why???

krystal_black
krystal_black Posts: 86
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone. I am so lost I dont understand why my weight flectuates so much. I am eating better quality foods, increased my calories when i was told I wasnt eating enough, staying under sodium fats carbs etc, drinking water, and killing my exercise doing cardio and weights but I loose and gain loose and gain. Am I looking too much into this?
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Replies

  • jcolier
    jcolier Posts: 64
    Your food diary looks good, maybe a bit high on the sodium... How long have you been eating healthier? Take any prescription medications? Exercising? Just keep going, it takes time!
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    I set my settings for a little over 2000 mg based on the american heart association. Its the recammendation for heart failure but I think a guideline we all could live by. I try to stay under that ammout but sometime is hard.
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Rely on your measurements not the scale.

    check your net to see if it is really low because you exercise a lot according to what you log, but don't really eat any of that back.

    Double check your TDEE and make sure you pick the right activity level and eat those calories.

    check out this link by MFPer Heliotsdan - It'll give you a detailed walkthrough (with pictures even) on finding your TDEE and calculating what you should be eating.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Or for a different version to figure out your TDEE, as well as some great advice...check out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/833500-what-do-i-do-common-sense-cliff-notes


    Also, if you are worried about the calorie intake, I also suggest you read this thread that has numerous people who met their goals and are maintaining. Some for years and they also provide their calorie intake and how often they work out.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/816542-let-s-hear-it-for-maintainenance


    For more information about fitness and nutrition, I highly suggest checking out and joining this group: (Read all the stickies. It's great information to know.)
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Weight fluctuations are normal, especially for women as we tend to retain water more easily. Hormones and sodium in your diet are the biggest culprits.
  • breeanreyes
    breeanreyes Posts: 228 Member
    I always recommend taking your measurements, I always have a hard time getting going with the weight, but my inches start decreasing almost immediately! I measure my bicep, chest, thinnest and thickest part of my waist, my hips, thigh and calf EVERY week when I weigh in, that way if I don't lose weight but i'm down an inch I know I'm doing something right! Good luck and keep at it, I promise it will be worth it!
  • portergolf
    portergolf Posts: 40
    You need to expect daily fluctuation. If you are like me and you like to weight your daily do it first thing in the morning after you pee.
    For a better gauge on your fat loss you should really track against it weekly. Sounds like you are doing the right things, remember you didn't put the weight on in one day so its not all going to come off in one day.

    How long you been on your nutrition plan and workout routine?
  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
    You are basically a sack of: Meat, Fat, and Water.

    Water happens to be the largest portion and can vary the most.

    I lost 1.4 pounds when I went pee before bed.

    I woke up and lost another 1.4 pounds from simply having water escape through my breath and pores over night.

    That total represents 2% of my body weight.
  • weatheredcheese
    weatheredcheese Posts: 112 Member
    possibly with the excercise you are doing you have built up some new muscle, and muscle weighs more than fat. only an idea
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    How are you determining calories burned during your workouts? Are you using a heart rate monitor, an online calculator, or the MFP default values? Are you subtracting the calories from your workout that you would have burned during that time if you had been doing nothing at all? There is almost no way you are burning 200 calories walking at 2 mph for 20 min, as an example. Your food looks consistent for the most part...your exercise calories don't look right.
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    I agree with the sodium, looking at your diary for the past few days you've been high if not over every day. Personally if I have more than 1800mg per day it reflects negatively on the scale, Also you have been finishing some days with a HUGE deficit, so you've probably got too much sodium and not enough calories in your system?
  • Faye_Anderson
    Faye_Anderson Posts: 1,495 Member
    How are you determining calories burned during your workouts? Are you using a heart rate monitor, an online calculator, or the MFP default values? Are you subtracting the calories from your workout that you would have burned during that time if you had been doing nothing at all? There is almost no way you are burning 200 calories walking at 2 mph for 20 min, as an example. Your food looks consistent for the most part...your exercise calories don't look right.

    Not really an issue as most of these calories aren't getting eaten
  • cloza12
    cloza12 Posts: 68 Member
    Are you weighing everyday? Rely more on how your clothes feel and your mesurements because you culd be building muscle too.
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    How are you determining calories burned during your workouts? Are you using a heart rate monitor, an online calculator, or the MFP default values? Are you subtracting the calories from your workout that you would have burned during that time if you had been doing nothing at all? There is almost no way you are burning 200 calories walking at 2 mph for 20 min, as an example. Your food looks consistent for the most part...your exercise calories don't look right.

    Not really an issue as most of these calories aren't getting eaten

    That makes it even more of an issue. If you are using MFP, then you need to be eating your fitness calories. Therefore, if the calories are wrong AND you are not eating them back, that could easily be a reason why there is so much fluctuation. There are some detailed posts on how MFP does calculations. Please read this forum post.... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/818082-exercise-calories-again-wtf
  • waldo56
    waldo56 Posts: 1,861 Member
    Every day you take in and expel 10+ lbs of water and about 2 lbs of solids.

    If you are losing weight very fast you might be losing 0.4 lb/day.

    The scale is not a useful device unless used to track longer term trends. This means daily weighings added to a trend tracking program or weekly/monthly weighings if you aren't going to be that detailed.

    The change from weight in to weigh in over a small time scale is utterly meaningless.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    How often are you weighing yourself? My advice is to weigh once per week...same time, same conditions, etc. For me this is Friday AM first thing...before any food or water intake and after using the restroom. I used to weigh myself multiple times per day, every day and my weight easily fluctuates a pound or two in a given day, but as a general trend over a longer period of time, my weight loss averages out to about 1 Lb per week...by longer period of time, I"m talking weeks and months, not day to day or even necessarily week to week. We tend to think linearly, and weight loss is anything but linear.

    As others have stated, take your measurements into account as well as your clothing.
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    Every day you take in and expel 10+ lbs of water and about 2 lbs of solids.

    If you are losing weight very fast you might be losing 0.4 lb/day.

    The scale is not a useful device unless used to track longer term trends. This means daily weighings added to a trend tracking program or weekly/monthly weighings if you aren't going to be that detailed.

    The change from weight in to weigh in over a small time scale is utterly meaningless.

    ^^ This too
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    How are you determining calories burned during your workouts? Are you using a heart rate monitor, an online calculator, or the MFP default values? Are you subtracting the calories from your workout that you would have burned during that time if you had been doing nothing at all? There is almost no way you are burning 200 calories walking at 2 mph for 20 min, as an example. Your food looks consistent for the most part...your exercise calories don't look right.

    I am using a heart rate monitor. when I walk I am probly going fater than that I alternate running straights walking curves on the track. I always use my heart rate monitor.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    I agree with the sodium, looking at your diary for the past few days you've been high if not over every day. Personally if I have more than 1800mg per day it reflects negatively on the scale, Also you have been finishing some days with a HUGE deficit, so you've probably got too much sodium and not enough calories in your system?
    I will definately adjust the sodium lower, I have a hard time grocery shooping as my husband has certin food he enjoys and he has no weight issues.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    I always recommend taking your measurements, I always have a hard time getting going with the weight, but my inches start decreasing almost immediately! I measure my bicep, chest, thinnest and thickest part of my waist, my hips, thigh and calf EVERY week when I weigh in, that way if I don't lose weight but i'm down an inch I know I'm doing something right! Good luck and keep at it, I promise it will be worth it!

    I have been at this for 90 days, in 90 days I have lost 19 lbs and 5 inches. i went form a size 18 to 13-14 in jeans and those are now large as well. I guess this measules lean muscle better than a scale?
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    The clothing test is always a good way to show progress when trying to lose weight, not necessarily useful for other things like body building for example. That is good your are using a HRM. That makes more sense on the walk/run...although, how are you getting the break outs like that? Are you setting a "lap" for each transition from walk to run and then your HRM records at each point? If so, that is good. As noted, the scale is great for tracking over a long period of time. Measurements are great. Sodium is personally my huge killer on weight fluctuation. For example, I went way over this past weekend and between Friday and Monday went up 3.5 lbs, then Tuesday was back down to my Friday weight. I try and only weigh in once per week at most.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    Yeah I think I am just becoming too obsessed with it all, I will start terying to weigh less often and keep measuring. Also watch the sodium, any tips or good low sodium recipes?
  • daj150
    daj150 Posts: 815 Member
    Check out Food Network, Betty Crocker, Spark Recipes, and Wegmans.com. You can find tons of low sodium meals. Also, one easy thing to do is for meals you cook, if it calls to add salt, first ask yourself, "Are the other ingredients I am adding already have sodium?" If the answer is yes, maybe don't add extra salt, or reduce the amount the recipe calls for. It's always good to experiment with cooking. If you are buying frozen meals or the like, then the only real option is try and find ones labeled as low sodium.
  • smpgetsfit
    smpgetsfit Posts: 38 Member
    bump
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    I am using a heart rate monitor. when I walk I am probly going fater than that I alternate running straights walking curves on the track. I always use my heart rate monitor.


    So this isn't steady state cardio - it's intervals. And HRMs aren't accurate for non- steady state cardio.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    thanks!
  • efirkey
    efirkey Posts: 298 Member
    Make sure you weigh yourself the same time of day every time you weigh in.

    I personally can gain several pounds between a morning and night weigh in. But magically the weight goes away by the next morning.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    the one I bought has a monitor that goes on your chest and I set to track heartrate every minute, on my wristband I can see the flectuations of the heartrates, howcome thats not accurate?
  • 1ConcreteGirl
    1ConcreteGirl Posts: 3,677 Member
    the one I bought has a monitor that goes on your chest and I set to track heartrate every minute, on my wristband I can see the flectuations of the heartrates, howcome thats not accurate?

    Um. When you work out, your heart rate does not remain static.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
    the one I bought has a monitor that goes on your chest and I set to track heartrate every minute, on my wristband I can see the flectuations of the heartrates, howcome thats not accurate?


    Sorry - what I meant was that the Calorie counting aspect of HRMs aren't accurate unless you're doing steady state cardio. The heart rate is fine, but the Calorie portion won't be accurate. It's one of the reasons why HRMs aren't good for calculating Calories burned during weight training, too. I should have been clearer in my previous post.
  • krystal_black
    krystal_black Posts: 86
    the one I bought has a monitor that goes on your chest and I set to track heartrate every minute, on my wristband I can see the flectuations of the heartrates, howcome thats not accurate?


    Sorry - what I meant was that the Calorie counting aspect of HRMs aren't accurate unless you're doing steady state cardio. The heart rate is fine, but the Calorie portion won't be accurate. It's one of the reasons why HRMs aren't good for calculating Calories burned during weight training, too. I should have been clearer in my previous post.

    whats the most accurate way to calculate cals burned then?

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