Exercise and still gaining weight?

Jackkitty26
Jackkitty26 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been walking 2 miles a day at a brisk pace and I have been taking in 1200 calories a day just like this app tells me too and I am gaining weight. Can someone please help me understand this?

Replies

  • Purplebunnysarah
    Purplebunnysarah Posts: 3,252 Member
    Probably you're either overestimating your food or underestimating your calories. Food should be logged using measuring cups and a food scale (scale for any solids, measuring cups for liquids).

    Also, 1200 calories is pretty low. It looks like you only want to lose 35 lbs total? In that case I'd aim to lose a pound a week. For one thing, it's easier to stick to a calorie restriction if you're allowed more calories!

    I eat 1500-2100 calories per week. Combined with exercise, I lose 1-3 lbs per week. In my case it's not a perfectly smooth downward trend, but rather an average loss that works out to my goal of 1.5 lbs per week.
  • Jackkitty26
    Jackkitty26 Posts: 3 Member
    Thank you for responding, what you are saying makes sense and I may need to readjust my goals and calorie intake, Thank you
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Yes, Sara is right on. The exercise and calorie calculations on MFP are way off.

    If you have gained weight, it means you are eating more calories than you are burning.

    For food, I have learned to read package labels or do other research to find nutrition information online.

    For exercise, if I enter my weight and age into the gym machine (treadmill or elliptical or stationary bike), I will enter the calories from there rather than MFP. In fact, the calories on the machine where I enter my weight and age are always less than MFP. Otherwise, I use a pedometer on my IPhone, which seems fairly accurate.

    I rarely eat all my exercise calories back because to account for possible errors in my entries, and I've lost 22 pounds so far and have 11 to go.

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