Gaining even doing what I am supposed to...please help :(

lisamarie2181

Hi All -

A bit frustrated and not really sure what I am doing wrong. I have been low carb going on 5 weeks, most days stay between 30-40 carbs, some days in the 20's, at the most 50. I have PCOS and my doctors have told me this is the best option. And I keep gaining weight.

I went back at the beginning of March to get my RMR tested. Came back at 2480, and was told not to eat less than this. I have been trying the higher cal approach since the end of last year, and have gained back about 30lbs of the 40 I lost last year. I truly can not understand that if my body is burning this much at rest, how am I gaining? I was told this test was 98% accurate, so not sure what is going on.

Even though I am eating low carb, I think this cal range may be too high. I think I need to lower my cals but wasn't sure how to go about it.

Do I lower my cals and keep lowering till I start losing? I have been as patient as a person possibly can. It has been 5 months and all I have been doing is gaining. From Dec to March I gained back 20 lbs, December was a bit of a crap shoot, but from January to March, I had the majority good days with some weekends a tad off track, but not worth 20lbs! I do blame the PCOS for the quick weight gain, eating a lot of carbs does put on the lbs for me, but still 20lbs is just ridiculous. Since I have started the low carb I have been completely on track, no cheat meals, and staying in my range for cals and carbs and still gaining.

The only culprit I can think of is the cals. I have my macros set close to Keto settings, with a 5% carb amount, which gives me a net carb allowance in the 30's. I have staying in my range and still nothing.

Can anyone give me some advice? Should I gradually start lowering my cals and keep lowering till I start losing?

I am at such a loss, please someone help if you can, I would truly appreciate it :flowerforyou:

nicolecassandra

Hi Bella! if i may ask, do you work out or more of dieting?

kevie1021

That's a bummer babe. Just wondering though, while you are gaining weight, are you maybe toning up? Are your clothes fitting better?

riccoismydog

Is that your RMR or TDEE? That seems like a lot for a RMR, my husband eats about 2000 calories a day, to lose weight. He is six foot three.

How tall are you?

knitwit0704

Wow. That might be your TDEE, not RMR.

T_X_L

Is that your RMR or TDEE? That seems like a lot for a RMR, my husband eats about 2000 calories a day, to lose weight. He is six foot three.

How tall are you?

I agree that seems high. I'm 5' 10" 225, do circuit training 4 days/week, and I'm eating about 2300/day.

mbelle97

Everyone is different but.. I have PCOS and generally keep my carbs under 100 for day and I'm losing at a good rate. It seems to be a good number for my body. I would mess around with your cals, start lowering them and maybe upper the carbs a bit. Good luck!

beachlover317

What finally worked for me was to pick a starting point close to my TDEE and then start taking away 100 cals at a time until I started losing. I tracked this for over 2 months last year before finally finding the sweet spot to losing while still eating enough. My hair and nails are still in great condition (better than before) and I am losing very slowly - but while lifting my body is making some awesome changes.

I have followed you for a while now and I know that you are frustrated and tired! Hang in there. You will be one of the successful ones. It's just a very slow process! Jan

GeoJenna223

That is a ridiculously high RMR, could the results have been skewed?

I was in keto for a while with great success, down 30lbs on keto, 20 more on a reduced carb diet (<100g/day net)

here was my diet (keto):

1800 cals/day - non workout days (Tuesday/Saturday)
1800 cals/day + protein shake (110 cal) - workout days (Mon/Wed/Thurs/Fri/Sun)

5% Carbs (With total carbs, this number was more like 10% - about 30g/day total, 20g/day net)
50% Fat
45% Protein

Breakfast:
2 egg whites, 1 egg yolk, 1/2 tbsp butter, 1 oz cheese - Omelette (optional add spinach/onions)

Lunch
8 oz lean meat (lean porkchop or chicken or steak), sauteed spinach or steamed broccoli

Snack
Ham and Cheese rollup - 4 oz ham/1 oz cheese....rolled up

Dinner
8 oz lean meat + vegetable cooked + salad with full fat dressing

I was usually a bit under on my calories - it was a struggle to reach 1800 on low carb and I was never hungry due to the amount of protein I was consuming. If I was a bit under, I would eat an Atkins Bar as a dessert at night to make up for my lack of calories

Protein Shake on workout days: EAS Carb Advantage Chocolate - 110 cals/3g net carbs (4g total)/17g protein)

Now that I have upped my carbs, it is way easier to make the calories. I just add an english muffin in at the beginning of the day and have frozen yogurt at lunch - still losing!

RavenWolf1977

I would add at least 30 minutes of cardio a day if you aren't doing that already. That way, you will burn some calories without having to lower your cal setting. If you have access to a stationary bike, you can kill some calories in 30 minutes! If you have a Zumba game, that burns good cals in 30 minutes as well.

Personally, I would think that cal limit is too high. I would try 1800 calories, to be honest. If you drop the calories and increase exercise, make sure you do increase your calorie intake a bit to make sure you do not dip to low, but at 1800 calories I doubt you would.

I have not been diagnosed with PCOS, but have quite a few of the symptoms. However, I have since January started losing weight. For years, I was unable too. I did have low potassium that I supplement for now, and since that has been addressed I am losing and able to exercise due to the absence of muscle spasms and pain.

You can read my blog at http://www.ff2fb.blogspot.com and see if anything there may help you achieve your goals. I've lost just about 42 pounds since January. I know PCOS makes it harder, but any help/advice/support I can offer, I will. Feel free to add me on MFP as a friend, if you wish.

How is your sodium intake? Is it within range or a bit high? That can cause water retention, as I'm sure you already know! Make sure you are drinking plenty of water.

Hugs and the one thing most important thing I can tell you is, "When you feel like GIVING up, GET up!" I know you can do this. It will take time, but I have faith in you that you can.

megalin9

I don't know much of anything about PC0S or low-carbing, but the RMR does seem quite a bit high. I think you would be safe to gradually lower your calories until you find the losing point.

CM9178

Hi All -

A bit frustrated and not really sure what I am doing wrong. I have been low carb going on 5 weeks, most days stay between 30-40 carbs, some days in the 20's, at the most 50. I have PCOS and my doctors have told me this is the best option. And I keep gaining weight.

I went back at the beginning of March to get my RMR tested. Came back at 2480, and was told not to eat less than this. I have been trying the higher cal approach since the end of last year, and have gained back about 30lbs of the 40 I lost last year. I truly can not understand that if my body is burning this much at rest, how am I gaining? I was told this test was 98% accurate, so not sure what is going on.

Even though I am eating low carb, I think this cal range may be too high. I think I need to lower my cals but wasn't sure how to go about it.

Do I lower my cals and keep lowering till I start losing? I have been as patient as a person possibly can. It has been 5 months and all I have been doing is gaining. From Dec to March I gained back 20 lbs, December was a bit of a crap shoot, but from January to March, I had the majority good days with some weekends a tad off track, but not worth 20lbs! I do blame the PCOS for the quick weight gain, eating a lot of carbs does put on the lbs for me, but still 20lbs is just ridiculous. Since I have started the low carb I have been completely on track, no cheat meals, and staying in my range for cals and carbs and still gaining.

The only culprit I can think of is the cals. I have my macros set close to Keto settings, with a 5% carb amount, which gives me a net carb allowance in the 30's. I have staying in my range and still nothing.

Can anyone give me some advice? Should I gradually start lowering my cals and keep lowering till I start losing?

I am at such a loss, please someone help if you can, I would truly appreciate it :flowerforyou:

That RMR seems extremely high.. I would suggest having it tested again, or just calculate your TDEE yourself and go from there.

elyelyse

I went back at the beginning of March to get my RMR tested. Came back at 2480, and was told not to eat less than this. I have been trying the higher cal approach since the end of last year, and have gained back about 30lbs of the 40 I lost last year. I truly can not understand that if my body is burning this much at rest, how am I gaining? I was told this test was 98% accurate, so not sure what is going on.

ok I'm not a Dr or a professional of any kind here so this is just a normal person's reaction to this: WHAT????

If I ate 2480 minimum a day, I would pack on the pounds too (unless i was REALLY active EVERY day). I'm a 5ft3, 204lb, 40 year old female, and my "doing nothing all day" calorie expenditure, based on standard formulas is well under 2000. (1500-1800ish depending on the calculator) I don't know your stats, and I understand you have a specific condition that effects your metabolism but, doesn't that usually result in a LOWER calorie expenditure, not higher?

Again, without more information, or a degree in health and nutrition lol, I'm not going to offer you any advice other than... see another specialist?

lisamarie2181

Hi Bella! if i may ask, do you work out or more of dieting?

I do work out, I haven't been going as hard as I used to because I was told to eat that much WITHOUT exercise cals, and I have had a hard time hitting that amount of cals alone, especially since going low carb because my appetite has definitely diminished.

The past few weeks I have been trying to walk at least 3 to 4 days a week, and I started a few strength challenges this week - pushups, squats and lunges.

I have wanted to work out more, but have been afraid to because I was afraid of having too large of a deficit.

And I am definitely on point with my diet. I eat whole foods, a very minimal amount of processed food if any. Fell off a little over the weekend and had more carbs than usual because I was just so dicouraged friday after I weighed. My patience is wearing so thin

servilia

Yah that's too high even if you're at a high weight. I would get retested or disregard it. It's obviously not working for you. Good luck!

UpEarly

I went back at the beginning of March to get my RMR tested. Came back at 2480, and was told not to eat less than this.

This number sounds a bit suspect to me! I exercise hard and have an active lifestyle, and my TDEE is around 2600. My RMR is only around 1400. 2480 sounds really high for a resting metabolic rate.

lovemitch125

1) Are you working out?
2) What foods do you eat because a calorie is not just a calorie
3) Are you active, like a waitress job or a desk job?
4) Under 50 g of carbs is ridiculous! You need ATLEAST 50-150 g of carbs a day just for your body to function correctly!!!

kellymiller23

I had actually never heard of PCOS until I read your post, so I went on WebMD and looked it up. Thank you for educating me and others about this! You definitely have some extra hurdles in your weight loss plan, but you are strong and will definitely succeed! I agree that your calories sound high. Maybe you can check your numbers yourself (BMR, RMR, TDEE) using a few different calculators, and compare the results with what your doctor gave you. See if it's close, or way off. That will at least help you to know where to start.

seths_milf

I don't know much of anything about PC0S or low-carbing, but the RMR does seem quite a bit high. I think you would be safe to gradually lower your calories until you find the losing point.

This.

lisamarie2181

I agree with you all too, when I was told that number I felt it was a bit high, but I did fast like I was supposed to and he had me rest a bit before doing the test, so not sure why it wouldn't be accurate. When I did the IPOARM calculators they suggested, it still had me at around 2000.

The testing is definitely not cheap so don't think I can spend the money to get retested now.

The past few weeks on the low carb I have not been hitting the 2500, I have been inbetween 1800 to 2200.

Do you think I should go down to 1800? Or maybe start at 2000 and keep lowering?

Also, just some backround, I lost 40lbs last year, eating 1400 cals, but I was working out 2 hours a day, burning 1200 cals, and knew nothing about eating back exercise cals, so I was told I was netting 200 cals for the day and I was basically starving myself and that is how I lost 40lbs in 4 months. This was before I was on MFP and now that I have been learning all this stuff I am afraid it is hindering me, not helping me.

So should I maybe not eat back exercise cals and net a lower amount?

Catlady87

That RMR is way too high, is my initial response.
What I would do, is just for 3-4 weeks ignore the Dr. Carry on with low carb because of your PCOS but work out your TDEE using some of the links provided on this site.
I think scoobyworkshop is a site that has a really good one! I'm sure other people on here can provide you with links too.
Find out your TDEE then subtract 20% and use that figure as your daily goal.
Just do that for 3-4 weeks and see if you have any progress or if it stops the gains.
I think the issue is your calorie limit is too high. Reduce it and see what happens. Best of luck x