I eat like a sparrow and I still gain weight

tcling
tcling Posts: 6
in Goal: Maintaining Weight
I managed to lose 7kg of weight over one year with MFP and exercise. Then when I tried to maintain, I increased my intake from 1200 c to 1400 c and my weight seem to increase 2 kg over 2 weeks. I know it may all be hormonal but I feel really discouraged, and I destined to eat like a sparrow for the rest of my life? My meals consists mainly of a lot of vege and pulses, and some low fat protein. I have long ago lost any yearning for sweet things, fatty and junk food, and if I did nibble it's all nuts and seeds and fruits. In controlled portions. Having a big bowl of all bran with milk is a treat. Where am I going wrong? Could it because I have chronically starved my body so that even a modest increase in intake my body perceive it as excess?

Replies

  • lavaughan69
    lavaughan69 Posts: 459 Member
    Are you still using MFP track your food? Are you still measuring your food? Is it possible your portions are larger than you think?

    My friend does weight watchers and she said that they suggest that you give it at least 4 weeks at the increased amount to get a true determination if that number works for you. If you continue to lose weight then add a bit more, if you stay the same then that's your number, if you gain then that's too much.

    Sorry I don't have much more to offer.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    This might be a beneficial read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1071202-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    This might be a beneficial read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1071202-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut
    Almost a year on here and I've never read this before, thanks, great stuff. :flowerforyou:
  • highervibes
    highervibes Posts: 2,219 Member
    This might be a beneficial read: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1071202-why-you-gain-weight-if-you-eat-more-than-your-cut

    love that thread!
  • Sunshine_Kubes
    Sunshine_Kubes Posts: 37 Member
    Well Sparrows eat every 15 minutes.. so that would explain it
  • fatoldladyonamission
    fatoldladyonamission Posts: 581 Member
    Edited as mods already dealt with it.
  • HarrietSmeltzer1
    HarrietSmeltzer1 Posts: 101 Member
    When starving yourself you do not burn calories. Your system shuts down if you are nit eating enough to have a normal metabolism. Eat three small meals include all food groups input it and your exercise in the fitness input and you will lose weight. I have a friend who eats once a day has no groceries in her house and she even walks three to five mikes a day. Guess her body stores fat as she is getting no nutrition. Set your goals and stick with it. You have to have something g to burn it is like trying to start a fire without wood and a match.
  • MuseofSong
    MuseofSong Posts: 322 Member
    Everyone's body is different. Don't be discouraged. I've been tracking my pattern carefully since joining MFP and so far, I appear to only have two weight loss weeks per month, the week I ovulate, and the week of my period. That's it. Everything is uppy-downy depending on my sodium intake and if my digestive system is being normal. And I seem to have a bloating weight spike before my period actually starts.

    So if it's not one of those two weeks, meh, whatever. :) I try not to worry about it and just drink more water.

    Just track your foods, meet your goals, and rest assured it's not fat being gained. I figure even in maintenance it's the same game. You're going to have uppy-downy weeks.

    Also: that link was awesome! ^_^
  • lizziilulu
    lizziilulu Posts: 1 Member
    I would recommend trying to keep your increased calorie goal while resetting your carb goal to what you were eating pre increase (you can do this by setting your goals under the 'custom' option). Carbs are the devil! :devil:
  • brraanndi
    brraanndi Posts: 325 Member
    Well Sparrows eat every 15 minutes.. so that would explain it

    And most birds eat half their weight in a day haha.

    I suggest what everyone else says, track track track. If you seen nothing happening, weigh your food. Also you might be overestimating any calories you burn. Something is tripping you up somewhere or you have a medical condition.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    I would recommend trying to keep your increased calorie goal while resetting your carb goal to what you were eating pre increase (you can do this by setting your goals under the 'custom' option). Carbs are the devil! :devil:

    Why are carbs the devil?
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,854 Member
    I would recommend trying to keep your increased calorie goal while resetting your carb goal to what you were eating pre increase (you can do this by setting your goals under the 'custom' option). Carbs are the devil! :devil:

    Why are carbs the devil?
    Controversial. I don't see it either.
  • bridgie101
    bridgie101 Posts: 817 Member
    I managed to lose 7kg of weight over one year with MFP and exercise. Then when I tried to maintain, I increased my intake from 1200 c to 1400 c and my weight seem to increase 2 kg over 2 weeks. I know it may all be hormonal but I feel really discouraged, and I destined to eat like a sparrow for the rest of my life? My meals consists mainly of a lot of vege and pulses, and some low fat protein. I have long ago lost any yearning for sweet things, fatty and junk food, and if I did nibble it's all nuts and seeds and fruits. In controlled portions. Having a big bowl of all bran with milk is a treat. Where am I going wrong? Could it because I have chronically starved my body so that even a modest increase in intake my body perceive it as excess?

    There isn't enough information. How much do you weigh right now? That will make a huge impact on how much you cost to run. How tall are you? Are you four foot nothing weighing 65lb? That wouldn't cost much to run, would it? That'd be a pretty cheap car to drive. But for you to gain weight on 1400cals a day would involve you being sooooo tiny that your body didn't need 1400cals, and in fact, gaining a kilo a week, that'd mean your body needed 1000 cals less a day than 1400 cals. Which is rubbish.

    Logic demands that this is water weight more than anything. An extra 200cals a day is how much? it's 1400 cals a week, which is less than half a pound of fat. :) So even if 1200 were a maintenance quantity for you, 1400 cals wouldn't give you an extra kilo a week.

    You quite possibly have food in your gut. Fluctuations of 2kg is kind of nothing in the scheme of things. :) Just trust the process and carry on at 1400cals for the rest of the month.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    I managed to lose 7kg of weight over one year with MFP and exercise. Then when I tried to maintain, I increased my intake from 1200 c to 1400 c and my weight seem to increase 2 kg over 2 weeks. I know it may all be hormonal but I feel really discouraged, and I destined to eat like a sparrow for the rest of my life? My meals consists mainly of a lot of vege and pulses, and some low fat protein. I have long ago lost any yearning for sweet things, fatty and junk food, and if I did nibble it's all nuts and seeds and fruits. In controlled portions. Having a big bowl of all bran with milk is a treat. Where am I going wrong? Could it because I have chronically starved my body so that even a modest increase in intake my body perceive it as excess?

    There isn't enough information. How much do you weigh right now? That will make a huge impact on how much you cost to run. How tall are you? Are you four foot nothing weighing 65lb? That wouldn't cost much to run, would it? That'd be a pretty cheap car to drive. But for you to gain weight on 1400cals a day would involve you being sooooo tiny that your body didn't need 1400cals, and in fact, gaining a kilo a week, that'd mean your body needed 1000 cals less a day than 1400 cals. Which is rubbish.

    Logic demands that this is water weight more than anything. An extra 200cals a day is how much? it's 1400 cals a week, which is less than half a pound of fat. :) So even if 1200 were a maintenance quantity for you, 1400 cals wouldn't give you an extra kilo a week.

    You quite possibly have food in your gut. Fluctuations of 2kg is kind of nothing in the scheme of things. :) Just trust the process and carry on at 1400cals for the rest of the month.

    ^This.

    Your profile and diary are completely private, so there is no insight into what you are eating, how much, whether you exercise, your height and weight, etc.

    All of these are important factors in determining what changes you can make that would help you.
  • okcat4
    okcat4 Posts: 224 Member
    eat the better foods, and exercise. If you have seen how the sparrows hit my feeders, that is a whole lot of food! Can wipe them out in a day!
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    The original poster; this is why I don't eat at 1200. I've read this through the forums..that those who lose at 1200 are stuck eating next to nothing to maintain. YOu need to reset your metabolism..so you're gonna have to eat more, gain..to get your metabolism back on track....then lose what you gained by eating more than you did when you lost.

    I eat 1600 a day..plus another 600 in exercise calories and I'm losing slow and steady. So when I get to goal I'll be able to eat more or at about 2100 calories.
  • New_slim_me
    New_slim_me Posts: 6
    Thanks - that's really helpful! But ..... I have to lose another five lbs (2.2 kgs!!) so as to eventually be 60kg?! OMG, how can I possibly ever be 57.8 kg!
  • tcling
    tcling Posts: 6
    diannethegeek, Thanks - that's really helpful! But ..... I have to lose another five lbs (2.2 kgs!!) so as to eventually be 60kg?! OMG, how can I possibly ever be 57.8 kg!
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Thanks - that's really helpful! But ..... I have to lose another five lbs (2.2 kgs!!) so as to eventually be 60kg?! OMG, how can I possibly ever be 57.8 kg!

    2.2kgs and you're freaking out?
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    diannethegeek, Thanks - that's really helpful! But ..... I have to lose another five lbs (2.2 kgs!!) so as to eventually be 60kg?! OMG, how can I possibly ever be 57.8 kg!

    Hmm.. how many different user names do you have on here? Are you trolling?
  • tcling
    tcling Posts: 6
    You are right - thanks for pointing it out, I feel more reassured. I am 62 kg, 166cm.
  • tcling
    tcling Posts: 6
    Thanks for looking at my post and trying to help. I have reset my privacy settings.
  • tcling
    tcling Posts: 6
    I managed to lose 7kg of weight over one year with MFP and exercise. Then when I tried to maintain, I increased my intake from 1200 c to 1400 c and my weight seem to increase 2 kg over 2 weeks. I know it may all be hormonal but I feel really discouraged, and I destined to eat like a sparrow for the rest of my life? My meals consists mainly of a lot of vege and pulses, and some low fat protein. I have long ago lost any yearning for sweet things, fatty and junk food, and if I did nibble it's all nuts and seeds and fruits. In controlled portions. Having a big bowl of all bran with milk is a treat. Where am I going wrong? Could it because I have chronically starved my body so that even a modest increase in intake my body perceive it as excess?

    There isn't enough information. How much do you weigh right now? That will make a huge impact on how much you cost to run. How tall are you? Are you four foot nothing weighing 65lb? That wouldn't cost much to run, would it? That'd be a pretty cheap car to drive. But for you to gain weight on 1400cals a day would involve you being sooooo tiny that your body didn't need 1400cals, and in fact, gaining a kilo a week, that'd mean your body needed 1000 cals less a day than 1400 cals. Which is rubbish.

    Logic demands that this is water weight more than anything. An extra 200cals a day is how much? it's 1400 cals a week, which is less than half a pound of fat. :) So even if 1200 were a maintenance quantity for you, 1400 cals wouldn't give you an extra kilo a week.

    You quite possibly have food in your gut. Fluctuations of 2kg is kind of nothing in the scheme of things. :) Just trust the process and carry on at 1400cals for the rest of the month.

    ^This.

    Your profile and diary are completely private, so there is no insight into what you are eating, how much, whether you exercise, your height and weight, etc.

    All of these are important factors in determining what changes you can make that would help you.

    Thanks for looking at my post and trying to help. I have reset my privacy settings.
  • tcling
    tcling Posts: 6
    I managed to lose 7kg of weight over one year with MFP and exercise. Then when I tried to maintain, I increased my intake from 1200 c to 1400 c and my weight seem to increase 2 kg over 2 weeks. I know it may all be hormonal but I feel really discouraged, and I destined to eat like a sparrow for the rest of my life? My meals consists mainly of a lot of vege and pulses, and some low fat protein. I have long ago lost any yearning for sweet things, fatty and junk food, and if I did nibble it's all nuts and seeds and fruits. In controlled portions. Having a big bowl of all bran with milk is a treat. Where am I going wrong? Could it because I have chronically starved my body so that even a modest increase in intake my body perceive it as excess?

    There isn't enough information. How much do you weigh right now? That will make a huge impact on how much you cost to run. How tall are you? Are you four foot nothing weighing 65lb? That wouldn't cost much to run, would it? That'd be a pretty cheap car to drive. But for you to gain weight on 1400cals a day would involve you being sooooo tiny that your body didn't need 1400cals, and in fact, gaining a kilo a week, that'd mean your body needed 1000 cals less a day than 1400 cals. Which is rubbish.

    Logic demands that this is water weight more than anything. An extra 200cals a day is how much? it's 1400 cals a week, which is less than half a pound of fat. :) So even if 1200 were a maintenance quantity for you, 1400 cals wouldn't give you an extra kilo a week.

    You quite possibly have food in your gut. Fluctuations of 2kg is kind of nothing in the scheme of things. :) Just trust the process and carry on at 1400cals for the rest of the month.

    Thanks, I feel better now - didn't see the obvious logic before.
  • shapefitter
    shapefitter Posts: 900 Member
    Where is the moderator?

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