Confused

juliekin

I have manage to gain 2 pounds this week and am not sure why. I am open to thoughts and suggestions. Any help is appreciated.

misswhitneyyy

Be careful to give too much thought about the scale. Our weight fluctuates ALL OF THE TIME. This is due to all sorts of factors: salt retention, you gain "numbers" when you drink water, eat food, when you poop/pee, on your period. These are all factors. Measure it over long-term rather than a daily basis.

Marilyn0924

I wouldn't worry about the gain, but I perused your diary for the last week. You might be overdoing the watermelon just a bit. Try to mix it up with raw veggies instead? Too much of anything is not a good thing and could really throw your insulin levels out of whack. Best of luck!

juliekin

Oops! I do eat a lot of watermelon; however, the quick add calories are things like homemade minestrone soup with no beans but a TON of veggies. I try to do 8-10 fruits and veggies a day. But I'll try to cut down on the watermelon! The weight gain has been stubborn and unmoving for almost a week, but I will try to breathe. The 1200 calorie total thing is weirding me out now.

KeriA

What is your BMR? Are you eating between your BMR and TDEE? If not you may be causing your body to adjust to retain pounds. Lower calories can work at first but eventually many stall. I did after losing 30 pounds really slowly and really inconsistently over a year so I now eat above my BMR which is what your body needs calorie wise when in a COMA or lying in bed doing absolutely nothing and someone giving you food. So when you eat less than that for too long the body is not happy and has to do something about it like slowing down your metabolism etc. Especially if you are exercising alot too it makes it worse. I used to stall out everytime I exercised. Are you measuring? Often when I wasn't losing weight last year I was losing inches. Do you track your bocyfat percentage? It is more important than BMI index which is based on your weight.

brobin41101

When I first started MFP I was staying around 1200 calories a day, and lost a lot of weight , just as Keri mentioned....It worked great for a while..Then I stalled too. I upped my calories , as someone suggested I do...and started losing again...Imagine that eat more and still lose weight !!!..It was an odd concept to me...but It worked ! )) Good luck !

juliekin

Thanks. I have boosted my calorie intake this week to 1500 after reading about BMR. I am NOT measuring inches right now, but know I am not cheating, which I keep telling myself. If I understand it right, my BMR was about 1830. So I moved to 1500 and then eat all my exercise - for example, if I exercise for 300 calories I eat 1500 + 300 for 1800 calories total. Am I doing it wrong?

KeriA

Hi Julie,
I think 1500 and eating back your calories as you describe is a good start at upping your calories. Often when upping calories people do it a bit at a time. Also you may have a small gain at first but in a week or two your calories will settle back down. If it is a good calorie goal for you then you will start to lose after that. People do it different ways. Some figure out a calorie goal that doesn't include their exercise and then do as you are talking about eating their calories back. If you don't lose with that it may be because it isn't high enough if your BMR is 1830. I used Fat2Fit Radio to estimate my BMR. If you are close to a healthy weight then MFPs calculator is good. Another way people do it is figuring out their TDEE and then subtracting 15 or 20% for a deficit which should be over their BMR but then they don't eat back their calories unless they have a higher than normal calorie burn. However if they have been eating alot lower they may choose to go up slowly. Another approach is to figure out what is maintenance calories (TDEE) for someone of your age height at the weight you want to be. Eat those calories and eventually you will end up at that weight. The beauty of this method is that in the process you learn how to maintain the weight for when you reach your goal weight. The problem with this method if you have too much to lose you could have to eat below your BMR and eventually that will cause you problems. So try what you are talking about for 2-3 weeks. Don't worry about a small gain. Wait and it should go down. If you start to lose stay there but if you stall out again and your BMR is 1830 then I would up it again. Give it 2-3 weeks for your body to adjust and see if you start to lose. If you are under your TDEE you will lose and your TDEE is above your BMR. When you up your calories try to eat some of the foods that your body needs that you may have eaten less of because they were higher in calories and it was hard to fit them in with a lower calorie goal. There are foods with good fats in them that our body needs such as nuts. Avocados are good for us but have more calories. Dark chocolate that doesn't have alot of sugar added is actually good for you too. I still measure them well. I believe you that you haven't been cheating. It really is a matter of customizing MFP to yourself. When I started on here I was exercising enough that I needed more calories than the guided settings. You are one of my friends on here so feel free to PM me.
Keri

NeverGivesUp

your diary looks really great to me, you are so healthy. I eat at my BMR daily too. You will see results if you keep going. If not, just switch up what you do in one way or another. Our bodies love to hold on to the fat reserves. The last few pounds are the worst!! Hang in there and stick to the course.

Pebble321

Thanks. I have boosted my calorie intake this week to 1500 after reading about BMR. I am NOT measuring inches right now, but know I am not cheating, which I keep telling myself. If I understand it right, my BMR was about 1830. So I moved to 1500 and then eat all my exercise - for example, if I exercise for 300 calories I eat 1500 + 300 for 1800 calories total. Am I doing it wrong?

This sounds like a pretty good plan - give it a try and stay off the scales for a week or two and see how you go

Jgen62

Bump great topic I am having the same problem, gaining and losing the same two pounds. (frustrated) Feel free to look at my diary.