What is not working? -Gained 3 lbs-

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Nidda_C
Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I started this site a little over a month ago and was losing 3 lbs / week. Last week I lost 2.5 lbs. But, this week I gained 2.5 lbs TT_____TT And honestly I didn't change much. Please help me. What am I doing wrong?

My stats:
-I am 24 years old
-I eat what I want if it fits my calories.....but mostly eat homemade food.
-I weigh 203 lbs (right now)
-My exercise mostly consists of walking at ~2.5mph for about 2 hours

-Also, I have MFP set up as lightly active but there are a few (very few) days that I don't do anything. But, usually even when I don't go to school, I cook, do chores, clean, fidget, etc. and I don't record any of that in 'exercise'. Even if I walk somewhere (e.g. convenience store 15 minutes away) that is not a part of my 'scheduled' exercise I don't record it.

MY JOURNAL IS OPEN so feel free to look at it.

Also, I AM a student so I believe in reading research and coming to my own conclusions after reading that research. I do not lift weights etc. so I am eating 1300 calories per day and I DON'T feel deprived. If you are going to tell me to up my calories (which I don't want to do as I feel like I am stuffing myself with too much food), please provide peer reviewed journal articles if you can. It will help me to learn how to do this properly faster.

Thank you.
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Replies

  • Lysander666
    Lysander666 Posts: 275 Member
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    You're not eating enough. And no, I'm not going to link you to "peer reviewed journal articles".

    HIT YOUR NET CALORIE GOAL. You are under it by several hundred calories a day.
  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
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    If you are going to tell me to up my calories (which I don't want to do as I feel like I am stuffing myself with too much food), please provide peer reviewed journal articles.

    Thank you.

    Are you kidding?

    Some people aren't worth helping.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    I have to agree with the first comment above - you're not eating enough. I'm not going to tell you to eat more than your daily goal, but you're not even meeting that goal! You're under 1300 and when you subtract your exercise cals you're only netting around 450 calories a day! Waaaaay too low.

    You lost at first, but now your body is catching on to the low intake, and losses are slowing - your body has no reason to burn fat - it wants to store it because you're not giving it enough fuel.

    MFP has you at a daily deficit at the 1300 already - eat that much with no exercise and you'll lose. Factor in the exercise and you are creating too large a deficit.

    If you feel like you can't eat more food to meet your goal, eat more calorie dense foods - add some nuts and nut butters, avocados, full fat dairy, use olive and coconut oils in cooking and dressings - small portions of these foods pack a lot of healthy calories, getting you closer to goal without feeling like you have to eat a ton of food to get there.
  • shaleyn
    shaleyn Posts: 125 Member
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    Weigh/measure everything.
    Drink water.
    Watch your sodium intake.
    Stay off the scale.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
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    You're not eating enough. And no, I'm not going to link you to "peer reviewed journal articles".

    HIT YOUR NET CALORIE GOAL. You are under it by several hundred calories a day.

    Okay, I can do that at least. Are there any calorie-dense foods you suggest that I should eat to up my calories?
  • dfonte
    dfonte Posts: 263 Member
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    Are you entering the correct portion sizes?

    And you don't track all of your macros. Try a different approach.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Every weight measurement is an approximation of your "weight." It is what you weigh at that moment as per a particular scale. Don't look at this one week, look at the overall trend -- which is downward at a pretty rapid pace. The difference this week may be in how much water you are retaining or whatever. One week does not tell the whole tale.
  • TimeForMe99
    TimeForMe99 Posts: 309
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    You won't lose every week. Sometimes you'll go down, sometimes you'll go up. It's important to keep a slow, steady weight loss in order to succeed and keep the weight off.

    This entire site is "peer reviewed". When there are thousands of people successfully losing weight at 1 pound per week and feeling great you have to see it's the way to go.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
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    I have to agree with the first comment above - you're not eating enough. I'm not going to tell you to eat more than your daily goal, but you're not even meeting that goal! You're under 1300 and when you subtract your exercise cals you're only netting around 450 calories a day! Waaaaay too low.

    You lost at first, but now your body is catching on to the low intake, and losses are slowing - your body has no reason to burn fat - it wants to store it because you're not giving it enough fuel.

    MFP has you at a daily deficit at the 1300 already - eat that much with no exercise and you'll lose. Factor in the exercise and you are creating too large a deficit.

    If you feel like you can't eat more food to meet your goal, eat more calorie dense foods - add some nuts and nut butters, avocados, full fat dairy, use olive and coconut oils in cooking and dressings - small portions of these foods pack a lot of healthy calories, getting you closer to goal without feeling like you have to eat a ton of food to get there.

    Thank you for an actually helpful reply. I already put dressing in my salads, and vegetable oil in my daily curries. I also leave room for error....so that is why I am a few calories low. I'll start drinking a cup of milk per day again to up my calories. I also walk for 2 hours per day because there are a few days I have to skip exercising. Do you think I should reduce the amount of time I walk?

    Also, a major concern of mine is that I gained weight......not maintained it. Can you please explain why this happened when I am on a calorie deficit?

    Sorry for the trouble.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    If you are going to tell me to up my calories (which I don't want to do as I feel like I am stuffing myself with too much food), please provide peer reviewed journal articles.

    Thank you.

    Are you kidding?

    Some people aren't worth helping.

    harsh, but true!
  • bevtyndall
    bevtyndall Posts: 72 Member
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    bump
  • Lysander666
    Lysander666 Posts: 275 Member
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    You're not eating enough. And no, I'm not going to link you to "peer reviewed journal articles".

    HIT YOUR NET CALORIE GOAL. You are under it by several hundred calories a day.

    Okay, I can do that at least. Are there any calorie-dense foods you suggest that I should eat to up my calories?

    Your diet is quite appalling. I'm saying that to help you. No breakfast, evening meal of 250 calories, quite a bit of junk.

    You need to eat differently, not have calorie-dense foods.

    Eat breakfast eveyr day, muesli or cereal bars up to 400kcal
    Eat lunch, sandwiches, wraps or salads up to 500 kcal
    Eat dinner, baked potatoes, tuna, bean salads, rice etc up to 800 kcal

    Work off any extra calories so you NET 1300.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
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    Are you entering the correct portion sizes?

    And you don't track all of your macros. Try a different approach.

    I am not weighing my food. But, I try imagining how much would fit in one cup and go accordingly. There may be a margin of error in my tracking, but it is not that large (maybe by .5 or less).
    How do you suggest I track my portion sizes more correctly?

    Also, what do you mean by "you don't track all of your macros"?
  • _kannnd
    _kannnd Posts: 247 Member
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    My husband and I weigh out portions of nuts and seeds. They add calories and good fats and protein. Sunflower seeds, almonds, and pumpkin seeds are what we typically eat. Avocados are good too. Eat more protein too.

    Your body needs fuel. I had to up my calorie intake in order to see a difference. The more you work out, the more you need to eat. The site already has you at a deficit. If you workout, it's designed for you to eat those calories back.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
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    If you are going to tell me to up my calories (which I don't want to do as I feel like I am stuffing myself with too much food), please provide peer reviewed journal articles.

    Thank you.

    Are you kidding?

    Some people aren't worth helping.

    harsh, but true!

    Honestly speaking EVERYONE is worth helping. Even the dumbest of the dumb.
    I live by the principle that if you have nothing nice to say you shouldn't say it.

    I lack a lot and I never claimed to be all knowing or full of it. Otherwise, I would not have posted on the forums.
    I was expecting to receive constructive criticism that helped me, not posts like these which make me feel like I should stop posting on the forums to ask for help altogether.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
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    You're not eating enough. And no, I'm not going to link you to "peer reviewed journal articles".

    HIT YOUR NET CALORIE GOAL. You are under it by several hundred calories a day.

    Okay, I can do that at least. Are there any calorie-dense foods you suggest that I should eat to up my calories?

    I am a bit older than you and weight less than you and NET 1600 calories a day at minimum.

    You definately need to consume more. You are often netting far under 1000 calories a day.. some days less than about 400 calories net. You NEED to eat more. What you are eating is not even all that healthy of food choices (I see days where you just eat turkey for lunch and dinner). Where are the vegetables, fruits? Carrots and dip for lunch? Half a bag of popcorn for dinner?

    When you consistantly eat too little your body will adapt and burn less at rest. When you aren't properly fueling your body you increase muscle loss.

    I would bet your sodium is high if you tracked that. Take out the juices and add in fruits and vegetables. Have salads with the turkey. Add in vegetables. Have fruit with your breakfast. Try to cut out all the processed foods (or a good chunk of them) and replace with fresh foods. Extra sodium can cause weight gain due to water rentention.

    ALso, know you won't lose every week regardless of your efforts. It is just how it goes. Water rentetion, hormones etc all change your weight along with natural changes.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
    Options
    You're not eating enough. And no, I'm not going to link you to "peer reviewed journal articles".

    HIT YOUR NET CALORIE GOAL. You are under it by several hundred calories a day.

    Okay, I can do that at least. Are there any calorie-dense foods you suggest that I should eat to up my calories?

    Your diet is quite appalling. I'm saying that to help you. No breakfast, evening meal of 250 calories, quite a bit of junk.

    You need to eat differently, not have calorie-dense foods.

    Eat breakfast eveyr day, muesli or cereal bars up to 400kcal
    Eat lunch, sandwiches, wraps or salads up to 500 kcal
    Eat dinner, baked potatoes, tuna, bean salads, rice etc up to 800 kcal

    Work off any extra calories so you NET 1300.

    Thank you. I completely forgot that this week I did not eat breakfast quite a few days which probably made a huge difference. In the previous weeks I had been eating a fully nutritious breakfast and it did wonders for my energy level.

    I will stop being lazy with breakfast. Again thank you for reminding me.
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    Options
    Are you entering the correct portion sizes?

    And you don't track all of your macros. Try a different approach.

    I am not weighing my food. But, I try imagining how much would fit in one cup and go accordingly. There may be a margin of error in my tracking, but it is not that large (maybe by .5 or less).
    How do you suggest I track my portion sizes more correctly?

    Also, what do you mean by "you don't track all of your macros"?

    Always always always weigh food. You can get a food scale pretty cheap. What we think is 1 cup of rice for example is usually a lot more. Never use measuring cups/spoons for food only for liquids as food will vary by weight. My oatmeal for exmaple is a certain amout of grams that should fit into 1/3 cup. When I weight that 1/3 cup it is more grams than it should be. Eyeballing it will only result in you consuming more than you are tracking. Far too often we overestimate our exercise or intensity and underestimate what we are consuming. Pay attention to labels as well as some things that we think are a single serving actually have two or more servings in them.
  • Nidda_C
    Nidda_C Posts: 81 Member
    Options
    Every weight measurement is an approximation of your "weight." It is what you weigh at that moment as per a particular scale. Don't look at this one week, look at the overall trend -- which is downward at a pretty rapid pace. The difference this week may be in how much water you are retaining or whatever. One week does not tell the whole tale.

    So what method should I use to measure my progress then?
  • Jxnsmma
    Jxnsmma Posts: 919 Member
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    Cut out the sugary drinks and treats, replace with fruit like apples with natural peanut butter or some berries. Eat more vegetables. Have a decent breakfast like.... scrambled eggs and a banana for example... add a salad to your lunches and dinners.

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