can help you more.
chances are, though:
-you may be underestimating what you are eating
-you may be overestimating what you are burning
-you may not be eating enough calories
-you may not be weighing yourself on the same scale under the same conditions
-you may be retaining water for one reason or another

This is great stuff, right here. For MFP to work, you have to be spot-on with calories consumed. This requires measuring out your servings (e.g. 3/4 cup of cereal and x Oz. of skim milk)... It also can mean a big cutback in restaurant eating for so many restaurants don't publish their nutrition guides... Pasta, Rice and Bread? Big red flags! Sub in sandwich thins (they're great) and seriously cut back on eating bread, rice and pasta. Tastes great, but way too many calories for too little benefit. The barcode scanner is a dream for MFP too, if you have the app loaded on your smart phone. I also don't think you can be as successful with MFP without access to it when you're out and about. I've been in so many situations where I'll open up MFP to check if what I'm about to eat or if where I'm about to go to is MFP friendly and what items are going to work for me that day. For an italian restaurant this might mean a cup of minestrone soup... Sad but true.

sugarbear16

Are you eating processed foods? IF the sodium is higher than the calories, you will gain weight and processed food is very unhealthy.

kobiemom

I did the same thing. It was suggested to me that the carbs are too high for my age and activity level - I'm 54. I started keeping the daily carbs at or just below 100. It's only been a couple of days, so I can't say if it'll work yet.

Coco_Puff

I lost 5 pounds the first week, and while I'm still working out 3-4 days a week and coming in under my calories each day, I am slowly gaining back those pounds. Can anyone tell me why and what is it that I am doing wrong?

That's why you're not losing, you're coming in under your calories. You need that fuel to burn fat or your body will hold on to anything it gets to keep from going into starvation mode.

BigDaddyBRC

You really need to open up your diary in order for anyone to be be able to begin to help you.

Anything other than this is purely subjective. If you want help, we need more information.

benitastory

I have to admit that I tend to eat less than 1000 calories a day - a few days I've gone over, but I try to stay just under 1000 calories. the reason is from experience - before when I tried to lose weight the only way the scales would budge in the right directions was eating about 900 calories a day plus working out. It worked great when I was in my 20's but I am now nearly 50 and am post menopausal.

And as for portion control, I am very meticulous at measuring, so it isn't portion control.

How do I open my diary for people to see?

billthekill

How do I open my diary for people to see?

Food Tab > Setting > Diary Sharing (Click Public)