Not losing weight, gaining instead... help?

alethea88

Hi.. I'm frustrated that I am not losing weight. I am always under or right on my allowed calories (1200). I do cardio work out 45-60 minutes 4-5 times a week. No weight lifting. Last week I weight 120lbs and now i'm 124lbs. I don't understand where I do wrong. Should I work harder? anyone please help me!!

MysticRealm

Not eating enough

LovelyLibra79

I agree with above..try increasing your intake..your body is probably holding on to some calories

Beautifulsoull

Need more calories. When your exercising for that long your netting WAY below 1200. You'll get a lot of respondes saying to eat more that anything below 1200 is not good for you. Its eat more to weigh less. Not just eating anything, healthy foods. It's really easy to eat a lot of calories with healthy foods. Choose whole grain breads, pasta, cereal. Veggies are low in calories so you can add as much to all meals, fruits are low calories but really good for those sweet tooth, healthy fats, the list is endless really. My calorie goal is 2000 a day and I can range from 1600-2100 a day. I'm currently doing P90x and you need all the food you can get when doing this workout.

alethea88

Thank you so much for your reply. The goal that set in my food diary is 1200. when I work out I will get extra about 150 calories. add up is 1350. So, I need to take 1350 everyday, is that what you mean by taking extra calories?

lin7604

you need to eat more then that. you are a low weight already

kristinhw16

my goal is set to 1380 and I exercise 4-5 days 45 min of running and strength. My TDEE is usually around 2700 so it says i should take in 1800-2000 cals if i workout everyday like that. I was at 1200.....no way! I gained on that!! what I usually do is take in half of what i burn. depends if I am hungary or not. keep a 500 cal deficit and you will be fine. but you will see that you are going to need to eat more. I also use the body media, that gives me a reading of how much I actually burn a day

AZKristi

If you are eating at a deficit the gain is just water weight, I wouldn't worry about it. If you weight 120 lbs, the odds of you getting a lot of fat loss simply from caloric restriction and cardio are low. I would focus on building a bit of muscle - you might weigh a few pounds more in the end, but you may be happier with the visible results.

cruiserloser

Good suggestions re: get enough to eat and building muscle to burn fat. Try drinking more water and add lemon juice first thing in morning.

Sometimes you need to shake up the routine with more variety and experiment with new recipes. Half avocado with salsa in hollow is under 130 cals. Try cooking with coconut oil or make a green spinach smoothie.

Get more rest - your body needs sleep to lose weight.

Eat for your body type. e.g. Apple body type need to cut back on carbs and sugar and eat more protein and fibre; have eggs and vegetables for breakfast instead of packaged breakfast cereal. Eat most calories in beginning of day and go to bed a little hungry. A serving of oatmeal has 0 g sugar whereas a banana has 14 mg. Avoid packaged and processed food full of sugar and fat.

Good luck and don't give up. Go for the long term and healthy lifestyle goals.

alethea88

my goal is set to 1380 and I exercise 4-5 days 45 min of running and strength. My TDEE is usually around 2700 so it says i should take in 1800-2000 cals if i workout everyday like that. I was at 1200.....no way! I gained on that!! what I usually do is take in half of what i burn. depends if I am hungary or not. keep a 500 cal deficit and you will be fine. but you will see that you are going to need to eat more. I also use the body media, that gives me a reading of how much I actually burn a day

Thank you for telling me that. I will try to exclude 500cal if it works for me but i hope it is just water weight and not the fat.

MysticRealm

Eating less is not the answer. Please eat more.

Siege_Tank

You're probably not counting right. If your cut is designed to be 1200, and you are hitting that count each day, then something is off. I don't understand people saying that you need to eat more (while I agree with them, you should, based on your calculated numbers) there is no way to gain weight while eating at a deficit. and you're working out on top of that.

If you guys give advice, make sure it makes sense.

"help, gaining weight!"

"you're eating too little"

are you F****** kidding me?

ETA: sry, not trying to sound rude or snarky, I just meant to emphasize the point of the words not making sense. I guess I could illustrate it differently,

bojkoj19

Hi there

I was having the same problem. I thought I was eating healthy and working out but then I wouldn't loose any weight even when I was under calorie goal! It is so frustrating! Then I recently saw a British TV show on you tube called secret eaters, and that changed everything! First off there are tons more different types of eaters other then emotional eaters and I realized I was a grazer. I would have a bite of this and a bite of that without even realizing it. A lot of the time people do not even realize what they are putting in their mouths. You are probably not writing down that sip of juice, or the little nibbles now and then while cooking, or the oil or butter you used to cook your food even a pam spray thing. These things add up. Since I watched this show I now realize that I eat a lot more then 1200 calories.

*To watch the show - type in "Secret eaters S01" in the search box of the you tube. I really hope this helps! Good luck!

alethea88

I do not exceed 1200cal in my food diary but I always exceed my daily goal in sugar and sodium. can sugar and sodium affect my weight too?

bojkoj19

YES, sugar and salt can affect your diet. Low calories plus non healthy foods and a horrible combination

Siege_Tank

I do not exceed 1200cal in my food diary but I always exceed my daily goal in sugar and sodium. can sugar and sodium affect my weight too?

Sodium, yes

In your body, salt has to be in balance with water, salt is required for neurotransmitters and nerves to signal properly, in addition to a bunch of other stuff. Eat a lot of salt one day, and you will see weight gain the next, your body will retain water to keep the proper ratio of salt to water.

However, it's a balance. the water retention is temporary, if your salt intake stays about the same day in and day out, your water retention will stay about the same.

Dehydration also plays a factor in how much we "weigh" since water weighs about a pound per 16 oz glass. wake up dehydrated from not drinking all night, and you weigh the least in the morning. This is when I usually weigh in.

sugar? not so much, as long as you hit your calorie counts, it doesn't really matter where they come from, carbs are carbs, fats are fats, and proteins are AWESOME

alethea88

Thank you for your help. you were right about the sodium and sugar. I go easy on sugar and salt yesterday and I drink a lot of water to flush out whatever needs to be flush out and I lost 2lbs this morning. I guess it is a normal weight fluctuation.

thanks for telling me about the secret eater in youtube. I watch a few episodes yesterday and learn a thing or two about dieting. It is true that sometimes the little nibbles didn't go into my food diary :blushing: . I will be more careful with that kind of habit or i should try the installing survaillence camera in my kitchen. :laugh: