please help: I'm picking UP weight! how!?

3333R
3333R Posts: 9
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys,

I weigh 190lbs (86kgs) at present and have been
dieting for 2 weeks at 1200 calories + 250-600 calories
excercise per day. I only eat the 1200 cal and do not
eat back the calories from the excercise. I am only
doing elyptical training in my house. Have an 8month old
and the weather doesn't allow for walking/jogging.

I weighed myself this morning and I picked up 2 kgs!
How is this possible? I know it might be muscle, but
the same thing happened when I dieted several months back.
Also picked up 2kgs.

Can anybody tell me what is going on please?

I am a 27 year old female.
190lbs (86kgs).
5ft9 (1.76 m)
Sedentary (stay-at-home-mom) except for the excercise I do now, which
is up to 2 hours a day broken up into smaller pieces.
- sometimes 30min, others 15min or less when baby
needs me.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Replies

  • DanceForever904
    DanceForever904 Posts: 611 Member
    eat more
  • DanceForever904
    DanceForever904 Posts: 611 Member
    no seriously you gotta eat to lose weight 1200 is not enough thats the MINIMUM
  • luckyjuls
    luckyjuls Posts: 505 Member
    Are you breast feeding as well? If so, your body is burning a lot of calories just from that so you definitely need more than 1200.
  • SmartAlec03211988
    SmartAlec03211988 Posts: 1,896 Member
    Your body is only netting 600-950 calories after you exercise... it can't live off that. It needs much more just to function properly.

    It's no surprise you're not losing. Eat more.
  • WestCoastPhoenix
    WestCoastPhoenix Posts: 802 Member
    I would try dropping a deuce, if you haven't.. Also, eat more, too much of a deficit can work against you. I'd try to eat at least 15-1600, if I were you.
  • chel2886
    chel2886 Posts: 1
    make sure you eat 4-5 times a day, every 3hrs, with breakfast your biggest meal than tapper off. you need to kick your metabolism in the *kitten* and tell it to start moving.
    do exercise in morning before breakfast... and make sure you are panting or it doesnt mean ****.
    use your baby as a weight. put baby on your legs during play time and with feet underbum lift her up til couch height then back down.
    diets suck but we all need advice and discipline from time to time.
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    Thanks guys. I'll do as advised and post back.
    Hold thumbs please :)
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I'm a shorter, older, stay at home mom, who exercises an average of an hour or less a day, and I lose on 1800+ cals a day. Food is fuel - eat too little for too long and you're giving your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it.

    Not eating back exercise cals is a mistake, especially set at 1200 a day. That 1200 is likely below your BMR, your coma calories, what your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day long and did nothing but breathe. MFP won't set you any lower than 1200 because it's considered to be the bare minimum intake for women.

    MFP is designed that exercise cals are to be consumed - the deficit is already in your daily goal, meaning eat to goal, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. That's why they add the exercise cals back into your daily goal - they expect you to eat them.

    Eating so low, I would guess that your body is trying to hang onto whatever it can, hence the lack of loss, and even showing gains. Could be some water weight too - do you track sodium? Do you drink plenty of water every day?
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    Hi WestCoast. What does "dropping a deuce" mean?
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    I'm a shorter, older, stay at home mom, who exercises an average of an hour or less a day, and I lose on 1800+ cals a day. Food is fuel - eat too little for too long and you're giving your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it.

    Not eating back exercise cals is a mistake, especially set at 1200 a day. That 1200 is likely below your BMR, your coma calories, what your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day long and did nothing but breathe. MFP won't set you any lower than 1200 because it's considered to be the bare minimum intake for women.

    MFP is designed that exercise cals are to be consumed - the deficit is already in your daily goal, meaning eat to goal, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. That's why they add the exercise cals back into your daily goal - they expect you to eat them.

    Eating so low, I would guess that your body is trying to hang onto whatever it can, hence the lack of loss, and even showing gains. Could be some water weight too - do you track sodium? Do you drink plenty of water every day?

    I do track sodium and hardly ever go over. Drinking 1liter of
    water a day, but at least 6 cups of black unsweetened tea
    as I struggle to drink more water than that.
  • luckyjuls
    luckyjuls Posts: 505 Member
    Wait, but do you breast feed?
    That burns many calories and would produce a huge deficit.
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    Wait, but do you breast feed?
    That burns many calories and would produce a huge deficit.

    No, not breastfeeding :)
  • DanceForever904
    DanceForever904 Posts: 611 Member
    dropping duece aka poop
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    You should be netting 1200 calories or 1200 calories + your exercise, not just eating 1200 calories. I would make sure you are drinking a ton of water to help flush any bloat and plenty of fiber to keep things moving. Also, I have found that 4 meals, 4 hours apart, about 300 - 500 calories each is the sweet spot for making the scale move. I know a lot of people say more meals more often, but I find that tends to become constant snacking that isn't always accurately tracked. Try to get 20 grams of protein at each meal, while still staying within your fat goals (your protein will be over).
  • AllieLillyMae
    AllieLillyMae Posts: 5
    Eatting more fequently. Eat every 3 hours and pick up more calories from good foods. By eatting every 3 hours, your body won't have a chance to hit starvation mode. Being that tall and doing that much work out you should eat more. At LEAST 1600 calroies to be a healthy happy mama.

    I have 2 kids, I prep small snacks (for example celery, almonds in little baggies, beans and rice in several containers, etc.) one day a week to help the grab, eat, go, play, clean, than baby cry during the week. It helps me out alot.
  • AllieLillyMae
    AllieLillyMae Posts: 5
    A good poop is always awesome.
  • AllieLillyMae
    AllieLillyMae Posts: 5
    that last post was for this :)
    dropping duece aka poop

    ^^^^^
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    Lols!! Makes perfect sense hahaha!
  • vegaspfmf
    vegaspfmf Posts: 40 Member
    I punched your stats into a BMR calculator that lets you pick activity level (unlike MFP ). To maintain 190 lbs you need 200 calories (being sedentary) So you really should be eating 1500-1600 calories not 1200. So like others said EAT MORE. Good luck

    If you take the MFP BMR x 1.2 (sedentary multiplier) you get the 2k calories
  • fruitlooparei
    fruitlooparei Posts: 10
    Bump up your calorie intake. You won't need to go that low on calories for the progress you are trying to make. I am 127 pounds and currently eat 1200 calories a day, but because it's realistic with my weight for efficient loss. You have to start higher.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Look here to work out how much you really should be eating.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
  • Maribabewhich
    Maribabewhich Posts: 157 Member
    Good info
  • AllieLillyMae
    AllieLillyMae Posts: 5
    I'm a shorter, older, stay at home mom, who exercises an average of an hour or less a day, and I lose on 1800+ cals a day. Food is fuel - eat too little for too long and you're giving your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it.

    Not eating back exercise cals is a mistake, especially set at 1200 a day. That 1200 is likely below your BMR, your coma calories, what your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day long and did nothing but breathe. MFP won't set you any lower than 1200 because it's considered to be the bare minimum intake for women.

    MFP is designed that exercise cals are to be consumed - the deficit is already in your daily goal, meaning eat to goal, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. That's why they add the exercise cals back into your daily goal - they expect you to eat them.

    Eating so low, I would guess that your body is trying to hang onto whatever it can, hence the lack of loss, and even showing gains. Could be some water weight too - do you track sodium? Do you drink plenty of water every day?

    Couldn't agree more.

    People need to get out of the mind set "If I don't eat alot, I'll lose weight" (No offense to you 3333r, not saying you say or think that, i'm just saying in genreal ^_^ ) Eatting is what are bodies need. Eatting clean food.
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    I'm a shorter, older, stay at home mom, who exercises an average of an hour or less a day, and I lose on 1800+ cals a day. Food is fuel - eat too little for too long and you're giving your body a reason to store fat rather than burn it.

    Not eating back exercise cals is a mistake, especially set at 1200 a day. That 1200 is likely below your BMR, your coma calories, what your body would burn if you stayed in bed all day long and did nothing but breathe. MFP won't set you any lower than 1200 because it's considered to be the bare minimum intake for women.

    MFP is designed that exercise cals are to be consumed - the deficit is already in your daily goal, meaning eat to goal, do zero exercise, and you'll lose weight. That's why they add the exercise cals back into your daily goal - they expect you to eat them.

    Eating so low, I would guess that your body is trying to hang onto whatever it can, hence the lack of loss, and even showing gains. Could be some water weight too - do you track sodium? Do you drink plenty of water every day?

    Couldn't agree more.

    People need to get out of the mind set "If I don't eat alot, I'll lose weight" (No offense to you 3333r, not saying you say or think that, i'm just saying in genreal ^_^ ) Eatting is what are bodies need. Eatting clean food.

    Ally no offence taken, but true words! That is exactly how I
    see it <blush>.

    I am going to go up to 1600 cal and see what happens :)
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    I would try dropping a deuce, if you haven't.. Also, eat more, too much of a deficit can work against you. I'd try to eat at least 15-1600, if I were you.

    Oh my word - never thought I'd say this in a public forum,
    But IT WORKED! Tried your suggested method WestCoast
    and I'm right back down 2 kilos! What!? That's just insane lol!

    Haven't lost anything :( but still - didn't gain after all
    either :O

    From now on, I solemnly swear to 'drop the deuce'
    before attempting a weigh in! :D:D:D
  • vegaspfmf
    vegaspfmf Posts: 40 Member
    Normally you should weigh yourself in the morning after "dropping a Deuce" and before eating. from morning to night can be a 5-10lb difference. Weigh yourself at the same time once a week
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    Are you breast feeding as well? If so, your body is burning a lot of calories just from that so you definitely need more than 1200.

    ^^^^ this

    And also, if you are, the amount of milk currently in your boobs will add to your scale weight. Only weigh yourself in the morning after baby's first feed of the day (or if your baby's like mine and spent the whole night latched on, first thing in the morning when the boobs are empty before they get a chance to fill up with milk again)
  • 3333R
    3333R Posts: 9
    ^DEUCES ROCK!^

Categories