SO frustrated!!! Think it's back to 1200 cals grr.

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Tigg1011
Tigg1011 Posts: 146
in Health and Weight Loss
It has now been one month that I have been using the TDEE-20 method and have been eating 1400 calories and sometimes more depending on what my fitbit says. I did the 30ds and this week started strength training dvds (30 mins) and Im on my 2nd week of c25k ( I started on wk4 since I wasnt going straight from the couch) Anyway! I feel better, I've been working out nearly every day with rest days here and there and thought i was possibly looking better as well. Well today I got on the scale for the first time since starting all this (a month now) and I am up 2lbs! Wth?! Yes, I know muscle weighs more than fat but there is no way I put that much muscle on in such a short time and eating at a deficit. Im feeling really discouraged and upset. I think maybe I just need to go back to eating 1200 cals. It worked to begin with but then I plateaued which is why I switched to TDEE method. :ohwell: :sad:
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  • amy1612
    amy1612 Posts: 1,356 Member
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    It has now been one month that I have been using the TDEE-20 method and have been eating 1400 calories and sometimes more depending on what my fitbit says. I did the 30ds and this week started strength training dvds (30 mins) and Im on my 2nd week of c25k ( I started on wk4 since I wasnt going straight from the couch) Anyway! I feel better, I've been working out nearly every day with rest days here and there and thought i was possibly looking better as well. Well today I got on the scale for the first time since starting all this (a month now) and I am up 2lbs! Wth?! Yes, I know muscle weighs more than fat but there is no way I put that much muscle on in such a short time and eating at a deficit. Im feeling really discouraged and upset. I think maybe I just need to go back to eating 1200 cals. It worked to begin with but then I plateaued which is why I switched to TDEE method. :ohwell: :sad:

    It is possible that youre retaining water however. My scale weight can fluctuate up for around 7lbs between days depending on what Ive been doing. I wouldnt worry. Give it time.
  • kathymhardy
    kathymhardy Posts: 264 Member
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    It has now been one month that I have been using the TDEE-20 method and have been eating 1400 calories and sometimes more depending on what my fitbit says. I did the 30ds and this week started strength training dvds (30 mins) and Im on my 2nd week of c25k ( I started on wk4 since I wasnt going straight from the couch) Anyway! I feel better, I've been working out nearly every day with rest days here and there and thought i was possibly looking better as well. Well today I got on the scale for the first time since starting all this (a month now) and I am up 2lbs! Wth?! Yes, I know muscle weighs more than fat but there is no way I put that much muscle on in such a short time and eating at a deficit. Im feeling really discouraged and upset. I think maybe I just need to go back to eating 1200 cals. It worked to begin with but then I plateaued which is why I switched to TDEE method. :ohwell: :sad:

    I'm not qualified to offer you any advice. Just to say I feel for you and know how frustrating it can be :sad:
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    It has now been one month that I have been using the TDEE-20 method and have been eating 1400 calories and sometimes more depending on what my fitbit says. I did the 30ds and this week started strength training dvds (30 mins) and Im on my 2nd week of c25k ( I started on wk4 since I wasnt going straight from the couch) Anyway! I feel better, I've been working out nearly every day with rest days here and there and thought i was possibly looking better as well. Well today I got on the scale for the first time since starting all this (a month now) and I am up 2lbs! Wth?! Yes, I know muscle weighs more than fat but there is no way I put that much muscle on in such a short time and eating at a deficit. Im feeling really discouraged and upset. I think maybe I just need to go back to eating 1200 cals. It worked to begin with but then I plateaued which is why I switched to TDEE method. :ohwell: :sad:

    if you are panicking over 2lbs, then you don't really understand any of the processes occurring in your body. learn about and understand those processes first. your bodyweight is in a constant state of flux. you are continually ingesting and digesting food, and eliminating waste. this contributes to your scale weight, but has nothing to with your body weight. e.g., if you weigh yourself after a large meal, your scale weight will go up. your body is also continually using/storing and shedding water. my bodyweight can easily vary by 5lbs in the course of a day as a result of nothing more than the water in my system. as you build muscle, your body stores water in your muscle as part of the process. this will stay there until it's no longer needed. then it will be shed. unless you know what's really happening inside of you, you can't make any sense out of the number on your scale and what it truly means. my advice to you is to stick with what you are doing, don't panic, take a long view of the process, and worry more about how you look and feel than some dumb number on a scale.
  • BarbellBlondieRuns
    BarbellBlondieRuns Posts: 511 Member
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    I had to bump my calories all the way up to 1650/day in order for my scale to start going down again. I had been at 1200, obviously couldn't go lower but was plateaued. Upped to 1400 for a few weeks - no change. Still didn't think going down to 1200 was the answer since I hadn't been losing there. Upped to 1650 and POOF! I feel better and my scale is going down and my body is lookin and feeling better. Keep tinkering away at figuring out what the perfect number is for you. Since you workout, I'd have a hard time believing that it's only 1200. You'll get there!
  • tarathering
    tarathering Posts: 13 Member
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    I know it's tough. I gave up calorie counting and went back to drinking and eating what I want with no exercise a few months ago after my frustration but now I'm back at it. I think when it comes down to it, what makes you feel best? Eating healthy and exercising are definitely more rewarding than being slugish and tired all the time. Keep switching up your routine and it will come off eventually :)
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    Really? Your crying over 2 pounds after starting strength training? You'd sob if you were me. I can go up about 10lbs over night after a good workout. It's not fat dear, it's your body trying to repair itself. You can't look at weight loss day by day. If you did you'd notice a lot of mountains but the general trend will be the weight going down. And if you're doing strength training you may find you'll lose inches before you lose weight, which is ok by me :drinker:

    Like you said, if you feel you're looking better, what does it matter if it's more weight? Particularly if it's not fat and you're getting thinner? It takes fuel to produce fat, and you're not eating enough to produce fat, so it's not like it's that kind of weight you're gaining.

    I was at 1200 and bumped up to 2100, worked fine for me and I'm fairly small! :happy:
  • Achrya
    Achrya Posts: 16,913 Member
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    So you feel better and look bettercbut you're going back down in calories because the scale reflects a small gain? ....k.

    My scale can move from 153 to 158 in the span of 7 hours and 2 meals; 2 pounds is hardly worth the stress. Actually, for science, i just stepped on. Lifted last night, btw, and I'm at 160. Resting today, will probably be 153 tomorrow. /shrug
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
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    Don't panic! its only been a month.

    I do a mixture - 1400 cal plus my exercsie calories, as MFP set me at 1230 (tooooo low!) and TDEE-20% gave me huge calories and I was scared I'd not exercsie enough to justify them. I stuck for 3 weeks, went down 2lb a week for three weeks, stuck again....

    Hormones, food intake, exercsie etc all affect your scale weight. I find it helps to mix my exercsie about a bit (not too much as I'm a creature of habit!) but other than my class not to do the exact same routine on the same day each week - even my lunchtime walks might be different lengths or different routes. I only weigh once a week, and I only record losses. There are times it goes up 2-3lb but I know that will come off (and then some) within a week (Stupid cousin TOM :wink: ) so I just make sure I'm eating the correct calories and exercising consistently.

    Give it another month before you put your calories back down, or at least a couple of weeks, and see how you go.
  • glenner
    glenner Posts: 160 Member
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    Muscle doesn't weigh more then fat- it is like a pound of brick and a pound of feathers- they weigh the same but brick takes up less space for the same amount of weight. Muscle is the brick- takes up less space then fat. But like lots of people said- you can be holding water and be down the next day. Hang in there!
  • KilikiMom
    KilikiMom Posts: 237 Member
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    my advice to you????? pick up your scale...and throw it in the trash....you are retaining water from strength training...the water is in your muscles repairing them.....do some research before you go into freak out mode please....with strength training you will NEED to eat more food...I'd probably even bump it up to 1500 or more if you are actually doing all that you say you are that is...
  • donna_glasgow
    donna_glasgow Posts: 869 Member
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    throw the scale away use a tape measure and give it longer than a month ...


    heres my blog http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/donna_glasgow/view/month-5-em2wl-now-eating-1900-cals-a-day-avg-540792

    I moved from 1200 and Im now at 1900 and losing still .. the scale can lie so much week on week depending on water retention time of month time of day weighed blah blah .. if you read my blog and the related blogs you will see how much my weight had moved up and down in 20 weeks :)
  • Tigg1011
    Tigg1011 Posts: 146
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    Yes, I actually did cry a little...I wasn't expecting to have lost a ton, I was going to be excited for even 1/2 a lb. This was the whole reason I waited a month before weighing myself again because I got so discouraged I was ready to give up so I said screw it I wont weigh myself for a while...& now Im up 2. I know muscles retain water to repair them..but do you think with just using 3 & 5 lb weights I can really retain that much? I plan on continuining to workout, discouraged or not because I feel great when I do, however I was thinking maybe I am eating too much? I rely on my fitbit for most of this which gives me the TDEE of about 1400 as well as other websites...I dont know. I havent been this heavy in almost 2 yrs and now instead of 10 lbs to lose, I have 12.
    THANK YOU!! to everyone btw for all your input, I really appreciate it.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    The problem with weighing only once in a while is that for all you know, you've lost weight in the mean time but only gained back temporarily because of water weight.
  • JenRun1
    JenRun1 Posts: 212
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    Like you I started at 1200 calories and dropped 5 lbs, but then hit a plateau and didn't lose anything for over a month. So I switched to TDEE -20 to try. Week after week I saw the scale go up, and down and up and down, I was ready to give up. But then I did my research and saw that the benefits can take 4-6 weeks to really start to show on the scale. Week 6 I was down 3 lbs, magically. And like others have said, the scale is not really your friend, the measureing tape is!

    So the moral of my story to you is, don't give up, eat more, and don't get discouraged. TDEE-20 really does work! And in the long run you'll be thankful you have trained your body to eat more.
  • Mia_RagazzaTosta
    Mia_RagazzaTosta Posts: 4,885 Member
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    My scale hasn't moved in the 4 months I've been lifting (I like food; don't judge!) BUT my clothes fit way differently and I have less cottage cheese on my legs than I did in February.

    You can quit and go back to 1200 but my guess is you'll be kicking yourself in another month.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,026 Member
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    Well, have fun and best of luck with 1200.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes, I actually did cry a little...I wasn't expecting to have lost a ton, I was going to be excited for even 1/2 a lb. This was the whole reason I waited a month before weighing myself again because I got so discouraged I was ready to give up so I said screw it I wont weigh myself for a while...& now Im up 2. I know muscles retain water to repair them..but do you think with just using 3 & 5 lb weights I can really retain that much? I plan on continuining to workout, discouraged or not because I feel great when I do, however I was thinking maybe I am eating too much? I rely on my fitbit for most of this which gives me the TDEE of about 1400 as well as other websites...I dont know. I havent been this heavy in almost 2 yrs and now instead of 10 lbs to lose, I have 12.
    THANK YOU!! to everyone btw for all your input, I really appreciate it.

    I'd encourage you to use heavier weights. Have you been using the same dumbells for a month?

    Are you using a food scale and logging everything?
  • CoderGal
    CoderGal Posts: 6,800 Member
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    Yes, I actually did cry a little...I wasn't expecting to have lost a ton, I was going to be excited for even 1/2 a lb. This was the whole reason I waited a month before weighing myself again because I got so discouraged I was ready to give up so I said screw it I wont weigh myself for a while...& now Im up 2. I know muscles retain water to repair them..but do you think with just using 3 & 5 lb weights I can really retain that much? I plan on continuining to workout, discouraged or not because I feel great when I do, however I was thinking maybe I am eating too much? I rely on my fitbit for most of this which gives me the TDEE of about 1400 as well as other websites...I dont know. I havent been this heavy in almost 2 yrs and now instead of 10 lbs to lose, I have 12.
    THANK YOU!! to everyone btw for all your input, I really appreciate it.
    2-3 lb weights? I thought you were strength training, my mistake. All the same, exercise causes you to retain water. Hiking carrying no weight can still put me up 10lbs.

    How much do you weigh and what is your height and age? 1400 is likely not your TDEE, I've never heard of anyone having a TDEE that low unless they were malnourished and had a eating disorder at which point you shouldn't be here. Your TDEE is your total daily expenditure. 1400 would be your TDEE minus a bunch. I suggest you pick up a book and start reading about weight loss so you have a better understanding and don't give yourself any more frights. The forums can be misleading. But weight is never going to be constant. You're always going to be fluctuating.
  • CrankMeUp
    CrankMeUp Posts: 2,860 Member
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    How tall are you and what is your current weight?
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Yes, I actually did cry a little...I wasn't expecting to have lost a ton, I was going to be excited for even 1/2 a lb. This was the whole reason I waited a month before weighing myself again because I got so discouraged I was ready to give up so I said screw it I wont weigh myself for a while...& now Im up 2. I know muscles retain water to repair them..but do you think with just using 3 & 5 lb weights I can really retain that much? I plan on continuining to workout, discouraged or not because I feel great when I do, however I was thinking maybe I am eating too much? I rely on my fitbit for most of this which gives me the TDEE of about 1400 as well as other websites...I dont know. I havent been this heavy in almost 2 yrs and now instead of 10 lbs to lose, I have 12.
    THANK YOU!! to everyone btw for all your input, I really appreciate it.
    2-3 lb weights? I thought you were strength training, my mistake. All the same, exercise causes you to retain water. Hiking carrying no weight can still put me up 10lbs.

    How much do you weigh and what is your height and age? 1400 is likely not your TDEE, I've never heard of anyone having a TDEE that low unless they were malnourished and had a eating disorder at which point you shouldn't be here. Your TDEE is your total daily expenditure. 1400 would be your TDEE minus a bunch. I suggest you pick up a book and start reading about weight loss so you have a better understanding and don't give yourself any more frights. The forums can be misleading. But weight is never going to be constant. You're always going to be fluctuating.

    I'm assuming she means that's her TDEE-20%

    OP did you say you've only got 10 lbs to lose? in that case you really don't need that much of a cut. I'd go to TDEE-15% or TDEE-10%at this point.

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