WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?

One thing you are going to want is more protein. You seem under on protein most every day.

How are you measuring your food? Do you use a food scale and measuring cups?

I can't view your diary either, so this is a complete guess, but are you using MFPs default macro ratios? I think 40/30/30 carbs/fat/protein is better. If its not that I would say not enough/not intense enough workout, or eating to much, or eating to little. Could be anything really without being able to look at your diary

You would expect an initial gain in water weight after quitting low carb. That's part of why people like me think low carb is a bad idea unless you have a medical reason.

Damnit, Sabine beat me to it!

You might try monitoring your sodium. It looks like you are eating a lot of processed stuff, which may be causing water retention. Other than that, I think the suggestion of making sure you are measuring food accurately is a good idea. Also try lowering your carbs to around 100 and try cutting out some of the grains. Get your carbs from veggies/fruits instead of breads.

depending on the exercise, you may also be gaining muscle, which weighs more than fat! Have you been tracking measurements?

Drink more water........

Hi guys! So I started logging my food with MFP 15 days ago. When I started here I was trying to do a low carb diet and yes I lost weight but was finding it hard to stick to just 20 carbs a day. So I decided to try MFP and just log my food. Now here I am almost three weeks later and I’ve been staying under my cal intake but I’m gaining weight. I try to work out at least three times a week. My food diary is public. Please can someone tell me what I’m doing wrong or if I need to continue to be patient. I want to be healthy and I need the scale going in the opposite direction!

Yipes! 20 grams of carbs a day is WAY too low. Some bad things happen when you take your carbs down that low--like ketosis--a toxic condition that is okay for a day or two but is a no-no long term. You need, at the very least, 60 grams just to keep your body functioning well (and you need to make very sure that the carbs that you are eating are healthy carbs like fruit and veggies). If you keep your carbs between 75-100 you will find it much easier to stick to and feel much better. I'll look at your food diary and see if I can help.

Honestly, looking back I should have followed this from the start!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Read and do the math on this to figure out exactly your calories. Then start eating "clean.". No processed foods. Also, I find 20g carbs way too hard. Since you tried the low carb, why not try lower carb instead? I have my macros set for 10% carbs, 30% protein and 60% fat. . I'm finally getting over the plateau that I have been on for 5 mths.

Good luck!

go under sitting and add the count for salt. that is a real eyeopener.

I'm no expert but.... I do notice that you seem to be "eating back" calories you've burned, I did this as well when first starting MFP but then after meeting with a dietitian, I've learned not to do that. So just because you've burned say 250 calories doesn't mean you have 250 extra calories to eat, you can't lose weight if you "eat back" everything you burn, so leave those calories alone
As for the whole carb/sodium/protein intake things, I am lost, I set my calories where my dietitian and have left there and seem to being doing just fine. I do agree with increasing your water intake also.
Good luck and feel free to add me if you like

I agree with what others have said---too much processed food. It tends to be high in sodium, which you don't need. I would echo the poster who said that you should try to eat "cleaner" and drink way more water as it is a good detox agent. You can lose a lot of weight fast on the Atkins diet but it is not healthy long term. You must eat fruits and vegetables if you are going to be healthy. I would also echo the poster who said that you need to eat more protein--chicken and fish are especially your friends. Also, "creamed corn" has a lot of carbs (starch in the cream sauce). Buttered corn would be a better choice---you don't sacrifice much in taste or satisfaction but you are not taking in simple carbs that way. There is new research out that shows that some obese people can quickly convert simple carbs into high blood glucose and then into fructose (too complex to get into here as to why that is a very bad thing) and that their bodies will refuse to burn fat under those conditions!:huh: You must train your body to burn fat for fuel and that takes a bit of determination along with a very tight diet. By that I mean it must be very tightly controlled. I will try to post something over the next couple of days that includes suggestions for the obese. Obesity is a medical condition. It can be beaten, but there are very specific things you must do if you are going to be able to burn fat and retain your health.

Start overestimating your food intake and underestimating your exercise. I used to err in the other direction, and no weight came off!

I'm no expert but.... I do notice that you seem to be "eating back" calories you've burned, I did this as well when first starting MFP but then after meeting with a dietitian, I've learned not to do that. So just because you've burned say 250 calories doesn't mean you have 250 extra calories to eat, you can't lose weight if you "eat back" everything you burn, so leave those calories alone
As for the whole carb/sodium/protein intake things, I am lost, I set my calories where my dietitian and have left there and seem to being doing just fine. I do agree with increasing your water intake also.
Good luck and feel free to add me if you like

That is, unless you filled out your settings correctly so that you are already at a deficit without exercise *and* you log accurately. Otherwise, the exercise will put you at too high of a deficit which can stall your weight loss.

I'm no expert but.... I do notice that you seem to be "eating back" calories you've burned, I did this as well when first starting MFP but then after meeting with a dietitian, I've learned not to do that. So just because you've burned say 250 calories doesn't mean you have 250 extra calories to eat, you can't lose weight if you "eat back" everything you burn, so leave those calories alone
As for the whole carb/sodium/protein intake things, I am lost, I set my calories where my dietitian and have left there and seem to being doing just fine. I do agree with increasing your water intake also.
Good luck and feel free to add me if you like

I eat back most of my exercise calories, and I've lost over 50lbs.

You have to fuel your body. Someone with a lot of weight to lose can eat at a higher calorie deficit for a while. The closer you get to your goal weight, the smaller the deficit has to become.

Try maybe eating back half of your calories, see how that goes. But whatever you do, you need to stick with it for at least 3-4 weeks to see if anything really changes.

Good luck!

Carbohydrates come in many different forms. You shouldn't be worrying about carbs, that's your main mistake. I ate four cups of chopped kale yesterday, an extremely healthy low calorie food, and it had 27gs of carbs. What you do want to avoid at all times is complex carbohydrates (bread, rice). To put it short and sweet, keep burning calories and stay in a calorie deficit; eat a lot of leafy greens, they will fill you up and they are low in calories; as someone has already said, EAT LOTS OR LEAN PROTEIN AND GOOD LUCK!

I agreed with you until you said to avoid complex carbohydrates. Complex carbohydrates digest slower than simple carbohydrates (e.g. sugar and refined flour), so those are actually "good carbs." High fiber carbs are better for you. There is no reason to NOT eat rice or bread. Also, some carbs contain "resistant starch" such as bananas and sweet potatoes. (Or even cold starches like in a potato salad.) Resistant starches do not get digested in the small intestines at all. They digest very slowly, keeping you full for longer.

Starches are a long chain of simple sugars. Since the chain is so long, it takes longer for them to digest than simple carbs so that there isn't a big blood sugar spike with resulting crash. Some grains are better than others, such as barley and rice. White flour is the one to avoid if you have blood sugar issues. But if you have no insulin resistance or glucose issues, then white flour is fine in moderation.

I agree pretty much with what you have said here. Complex carbohydrates are certainly fine for MOST people to eat on a diet. Sugars must be eaten lightly and in fruit---but not in large quantities. (It's important to remember that bears get very fat eating huge quantities of wild blueberries in August :wink) Your advice works fine for someone who does not have a serious problem with obesity which I suspect this poster has since she mentioned fears that she would not be here to see her son grow up and that she could not go on the rides with him at the fair. Obesity is a medical condition that must be carefully managed and what works for the merely overweight, will often not work with the very obese. She may need to cut out all grain and grain products for a while. It is always healthiest for everyone to get our carbohydrates from vegetables and moderate intake of fruit.