Calorie Deficit, but still putting on weight

wishiwerefit

Hi, my intake of calories is less than what is specified. But still I am putting on weight... Any idea why?

IveLanded

Not without knowing what your exercise is and what your food diary looks like.

The most likely thing is that you are misjudging your calories.

wishiwerefit

Just started to excersie last week .I am new to this website. MY bmr is 1,258 calories/day..
My daily intake fluctuates between 700 to 1390...

IveLanded

Again, that's not enough info really. If you're not tracking your food, then you are probably taking in more than you think.

If you just started, you might want to get on track and give it a couple weeks.

wishiwerefit

My daily intake in brief consists of a cup of 2% milk, a peanut butter jelly sandwich, a cup of trop-50 no puil vitamin d, white rice half a cup, lentils, vegetables, a cup of yogurt..I snack on NAture Valley crunchy bars(2/4).I eat put during weekend. I am a vegetarian. I eat pizza,pasta or ethnic food. Sometimes I skip food and sometimes I overeat(I am being honest). I started to develop an eating disorded(I am ashamed of myself ) and thats when I decided to exercise and join myfitnesspal. Now I am on the 4th day of jillian micheals 30 day shred

rgrewall

Relax give it time. The body doesn't adjust right away. Worry about it if you haven't shred the weight in 30 days.

ash8184

Are you allergic to any of the foods you eat? I used to be a vegetarian & had to start eating meat b/c I'm wheat & dairy intolerant and purely fruits & veggies just weren't enough (I'm now down 100+lbs). Mix up your diet & see what happens.

Also, get a heart rate monitor and see if you're really pushing yourself. This is really what did it for me. I thought I was exerting myself, but I wasn't as much as I thought which led to a higher calorie burn.

Acg67

Most likely water, overestimating TDEE or underestimating caloric intake.

KiraBg

No need to answer, but are you pre your period or during it? I always gain a few pounds around that time... It could be an explanation.

crk910

It is also possible that your not eating enough. If your body feels as if your starving it, it will fight to keep what it has.
Keep in mind, if you are doing a hard core excercize program, you need to account for that excercise and make sure your body is properly fed.
Think of it as you would a Fire. If you take away the kindling and the oxygen, the fire will not be able to become an inferno.

hrshygrl00

there's a possibility you may not be eating enough.

wishiwerefit

Hi my BMI fluctuates between 18.8 and 18.1.. I feel I am bulky...
I am not allergic but yes, my stomach bloats whenever I eat. My bowel movements are irregular as well

jsj024519

Sodium intake, water weight

wishiwerefit

My TDEE is 1593

stephanie1133

If you are truly in a deficit, you are not gaining FAT. The scale may be reflecting water weight, however. Weight loss doesn't happen in a linear fashion, patience and time are needed.

Gilligan11

Congrats on starting the journey. You might want to consider adding more fruit, vegetables and protein to your diet. You had a lot of carbs in your listing, and often granola bars aren't any better than a chocolate bar. Also, drink lots of water and be kind to yourself! There is nothing to be ashamed of, our strength comes from adversity not our successes!

sarahz5

I did a little digging, and from what I found you are 5'5" and 108 pounds. It sounds like you know that you don't need to lose weight, you need to get healthy. You need the advice of a doctor, and it sounds like you are getting it. Much love to you on your journey to health.

wishiwerefit

What is water weight and how do you get rid of it?Can you guys also check my previous posts? Sorry if I look insecure, but I need your help to come out of this

wishiwerefit

Thank You Sarah, Really brought tears to my eyes.

wishiwerefit

Yes I realized Granola bars are dangerous after I entered it into my food chart. I was shocked when I saw 190 calories ! I am addicted to garnola bars.. I dont like chocolate though

kellicci

Also if you jsut started exercsiing and you really hadn't before your muscles are busy repairing and will retain extra water at first. if you don't eat meat you may need to try adding protien powder shakes to your milk to get to a good level of protein with the rest of your diet you may not be getting enough protein to repair and eventually build muscles otherwise.

sleepytexan

From one of my old posts from a similar topic:

OK. I'm gonna give this a shot. I am an avid lifelong athlete. I have never been overweight, however, I used to eat too few calories (without knowing it), and a couple years ago, I actually GAINED weight bc of having slowed my metabolism to the point that every little extra treat I ate caused a weight gain, even though overall my calories were too low. THIS DOES HAPPEN.

It is also the reason so many fat people stay fat. They restrict their calories so low, slow their metabolisms, binge (even a little), gain weight, restrict more . . . . and so on and so on. But they are still fat.

It is also the reason most people can't lose that last 10-20 lbs. For real.

1. MFP has a deficit built in. Let's say you're trying to lose 1 lb/ week. That is a 500/day deficit from your BMR (the amount of calories your body needs to complete basic functions.

2. You exercise and burn 500 calories. Now you are at a 1000 deficit. If you eat back those 500 exercise calories, you refuel your body and you still have a 500 deficit for that 1 lb loss. If you DON'T eat back those calories, you have too little fuel. This is bad. This is too much of a deficit for basic functions. If you do this for a long time, you will STOP LOSING WEIGHT. Why? bc your metabolism will slow down -- it's like a brownout--not quite enough electricity to make the whole city (your body) run, so it has to slow down some things. You will probably start being tired a lot, your skin and hair might start to look worse, and you might even gain weight. But you might NOT be hungry -- your body is getting used to fewer calories. That's bad.


That's when you start to gain weight. Let's say you're running along, eating 1200 calories a day, and exercising 400 calories a day, so net is 800. You're losing, you think this is great. You keep doing it, but after a while you stop losing. hmmmmm. One weekend you go out to a special event and have a slice of pizza and a beer. 1 slice of pizza and 1 beer. So you ate maybe 2000 calories that day and exercised off 400, so net 1600. BOOM! You gain 3 lbs! What?!

Next, you freak out and restrict yourself down to 1000 calories a day and work out extra hard, burning 500 calories. Great, netting 500 now. You don't lose any weight, but you sure feel tired. Better get some red bull.

Are you getting the picture?

EDIT: When you work out, you need fuel. Food is fuel. If you don't eat back those exercise calories, you will not only have a big calorie deficit, you will have an ENERGY deficit. Remember, the calorie deficit for weight loss is built in when you use MFP. Exercising basically earns you more calories because you must refuel.
--

There are many people who will tell you not to eat exercise calories. Before you take their advice, you might want to see whether they are at goal, have EVER been at goal, or have ever been able to maintain at goal. If anyone says to you 'THE LAST TIME I LOST WEIGHT", just stop listening right there.

Ask some athletes whether or not they replenish their bodies with food equal to the calories they burn. Ask people who are fit and have achieved and maintained a healthy weight for some years. Don't ask people who count walking across a parking lot as exercise.

Here's an interesting case study about how to stay fat while consuming only 700 calories a day. Take a moment, you'll be glad you did:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

blessings.

zaph0d

Nope.

wishiwerefit

Thank you kelli..

Please take a look at my other posts.. I had mentioned thta I have bulky thihgs(unlike my bamboo stick arms)..

And on my thighs, I have islands of swellings that makes it look irregular. It hurts extremely when I get a massage done. Somebody told me that it is water retention or lactic acid.

kellicci

What is water weight and how do you get rid of it?Can you guys also check my previous posts? Sorry if I look insecure, but I need your help to come out of this

Sounds crazy I know but to get rid of water weight you have to drink more water. Sometimes green or white tea helps too. You need half your body weight (but in ounces) in water per day if not more. So I weigh 132 that mean I need a minimum of 66 oz of water per day.

AntWrig

Making things way too complicated.

1. It's only been a week.
2. Stick to the simple guide lines of 1 gram per lb of weight or lean body mass. 1-2 grams of carbs per lean body mass or. 0.35-0.50 grams of per lb or lean body mass.

That being said, stop calculating and start moving!

Antonella64

You may need to do more exercise. walking is amazing! and watch out for hidden cals in sugar i know your vegetarian but i find certain foods bulk me up like legumes and watch out for white breads and fats. give it time but ensure you drink a lot of water.

Colleen118

My daily intake in brief consists of a cup of 2% milk, a peanut butter jelly sandwich, a cup of trop-50 no puil vitamin d, white rice half a cup, lentils, vegetables, a cup of yogurt..I snack on NAture Valley crunchy bars(2/4).I eat put during weekend. I am a vegetarian. I eat pizza,pasta or ethnic food. Sometimes I skip food and sometimes I overeat(I am being honest). I started to develop an eating disorded(I am ashamed of myself ) and thats when I decided to exercise and join myfitnesspal. Now I am on the 4th day of jillian micheals 30 day shred

You are probably sending your body into starvation and storage modes. Starvation mode is less than 500NET calories per day. That means you are intaking 500 MORE than your BMR... Eat more, spread small healthy meals out throughout the day. Force yourself to eat if you must. I have an issue where I don't get hungry, therefore I won't eat. IT set me in a bad way and screwed my metabolism. THEN they had to remove most of my thyroid (non-cancrous cyst)... Things went desparately wrong after that. I plateau often and HARD but I keep pushing through. My new doctor finally told me to EAT MORE, follow my diet, just intake more of the healthier, lighter calories to make my body realize it doesn't need to store the energy....

sleepytexan

Hi my BMI fluctuates between 18.8 and 18.1.. I feel I am bulky...
I am not allergic but yes, my stomach bloats whenever I eat. My bowel movements are irregular as well

gluten and/or dairy intolerance? keep diary of problems and compare to food diary. cut out all dairy and gluten for 1 month, see if symptoms resolve., then add one of them back in--evaluate. repeat.

AntWrig

My daily intake in brief consists of a cup of 2% milk, a peanut butter jelly sandwich, a cup of trop-50 no puil vitamin d, white rice half a cup, lentils, vegetables, a cup of yogurt..I snack on NAture Valley crunchy bars(2/4).I eat put during weekend. I am a vegetarian. I eat pizza,pasta or ethnic food. Sometimes I skip food and sometimes I overeat(I am being honest). I started to develop an eating disorded(I am ashamed of myself ) and thats when I decided to exercise and join myfitnesspal. Now I am on the 4th day of jillian micheals 30 day shred

You are probably sending your body into starvation and storage modes. Starvation mode is less than 500NET calories per day. That means you are intaking 500 MORE than your BMR... Eat more, spread small healthy meals out throughout the day. Force yourself to eat if you must. I have an issue where I don't get hungry, therefore I won't eat. IT set me in a bad way and screwed my metabolism. THEN they had to remove most of my thyroid (non-cancrous cyst)... Things went desparately wrong after that. I plateau often and HARD but I keep pushing through. My new doctor finally told me to EAT MORE, follow my diet, just intake more of the healthier, lighter calories to make my body realize it doesn't need to store the energy....

Stop.

wholelottarosa

Hi my BMI fluctuates between 18.8 and 18.1.. I feel I am bulky...
I am not allergic but yes, my stomach bloats whenever I eat. My bowel movements are irregular as well

I agree with Sarah.
Your BMI is actually quite low, nearly too low. Usually a BMI of 18.5 or lower is considered underweight.

http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

If I were you I would consult a doctor or a dietician to advise you on your diet.