Doing everything right and gaining weight

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EvetteMarquez
EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm mostly venting here but would love some helpful advice. I don't know that much about losing weight. I started my healthy lifestyle November 9th and since then I've lost 15lbs which I'm pretty proud of :) But now the scale just will not go down. I'm assuming I'm not exercising enough? I eat lots of fruits, veggies and lean protein but for some reason I'm starting to gain weight and its super frustrating. I eat between 1200-1400 calories everyday and I doing some walking. I was running in the beginning but suffered a leg injury so I cant run for a little while. I honestly feel like I'm losing weight but I'm not losing inches or anything. Any help would be appreciated. TIA
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  • cebreisch
    cebreisch Posts: 1,340 Member
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    Can't see your diary so can't really be helpful.
  • poedunk65
    poedunk65 Posts: 1,336 Member
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    you must not be doing everything right is your gaining weight. Check what your eating and how your eating it. Or see a doctor.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    You don't gain weight from a calorie deficit (unless you're gaining weight from water retention due to high sodium). One of two things is going on: you're eating more calories than you think, or you're NOT exercising and still eating back your exercise calories.


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  • Pixi_Rex
    Pixi_Rex Posts: 1,676 Member
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    Not to be harsh but... If you are doing everything right you would not be gaining weight. I say that coming from a place of "OMG I AM DOING EVERYTHING RIGHT AND I AM GAINING WEIGHT WTF????!" Turns out I wasn't doing everything right, infact I was WAY off on some of my calories burned, and I was eating them back and guess what??? it was too many calories.

    I got an HRM and even now I only eat about half my calories back (if I even eat them - it really depends on how hungry I am) I figure it all works out in the end. Are you weighing and measuring all your food? My kitchen scale is my best friend when it comes to food, I always know exactly what/howmuch I am eating, I rarely use a measuring cup (unless its a liquid) and even then I have my glasses figured out and know how much they hold.

    So I would re-evaluate. There is a thread (it may have already been posted) its called "in place of a road map" you should check it out it helped me too. Since I got my crap together and read that thread and figured things out I have lost weight.

    Good luck!
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
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    You may not be eating enough, 1200-1400 sounds awfully low. However, if you open your diary we could give better advice.
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    Ok I opened my diary and to clarify. I feel like I'm doing everything right. I'm trying my best over here

    *ALSO I haven't been tracking my exercise a lot lately
  • chelseaohwalker
    chelseaohwalker Posts: 3 Member
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    You probably aren't eating enough so your body is clinging onto anything it has to store away in case you stop eating. At 219 you need to be eating more in the 2000 calorie range at least!
  • hookandy
    hookandy Posts: 278 Member
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    This post might be worth a read.

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

    This helped me break a plateau of a couple of months. I ended up eating more and lost more. Work the numbers and see if this changes things for you.
  • ChristyRunStarr
    ChristyRunStarr Posts: 1,600 Member
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    Can you make your diary so we can see it? Just a couple general questions while I wait....are you using food scale? Are you eating enough, how is your sodium? Are you sure 1200-1400 is enough for you, if you haven't already check out this post so you can figure out your BMR and TDEE to make sure you're eating enough. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12
  • BohemianCoast
    BohemianCoast Posts: 349 Member
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    Open your diary so we can see what you're eating.

    Make sure you're logging everything, including all drinks, especially when you're outside the home.

    Weigh everything. It might be worth not going out, just for one week, so that you can be absolutely certain you're counting everything.

    Be careful about eating back all your exercise calories; MFP can overcount those and this seems to especially be a risk for heavier people who are walking at a leisurely pace.
  • YoungDoc2B
    YoungDoc2B Posts: 1,593 Member
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    This post might be worth a read.

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

    This helped me break a plateau of a couple of months. I ended up eating more and lost more. Work the numbers and see if this changes things for you.

    Definitely. There's no way in the world that a person in the 200lb range should be eating 1200-1400 calories. That's the problem.
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    I was going off myfitnesspals recommended calories. I don't think I should be eating 2000 calories that sounds ridiculous.
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    You probably aren't eating enough so your body is clinging onto anything it has to store away in case you stop eating. At 219 you need to be eating more in the 2000 calorie range at least!

    219 was my starting weight I'm now down to 204 still in the 200's though :/
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    This post might be worth a read.

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

    This helped me break a plateau of a couple of months. I ended up eating more and lost more. Work the numbers and see if this changes things for you.

    Thanks!
  • WhoTheHellIsBen
    WhoTheHellIsBen Posts: 1,238 Member
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    I would add sodium to your food diary list, you may be surprised what you are taking in there. The question I would have is what is your current weekly weight loss goal set at ?
  • TinGirl314
    TinGirl314 Posts: 430 Member
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    Hey hun,

    I just went through your diary and I have to echo what other people are saying, there are some days where you barely break 1,000. I would honestly try to hit between 1400-1700 calories a day. If you're not eating back any of your workout calories you're even lower on your net calories for the day. :(

    Do you have a primary doctor? She or he would be best to get you started. :)
    Congrats on the 15 pounds, that's an awesome accomplishment.
    Also your body needs mass amounts of water to flush the fat out (No sources, I believe this to be true from personal experience.) Maybe upping your water intake would help too?

    If you're actually not hungry at the end of the day there are other ways to up your calorie count. Protein shakes are a great way to add 150-250 calories along with peanut butter, nuts... my mind is drawing a blank now.

    Best of luck on the rest of your journey. :)
  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
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    Are you weighing and measuring all your food and drinks or eyeballing the measurements?

    Are you including sauces, ketchups, mayos, butters, oils, etc?

    Are you logging the milk/cream/sugar etc in coffee and tea?

    Stop using the generic entries in the database..use the one for the food you are eating or input your own.

    Add sodium to your tracker. You would be surprised. Log your water... not sure if you just aren't logging it or you are not drinking it.

    There is something you are doing wrong if you aren't losing.

    I agree with you should be eating more. Find out your BMR and eat that.

    How much are you trying to lose? Unless you have to lose over 75lbs you shouldn't have your weight loss goal set at 2lbs per week.
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    Hey hun,

    I just went through your diary and I have to echo what other people are saying, there are some days where you barely break 1,000. I would honestly try to hit between 1400-1700 calories a day. If you're not eating back any of your workout calories you're even lower on your net calories for the day. :(

    Do you have a primary doctor? She or he would be best to get you started. :)
    Congrats on the 15 pounds, that's an awesome accomplishment.
    Also your body needs mass amounts of water to flush the fat out (No sources, I believe this to be true from personal experience.) Maybe upping your water intake would help too?

    If you're actually not hungry at the end of the day there are other ways to up your calorie count. Protein shakes are a great way to add 150-250 calories along with peanut butter, nuts... my mind is drawing a blank now.

    Best of luck on the rest of your journey. :)


    I've just recently upped my water intake because I realized I wasn't getting enough. Some days I can barely get myself to eat so that's why you see those low cal days. I will make an appointment with a nutrionist. Thanks.
  • BohemianCoast
    BohemianCoast Posts: 349 Member
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    OK, I've had a quick look at your diary.

    First, drinks -- are you absolutely sure you're never drinking any fruit juice, or alcohol, or coffee or tea with milk, or soda? Because those all have loads of calories.

    Second, recipes. If you eat a beef stew, at least at first, you can't rely on database entries for 'homemade beef stew'. That beef stew could be way higher or lower in cals than the one you're eating. You either need to put all the ingredients in yourself to make a recipe, or just enter the ingredients in your portion. Because what matters is your beef stew, not anyone else's. Ditto enchiladas -- I think Mexican food is particularly suspect here in fact.

    Third, weights not volume. Cup measures are really unreliable except for liquids.

    Fourth, fats. Now, there may be a way to cook up turkey sausage, eggs and peppers for your breakfast without using any fat at all (even the sprays have a bit), and that might be what you're doing. But most cooking has some oil or butter or lard in it, and all those things have lots of cals.

    Otherwise -- obviously what's going on your diary is pretty healthy, but my guess is that there are things missing and that's what's caused the grief. And it can be *tiny* amounts of stuff, too, or small errors in things you have regularly.

    Good luck! You can definitely get back on track.
  • EvetteMarquez
    EvetteMarquez Posts: 24 Member
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    Are you weighing and measuring all your food and drinks or eyeballing the measurements?

    Are you including sauces, ketchups, mayos, butters, oils, etc?

    Are you logging the milk/cream/sugar etc in coffee and tea?

    Stop using the generic entries in the database..use the one for the food you are eating or input your own.

    Add sodium to your tracker. You would be surprised. Log your water... not sure if you just aren't logging it or you are not drinking it.

    There is something you are doing wrong if you aren't losing.

    I agree with you should be eating more. Find out your BMR and eat that.

    How much are you trying to lose? Unless you have to lose over 75lbs you shouldn't have your weight loss goal set at 2lbs per week.

    I do have to lose over 75lbs. I do drink water a lot of times I didn't log it. I measure my food yes. I'm not sure how to add my sodium?

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