Weight GAIN when sticking to 1200 calories?

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shatteredangel
shatteredangel Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
How is it possible? I logged everything last week and weighed it all out (no guesswork). I wanted to make sure I understood the size of normal portions for optimal weight loss. I logged any milk I had in drinks and on cereals, everything I ate. I'm reasonably active. I weighed myself a week later at the same time of day in similar clothing on the same scales and GAINED half a pound! Shouldn't that be scientifically impossible? I feel totally demoralised.

Edited to add: it's my third week of dieting and I lost weight for the first 2 weeks.
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Replies

  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,648 Member
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    could be the time of day you weighed....Our weight flucuates throughout the day...
    I weigh in the morning, in the buff....
  • shatteredangel
    shatteredangel Posts: 15
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    I weighed myself at exactly the same time of day, in underwear and a top, on the same scales.
  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,648 Member
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    hmmmmm...not sure... TOM maybe?
    Were you careful with your fat and/or sodium intake?
  • shatteredangel
    shatteredangel Posts: 15
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    Yep, I'm on a low fat, low GI diet.
  • summer6102
    summer6102 Posts: 26
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    It could be ur time of the month also u always weigh more a week b4.
  • DrBorkBork
    DrBorkBork Posts: 4,099 Member
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    How's your water intake? A gallon a day keeps the weight away!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    Please go to this thread and read through the links I have posted there. Scroll through all 12 pages, too, I keep adding on. You will find lots of good ideas. Your fluctuations are normal - up to 4-5 pounds on any given day.

    Relax. Keep doing what you are doing. You will lose weight.

    You only fail if you quit. Good luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again
  • jdavis193
    jdavis193 Posts: 972 Member
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    You might be starting your period soon I always gain the week before I start. Thats possible. Are you lifting weights? Muscle does way more than fat!! Do not let this get you down.
  • momma3sweetgirls
    momma3sweetgirls Posts: 743 Member
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    same thing happend to me once - then I realized it was most likely due to pms. I now cut back on salty foods during that week to try and avoid the bloating.
  • tammietifanie
    tammietifanie Posts: 1,496 Member
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    My weight goes up and down every week depending on how much water i had that day, how many times i used the bathroom, so many things can make your weight go up and down... DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!! just tell your self you know your doing a great job making better choices and will just move forward and see what next week brings.. Also if your eating 1200 calories it might not be enough... I was doing 1200 for months and decided to bump it up to 1300 and lost weight because my body was in starvation mode and wasn't getting enough calories ..... I've also weighed myself in the morning and then again right before taking a shower a few hours after i woke up and had two different readings... I would just go by how you feel and how your clothes are fitting...
  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,648 Member
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    Please go to this thread and read through the links I have posted there. Scroll through all 12 pages, too, I keep adding on. You will find lots of good ideas. Your fluctuations are normal - up to 4-5 pounds on any given day.

    Relax. Keep doing what you are doing. You will lose weight.

    You only fail if you quit. Good luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    cmriverside is AWESOME!! :drinker:
  • shatteredangel
    shatteredangel Posts: 15
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    Nope, it's the week after my period :-( I think I'm drinking a lot as well. I'm really confused. I've felt really tired this week and was hoping to see another comfortable weight loss so I could up my calorie intake a bit, but now I'm wondering what to do. I can't really go lower than 1200 calories but I'm not losing weight on that amount anymore.
  • shatteredangel
    shatteredangel Posts: 15
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    Please go to this thread and read through the links I have posted there. Scroll through all 12 pages, too, I keep adding on. You will find lots of good ideas. Your fluctuations are normal - up to 4-5 pounds on any given day.

    Relax. Keep doing what you are doing. You will lose weight.

    You only fail if you quit. Good luck!

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/23912-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

    I'll go and read that, thankyou :=)
  • kandyjo
    kandyjo Posts: 4,648 Member
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    Nope, it's the week after my period :-( I think I'm drinking a lot as well. I'm really confused. I've felt really tired this week and was hoping to see another comfortable weight loss so I could up my calorie intake a bit, but now I'm wondering what to do. I can't really go lower than 1200 calories but I'm not losing weight on that amount anymore.


    YOu have to feed the fire for it to burn :wink:
  • lulabellewoowoo
    lulabellewoowoo Posts: 3,125 Member
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    Weight loss is definitely a goal...but how do you feel? Have you been feeling hungry? If not, stick with it, it's an overall success, not always week by week. If you have been feeling overly hungry, upping your calories for a couple of weeks by 100 to 200 might make a different too. Keep going. You're doing great!
  • schaneye
    schaneye Posts: 5
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    I was in the same position. Was totally frustrated. But it took me 3 weeks to see the scale go down. Dont give up it will happen!!
  • kimsmith
    kimsmith Posts: 5
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    it's water weight. keep up the work and you will see results. Your body's water can fluctuate a ton from day to day. Watch you sodium intake and keep eating right and you will see a bigger drop next week

    When you start working out along with diet, you will increase your curculation and you wont see those fluctuations as much
  • shatteredangel
    shatteredangel Posts: 15
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    Nope, it's the week after my period :-( I think I'm drinking a lot as well. I'm really confused. I've felt really tired this week and was hoping to see another comfortable weight loss so I could up my calorie intake a bit, but now I'm wondering what to do. I can't really go lower than 1200 calories but I'm not losing weight on that amount anymore.


    YOu have to feed the fire for it to burn :wink:

    I think you might be right. I've just had a look at some of those links, and maybe 1200 calories is too few for me. I might try 1400 and see if my progress is any better. Thankyou!
  • SpectreCGR
    SpectreCGR Posts: 8
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    Half a pound could be any one of a number of things including a normal body fluid fluctuation. You seem to have most of the variables covered (same clothing, same scale etc...)

    Are you also taking regular body measurements? Body measurements are a much better short term gage than the scale.

    Some of the things that come to mind that can easily account for that half pound are fluctuations in sodium intake or "sensitivity", dietary sugar (which makes it harder for your body to expel sodium), medications that cause the body to retain water, exercise, dieting too aggressively (causing your body to go into famine mode) .

    Assuming that 1200 calorie/day diet you are is a balanced one and provides no more than a 500 to 1000 calorie/day deficit, taking into account any calorie burning activities (very important), then I would say just stick with it. Sooner or later the weight will come off.

    Hope this helps.

    Curt
  • chgudnitz
    chgudnitz Posts: 4,079
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    :noway: For real? It's a half of a pound. Half of 1 pound... 8 ounces. Lets look at it another way. It's a glass of water.

    "Similar clothing" is not the same clothing. Weigh naked unless you weigh in public. Relax about the half of a pound. Do what you are supposed to do, eat right, exercise, take care of yourself and your body will be just fine. Stressing out about this will cause you more harm than good.

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