I /should/ be losing, but instead I'm gaining. Help!

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Kendralh
Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
in Motivation and Support
I'm 22, female, 5'8", currently 175 lbs.

I log in regularly and try to stay around 1200-1500 cals/ day (more protein, less fat and carbs than mfp thinks I should eat). There are definitely days I'm over that (mostly due to drinking on weekends with friends), but I still log EVERYTHING I put in my mouth, and probably have five or six days a month at about 1900 calories. I walk or run 1.5-3 miles 3- 4 times a week... and I just keep gaining weight and inches. I'm ten pounds heavier than I was when I joined mfp in June... and I'm not sure why.

Any advice? I'm getting frustrated and am tired of not seeing results!
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Replies

  • sallysuze
    sallysuze Posts: 65 Member
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    How is drinking alcohol helping your fitness/weight loss goals?
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
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    If you don't open your diary we can't give you any advice
    :)
  • nw00778
    nw00778 Posts: 22
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    I would start reading the labels. Make sure to pay attention to sugars and fats. Everybody is different and MFP doesn't always get it right when it says that thing about you'll weigh XXX in 5 weeks. If I were you I would cut the cals to 1200 and don't have anymore of those 1900 days, it really adds up. Good thing is you are young and can learn now how different type effect your body because believe me, in the next couple of years it won't be as easy. Since you are a drinker try to only drink like 1 or 2 times a month. I know when i was your age and in college, I would have rolled my eyes but really it is soooo worth it, you can drink more once you realize how to maintain and really I know how annoying it is to go out with friends and feel overweight...its much more fun skinnier!
  • thefitflorist
    thefitflorist Posts: 3
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    It may not hurt to consult your doctor to make sure its not thyroids. there are other factors that can cause weight gain. sometimes medical reasons can really mess things up when you want to lose weight. Talk to your Dr . A regular physical is so important! And any abnormal blood work will show if your thyroid is not working properly. :) Hope you get answers soon :)
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    Just made my diary public... took me awhile to find the setting!

    And I just graduated, moved to a new area, and am meeting new people :) Drinking definitely doesn't help ( empty calories). I know it's no excuse, but everyone I've met is married and doesn't want to be friends or drinks heavily... I'm usually the soberest one, haha. I'll try to cut back!!

    And, thefitflorist, I had my thyroid checked two years ago (normal) and had a blood work up a few weeks ago when I started my job (I'm a nuclear engineer, so they're really picky about health), and they didn;t mention anything. I'll definitely go get checked out again soon!

    Thank you everyone :)
  • sallysuze
    sallysuze Posts: 65 Member
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    Three random days I opened in your diary...
    total cals 2516
    total cals 1410 (all from one meal of nachos and fries, nothing else logged!)
    total cals 3521

    two of those days were weekdays not weekends.

    So what do you need help with again?
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    You should look through the rest.. nachos was the day after my birthday and I was hungover. Also not a week day. Don't know when the others were. Generally, if I've been eating like crap, I stay the same weight. And if I start to feel guilty and try to be better, I'm plus two in a week.

    And I understand that you think I'm stupid, but I'd appreciate it if you'd try to not be condescending. This is me trying.

    Thank you for your help.
  • sassyt1206
    sassyt1206 Posts: 37
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    YOUR DAILY CALORIE GOAL IS 1,951 DID YOU GO TO SETTINGS AND INPUT HOW MANY DAYS YOU WILL BE EXCERCISE AND HOW LONG YOUR WORK OUTS WILL BE.?
    IF YOU DID IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW MANY CALORIES YOU NEED TO BURN A WEEK IN YOUR WORK OUTS TO LOSE THAT AMT OF WEEKLY LBS YOU INPUTTED THAT YOU WANTED TO LOSE...ARE YOU BURNING MORE THAN MFP IS SUGGESTING?
  • EndlessSacrifice
    EndlessSacrifice Posts: 325
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    Try cutting out alcohol.
  • RzRzRzR
    RzRzRzR Posts: 72 Member
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    Stop drinking alcohol and limit sodium.
  • gimpygramma
    gimpygramma Posts: 383 Member
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    The days I looked at were low cal days and looked pretty good. What I am wondering is if you might be underestimating portion size. If you are not already measuring and weighing your food you might want to give it a try. Good luck. I know this must be incredibly frustrating for you.
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    YOUR DAILY CALORIE GOAL IS 1,951 DID YOU GO TO SETTINGS AND INPUT HOW MANY DAYS YOU WILL BE EXCERCISE AND HOW LONG YOUR WORK OUTS WILL BE.?
    IF YOU DID IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW MANY CALORIES YOU NEED TO BURN A WEEK IN YOUR WORK OUTS TO LOSE THAT AMT OF WEEKLY LBS YOU INPUTTED THAT YOU WANTED TO LOSE...ARE YOU BURNING MORE THAN MFP IS SUGGESTING?

    My daily calorie goal is about 1450 but mfp decides to add any calories you've burned to your "daily calorie goal." The settings I chose were lose 1 lb / week and work out for 45 mins 3 times a week. It keeps track of how many minutes I've spent exercising in a given week compared to my goal, but doesn't set a goal for how many calories to burn because it didn't ask me what kind of exercise I'd be doing.

    And to answer your question, I technically burn more than mft is set at because I walk 15 minutes to and 15 minutes from work (briskly) every day, then run three or four times a week (which is what I count as a "work out").

    I think that's what you wanted. Thanks :)
  • katevarner
    katevarner Posts: 884 Member
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    I think you are too inconsistent and your body doesn't know what's going on, but that works for some people. Some days you aren't eating nearly enough to fuel your body.

    You are eating a lot of junk, tho. Try to eat a little less processed food (hard unless you cook or eat at good restaurants) and try to eat closer to the same number of calories every day--and don't eat under 1200 calories, particularly on days that you are exercising. See how that goes for a couple of weeks. If that doesn't work, ask for more help.

    May also want to answer sassyt1206's questions, too. Or find the roadmap stuff and figure BMR and TDEE unless that's where your current calories came from.
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    The days I looked at were low cal days and looked pretty good. What I am wondering is if you might be underestimating portion size. If you are not already measuring and weighing your food you might want to give it a try. Good luck. I know this must be incredibly frustrating for you.

    Thank you!!! I'll go buy a scale this week. I definitely have issues guessing in ounces rather than portions of a lb or cup.
  • lachesissss
    lachesissss Posts: 1,298 Member
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    My recommendation would be to research your BMR and TDEE. From there recalculate your daily calorie intake. Once you've figured that out, I would focus on incorporating more fresh, whole foods into your regime and try to cut down on the processed. In terms of exercising, I would add lifting to your cardio, because muscle will burn your calories for you and help you look toned and lean. Maybe one day a week do more challenging cardio exercises, as in run for a longer distance or for faster or on different terrain. Don't over do it on the exercise and don't cut your daily calorie intake so low that you feel ravenous, or are tempted to binge. Keep everything moderate. If you have a weekly calorie deficit from exercise, drinking on the weekends won't throw you off track so much during the week.

    This has just been my experience, your mileage may vary.
  • meeka472
    meeka472 Posts: 283 Member
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    I looked at your diary and it appears that you are hitting your calorie goals but here are the two things that I would recommend:

    1. Measure your food - I made this same mistake when I started here. I thought that I had a good idea of my portions and that I was eating smaller portions than I thought they were. When I purchased a food scale and started measuring I found that I was actually eating twice the amount that I was logging. Once I got the scale I went from a "plateau" to losing immediately

    2. Cook your own meals when possible - Looks like you are eating out a lot and the problem with that is that you cannot really be sure that they are really serving the portion sizes that they are reporting or that they are using the ingredients that they are reporting. This could vary from place to place. In addition there is a lot more sodium in those food. The more foods you prepare, the better is is for you to ensure the correct calories.

    All in all, good job on logging and good luck with your weight loss.
  • sallysuze
    sallysuze Posts: 65 Member
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    And I understand that you think I'm stupid, but I'd appreciate it if you'd try to not be condescending. This is me trying.
    My condenscion brought out your defensiveness though. Sure you might have days that eating well that I didn't see, but getting defensive and excusing your binge days is not going to see you losing weight.

    If you look at cals in and cals out over a week or over a month, on average, what do you see? My guess is that all the cal limiting and exercising you do is completely undone on the days when you indulge and socialise.

    Perhaps a little more consistency, and a little less takeaways/eating out, will see you losing weight and getting fitter.
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    My recommendation would be to research your BMR and TDEE. From there recalculate your daily calorie intake. Once you've figured that out, I would focus on incorporating more fresh, whole foods into your regime and try to cut down on the processed. In terms of exercising, I would add lifting to your cardio, because muscle will burn your calories for you and help you look toned and lean. Maybe one day a week do more challenging cardio exercises, as in run for a longer distance or for faster or on different terrain. Don't over do it on the exercise and don't cut your daily calorie intake so low that you feel ravenous, or are tempted to binge. Keep everything moderate. If you have a weekly calorie deficit from exercise, drinking on the weekends won't throw you off track so much during the week.

    This has just been my experience, your mileage may vary.

    bmr:about 1670, tdee, inputting "desk job": 1960. Which I'm fairly certain is what my mfp settings are based on.

    I'll definitely add some strength training and try to switch it up.

    Thank you!
  • Kendralh
    Kendralh Posts: 40 Member
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    I looked at your diary and it appears that you are hitting your calorie goals but here are the two things that I would recommend:

    1. Measure your food - I made this same mistake when I started here. I thought that I had a good idea of my portions and that I was eating smaller portions than I thought they were. When I purchased a food scale and started measuring I found that I was actually eating twice the amount that I was logging. Once I got the scale I went from a "plateau" to losing immediately

    2. Cook your own meals when possible - Looks like you are eating out a lot and the problem with that is that you cannot really be sure that they are really serving the portion sizes that they are reporting or that they are using the ingredients that they are reporting. This could vary from place to place. In addition there is a lot more sodium in those food. The more foods you prepare, the better is is for you to ensure the correct calories.

    All in all, good job on logging and good luck with your weight loss.

    Thank you SO much for the advice! I really appreciate it.

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