Discouraged

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lilydily
lilydily Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey all, this is my 10th day into my journey. To cut to the chase, my starting weight (on 10/02) was 300 lbs. Five days later, I got curious and stepped on the scale. I was upset that I had gained 1.5 lbs. That was the first time in my life that I stayed on the ball even with unpleasant results on the scale. I popped 5 more days out, got curious again and now I'm extremely discouraged. The scale now reads 304 lbs.

Here's what I've been up to, maybe someone can help explain what's going on:

The first 5 days, I did not understand to "net" calories. My calories were severely under (200-600 net). I was exercising on a stationary bike, 28 MPH for 30 minutes (no resistance). So, I can understand gaining 1.5 lbs. in the first 5 days since I was going at it wrong with the calories.

The last 5 days, I then understood what net calories meant. MFP recommended 1650 for me. I stayed in between 1200 and 1600 calories, net. I used the stationary bike, 30 MPH for 30 minutes (no resistance). I just bumped up my exercise yesterday to 30 MPH for 45 minutes (no resistance). I bumped my exercise up yesterday so that I could eat more because I was pretty hungry still :ohwell:

I'll take yesterday as an example to see if I'm doing this right: The exercise for yesterday says that I burned around 1,000 calories. I ate 2,558 calories. This is 1,558 NET, which is still under the MFP recommendation. Is this the correct way? I'm second-guessing myself now due to not losing, but gaining instead.

I've stayed away from soda since Day 2. I only drink water now (it's possibly not enough, I admit). I've stayed away from all candies, chocolates, cookies.. "the sweets," chips and unhealthy snacks. Otherwise, the foods that I eat are pretty much the same. I'm spreading my food out through the day instead of all in 1 meal a day. This is the first time that I have ever counted calories. It's the first time for me to even pay attention to anything I've ingested.

It's hard to believe my family when they tell me that the weight gain is muscle. I'm not doing any weight lifting at the moment. I don't even use the resistance on my stationary bike yet. Would you consider 30 MPH with no resistance, vigorous? This could also be throwing my calories burned figure off.

Please help me to understand what's going on. I'm discouraged, at the same time, I really do not want to give up this fight. I want this to be MY year! :cry:

Replies

  • nagniho
    nagniho Posts: 132 Member
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    Hi

    Is the 1000 calories burned number through your HRM or what MFP tells you? MFP is known for notoriously overstating caloric burn. So you might be eating more than you actually need to in order to get to your net intake. Secondly, if you have started exercising then it could be water retention, definitely not muscles.

    How are you measuring your food? digital weighing scale, cups, estimations....?? Most accurate is the scale...rest is all a guesstimate.

    Do not get discouraged. Weight loss needs dedication and patience. You will get there!!!
  • lilydily
    lilydily Posts: 4 Member
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    Hi

    Is the 1000 calories burned number through your HRM or what MFP tells you? MFP is known for notoriously overstating caloric burn. So you might be eating more than you actually need to in order to get to your net intake. Secondly, if you have started exercising then it could be water retention, definitely not muscles.

    How are you measuring your food? digital weighing scale, cups, estimations....?? Most accurate is the scale...rest is all a guesstimate.

    Do not get discouraged. Weight loss needs dedication and patience. You will get there!!!

    Hi there.

    The 1,000 calories is through MFP. The stationary bike estimates calories burned as well. This is usually around the same as MFP says (a little lower). I do not have an HRM. I'll try to keep the water retention in mind. Should I change the intensity of the workout on MFP to moderate or light? I'm not sure how to get a more accurate reading without an HRM.

    I measure all of my food with a digital scale, measuring cups or measuring spoons. I'll just use the digital scale from now on.

    I have a ridiculously long way to go. I hate to be going backwards right in the beginning :noway:

    Thanks so much for your thoughts and encouragement! I'll make the changes and see how this pans out. It at least gives me motivation since there may be a resolution to my problem.
  • traceygl1967
    traceygl1967 Posts: 72 Member
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    I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I seriously doubt that you are burning a 1000 calories on a stationary bike with no resistance.
    How do I know because I made the same mistake when I first came here I took the calories burnt off of my stationary bike and mfp which were always pretty close together. I wasnt losing weight and asked for some advice was told to get a HRM

    I weigh 288 lbs and according to my HRM stationary bike no resistance at 30 mph for me burns off around 300 calories only
    so MFP seriously overestimates on this.

    Sorry :/
  • lovingmymuscles
    lovingmymuscles Posts: 11
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    also, take your weekly and bi-weekly measurements and the way clothes look and feel as a better indicator.
    I go up and down 5 or 10 lbs from day to day, due to water retention.
    As you start to exercise more, you;ll improve in your fitness capabilities too.
    Think about how great you feel after you exercise and eat well. That awesome feeling should help encourage you, even when you're not seeing the results you want, as quickly as you thought.
  • Julicat6
    Julicat6 Posts: 231 Member
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    Also consider it has only been 10 days. I would definitely assume that MFP is overestimating calories burned from exercise. I know some will slam me, but I only eat back about 1/2 of what it gives me due to this, unless I am truly hungry, then I may be closer to the calories they give me back. I know it's really hard to be patient, but changing things up is a real shock to the body. Years of eating poorly wreak havoc on our metabolism. I say get measurements, waist, hips, upper arms, even neck, and use those to assess where you are until the scale starts to move, or pick a pair of jeans or something that you can get on but is super tight and try it on 1x a week. The scale will start to move as you continue to make better choices. I started at 250+ with WW Feb 2011 and the meetings really helped keep me mentally in the game. It's only recently that I felt ready to go it with virtual support. I had lots of plateaus to deal with along the way, but now am closing in on being in "one-derland" Maybe next week's weighin:love: I hope
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I agree that your calorie burn may be overestimated a bit. That doesn't explain your gain in the first week, but unfortunately that can sometimes happen. Starting a new exercise regime can definitely make you retain water, as can lots of other things, including hormonal fluctuations. It must be so frustrating to see those numbers go up when you're trying so hard! Although a lot of people see a big loss in the first couple of weeks, it's not uncommon for people to stay the same or even gain a little because of water retention. Don't give up!

    I would keep doing what you're doing, but maybe just eat some of those exercise calories back. It is important to make sure you're eating enough, and I'm a big advocate of eating back exercise calories (if you're following MFP as it is designed; there are other ways). However, as you have quite a lot to lose, and have larger fat stores at the moment, you can "get away with" a larger calorie deficit for a while anyway, so if you end up slightly underestimating your calorie burn then it's not going to harm you. Definitely eat some of them back, but say 300 cals sounds more realistic. If you are able to invest in a heart rate monitor at some point, that will give you a more accurate estimation.

    Just to give you a little perspective, it takes about 3,500 calories to gain a lb of fat. You burn a certain number of calories in a day through your body's normal processes, as well as exercise, so that 3,500 calories would have to be on top of the number that you normally burn to maintain. To gain 2.5 lbs of fat in 5 days, you would have had to have eaten over your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure/maintenance) by roughly 1,750 calories on each of those days. That's over the number of calories you need to maintain, which is higher than the goal that MFP has given you. I'm assuming MFP has given you a calorie deficit of somewhere between 500-1000 calories a day. Even if your calorie burn is vastly overestimated, eating back those calories will probably only have taken you up to the number you need to eat to maintain, so I doubt that any of your gain is actually fat. Hope that hasn't confused you, but basically, of the 4 lbs you've gained, very little of it is probably fat, and will likely come off very quickly as your body settles into it's new regime.

    So don't worry, keep at it, try to stick to your scales for measuring food, and I'm sure you'll see the scale moving in the right direction soon!

    ETA: Oh, yes definitely take measurements of your body, and progress photos too. They may take a little while to show changes, but will be so much more motivating as you go on, when the scale isn't behaving!
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
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    Dont get discouraged, we all lose at different rates and have to find what works for you. Just my 2 cents but it may be easier the first couple of weeks to just watch the calories and not to eat back what you have worked off. I started off doing the 1200 calories and eating back my exercise calories and was not losing anything other than my patience, I finally got to a point where I was losing .5 - 1 lb every couple of weeks, then even that stalled out, After a lot of reading on MFP and other places I found I simply was not eating enough so I bumped up my calories and it started coming off again at a more regular pace.

    The exercise database is way off on some exercises and spot on for others but you really wont know for certain unless you have a heart rate monitor. there are people on here who only record 1/2 the burn of what MFP says and go from there.
  • letjog
    letjog Posts: 260 Member
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    I would only log 100 calories per 10 mins of biking IF you're working hard, out of breath and sweating for this time. Otherwise it's less.

    I'd recommend you don't bother eating back your exercise calories right now, it'll mess you up and you don't need to. Just don't starve yourself or you'll give up. It takes patience.
  • lilydily
    lilydily Posts: 4 Member
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    Thank you all for the great advice and for taking the time to reply!

    @traceygl1967 - As much as I'd like it to be 1,000 calories burned, I want even more to lose weight. Don't be sorry... you're helping me with the truth :happy: Look at it this way, if I were actually burning 1k cal. with the weight gain, I wouldn't know what to do. I would be even more discouraged if I were doing the calculations correctly and gaining weight from it.

    @lovingmymuscles - How my clothing fits probably won't change much since I wear stretchy/loose articles due to being embarrassed about my body. But, I will keep an eye on my measurements. I took my measurements around 6 days ago. I'll probably wait another week before I check it again since my exercise calories were wrong; I need to give myself a chance to correct it now :blushing: I had no idea that water retention could fluctuate someone's weight that much on a daily basis! I actually do feel pretty good after exercising. It makes me happier and in a better mood all around. That's speaking volumes since depression likes to creep it's way in.

    @Julicat6 - That's true. 10 days is a drop in the bucket compared to all the years that I've allowed myself to eat anything and avoid exercising. From the other poster's estimates, it does sound like the calories burned should only be about 1/3-1/2 of what MFP says. With that said, it makes sense to only eat back 1/2 of the calories that MFP adds from exercise. I've taken my measurements... probably in a bit excessive way: Upper arms, forearms, neck, bust, waist, hips, thighs and calves. I'm almost symmetrical, to say the least :laugh: Congratulations!!! That means you've lost around 50 lbs!!! What an accomplishment :happy: I hope you hit onederland next week! Wow, it's been around 5 years since I was in onederland lol. Hopefully, I'll be right there with you in 1-2 years!

    @JesterMFP - Thank you. It is hard to see the gain. I want so much for this to work. It has to work or I won't live to be very old. I'll think about an HRM; for now, I'll just go with the estimates that you and others have provided me. That was very informative with the numbers that you ran. It makes sense. MFP does take away 1,000 calories from my BMR number so that I should lose 2 lbs per week. So if I'm overestimating my exercise calories, like you said, I should still be at least maintaining by being back at my BMR figure. I'm not sure what the TDEE is yet, I'll have to look into that. Thanks for explaining all of that! I took what is to be my before photos, 2 days ago. Yikes! I haven't seen a picture of myself in a very long time. It really was a frightening thing to look at, but it did give me some motivation to work on it. Congratulations on your weight loss, btw! :drinker:

    @Keiko385 - Sounds like great advice! I, too, tried to go by 1200 calories. I found out that I was calculating wrong which actually put me under 1200 calories. I'm trying to stick to 1400-1600 calories now to leave room for errors. By calculating the exercise calories wrong, that means that on Thursday, I actually ate more than my MFP allowance.:ohwell: I think I will start by only eating back 1/2 the calories that MFP says I burned. I went by the two extreme ends of the spectrum. The first 5 days, I was way under the minimum, the last 5 days (or at least on Thursday), I was over my MFP allowance. I need to find that median in there somewhere!

    @letjog - Your calorie estimate seems very close to what the others have said here. I'll keep this in mind. I'm going to eat back half of the exercise calories for now. I'm worried about going below 1200 calories almost as much as worrying about going over 1650. That's one thing that I need to learn... patience:grumble: Great job being so close to your weight loss goal!


    At least there is something I can do to fix it. When I typed out my original post, I was extremely lost and without hope. Thanks to all of you, I feel like I have the right tools now to accomplish my goals!
  • nagniho
    nagniho Posts: 132 Member
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    Hi lilidily

    I am sure this is all very confusing but believe me many of us have traveled the same path. Read this article posted by helloitsdan. It has helped many people and I am sure it will help you as well to figure out what your caloric consumption should be.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Also look up the spreadsheet from Haybales (I dont know how to post it here). This spreadsheet will help you calculate the numbers that helloitsdan article talks about.

    Secondly, as many other posters have already mentioned, use a scale and not measuring cups or spoons. Get a Heart Rate Monitor if you can. This will be the best indicator of caloric burn. DO NOT use MFP or machine estimates.

    ...and finally please don't under eat. It will only stall your progress and make your journey more frustrating.

    Hope this helps.
  • mommy_03
    mommy_03 Posts: 54 Member
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    Hi lilidily

    I am sure this is all very confusing but believe me many of us have traveled the same path. Read this article posted by helloitsdan. It has helped many people and I am sure it will help you as well to figure out what your caloric consumption should be.
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

    Also look up the spreadsheet from Haybales (I dont know how to post it here). This spreadsheet will help you calculate the numbers that helloitsdan article talks about.

    Secondly, as many other posters have already mentioned, use a scale and not measuring cups or spoons. Get a Heart Rate Monitor if you can. This will be the best indicator of caloric burn. DO NOT use MFP or machine estimates.

    ...and finally please don't under eat. It will only stall your progress and make your journey more frustrating.

    Hope this helps.

    hahahahahahaha you forgot to post the link
  • lilpoindexter
    lilpoindexter Posts: 1,122 Member
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    10 DAYS....and you are discouraged? Give it 10 months, you will definetly see some weight loss...it's not linear, and it's not fast. I'm about 40lbs down, in about a year, and I've been working pretty hard.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
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    Firstly, weight loss is not linear. Secondly, you have not gained muscle.

    If you are eating at a calorie deficit, you will not have gained fat. The most likely explanation is that you started exercising that has caused you to retain water in your muscles. Be patient, eat at a reasonable calorific deficit and stick with the plan.

    ETA: make sure you are being very accurate with logging food. Weigh everything solid and use measuring cups for liquids.
  • JTick
    JTick Posts: 2,131 Member
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    I second the "in place of a roadmap" thread...will help you tremendously. There is NO reason that you have to starve to lose weight...there are days that I am stuffed and feel completely full heading to bed. You don't even have to cut carbs, fat, or any of that stuff (although you should eat lots of protein!). I eat sweets still (staying away from my trigger sweets), eat pasta, rice, bread, etc. And I am losing. But I am honest in what I record, and weigh my foods. I aim for 100 grams of protein at least (some days, I fall short though..) and let the rest of my calories fall as they may.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    Exercise is to make your lean body mass pretty, strong, and healthy (especially lifting weights).

    A calorie deficit is to lose fat. A calorie budget keeps your fat level where you need to be, either losing fat or maintaining.

    Nothing else really matters much.
    What is the exact number of calories for you?

    We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

    In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
    per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
    the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
    that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
    calculators and text books say otherwise.

    This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
    was just a bit off.

    -John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)
    The Theory of Fat Availability:
    •There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
    •The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
    •Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
    may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

    At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
    you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
    when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
    as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
    men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

    -Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

    Also even though you have a way to go you would benefit from doing a full body women's weight lifting routine with free weights (dumbbells). There are many good routines available.

    I would encourage you to start a beginner weight lifting routine. Just 3 days a week. Why? Lifting weights is KEY. I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am. Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

    If you are a girl you don't have the hormones to get big naturally. I lift heavy and I'm still really tiny. My lean body mass is only 104 lbs and that is fairly heavy for a 5'1" female, and quite a bit of this is due to my having very dense bones from 30 years of lifting, not all muscle, and I'm still quite tiny.

    Best of luck to you! -Bobbie
  • NormalSaneFLGuy
    NormalSaneFLGuy Posts: 1,344 Member
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    Firstly, weight loss is not linear. Secondly, you have not gained muscle.

    If you are eating at a calorie deficit, you will not have gained fat. The most likely explanation is that you started exercising that has caused you to retain water in your muscles. Be patient, eat at a reasonable calorific deficit and stick with the plan.

    ETA: make sure you are being very accurate with logging food. Weigh everything solid and use measuring cups for liquids.

    Do whatever this lady, Sara, says. She is very smart and doesn't resort to broscience like a lot of people on the site. Take her advice and just give yourself a couple of weeks to see a real change. Don't expect things overnight because you'll just psych yourself out and lose motivation when changes don't instantly occur.
  • metacognition
    metacognition Posts: 626 Member
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    Your body holds on to weight and water especially when you start exercising. I went from inactivity to an hour of cardio a day and gained FOUR pounds in the first week, not from overeating but my sore muscles holding onto water. It only went down after a couple of weeks.

    Keep doing it with a firm diet and soon your body will drop weight very fast. Your results are 80% diet at this point, your BMR is so high at 300 you could make modest reductions in food and lose a ton of weight.
  • VelociMama
    VelociMama Posts: 3,119 Member
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    Firstly, weight loss is not linear. Secondly, you have not gained muscle.

    If you are eating at a calorie deficit, you will not have gained fat. The most likely explanation is that you started exercising that has caused you to retain water in your muscles. Be patient, eat at a reasonable calorific deficit and stick with the plan.

    ETA: make sure you are being very accurate with logging food. Weigh everything solid and use measuring cups for liquids.

    Do whatever this lady, Sara, says. She is very smart and doesn't resort to broscience like a lot of people on the site. Take her advice and just give yourself a couple of weeks to see a real change. Don't expect things overnight because you'll just psych yourself out and lose motivation when changes don't instantly occur.

    ^ I second this.

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