12,000 calories per day and exercise and I am GAINING?!

AndreaGrace29

I think your sodium intake is probably affecting what you see on the scale. Lunch meats, cheeses, and other processed foods are loaded with sodium and make you retain water... And I also suggest you weigh yourself first thing in the morning after using the bathroom (like a previous poster mentioned) and watch the sodium.. Your calorie intake seems ok for the most part, but I think water weight is making you fluctuate..

toberdawg

I will try to cut back on my salt intake. Salt is one of the greatest loves of my life.

toberdawg

:-) I was going to tease you that you may be having too many calories! Keep up the good work!

I teased myself! Feel free to tease away!

toberdawg

Fat does not turn into muscle. They are different cell types.

You are likely retaining water. If you are experiencing any soreness, you definitely are.

If you're going to do weight training, you need to eat more. Fuel your workouts. Eat whole foods and try to watch your sodium levels to help decrease water retention.

I have been quite lame actually!

For some reason I LOVE salt! I can cut almost anything else from my diet. But, I cannot get rid of the salt. When I try I become tempted to purchase myself a salt lick. I am trying to work on this though!

Now THAT'S interesting to know. How much water do you routinely drink if you crave salt that bad, and have you also ever had bloodwork done to check your sodium and potassium?

P.S. There's salt alternatives (potassium salt, yeast salt, etc.) that taste like the real thing. My fiance was a salt fiend and we went over to that because of his high blood pressure. Made a huge difference!

I drink 2-3l of H2o a day, easily. I will look into salt alternatives.

WendyTerry420

Took a brief look at your diary and some of your problem may be your food choices. I see things like cheese, which is high in both fat and sodium, and restaurant food - super high in sodium. The problem with sodium is twofold:

:noway:

There's nothing wrong with eating cheese every day. (or a couple times per day) Saying the sodium and fat content is "high" is subjective. Fat from cheese is good fat.

Real cheese is good. Processed cheese is high in fat and sodium.

"Processed cheese food" isn't really cheese at all. Eww... :laugh:

toberdawg

Took a brief look at your diary and some of your problem may be your food choices. I see things like cheese, which is high in both fat and sodium, and restaurant food - super high in sodium. The problem with sodium is twofold:

:noway:

There's nothing wrong with eating cheese every day. (or a couple times per day) Saying the sodium and fat content is "high" is subjective. Fat from cheese is good fat.

Real cheese is good. Processed cheese is high in fat and sodium.

"Processed cheese food" isn't really cheese at all. Eww... :laugh:

Velveeta is one of my guilty pleasures. I have only had it twice in about 4 months though. So, I do not indulge in it often.

deksgrl

Real cheese is good. Processed cheese is high in fat and sodium.

"Processed cheese food" isn't really cheese at all. Eww... :laugh:

No, but a lot of people don't know that. And you don't really know what kind of cheese people are eating when you look at their diary unless it says, Kraft slices, or Velveeta. Damn, now I want some..... Bad, bad, bad. Going to eat an apple now.

skinnygrlwithin

I've skimmed the other posts, so this is probably similar to their advice... but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

1. You're definitely not eating enough... 1000 calories a day or less puts your body into starvation mode, you're slowing down your metabolism so anything you consume your body will turn to fat. I'm not sure how tall you are, but you said you weigh around 175? You need to figure out what your proper caloric intake for the day should be... I am a 28 year old female 5'1 female, who has an active life style, to LOSE weight my calorie comsumption should be 1200... to stay where I'm at, it should be 1600. There are websites with calculators that can help you figure this out.

So first bump up your calories.

2. You shouldn't expect to see weight loss from the gym after a week, especially with the little amount that you're doing. You need to gain muscle to burn fat. Trying adding some weight lifting, even just light weights with high reps, into your routine, and give your body a couple weeks to start showing results. For me, it takes like 2-3 weeks before I really see any actual weight loss at all from really intense workouts. That's because my body needs to break down and rebuild the muscle, and that takes a bit of time before it starts burning the fat. Perhaps the weight increase is muscle mass...and if that's the case that's a good thing.

So... conclusion... eat more calories, add weight to your workout, and GIVE IT SOME TIME!

GOOD LUCK AND HANG IN THERE...I know this is a very frustrating journey.

toberdawg

I've skimmed the other posts, so this is probably similar to their advice... but I thought I'd throw in my two cents.

1. You're definitely not eating enough... 1000 calories a day or less puts your body into starvation mode, you're slowing down your metabolism so anything you consume your body will turn to fat. I'm not sure how tall you are, but you said you weigh around 175? You need to figure out what your proper caloric intake for the day should be... I am a 28 year old female 5'1 female, who has an active life style, to LOSE weight my calorie comsumption should be 1200... to stay where I'm at, it should be 1600. There are websites with calculators that can help you figure this out.

So first bump up your calories.

2. You shouldn't expect to see weight loss from the gym after a week, especially with the little amount that you're doing. You need to gain muscle to burn fat. Trying adding some weight lifting, even just light weights with high reps, into your routine, and give your body a couple weeks to start showing results. For me, it takes like 2-3 weeks before I really see any actual weight loss at all from really intense workouts. That's because my body needs to break down and rebuild the muscle, and that takes a bit of time before it starts burning the fat. Perhaps the weight increase is muscle mass...and if that's the case that's a good thing.

So... conclusion... eat more calories, add weight to your workout, and GIVE IT SOME TIME!

GOOD LUCK AND HANG IN THERE...I know this is a very frustrating journey.

I do lift weights. In original post I metioned I use machines with low weight high reps. As well as 30-40 minutes of cardio where I keep my HR above 140bpm. My whole exercise routine takes from 1-1.5hrs.

I did not expect to see LOSS after 1 week of workouts, I even less expected to see GAIN.

zaph0d

I stepped on the scale yesterday to find to my dismay I weighed 179-180. I had not eaten yet at that time and had consumed abou 2L of H20.

2L of H20 weighs about 4 lbs.

toberdawg

Real cheese is good. Processed cheese is high in fat and sodium.

"Processed cheese food" isn't really cheese at all. Eww... :laugh:

No, but a lot of people don't know that. And you don't really know what kind of cheese people are eating when you look at their diary unless it says, Kraft slices, or Velveeta. Damn, now I want some..... Bad, bad, bad. Going to eat an apple now.

I do know the difference. My Father recently got out of the hospital after going into septic shock and a coma. He needs me to cook for him, that was what he requested. And insited I eat some as well. I chalk it up to weakness on my part!

QueenofScott

It could be that you are it eating enough T this point. Maybe you should try bumping up our calories for a week or so and see if that kick starts your weight loss again. I know it sounds backwards, but sometimes it really helps. Let us know how you do!

smichelus622

I gained 4 lbs that first month i went to the gym. It was a nightmare i was so mad and almost ready to give up. But after that month i started to loose again. And although the scales slow and doesnt like to move much i do fit into clothing alot better. So i would say dont give up. I eat bout 1/2 the calories i burn or make sure i eat about 1500 a day. Take measurements. You will be amazed at the end of the month the change there. You have lost a lot already your body is adjusting. I dropped 30 lbs last year and then added exercise. You also have to realize that once you drop it is harder to keep dropping.

keep strong you can do it.

gddrdld

stop thinking about the scale and think about body composition.

my body builds muscle WAY too readily.

hmmm, I really doubt that.

Me too.

natymatos

When I saw the 800, I said that's the problem, you are not eating enough. The other thing is that if I"m not mistaken cardio will burn more calories than weight training. I use the gym only when the weather doesn't allow me to be outdoors, but when I can i walk 3-4 miles to burn calories.

Also I weigh in the morning before eating anything. I think that's more accurate than after working out when your muscles are sore and swolen from the workout.

Keep going, you are doing a good job

nellyett

I just posted this elsewhere, so this is a copy and paste....:)

---

I did the 1200 cals a day when I started too. I do HIIT bootcamp training 3-4 days per week and run between 5 and 10 miles per week. I initially lost in the beginning but had plateaued for MONTHS! I was so frustrated! I tried eating back exercise calories, NOT eating back exercise calories, cheat days, Intermittent Fasting, and carb cycling!! LOL

Through reading all kinds of posts, I wasn't eating enough for MY body. I did a ton of research, gave myself a headache with all the numbers, but have finally figured it out and it's working for me now....btw I only have about 10 lbs to lose. I'm 5'5" and am 139 lbs.

What I'm doing, and what's working for ME is that I calculated my BMR and TDEE and am going from there. I'll adjust these numbers as my weight changes. I use the 'Sedentary TDEE' number and reduced it by 15%.

BMR = 1370

TDEE @ sedentary = 1645 (less 15%) = 1398

I have set MFP at 1400 cals per day. I use a HRM to track my exercise calories burned and I EAT THEM BACK.

So....If I have a rest day and don't workout, I eat 1400 cals for the day.

If I exercise and burn 400 cals I eat 1800 cals for the day. 1400 base cals + 400 exercise cals = 1800 cals but I NET 1400 cals for the day.

I've also reset my macros to 30% protein, 40% carbs, and 30% fat.

Seems so simple to me now, but I was completely confused as to how much I should be eating for weeks!!! It's working like a charm. I lost a full pound this last week, I feel better, sleep better, and have energy for my workouts.

gypsybree

measure yourself with a tape measure

yoovie

Have you researched what might be the problem before coming and asking?
Did you study what your plan would do to you biologically before you started?
Did you just jump in with little knowledge and go full speed ahead and now you are frustrated?

WendyTerry420

Took a brief look at your diary and some of your problem may be your food choices. I see things like cheese, which is high in both fat and sodium, and restaurant food - super high in sodium. The problem with sodium is twofold:

:noway:

There's nothing wrong with eating cheese every day. (or a couple times per day) Saying the sodium and fat content is "high" is subjective. Fat from cheese is good fat.

Real cheese is good. Processed cheese is high in fat and sodium.

"Processed cheese food" isn't really cheese at all. Eww... :laugh:

Velveeta is one of my guilty pleasures. I have only had it twice in about 4 months though. So, I do not indulge in it often.

Oh, Velveeta....I didn't look at your diary. My hubby loves the stuff. Maybe try cheddar cheese instead. I am one of those weirdos who thinks Velveeta tastes more like plastic than cheese. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cheese, but not processed "cheese food" or "cheese product." I won't even eat a slice of so-called "American cheese" either. Eww. I like cheddar, especially smokey cheddar, and provolone and mozzarella, etc.... Sorry to hijack. Maybe I should start a cheese thread!?! :laugh:

geekyjock76

Have you researched what might be the problem before coming and asking?
Did you study what your plan would do to you biologically before you started?
Did you just jump in with little knowledge and go full speed ahead and now you are frustrated?

I'm sure all these apply to her, unfortunately. The main reason people fail at fat loss is a lack of understanding of thermogenesis and human physiology. She's echoing the same misunderstandings as most people who struggle with their goals: I gained two lbs of muscle by going to the gym after just a few days - you gained water weight; I gained two lbs of fat by eating consistently well under my maintenance range - you gained water weight; I'm not hungry thus don't feel the need to provide the calories my body needs - my leptin concentration levels have plummeted and alter satiety thus I am not hungry even if eating 800 calories and exercising like crazy.