FRUSTRATED eating back calories and now gaining weight :(

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Replies

  • Microfiber
    Microfiber Posts: 956 Member

    call it 32.5% then.

    :laugh:
  • thickchick42
    thickchick42 Posts: 10 Member
    bump
  • verdancyhime
    verdancyhime Posts: 237 Member
    I think these protein shakes are not helping. Feel so bloated and gross, but its a good quick fix after a workout. I am cutting them out. Swear I look 6 months pregnant after drinking one.

    There are some ingredients in foods that bloat my belly up like a balloon. Particularly anything flavored with mustard, but that also gives me gas so I notice that I'm bloated because it's painful.

    It's possible that this bloating is part of why you haven't seen any loss. Water weight is terrifying- I'm capable of sweating out half a dress size in the summer if I don't eat many carbs. Agree with the people who said look for long term goals, and tweak it based on things that don't seem to be working or "feel" wrong, as long as the "feeling" isn't that you don't want to work hard!
  • JennKoz529
    JennKoz529 Posts: 144 Member
    [
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg

    My bodyfat percentage, according to Fat2Fit and my measurements, is 29.2% but I look nowhere like the 30% lady here and yet not as big as the 35% lady (sigh)

    I am right there with you! I think I have a 29.1% bf% and I look nothing like the 30 or 35 % gals!!!! I'm in the middle of that....
  • krithsai
    krithsai Posts: 668 Member
    Three possibilities:

    You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

    You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

    Or you need your thyroid checked.


    Ohhhh it drives me nuts when people say I am under estimating my calories. To me its like saying "Your telling me I am under estimating my 1500 calories a day enough to make me gain a pound, which would mean me accidentally eating 3,500-5000 calories more than what I expect?" I highly doubt my homemade sandwich with wheat bread, ham, and spinach with a serving of chips is anything close to 1k calories. Didn't mean to directly fire this at you, but when people say that booooy It gets me pissed lol I'm not even the poster, but I doubt she is under estimating that many calories to make her gain. >.<

    Don't get pissed off lady. I have steadily lost weight since I started weighing. Eyeballing food did me no good. Apparently I really was underestimating. For one, my favorite snack are peanuts : I had no clue that one serving was 1/4 cup. I'd have thought 1 cup was a serving and eating 4 times the recommended amount.
  • EmilyOfTheSun
    EmilyOfTheSun Posts: 1,548 Member
    Are you being accurate?
    Are you weighing your food to ensure the calorie count is correct?
    Are you wearing a heart rate monitor to ensure you aren't over-estimating your calorie burns?

    If not, try that.
  • cbuggy75
    cbuggy75 Posts: 23
    Do you use a food scale to measure EVERYTHING?

    If you don't, then I don't see how it's unreasonable for anyone to ask the question.

    Underestimating by 200-300 calories a day would add up over time.

    I discovered that my underestimations by not always using my scale were amounting to around 300 calories a day. It was quite a surprise when I started weighing everything.

    Yup, i made an excel spreadsheet that keeps track of your calories, day to day. Like if you go over one day, it will take calories away tomorrow, if you go under one day it will add some to the next day. I was surprised

    here it is ScreenHunter_4-1.jpg

    Wow no wonder you have been so successful! Great commitment!
  • Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door
    Sweet_Gurl_Next_Door Posts: 735 Member
    thanks for this visual of body fat percentage. I put me at 20% the highest on scoobysworkshop is 25%.
    I like the one with the 30% but am not sure with my picture what to aim for. the picture on my profile was taken a few days ago. what would you advise for me. I started out at 250 pounds and am now 175 pounds
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg

    Thank you for this visual! I wasn't sure which percentage to aim for in regard to my body shape and preferred level of muscle definition. This helps a lot. :)
  • nicoleknapp754
    nicoleknapp754 Posts: 53
    So many things effect weight loss...stress, how you are sleeping, amount of exercise you are getting, amount of water you are drinking, Etc...sometimes you are losing inches but not weight. Sometimes you are on a plateau . This is not rocket science...of you are eating less calories that you are burning....eventually you are going to lose the weight that you are wanting to lose.
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
    Wow. Thank you all for the replies!!! Gives me a lot to think about . I have gained 5 pounds back from going off of my 1200 calorie a day diet and working out an hour to 2 hours a day. I wasn't eating back my calories. My bmr is 1500 a day. Tdee is hard to figure out because one day I will do an hour of bootcamp class and 40 min cardio. I am doings 4-5 bootcamps a week. Hard to gauge how many calories I am actually burning. I guess around 550 calories for the hour. Not drinking enough water for sure. Going to start weighting food. Trainer at the gym said to eat 1500 calories, 4 bootcamps and two hours of cardio. I hate the scale. I am not going on it for a couple of weeks until I feel better or skinnier. I think these protein shakes are not helping. Feel so bloated and gross, but its a good quick fix after a workout. I am cutting them out. Swear I look 6 months pregnant after drinking one.some of you have lost so much weight,,, congrats you use be doing something right!!

    You are bloated from over training and not drinking enough water back off some of the workouts they are not doing you that much good. Up your water to at least 12 glasses a day to lose the excess water weight. You still need the 1,500 calories minimum or even more than that withe the workouts.
  • bparr
    bparr Posts: 246 Member
    I am so frustrated. I've been at this almost 10 weeks! I should be getting skinnier every week, but now I'm gaining steadily. I went from 1200 to 1500 calories and not eating exercise calories back for the first 7 weeks, then stopped losing. upped my calories because(started to eat back exercises calories and gaining steadily all the weight that lost. I don't get it. I just am so beyond frustrated at this point. I look like i am still pregnant and I feel flabbier. I can't win for losing.

    You're not being clear...

    you went from 1200 to 1500, stalled out and started to eat them back?

    1. Calculate your TDEE
    2. Know your body fat
    3. Create a deficit

    I can help you with step 2 and 3.

    step 2:
    body-fat-percentage-women.jpg

    step3:
    Women Categories

    Category 1: Less than 24% body fat. 

    Category 2: 25-35% body fat 

    Category 3: 35% > body fat.

    Below is the formula to calculate your deficit.
    Category 1 = multiply TDEE by .90
    Category 2 = multiply TDEE by .85
    Category 3 = multiply TDEE by .80

    all 3 steps in detail are covered here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm

    Luv the visual :bigsmile:
  • elyelyse
    elyelyse Posts: 1,454 Member
    all the bad foods are acidic.all the protein is acidic.your body hasnt had a chance to go alkaline.it tries its best to get to normal.i drink 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water with dinner.3 out of 5 days.i am down 10lbs. havent changed my diet or had surgery yet.and i think it is the baking soda that did it.i did add a salad late at night instead of junk.but i been eating junk in day time.they also make alkaline water.hope this helps you

    ...what? :noway:
  • newdaydawning79
    newdaydawning79 Posts: 1,503 Member
    all the bad foods are acidic.all the protein is acidic.your body hasnt had a chance to go alkaline.it tries its best to get to normal.i drink 1 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water with dinner.3 out of 5 days.i am down 10lbs. havent changed my diet or had surgery yet.and i think it is the baking soda that did it.i did add a salad late at night instead of junk.but i been eating junk in day time.they also make alkaline water.hope this helps you

    Alkaline water tastes a lot better that's for sure! There's also mineral water which is alkaline as well, but to me it's nasty unless you mix it with something.

    Never heard of this weight loss theory but I know I'd never drink baking soda water!
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
    Define "gaining"...are you 2 lbs heavier all of a sudden? If so, you aren't gaining - it's water weight. If you start eating more it takes a few days for your body to adjust.

    Everyone needs to stop freaking out about a pound or two here or there. You aren't going to see meaningful results, positive or negative, over a period of less than a week.

    Yes! Pretty much exactly right. 1200 could have been too little for you. Yes, you will lose to begin, but you will eventually plateau (like you did) By eating more, your getting your body out of that under-eating mode. You will gain back a few pounds, but it will be OKAY! Give yourself a week or two, and I bet you'll start losing again!

    This. At 1200, even eating back exercise calories, you were most likely not eating enough. When you upped your calories your body was adjusting to being feed better and probably some water weight. I would suggest calculating your BMR and TDEE here: http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
    You can do it 2 ways, place your activity level at sedentary(if you have a desk job) and then eat back ALL your exercise calories or you can calculate your activity into your daily calories and then you wouldn't have to worry about how many calories you are burning while working. When logging exercise you would change the burn to 1 calorie because they are already calculated into your daily calories to eat. The only time you would eat back some exercise calories is if you did a workout that is extremely, above and beyond what your "normal" workout is.
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Three possibilities:

    You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

    You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

    Or you need your thyroid checked.

    I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"
  • Terpnista84
    Terpnista84 Posts: 517 Member
    Three possibilities:

    You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

    You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

    Or you need your thyroid checked.


    Ohhhh it drives me nuts when people say I am under estimating my calories. To me its like saying "Your telling me I am under estimating my 1500 calories a day enough to make me gain a pound, which would mean me accidentally eating 3,500-5000 calories more than what I expect?" I highly doubt my homemade sandwich with wheat bread, ham, and spinach with a serving of chips is anything close to 1k calories. Didn't mean to directly fire this at you, but when people say that booooy It gets me pissed lol I'm not even the poster, but I doubt she is under estimating that many calories to make her gain. >.<

    Do you use a food scale to measure EVERYTHING?

    If you don't, then I don't see how it's unreasonable for anyone to ask the question.

    Underestimating by 200-300 calories a day would add up over time.
    I agree and if you don't measure, weigh and log everything you eat, it would be easy to rack up that many calories in a day that are unaccounted for.
  • JenniBaby85
    JenniBaby85 Posts: 855 Member
    Three possibilities:

    You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

    You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

    Or you need your thyroid checked.

    I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"

    I lift heavy 4 times a week, eat between 1300-1400 calories a day, always meet my protein and fiber percentage, and have a thyroid problem that has made it very difficult to lose weight. Sorry to bust your bubble dude, but hypothyroidism makes it VERY difficult to lose weight. My dosage of levothyroxine has been upped, and reduced SO much that I feel like ripping the thing out myself. . Unless you are a doctor, and/or have your own thyroid condition, don't jump to conclusions.
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Three possibilities:

    You're underestimating calories consumed (using a food scale will help if this is so).

    You're overestimating calories burned (this can happen even with a good HRM, to solve this either cut what it says you burned down when you do your calculations or just leave a calorie cushion that you don't eat back).

    Or you need your thyroid checked.

    I agree with all this, except for the thyroid part. The thyroid part should be replaced with...."do you lift weights? and are you getting enough protein as a percentage of your macros?"

    I lift heavy 4 times a week, eat between 1300-1400 calories a day, always meet my protein and fiber percentage, and have a thyroid problem that has made it very difficult to lose weight. Sorry to bust your bubble dude, but hypothyroidism makes it VERY difficult to lose weight. My dosage of levothyroxine has been upped, and reduced SO much that I feel like ripping the thing out myself. . Unless you are a doctor, and/or have your own thyroid condition, don't jump to conclusions.


    I didnt mean to say it was impossible that it was her thyroid, on the contrary I was hoping that it was not and didnt want to jump to the conclusion that it was. Some good advice is to try to do some things at home before running to the doctor and getting tons of labwork for something that may or may not be there. With your logic, everyone here thats overweight, could possibly have a thyroid issue and should all go get checked. Thanks for your input though and sorry about your goiter.
  • K_Serz
    K_Serz Posts: 1,299 Member
    Clicked reply instead of edit.....oops, hate when that happens sorry.
  • mari213
    mari213 Posts: 101 Member
    Thank you for all this good information here.. I've been at a plateau after gaining 3 lbs. My Personal Trainer says the I'm gaining muscle. The scale drives me crazy. I decided to stay off the scale for a week and just continue to focus on what I'm doing. I do notice all the other changes in my body, the looser clothing, the definition in my arms, my energy levels.. so, I'm not sweating it (no pun intended). I went from a 38.9% body fat to a 35.6%.. so, I must be doing something right.. right? My advice to you is to stick with it.. don't let the scale discourage you. As long as your nutrition is good, your water intake, and you're excercising.. it will all fall into place. These things take time. Hang in there!! :flowerforyou:
  • MsPudding
    MsPudding Posts: 562 Member
    I agree and if you don't measure, weigh and log everything you eat, it would be easy to rack up that many calories in a day that are unaccounted for.

    Agree here too. When I started this I spent a couple of days eating what I'd normally eat with no attempt to change anything. The only thing I did is note down how much I thought the portion was, then weigh it and note down how much it actually was. The difference between my 'guess by eye' portion control and actually weighing something was HUGE!

    For instance my 'guestimate' of 50g of cheese was more like 80g - a 120 calorie difference. Make that mistake on a few foods in a day and it's disturbingly easy to clock up several hundred calories a day more than needed....which, let's face it, is how those of us who need to lose weight got here...because if we were so great at judging portion sizes we wouldn't be fat would we :wink:

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