so stressed & frustrated

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smcopley
smcopley Posts: 34
in Motivation and Support
I've been doing this MFP thing since April 1, 2009. I originally lost 11 lbs. as of 06-12-09, but I have slowly gained it back. I am now up 4 lbs. with only a weight loss of 7 lbs. I'm getting really frustrated because I work out 5-7 days a week, and track my food. I've tried eating different foods and doing different workouts. I also drink a lot of water. I just don't understand why I'm not losing weight, let alone gaining weight!!! Any helpful ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks :flowerforyou:

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  • swtally80
    swtally80 Posts: 278 Member
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    More info! How many calories are you eating? And you really have so little to lose maybe its all that muscle you're putting on working out all the time?
  • celticmatrix
    celticmatrix Posts: 2
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    Have you been taking measurements? Considering you work out on a regular basis, there could be different factors at work here. If you vary the intensity of your routine or have added more strength training it could very well be possible you are gaining muscle. Measurements will help tell you what kind of weight you're gaining back. If you are the same size or a smaller measurement then you have started to gain more muscle - it weighs more than fat.

    Another possibility is that you might need to play with the calorie allotment - people have different metabolic rates. When you increase your physical activity you need more calories and never want to cut too many calories because it has the same result as eating too many. For example, I started to gain weight when I started following the fitness pal calorie recomendation exactly. At my current activity level I have to add 300 calories to it otherwise my body goes into starvation mode.

    I also don't know if you have children or not, but MFP also doesn't take into account certain factors for women such as lactation - which can increases a woman's caloric needs anywhere from 300 to 500 calories!


    I hope this helps.
  • twilight1542
    twilight1542 Posts: 403
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    Hmmm.....Your diary is set to private so I can't comment on your food choices or exercise intensity. Are you eating your exercise calories? If you eat too little your body can go onto starvation mode (your metabolism slows to allow your body to store calories it thinks it will need for later). I've read a lot of posts about people upping their daily calories/eating their exercise calories & breaking through a plateau caused by this. Also, what are you trying to lose per week? I've read that the closer you are to a healthy BMI, the less weight you should try to lose per week & it looks like you don't have a lot of weight to lose.

    Have you taken any measurements? I've found that I have weeks where I don't lose weight, but find a decrease in my measurements...

    I hope this helps :) You might also search the forums because I've read a lot of posts in the past from people with a similar problem. Good Luck!

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