I know I keep posting thins but...

djwife03
djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I just don't get it! I have been eating healthy and exercising and I keep gaining! I'm certainly not losing! Not really losing inches either. I don't have a HRM, but I do have an app on my phone where I can put my weight in and pick the workouts I do and get my calories burned. I am 5'11. 166 lbs. I did cheat today and had a sub and chips. :(. But I am still under my calories. And my weight when I got home was 170! This is the way it's been for a. While now. My TDEE - 20% is 1886. My activity level on MFP is lightly active, but i do workout 4 times a week and burn 400-500 calories each time. I am at a loss here!! I mean, so I can't even have a cheat day cause ill gain weight?!! Please help me!
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Replies

  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    I weigh more every day at night than I do in the morning. And less every morning than I did the night before. Just settle down and weigh in the morning, perhaps 1/week if you need to for sanity.
  • crapshack
    crapshack Posts: 30 Member
    Maybe you're weighing yourself too much. This is probably TMI, but only weigh myself naked, on an empty stomach, in the morning, after a good poop. About once every two weeks the stars align and I am able to weigh myself. I definitely wouldn't weigh myself immediately after eating something. Your sub and beverage likely weighed 3 pounds.
  • stephaniemejia1671
    stephaniemejia1671 Posts: 482 Member
    See a nutritionist, they will speak to you about what you are doing currently with both your active lifestyle and eating habits. I had the same issue a few months ago and was so frustrated I finally spoke to one and have been seeing and feeling results ever since.
  • Sectility
    Sectility Posts: 37
    Of course, immediately after you eat, you'll weigh more than you actually do. You should fast for 12 hours (or just sleep and weigh-in in the morning). Maybe you should do a detox for a few days or cut out something. If that doesn't work, you're in a real stump. You may be just putting on weight because of what's in the food. High sodium, fat, carbs, sugar, etc-- they make you gain weight, especially if these are in junk foods.

    I cheat every 2-3 weeks, sometimes I don't even feel like cheating because the foods I used to crave disgust me now.

    Another reason you may not be losing weight is because your body wants to stay at the weight it was. Otherwise, it's just a stump. One day I gained 2 pounds, the next I lost 3.
  • Sectility
    Sectility Posts: 37
    Maybe you're weighing yourself too much. This is probably TMI, but only weigh myself naked, on an empty stomach, in the morning, after a good poop. About once every two weeks the stars align and I am able to weigh myself. I definitely wouldn't weigh myself immediately after eating something. Your sub and beverage likely weighed 3 pounds.

    I do this as well. Clothing and food is heavier than you think.
  • daltem
    daltem Posts: 138 Member
    I went a week and gained and the next week nothing- Then I lost 5.4 lbs the next week.
    Just stick to it!
  • hakudoshi82
    hakudoshi82 Posts: 29
    400-500 calories in a workout is a lot. How long is the workout and what are you doing? A lot of those apps are REALLY BAD and overestimate like crazy.

    Can't see you food diary so can't too much. But its possible you have a lower BMR then the TDEE calculator is using.

    Also weight at the same time (morning is best because it will be a lower number typically) everyday. Your weight goes up and down by several pounds all the time. Even from day to day fluids can fluctuate specially if you consume more salt or less salt, etc.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    Maybe you should do a detox for a few days

    nothing to detox....our bodies do that all on their own
  • hakudoshi82
    hakudoshi82 Posts: 29
    detox

    Detox is myth. There is no weight loss benefit. If you drop any weight on a detox it was water weight and comes back soon as you're eating normal foods again. There is no scientific evidence supporting detox it is all fads.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
    I weigh naked also. I may way less tomorrow but not back to 166 and again I haven't lost any weight in a long time! So like I can't ever cheat? Don't you get cheat days? Not like in asking or them but geez. I get so afraid to eat becuse I'll gain even more! I don't get this at all! Are my calories ok? I still get confused on how much I should eat! If TDEE is 1886, is that what I eat when I exercise? Because if I eat 1886 and then burn 450 that leaves 1436 and that's below my BMR.
  • STtumbles
    STtumbles Posts: 1 Member
    Are you eating significantly lower than your daily calorie allowance? You could be putting your body into starvation mode by not giving it enough calories.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
    My diary should be open. I don't have it set to private. I use the app and then lower it some to compensate. I have been doing Jillian's ripped in 30 and then her 6week abs right after that. Before ripped in30 I did 30 day shred and the abs workout. I will recheck my diary to make sure it's open
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
    Are you eating significantly lower than your daily calorie allowance? You could be putting your body into starvation mode by not giving it enough calories.

    Could be. I am so confused on my daily Cals!
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    Are you eating significantly lower than your daily calorie allowance? You could be putting your body into starvation mode by not giving it enough calories.

    No to starvation mode.
  • xDawnsgrace
    xDawnsgrace Posts: 436
    I weigh naked also. I may way less tomorrow but not back to 166 and again I haven't lost any weight in a long time! So like I can't ever cheat? Don't you get cheat days? Not like in asking or them but geez. I get so afraid to eat becuse I'll gain even more! I don't get this at all! Are my calories ok? I still get confused on how much I should eat! If TDEE is 1886, is that what I eat when I exercise? Because if I eat 1886 and then burn 450 that leaves 1436 and that's below my BMR.

    Just relax. Tomorrow morning, unless somehow your body digests all that food that quick, and you poop massively, then you're probably not going to be 166. Keep at it, you'll lose weight.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    If you're eating back exercise calories and going by TDEE-20%, you may just be maintaining.

    Edit: The -20% is ~400 cals for the OP, which is the reported amount of exercise by the OP. Eating it back would be almost perfect maintenance.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    OP:
    Are you using TDEE or MFP method?

    TDEE: you do not eat exercise calories back (you eat the same amount everyday)
    MFP: you eat them back

    ETA:
    You have to be straight up honest when entering your information about how active you are...and be consistent with the approach you are using...those that are closer to a healthy weight seem to have a difficult time losing pounds.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
    stop weighing yourself so much...youre making yourself nuts with it. If you're 5'11" and weigh 166, youre within a normal weight range, so things are going to be a bit harder.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    Okay, so I went through your diet for a couple weeks, and calorie-wise, it is pretty good and you are consuming what I would think it the right amount of food for a 1 - 1.5 pound a week loss. Your calories are fine.

    1) Are you weighing and measuring absolutely everything you eat? You really have to do this to be accurate. For example, tonight I went to eat some spinach and looked at the bag. I estimated it was 4 cups or 85 grams, but when I weighed it, it was 8 cups and 170 grams. I was surprised. Obviously that was spinach, but when I went to weigh the chicken it was a full 100 grams heavier than I thought. I would have consumed a couple hundred more calories than planned if I just eyeballed it tonight.

    2) How long have you been at this? Some people don't lose anything in the first month even if doing everything right.

    3) Consider upping protein and lowering carbs. Some days you're great at over 100 grams, somedays not so great with sub-70 grams. Hold on to the lean mass as best as you can.

    4) I would estimate 350 calories for every hour of vigorous exercise, 300 for moderate, and 250 for something like walking. But if you're eating based on TDEE, you're not eating them back anyway.

    5) You don't have much weight to lose at all. The closer you are to goal, the harder it is to shed.

    If after 2 months you're still not losing, maybe check with your doctor.
  • Crochetluvr
    Crochetluvr Posts: 3,329 Member
    Food and drink weighs something. After you eat you are going to weigh more. I agree with others...DON'T weigh yourself all the time. Your weight fluctuates all day long. Once a week is plenty. :)
  • SteelySunshine
    SteelySunshine Posts: 1,092 Member
    You are at the top of the range for a healthy weight. And maybe that is where you should be. If you are large framed losing more is very likely a bad idea. Perhaps you should have your BF tested and see where that falls on the scale. If you are where you are supposed to be it's going to be extremely difficult to go lower than that. I don't see the point. Try lifting and cardio to get a more toned look.
  • ldrosophila
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    How do you measure your food?
  • AlongCame_Molly
    AlongCame_Molly Posts: 2,835 Member
    I just don't get it! I have been eating healthy and exercising and I keep gaining! I'm certainly not losing! Not really losing inches either. I don't have a HRM, but I do have an app on my phone where I can put my weight in and pick the workouts I do and get my calories burned. I am 5'11. 166 lbs. I did cheat today and had a sub and chips. :(. But I am still under my calories. And my weight when I got home was 170! This is the way it's been for a. While now. My TDEE - 20% is 1886. My activity level on MFP is lightly active, but i do workout 4 times a week and burn 400-500 calories each time. I am at a loss here!! I mean, so I can't even have a cheat day cause ill gain weight?!! Please help me!

    It's not a cheat if you stay under calories. You can eat whatever you want, as long as you stay under goal.

    My best advice to you is double down on your logging and make sure everything is exactly accurate. Weigh ALL your food. You MUST have a kitchen scale, there are no two ways about that. It will make all the difference. Watch yourself while cooking, too, are you a "sampler"? A spoonful of this and a sliver of that can really add up fast when you're working in the kitchen.

    Also how long have you been at this? It takes a while to teach your body to start letting go of those fat cells. Give it at least three weeks of solid, ACCURATE logging before you let yourself get frustrated.

    edited for typos
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Weight – So many things can affect weight, because of this it shouldn’t be the only way you track your progress. Things to keep in mind:

    :heart: Always use the same scale – Different scales can show different weights. You will get the most accurate number for tracking when using the same scale.

    :heart: Don’t move the scale – Carpet, uneven flooring, different types of flooring…can all affect the weight on the scale. So when you weigh, you want it to be approximately the same spot for the most accurate number for tracking.

    :heart: 3500 calories – To gain 1lb of fat you need to be over maintenance by 3500 calories.

    :heart: Muscle Repair – Muscles will hold onto water to repair, because of this it is not uncommon to see a gain for a little while after a workout. This weight comes right back off when they are done repairing.

    :heart: Sodium – Can cause you to retain water. This can also be amplified if you don’t drink enough to flush it out of your system. This is also another reason for temporary weight gain.

    :heart: Water – Not drinking enough water can actually cause you to retain water. Recommended amount is 8 cups or 64oz. I drink 64 oz to 128 oz of water a day. It doesn’t have to be plain water either. I like to flavor mine with crystal light or tea.

    :heart: Time of day – Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day. So for the most accurate tracking, you want to weigh at around the same time.

    :heart: Frequency – This is up to you, but if small fluctuations bother you than only weigh once a week or less.

    :heart: Lightest Weight – Will be naked, first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom

    :heart: Multiple times a Day – Don’t Do It. As I said before, your weight will fluctuate throughout the day. What you eat, what you’re wearing, ect will all affect weight.

    :heart: Clothes – If you weigh with clothing on, keep in mind that the scale will show your weight plus the weight of your clothes. (Jeans are heavy)

    :heart: TOM - A lot of women will retain water around their TOM, but its just temporary and will go away.

    Step away from the scale. Hide it if you have to.
  • djwife03
    djwife03 Posts: 333 Member
    I do measure food. If I have a cup of oatmeal, It's one cup. I actually leave the measuring cup inside the oatmeal container so I measure every time I have it. When I use olive oil, I use a tablespoon or teaspoon. I have been this a couple months now being really conscious about everything. I don't know how to describe my frame to know if I'm large framed but my measurements are:

    Waist at belly button- 34im
    Natural waist - 32in
    Hips- 42 in( I have a hard time with this because I read you have to measure at the fullest part of your butt) so..
    Thigh- 26 in
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    I do measure food. If I have a cup of oatmeal, It's one cup. I actually leave the measuring cup inside the oatmeal container so I measure every time I have it. When I use olive oil, I use a tablespoon or teaspoon. I have been this a couple months now being really conscious about everything. I don't know how to describe my frame to know if I'm large framed but my measurements are:

    Waist at belly button- 34im
    Natural waist - 32in
    Hips- 42 in( I have a hard time with this because I read you have to measure at the fullest part of your butt) so..
    Thigh- 26 in

    Don't use a measuring cup for food. Use a kitchen scale. Measuring cups and spoons are not accurate for food... only use them for liquids. For the oatmeal, are you tracking 1 cup cooked or 1cup uncooked? 1 cup uncooked is a lot more than 150 cals.

    And for the weight being higher in the evening, relax and stop stepping on the scale so often if you are going to freak out. Your weight WILL change throughout the day. Weigh ONCE a WEEK.
  • pjwcampbell
    pjwcampbell Posts: 17 Member
    My trainer told to increase the calories I eat every day. I did that and it made a difference. My body fat percent went down which it hasn't for a long, long time. Don't know how many calories to recommend but you may want to look at whether you're eating enough.
  • AlyssaJoJo
    AlyssaJoJo Posts: 449 Member
    What is with this weight naked? Last I knew I aint walking around naked so why care what you weigh naked? I'll never get this.
  • susannamarie
    susannamarie Posts: 2,148 Member
    When you said 'lightly active' and a calorie burn from exercise, you aren't eating those exercise calories are you? If you've used your exercise to determine your activity level, you shouldn't be eating exercise calories.
  • doodles21224
    doodles21224 Posts: 24 Member
    Check the app. MyFitnessPal doesn't work on all phones. Have it checked out.

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