What am I doing wrong? I need advice ASAP
YellowNightingale
Posts: 440 Member
Help! I have been eating right, working out and drinking lots of water for 11 days now, and using MFP to track my calories. I lost 4 lbs almost immediately and I was very gung-ho about making sure to get in some type of exercise and eating right.
WELL about 5 days ago or so I started going up in weight. I gained 2 lbs, then 2.5 lbs, and now I am back to where I started 11 days ago!
I am not sure what I am doing wrong here, so I'd like any and all advice.
1. I am not about to start Aunt Flo, so that's not my reason for gaining.
2. The type of exercise I have been doing is yoga, pilates, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and yard work.
3. I drink lots of water and watch my sodium intake. One or 2 days I was over sodium because I didn't realize canned tomato sauce had so much in it.
4. I don't drink soda of any kind.
5. No sweets except fruit
6. I eat 3 meals a day and at least 1 snack, sometimes 2.
7. I restrict my portions.
Any advice?!
WELL about 5 days ago or so I started going up in weight. I gained 2 lbs, then 2.5 lbs, and now I am back to where I started 11 days ago!
I am not sure what I am doing wrong here, so I'd like any and all advice.
1. I am not about to start Aunt Flo, so that's not my reason for gaining.
2. The type of exercise I have been doing is yoga, pilates, Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred, and yard work.
3. I drink lots of water and watch my sodium intake. One or 2 days I was over sodium because I didn't realize canned tomato sauce had so much in it.
4. I don't drink soda of any kind.
5. No sweets except fruit
6. I eat 3 meals a day and at least 1 snack, sometimes 2.
7. I restrict my portions.
Any advice?!
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Replies
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Bump!0
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How many calories do you eat a day and do you eat back your exercise?
This question is posted every day, so I have an idea where you are going here, but lets explore.0 -
What is your calorie intake?0
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I can't say for certain since it's only been 11 days.
I can speculate that you are retaining water.
I would recommend that you continue exercising, continue to track calorie intake, and try not to react too much just yet.
Give this a couple weeks before you press the panic button.0 -
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/#projectedweightloss
http://nutrition.about.com/library/bl_nutrition_guide.htm
Use these calculators to figure your TDEE and BMR.0 -
You could be putting on muscle. I'd go by how your clothes feel and fit as far as fat loss goes. Also, 11 days is too soon to start worrying--you're in this for the long haul. Ultimately, if what you are doing is not helping you lose the fat you want, then you may need to adjust your workout intensity or duration. The less weight you have to lose, the longer it takes also. If you only need to lose 20-30 lbs, then expect slow results.0
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u mentioned aunt flo is coming soon and five days before I have mine, I ALWAYS gain 7 pounds. Wait until it has been gone for at least 24 hours and step on the scale again......0
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Also how much fruit? What else counts as 'not a sweet' that is high carb?0
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Bump for later...same thing is going on with me right now....BUT it is TOM for me. Hang in there, from what everything I am reading this is pretty common and can be explained by many things, not enough water, retaining water, not enough calories etc. I even read one article on it that said sometimes you gain at first and it can take 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to new diet and workouts.0
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Bump for later...same thing is going on with me right now....BUT it is TOM for me. Hang in there, from what everything I am reading this is pretty common and can be explained by many things, not enough water, retaining water, not enough calories etc. I even read one article on it that said sometimes you gain at first and it can take 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to new diet and workouts.
Jen, same questions to you if you want to me to have a look see at yours.0 -
It may be water retention, your sodium levels are pretty high.0
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I can't say for certain since it's only been 11 days.
I can speculate that you are retaining water.
I would recommend that you continue exercising, continue to track calorie intake, and try not to react too much just yet.
Give this a couple weeks before you press the panic button.
Agreed! your sodium is off the charts the last few days! watching that this week should really help release some water weight you have probably been holding onto
Also the last few days look really low as far as calories, please make sure you are eating enough!0 -
Icebear - MFP suggests 1,380 cals per day. WITH exercise I think I am getting around 1,100. I usually burn between 150-200 cals or so. I want to start adding in more exercise soon which is why i want to make sure I am doing things right. Also, I eat usually 2 kinds of fruit per day, and I eat them in the morning and afternoon and not usually at night. The highest carbs I eat are whole-grain, low carb wraps with flax, the Lawash wraps. I was also eating whole oatmeal in the morning (not the instant kind) that I am cutting out now because it may be too high in carbs?
Magnolia - I actually have about 85 lbs left to lose, sooo I would expect the first week or so to be a larger weight loss and then it to slow down.
MrsSassyPants - i know NOTHING about TDEE and BMR, can someone explain this to me? I just read about it in a different blog but this is the first time I have heard about it.
Kimosabe - Aunt Flo is NOT coming soon
I just opened my food diary if anyone wants to look at it and tell me what they think.0 -
I've had a look at your diary- you are eating too little for the exercise you do. Some days you are probably netting around 800.0
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Your weight can fluctuate a lot from day to day. Weighing everyday has never been anything but a source of frustration and a roller coaster of emotion for me. I now weigh weekly.0
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Icebear - MFP suggests 1,380 cals per day. WITH exercise I think I am getting around 1,100. I usually burn between 150-200 cals or so. I want to start adding in more exercise soon which is why i want to make sure I am doing things right. Also, I eat usually 2 kinds of fruit per day, and I eat them in the morning and afternoon and not usually at night. The highest carbs I eat are whole-grain, low carb wraps with flax, the Lawash wraps. I was also eating whole oatmeal in the morning (not the instant kind) that I am cutting out now because it may be too high in carbs?
Magnolia - I actually have about 85 lbs left to lose, sooo I would expect the first week or so to be a larger weight loss and then it to slow down.
MrsSassyPants - i know NOTHING about TDEE and BMR, can someone explain this to me? I just read about it in a different blog but this is the first time I have heard about it.
Kimosabe - Aunt Flo is NOT coming soon
I just opened my food diary if anyone wants to look at it and tell me what they think.
Assuming your total calorie intake is being tracked accurately the issue is not overconsumption of carbohydrates and it certainly isn't an issue with carb timing. You can eat that fruit in bed if you'd like and you'll still make progress provided you're remaining in an energy deficit.
If you'd like to read about BMR/TDEE:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets0 -
I sent you a message. Hit me back.0
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To be clear, you ate 1.5 cups of tomato sauce today? That's a lot of sauce. Anyway looking through your diary you do eat a lot of sodium most days. That is probably a good part of the problem. You are retaining water. In the early days of weight loss it is water you are losing. Since you lost and gained it back in a short amount of time, it's a good bet it is water weight.0
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Cut your sodium by 50%. Continue to exercise. It will happen.0
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your sugar is pretty high (and regardless what others say or think.sugar is sugar, doesn't matter if it is coming from fruit or ice cream) and your sodium is on the high side too, you could be retaining water.0
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You mention in your profile that you have PCOS, I would talk to your doctor maybe a bit more about diet. I have several friends that have it, and have read from a lot of people on here, that a LOW carb diet is best for pcos. This may be the case for you. Just something might be worth looking into.
For now, less sodium, less highly processed foods, accurate logging and all of that... and most of all.. just keep going. It takes time.0 -
Same thing is happening to me. I was advised to eat more calories which doesn't make sense to me, but I am giving it a try today and see what happens.0
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You are eating way too little, this type of diet causes initial immediate weight loss (mostly water) and then regaining it when your body is clinging onto every calorie, scared of you starving yourself.
Do yourself and your metabolism a favour - up your calories - eat to lose 1lb a week, and keep it consistent for at least a month before you start panicing.
Also, stop weighing yourself everyday.0 -
It may be water retention, your sodium levels are pretty high.
I would agree... almost double what they should be.0 -
Thanks everyone for the advice!! Someone messaged me and talked me through it. It is probably several factors, the main being I am not getting enough calories because I am also exercising. And 2, yes I am getting too much sodium, which is tricky for me. I made 2 mistakes this week - one was buying a canned tomato sauce to use when I made chili, and 2 was making sauerkraut with turkey sausage. I did rinse the sauerkraut but there is no way to represent that in MFP. Live and learn.0
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Yes your net calories after exercise are too low. If you are drinking tons of water then the salt shouldn't really be a big issue.0
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Hmmm mine is the same... I don't have a lot of sodium in my diet, but have gained 500 grams this week from last week's weigh in. It really gets me down when I don't see results. I think I've been tracking for 12 days now too.
Week one was a weight loss of 2kgs and now a gain of 500g.
After reading this I think my calorie intake is too low. Thanks guys
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Yep, as you already saw...
You aren't eating enough. The sodium and and exercise combined can make your body, especially your muscles, hold water. Water can make your weight swing widely... a pint (a.k.a. 2 cups or 16 oz.) of water is a pound. Luckily water weight like that will come off.
(I wouldn't worry about the sugar since it comes from mostly healthy sources. I find fiber is important for me, but looks like you're probably good at that.)
Eat more and give it a bit more time. Good luck!
(A collection of suggestions: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Robin_Bin/view/how-to-use-myfitnesspal-427993)
ETA
And it sounds counter-intuitive, but the person who said to drink more water was right. When you ingest too much sodium, water helps "wash" it out. Stressed muscles will also hold water, but that will work out over time. So more water can actually help reduce water-weight gain. Our bodies are amazing and sometimes weirdly counter-intuitive things. :-D0 -
Compare your weight on a month to month basis to assess true progress. Also, track inches and bodyfat if you can.
If no results after 1 month: cut calories.0 -
You're right. Not eating enough, and sodium is crazy high. I'm glad you figured it out!
It's a learning process. Keep on going, you're doing great. 0
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