not losing weight

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kathleenmary73
kathleenmary73 Posts: 33 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 59 years old and spent 2 years in a terrible depression. I had an accident that made it too hard to move and being sedentary and eating the wrong foods made me gain about 168 pounds. I have made some significant changes. I pushed myself out of the wheelchair and did easy non weight bearing workouts and maintained 1200 calories a day for 3 months and lost 40 pounds. For two week snow, I have been doing aqua aerobics for 75 minutes 3 days a week and riding the stationary cycle for 30 minutes a day. It says I burn like 1600 calories, and my daily calories have been between 1000 and 1500. so why am I not losing weight? I actually gained 5 pounds last week. I'm really discouraged. Help

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  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
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    Gaining 5lbs isn't a gain in fat, you're likely to just be holding water due to your exercise levels as your muscles are repairing.
  • kathleenmary73
    kathleenmary73 Posts: 33 Member
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    some people tell me I'm likely gaining muscle because for the first time in 2 years I'm actually using my leg muscles in the pool. I have a problem believing that but what you are saying I don't get but it sounds like a better conclusion. So because my muscles were so unused, now the activity is making them work and they need water to repair?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    You are burning more calories than you are eating. While you have gained a lot and can support a large deficit, you are netting negative calories, and that is incredibly stressful to the body. Is MFP recommending that you eat so few calories, or have you decided to do that on your own? For comparison, I'm 217lbs, I eat 1900 calories a day, workout far less than you do, and I lose between 1-2 pounds a week. Granted those are my personal numbers, but you likely need to eat far more to fuel your workouts.

    If you'd like more information on how to find the appropriate amount of calories to read, read this:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/912914-in-place-of-a-road-map-3-2013
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    some people tell me I'm likely gaining muscle because for the first time in 2 years I'm actually using my leg muscles in the pool. I have a problem believing that but what you are saying I don't get but it sounds like a better conclusion. So because my muscles were so unused, now the activity is making them work and they need water to repair?

    You need to be at a calorie surplus (usually) to build muscle. Since you are large and working out like you never have before, you may make some muscle gain at first, but you did not gain 5lbs of muscle in a week.
  • kathleenmary73
    kathleenmary73 Posts: 33 Member
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    I was working with a weight loss center at Ohio State University--they tested me and found that I needed 2670 calories to maintain and suggested I drop to 1200 calories a day to achieve a 2 -3 pound loss a week. I was told if I created a deficit of 500 calories with exercise, I would lose another pound. Well I was unable to until I got in the pool but instead of the numbers going down, they're going up and I'm extremely confused. MFP says I'm not eating enough calories, says I should eat more but I thought that was defeating my purpose.
  • kathleenmary73
    kathleenmary73 Posts: 33 Member
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    so how do I fix the problem
  • FattieBabs
    FattieBabs Posts: 542 Member
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    Hi Kathleen.... Seriously, look at upping your calories a bit. It will be much easier to maintain your weight in the longterm. Do you have to lose 2-3 pounds a week. 1-2 pounds a week might be more sustainable and get your body used to eating more whilst still losing weight. To be honest, this is how I am doing it. I could not manage on 1200 a day.

    Well done on getting into the pool, this really helps!

    I am 216 pounds currently and netting around 1600 a day and losing steadily. I might actually be on slightly too few calories but am staying at this for a while until I plateau then may reset.
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    If your maintenance calories are 2670, then you should really be eating enough to actually lose 2 (maybe 3 pounds a week). For about a 2 pound a week loss, you would need to eat 1670. But, that's net. As in, if you do exercise, you should log those calories and eat them back (MFP automatically works this way and adds exercise calories to your daily goal). Yes, more exercise means you eat more. It seems counter intuitive, but it really isn't. The lower your calories and the more you work out, the more stress you put your body under. This can lead to fatigue and a host of other issues. It also means you might give up on your "diet" sooner.

    Some people tend to want to eat more, some people don't workout as much. It's possible to lose weight without exercise at all. You change your diet to lose weight, you exercise to get "fit". Personally, I'm doing a mixture of both, but I eat enough to fuel my workouts. It isn't worth it to me to crash.
  • HappyCamper5166
    HappyCamper5166 Posts: 34
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    Kathleen,

    I think when they told you the amount of calories you need to eat, they did not take into account that you would be adding as much excersize, MFP suggests you eat back your excersize calories. So, if you were sedentary and should eat about 1500 calories...but you're excersizing and burning another 500 calories per day, you should eat those extra calories (totalling 2000 calories) on the days that you're excersising. From what I understand, if we don't eat enough calories our metabolism slows down. I would try upping the calories with your workouts for a week and see what happens.
  • kathleenmary73
    kathleenmary73 Posts: 33 Member
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    so when it says you've earned 1600 calories a day it means I can eat that many more?
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    so when it says you've earned 1600 calories a day it means I can eat that many more?

    Yup. Although if you are using a calculator or gym machines to calculate the burn, it may not be accurate. But eat back at least half.

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