I feel like I am cheating!

Are you using a heart rate monitor or just looking here for calories? If you use a heart rate monitor it will give you a more accurate account of your calories burnt (on here it is just an average so could be off for your particular effort).

You should eat them though! Perhaps you need to up your water intake, lower your sodium? If you are working out HARD and then weighing yourself after that you could be retaining water.

You could be gaining muscle and your body fat loss hasn't caught up yet and that's why you gained. Have you been lifting weights or doing strength training at all?

One of the most imporatant things to remember to eat at least six times per day and avoid bad carbs high in sugar...becuase that can lead to weight gain... Try to avoid your fast foods and sweets.....I know for me I try to eat my largest meal at lunch...my pre mixed protein shakes are great way to relieve hunger especially after a workout or when yu need a late night snack.

Posted this a few minutes ago with regard to another post, but it applies to yours as well:flowerforyou:

The exercise calculators are a rough estimate, at best. How much you burn depends on so many factors, other than just your body weight (i.e. % of body fat/lean, gender, training level). Tracking every calorie in is challenging enough...trying to track the calories out can get very obsessive, and is often inaccurate. Calories balance out over the days, weeks, and months...not just in a 24-hour period.

1. Eat between 1400-1800 QUALITY calories a day (not junk low-calorie food). The # of calories depends on your body weight, and MFP has a good calculator for it.
2. 5-6 days a week, exercise so that you break a sweat, but people around you are not holding cell phones ready to call 911. After you have built a solid aerobic base for a couple of months, you can increase the intensity, but resist the urge to do it too soon. The stress hormones created at high-intensity cardio will undermine your ability to burn fat. Higher intensity is great, and burns fat in people who are trained for it. A signal that you're not trained for it? You will CRAVE sugar later in the day, and your hunger will increase.
4. Clip on a pedometer and be sure to get *at least* 10k steps a day in just moving-around general activity stuff. (Many people work out hard at the gym, and then sit for a majority of the day...the sedentary athlete syndrome). The 10k steps includes your workout.
5. Add some strength training at least twice a week to boost your metabolism.

Steer clear of processed foods and sugar whenever possible. Food talks to your cells...be sure it's telling them to burn fat, not store it. Real food is your best bet.

And lastly, DON'T try to lose more than 2 pounds in a week:-) I know you've heard that before, and it's easy for us to get impatient. But if you lose more than that, you're just trading short-term weight loss for long-term metabolism slowing. Be patient, and be good to yourself.

for the most part I am eating decent foods or at least smart snacks.... I am using the machine to tell me what calories burned (elliptical) hope its accurate... I usually have a protein shake after the work out... I do think my legs are toning up nicely but I can't imagine I am gaining muscle just yet.... been on this journey since 2-18-10.


I probably could drink more water... I will have to keep a close eye on my sodium...

Any more feedback would be great! Thank you all

People who get HRMs find that machines are anywhere from 20-30% higher than the actual calories burned. So if you're going to eat your exercise calories only eat 50-80% of them to keep from overeating. But you should eat them as it provides your body with fuel it needs to function. Not eating them increases your calories deficit that MFP already gives you and if it puts you below a net of 1200 calories per day you could be "starving" your body to the point where it slows down your metabolism to conserve energy.