Aggh what is happening?

caseyarrow
caseyarrow Posts: 3
in Health and Weight Loss
Ive lost bulk weight using Weight Watchers but have switched to using MFP. I am on 1300 calories.
I have been maintaining 80kgs for a year without much effort. I put on 2kg so started using MFP. I lost the 2kg, had 1 takeaway meal and put on 1.5kg over night, it then took the next week to get it back off again. This same pattern has happened to last few weeks.
When completing weight watchers I could have 1 'free' meal a week and still losing weight.
Could 1300 calories be too little so on the day I do go over my body is holding onto the food for dear life? I have no idea but its driving me crazy! I know I could drop the meal but the rest of my day and week is perfect and its a lifestyle change for me rather than a quick fix.

Replies

  • soyum
    soyum Posts: 49 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)
  • nccarolb
    nccarolb Posts: 858 Member
    Could it be that your take out meal has a large amount of sodium? It takes me several days to get my weight back down after a high sodium meal.
  • caseyarrow
    caseyarrow Posts: 3
    I suspect I might be.
    Im 34, female, and currently at 81.9kg
    I exercise about 2-3 times a week, walking and playing basketball (I wear a Polar for that and calculcates that I lose about 300-500 calories do that. I have 3 kids and we swim most days and Im quite busy. I have previously lost 45kg and have found it easy to maintain. I drink lots of water and on the couple of weeks I skipped the treat meal I would lost 700g-1.2kg that week easy, eat a hamburger and some hot chips and double seems to come back on.

    Thank you :)
  • caseyarrow
    caseyarrow Posts: 3
    Definitely would have a lot of sodium and also high fat, Im a sucker for hot chips lol
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    It could easily be water weight.
  • DesireeNL
    DesireeNL Posts: 220 Member
    First of all, you don't gain 1.5kg of fat overnight. It is perfectly normal for your weight to fluctuate every day, and it can fluctuate quite a bit. So don't worry about that.

    Second, I agree with the second poster and think you are under eating. As a comparison: I weigh 53kg (at 1.52m) and I eat around 1500 calories to lose weight, around 1800 to maintain. You are heavier and most likely taller, and definitely more active than me so you need more calories than me.

    I did Weight Watchers for years and honestly thought I was losing weight the healthy way. Earlier this year I quit WW, and found MFP. I was shocked to find how little I was eating on WW, just about 1000-1100 calories a day. No wonder I was always tired and hungry.

    Here on MFP I read about the TDEE method. TDEE is the amount of calories your body needs to maintain the weight. This number is based on your age, height, weight and activity level. You then eat between 10-20% less than that for weight loss.

    So I decided to give it a try and upped my calorie intake. In the beginning my weight fluctuated a bit within the same kg, but it has been going down since. I eat at a small deficit because I don't need to lose a lot more. But I am actually eating lots more than on WW and still losing. To be more precise: I am at my lightest weight in about 13 years.

    If you eat 1300 calories and don't eat back your exercise calories, you are netting even less than that. It means that technically you are only eating 800-1000 calories. Your body needs way more than that simply for the energy needed to keep your organs working.

    I know it's really scary to go up in calories, but look up the TDEE method and read some of the success stories :-) Good luck!
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    More data is required! Are you eating back your exercise calories? How tall are you? 1300 to maintain is very little calories, actually. You may have lost a lot of lean body mass doing WW. But we can't really help unless you give us more stats and open your diary.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    God, are you always this cranky?? I DARE you to look at this and NOT LAUGH!

    1exhcl.jpg
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    God, are you always this cranky?? I DARE you to look at this and NOT LAUGH!

    1exhcl.jpg

    Who's cranky? Cute critters by the way. :heart:

    But I get tired of the FIRST piece of advice for a person who "can't seem to lose weight" always being "you need to eat more calories! Mmmmmmm!". If a person is not losing weight, and is in fact GAINING weight, that person is in all likelihood eating PLENTY of calories, they just don't realize how many they're really eating. That should be the first thing checked. But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:
  • kayla_who
    kayla_who Posts: 540 Member
    Your one free meal is prolly high in sodium and you are retaining water. Drink lots of water and those extra pounds should go away within a few days.
  • soyum
    soyum Posts: 49 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    God, are you always this cranky?? I DARE you to look at this and NOT LAUGH!

    1exhcl.jpg

    Who's cranky? Cute critters by the way. :heart:

    But I get tired of the FIRST piece of advice for a person who "can't seem to lose weight" always being "you need to eat more calories! Mmmmmmm!". If a person is not losing weight, and is in fact GAINING weight, that person is in all likelihood eating PLENTY of calories, they just don't realize how many they're really eating. That should be the first thing checked. But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    puhleazeeeee...read through the posts and think...before...you.....post. >>1300 calories a day<< IS low and very well could be the reason she isn't losing like she wants.
  • DesireeNL
    DesireeNL Posts: 220 Member
    . But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    If I lose weight at 1500 calories, being 5' and weighing almost 60lbs less than OP, and she is trying to MAINTAIN at 1300 calories, you can't seriously think that she is overeating.
  • Siansonea
    Siansonea Posts: 917 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    God, are you always this cranky?? I DARE you to look at this and NOT LAUGH!

    1exhcl.jpg

    Who's cranky? Cute critters by the way. :heart:

    But I get tired of the FIRST piece of advice for a person who "can't seem to lose weight" always being "you need to eat more calories! Mmmmmmm!". If a person is not losing weight, and is in fact GAINING weight, that person is in all likelihood eating PLENTY of calories, they just don't realize how many they're really eating. That should be the first thing checked. But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    puhleazeeeee...read through the posts and think...before...you.....post. >>1300 calories a day<< IS low and very well could be the reason she isn't losing like she wants.

    You're really bad at math. When you eat FEWER calories, you LOSE weight. When eat MORE calories, you GAIN or MAINTAIN weight. Math. You know that you're not making math work for you when you're not losing weight. See how that works?

    And people notoriously underestimate the calories they consume. It happens. "What, I'm supposed to count vegetables?" "What, I'm supposed to count beverages?" "What, I'm supposed to count candy?" :huh:
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
    1.5 kg overnight is, in my experience, usually going to be water weight.
  • smc864
    smc864 Posts: 570 Member
    . But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    If I lose weight at 1500 calories, being 5' and weighing almost 60lbs less than OP, and she is trying to MAINTAIN at 1300 calories, you can't seriously think that she is overeating.

    Clearly you missed the point. Just because she SAYS she is eating 1300 calories/day doesn't mean she actually is. If you are eating at a deficit you CANNOT gain wait. It is against the laws of thermodynamics for god sake. We should first ask the OP... are you weighing your food, logging every single bite that enters your mouth, etc, etc, etc... I'm here to tell you that if you eat at 1300 calories/day you will lose weight. Period. Unless you are 3 feet tall and weight 60 pounds.
  • smaclean8
    smaclean8 Posts: 18 Member
    . But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    If I lose weight at 1500 calories, being 5' and weighing almost 60lbs less than OP, and she is trying to MAINTAIN at 1300 calories, you can't seriously think that she is overeating.

    Clearly you missed the point. Just because she SAYS she is eating 1300 calories/day doesn't mean she actually is. If you are eating at a deficit you CANNOT gain wait. It is against the laws of thermodynamics for god sake. We should first ask the OP... are you weighing your food, logging every single bite that enters your mouth, etc, etc, etc... I'm here to tell you that if you eat at 1300 calories/day you will lose weight. Period. Unless you are 3 feet tall and weight 60 pounds.

    There is a possibility that she could be really eating 1300/day and not losing because her metabolism has down-regulated itself from an extended period of dieting.

    In reality, a person doing the activities OP described should be able to eat at least 1800 calories per day and lose weight at 80kg. I'm 70 kg and lose weight over a pound/week at 1750 calories, and I cheat all the time.

    Since she isn't losing I would suggest sucking it up and taking a break from dieting for 2 weeks or so. Still count calories. Bump up 250 calories (to 1550) the first week, then 250 more, to 1800 the second week. Assess how you feel after doing this. Is your energy and mood better? If the scale jumps at first, don't freak, just stick with it. Its only two weeks and weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint.

    Also, I think it'd be best to make the majority of the caloric increase from adding dietary fat. If fats are too low, you may be messing up your hormones and this could be to blame for the lack of weight loss.
  • rnkgetfit
    rnkgetfit Posts: 1
    One person has lost 160 the other 14.... I am pretty sure I know who I would listen to.
  • Tropical_Turtle
    Tropical_Turtle Posts: 2,236 Member
    One person has lost 160 the other 14.... I am pretty sure I know who I would listen to.

    Just what I was thinking...
  • wild_wild_life
    wild_wild_life Posts: 1,334 Member
    . But no, people assume people self-report their calories in and calories out with extreme precision, and just spout the Eat Moar Caloreez mantra like they're getting paid to do it. :grumble:

    If I lose weight at 1500 calories, being 5' and weighing almost 60lbs less than OP, and she is trying to MAINTAIN at 1300 calories, you can't seriously think that she is overeating.

    Clearly you missed the point. Just because she SAYS she is eating 1300 calories/day doesn't mean she actually is. If you are eating at a deficit you CANNOT gain wait. It is against the laws of thermodynamics for god sake. We should first ask the OP... are you weighing your food, logging every single bite that enters your mouth, etc, etc, etc... I'm here to tell you that if you eat at 1300 calories/day you will lose weight. Period. Unless you are 3 feet tall and weight 60 pounds.

    You can easily gain weight eating at a deficit. Fat, no, but weight, yes.

    There are also plenty of people taller than 3' who will not lose weight on 1300 calories. Physiology is a very complicated thing. There are mechanisms in place which, when faced with an extreme or prolonged calorie deficit, seek to minimize the negative consequences of under feeding by downregulating metabolism through both physiological and behavioral mechanisms. I don't know what's going on in the OP's case, but it's incorrect and overly simplistic to say that the only possible reason is that she's actually eating twice as much as she thinks she is. Sometimes, advising people who have been chronically undereating to eat even less is very dangerous advice.

    It isn't even clear how much weight the OP needs to lose -- she said she was maintaining at 80kg and is now at 82kg and trying to lose -- if you only want to lose a few pounds, eating at that big a deficit is definitely counter productive.
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    Do you think that overeating will cause a 1.5 lb gain overnight, which then comes off over the week on the 1300 calories daily? That must be a REALLY big cheat meal. Isn't it more likely that something in that one meal is causing water retention or something that is not gaining fat?


    That said, I do agree that there are a LOT of people who think that they are eating at a deficit who aren't weighing and measuring correctly and are eating 400 or 500 calories more than they think. So yes, that is one place to start - weigh everything, see where you really are, then adjust your calories down by 200 or so (but also reflect your true calorie goal in your diary). I actually fall into this category. I'm lazy and don't weigh my foods, so I probably eat closer to 1800 or 2000 calories than my diary goal of 1600. But I'm happy with what's going on right now so I don't see a need to change it :laugh:

    I also have known some people who don't lose on a low calorie amount like 1300 calories, but when they increase their calories, they start losing. I don't know why … the only thing I can think of is that their calories out adjusts in some way, because they can't be defying thermodynamics. Anecdotes =/= science, so all I can say is I've seen it happen. So, when someone is eating a low amount like this and not losing, what does it hurt to suggest that they increase their daily calories by a couple hundred a day? Worst case, they gain a few pounds over the month and then know they have to go the other way. (OK, I'll admit to some that would be devastating, but one month is practically nothing in a lifetime of working toward healthy habits; at the same time, they may still be working on choosing more nutrient dense foods or increasing their exercise, and are really healthier at the end of the month anyway).
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    There is no way at all that 1.5kg in a day is fat. It is mainly water retention for some reason. 1lb of fat is 3500 cals . I would try and do more exercise which may help with the water retention :-)
  • davert123
    davert123 Posts: 1,568 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    No its not :-) The OP would have to eat 23 bigmacs in a day to make this difference
  • kathrinnbauer
    kathrinnbauer Posts: 74 Member
    Funny how people here think that their bodies work like engines. Thermodynamics and math say that if you eat less you lose weight, if you don't lose weight you eat too much. I am sure this worked out perfectly fine if we were cars or radiators. But we aren't and there are many hormones that regulate our metabolism and metabolism can slow down a lot - enough to make any caluclation of daily intake needs completly unreliable. I am not blaming people for thinking that eating less might mean more weight loss. I also thought it worked that way and tried to lose weight cutting back more and more calories. Well, guess what: it didn't work out. And even if it is true that some people underestimate their intake there is no need to express that concern in that way and to write comments that implicitly suggest that others were stupid and unable to understand basic mathmatic concepts.

    I also agree with the posts that stated that it is very unlikely to gain 1,5 kg fat over night. 1,5 kg fat are about 10500 kcal. I don't think you ingest that much extra in your cheat meals. So it is most likely that you retain fluids.
  • katelynnsmom2
    katelynnsmom2 Posts: 12 Member
    Depending on your age, weight, sex, you could be vastly under eating. So.. fill us in with more data. ;)

    OR OVEREATING. Which, since there is a weight GAIN, is much more likely. :grumble:

    Do you think that overeating will cause a 1.5 lb gain overnight, which then comes off over the week on the 1300 calories daily? That must be a REALLY big cheat meal. Isn't it more likely that something in that one meal is causing water retention or something that is not gaining fat?


    That said, I do agree that there are a LOT of people who think that they are eating at a deficit who aren't weighing and measuring correctly and are eating 400 or 500 calories more than they think. So yes, that is one place to start - weigh everything, see where you really are, then adjust your calories down by 200 or so (but also reflect your true calorie goal in your diary). I actually fall into this category. I'm lazy and don't weigh my foods, so I probably eat closer to 1800 or 2000 calories than my diary goal of 1600. But I'm happy with what's going on right now so I don't see a need to change it :laugh:

    I also have known some people who don't lose on a low calorie amount like 1300 calories, but when they increase their calories, they start losing. I don't know why … the only thing I can think of is that their calories out adjusts in some way, because they can't be defying thermodynamics. Anecdotes =/= science, so all I can say is I've seen it happen. So, when someone is eating a low amount like this and not losing, what does it hurt to suggest that they increase their daily calories by a couple hundred a day? Worst case, they gain a few pounds over the month and then know they have to go the other way. (OK, I'll admit to some that would be devastating, but one month is practically nothing in a lifetime of working toward healthy habits; at the same time, they may still be working on choosing more nutrient dense foods or increasing their exercise, and are really healthier at the end of the month anyway).



    This! just what I was thinking they should have like buttons. I personally eat at a low calorie diet with cheat days and on my old account lost 27lbs quit for a year and only gained 3 lbs. freak of nature I guess. Everyone is different just have to find the balance somehow. I totally agree that posters tend to jump on other posters automatically with your eating too few calories. They would jump on me I know that but im sedentary. Water weight seems much more plausable.

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