I keep gaining weight...what am I doing wrong?
WriteRunWrite
Posts: 24
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
(5'8 and 138lbs)
0
Replies
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a few things:
1) how long exactly have you been doing that routine
2)MFP is set up for you to eat back your exercise cals... so eat them!
3) you are 5ft8 and 138lbs and trying to lose weight????
4) do you weigh and measure everything you eat with scales?0 -
Sounds like a healthy weight for your height. I am 5'9" and hovering around 180 right now...I DO need to lose another 10-15, as I gained a little too much this fall.0
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a few things:
1) how long exactly have you been doing that routine
2)MFP is set up for you to eat back your exercise cals... so eat them!
3) you are 5ft8 and 138lbs and trying to lose weight????
4) do you weigh and measure everything you eat with scales?
Thank you for replying!!
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.0 -
a few things:
1) how long exactly have you been doing that routine
2)MFP is set up for you to eat back your exercise cals... so eat them!
3) you are 5ft8 and 138lbs and trying to lose weight????
4) do you weigh and measure everything you eat with scales?
Thank you for replying!!
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.
honestly, if you dont weigh everything i bet you are eating WAY more than 12-1400 cals, clean or not!
i would also recommend some strength/resistance training, you will get a lot better body than just running.0 -
Without accurately weighing your food you have no real idea of what you are eating. In all likelihood you're eating far more than you think.a few things:
1) how long exactly have you been doing that routine
2)MFP is set up for you to eat back your exercise cals... so eat them!
3) you are 5ft8 and 138lbs and trying to lose weight????
4) do you weigh and measure everything you eat with scales?
Thank you for replying!!
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.0 -
a few things:
1) how long exactly have you been doing that routine
2)MFP is set up for you to eat back your exercise cals... so eat them!
3) you are 5ft8 and 138lbs and trying to lose weight????
4) do you weigh and measure everything you eat with scales?
Thank you for replying!!
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.
honestly, if you dont weigh everything i bet you are eating WAY more than 12-1400 cals, clean or not!
i would also recommend some strength/resistance training, you will get a lot better body than just running.
Maybe you're right...I hadn't thought about that. I feel like I am eating so darn little, though...I'm always hungry.
Strength training is actually the one thing I've let go a little in the last few months. Last summer I weighed 115 (some eating issues), but once I got back to eating a little more and training with a friend of mine, I got up to this current weight. I haven't lifted as much in the last few months, but thankfully I still have fairly good muscle definition...and a round butt that I sort of hate but get compliments on a lot.0 -
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html0 -
I had the same issue or I just wasn't losing at all. You want to guess what my problem was? I wasn't eating enough--once I started eating back my exercise calories, the weight began to fall off.0
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I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.0 -
I'm guessing you're net calories are far too low, especially considering your daily running and height. It's best if you calculate your TDEE accurately and go from there. As a reference I'm 5'1 and had to bump my intake up to 1800-2000 when I wasn't losing at 1300-1400. (Though everyone is different, and my calorie goals had more to do with how my body reacts to heavy lifting)0
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I had the same issue or I just wasn't losing at all. You want to guess what my problem was? I wasn't eating enough--once I started eating back my exercise calories, the weight began to fall off.
I've heard this, but to be honest I have a very hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that eating more = weight loss. Of course, this might be because of my personal issues, as well.0 -
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.
1. This is good, generally speaking. I run nearly every day (I do not run in the rain).
2. You need a deficit to lose weight. Small deficits are good because you need them. Large deficits --hundreds of calories-- are not good. You will get tired, you will binge, you are not eating in a lifetime sustainable way. MFP is about changing your eating/exercise habits for a lifetime.
3. This is a sign that you need to add weight lifting to your regimen. Running drops weight, but it doesn't reshape you in quite the way you want. Runners get thinner and thinner ALL OVER, not in just one place. Lifters build muscle ALL OVER which makes them often more pleasing to their own eyes...even the eyes of others!
4. You must accurately measure everything you eat, and accurately record your runs.
I am a 65 year-old male. 5'7", and 142 lbs. My goal weight is 135 lbs. At your height and weight you are almost dead-center of your BMI range --just slightly under, actually. Losing more weight may be harder for you, since your body currently does not have a lot of extra fat to lose. You might consider weight lifting "heavy" 3 or even 4 days a week focusing on your core, and running the other days. If you go this route, you will need at least one rest day. So, you could lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and rest on Sunday.
Good luck!0 -
I'm guessing you're net calories are far too low, especially considering your daily running and height. It's best if you calculate your TDEE accurately and go from there. As a reference I'm 5'1 and had to bump my intake up to 1800-2000 when I wasn't losing at 1300-1400. (Though everyone is different, and my calorie goals had more to do with how my body reacts to heavy lifting)
This. It sounds like an oxymoron but if you're body isn't getting enough, it's gonna hold on to what it's got and what little calories you're eating. At 5'8 you should be eating much more than that. Also consider doing more weight training instead just running.0 -
I had the same problem, and once I started eating back my exercise calories, the weight flew off. It was a relief, and also nice to fit in some extra food
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My advice is to get a scale and start weighing your food. Set MFP to lose half a pound per week and then eat back half of your exercise calories. Alternately, use a TDEE calculator to calculate your TDEE and then take away 10%, and eat that. You would not eat back exercise calories with that method.
Either method should work and they ought to be fairly close in gross calories. It just matters whether you like the idea of earning more calories with exercise or whether you'd rather eat the same amount every day.
If your TDEE is 2470 you would be eating 2200 roughly with the TDEE method. But if you do that, you have to be very accurate with your logging because you can easily wipe out a 10% deficit with inaccuracies.
Either way, do some resistance training. That will improve your body composition.0 -
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
The key to weight loss is in your tracking. Besides carbs, protein and fat, what are you tracking?????
Joanne Moniz
The Skinny on Obesity0 -
1) I've been running more seriously for the last couple months, but only in the last few weeks have I started to run almost every day.
2) I'm honestly scared to do that, since it seems like I'll gain even more weight that way
3) Mostly because I have extra skin from having three children, so unless I weigh less than normal, I look heavy.
4) I don't - maybe I should start trying this? I do measure food, but not weigh it. I eat pretty clean, and I've assumed the food I logged was fairly accurate, nutrition-wise. Maybe I should look into weighing/measuring everything I eat?
I'm just exhausted.
1. This is good, generally speaking. I run nearly every day (I do not run in the rain).
2. You need a deficit to lose weight. Small deficits are good because you need them. Large deficits --hundreds of calories-- are not good. You will get tired, you will binge, you are not eating in a lifetime sustainable way. MFP is about changing your eating/exercise habits for a lifetime.
3. This is a sign that you need to add weight lifting to your regimen. Running drops weight, but it doesn't reshape you in quite the way you want. Runners get thinner and thinner ALL OVER, not in just one place. Lifters build muscle ALL OVER which makes them often more pleasing to their own eyes...even the eyes of others!
4. You must accurately measure everything you eat, and accurately record your runs.
I am a 65 year-old male. 5'7", and 142 lbs. My goal weight is 135 lbs. At your height and weight you are almost dead-center of your BMI range --just slightly under, actually. Losing more weight may be harder for you, since your body currently does not have a lot of extra fat to lose. You might consider weight lifting "heavy" 3 or even 4 days a week focusing on your core, and running the other days. If you go this route, you will need at least one rest day. So, you could lift Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Run Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and rest on Sunday.
Good luck!
Thanks! I have been meaning to get back to more lifting, especially since it helps my running. The other reason I run a lot is because I am trying to improve my 5k time for next year, so that is a big part of it. But I know that when I was lifting more and doing a lot of leg exercises, my running improved as well.0 -
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
The key to weight loss is in your tracking. Besides carbs, protein and fat, what are you tracking?????
Joanne Moniz
The Skinny on Obesity
I'm so new to this that I'm not sure what else I can be tracking. Are we talking about vitamins? I know that if I reduce carbs, it's easier for me to lose weight, but it also becomes harder for me to run.0 -
I had the same problem, and once I started eating back my exercise calories, the weight flew off. It was a relief, and also nice to fit in some extra food
It sounds like maybe I should be giving that a try, and tracking a lot better (weighing/measuring). It would be really, really nice to eat more food. I'm exhausted all the time, and I've been wondering if I'm not eating enough, which then I tell myself is silly, considering I can't seem to lose weight.0 -
I don't personally put much faith in the body holding on to calories theory. It is true that large deficits can make fat loss inefficient and fluid retention from the stress you're putting on your body can hide weight loss for awhile. When you increase calories you'll often see a drop in water weight.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/why-big-caloric-deficits-and-lots-of-activity-can-hurt-fat-loss.html
Here's a look at "starvation mode" science that you might find interesting-- it's got references.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1077746-starvation-mode-adaptive-thermogenesis-and-weight-loss0 -
sigh...
this is seen all too often around here. If you don't weigh your food, it's not even possible to know if you are eating more or less the next day.
The problem with telling you that eating less to lose weight is a myth, is that it isn't. If you put people in a controlled setting, the more you feed them the more the grow, and the less you feed them the more they shrink. It's only in unicorn land that the opposite can happen, because in unicorn land, it's never a mistake someone made in their logging, and it's always a problem with the basic laws of physics that govern reality outside of the area affected by the singularity created when one diets.0 -
How long have you been doing this for without loss ? I know my weight goes up and down over a couple of weeks, I've most probably lost a lb of of fact since Friday but i am weighing 4 lb heavier i.e. my scales measure the total content of everything under my skin not just body fat - I am storing water at the moment but still losing fat). I know that the downward trend will continue though over the next few weeks even though my weight has increased. If you weigh yourself every day (I do and it works fine with me) but have only weighed yourself for a week it could be the scales are just playing tricks.0
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How long have you been stalled?0
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I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.
It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?
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I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.
It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?
Two weeks is not very long. Try the food scale first. I'm a proponent of smaller deficits because personally I find that being hungry and tired all the time leads to overeating. If you're unsure about the exercise calories maybe start with just eating back half. You really need about 4 weeks of tracking to make a determination about whether what you're doing is working. All kinds of things can make your weight fluctuate so just focus on whether you're seeing a downward trend.
But yeah the starvation mode thing is a big debate here. Next try starting a thread on clean eating. 0 -
I think your body image is the only thing that needs fixing. I don't mean that to be rude but to be honest--your weight is not your problem. Perhaps an improvement in your body composition would give you the results you desire but SEVERELY restricting your calories the way you are is not sustainable in the long term especially considering you said you're always hungry.
Try weight lifting, eating at MAYBE a 10% deficit, and giving it time. I can't fathom you possibly needing to lose weight.0 -
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.
If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!0 -
I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.
It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?
If you are gaining, you are eating too much.0 -
I seem to go up and down in the same three pound range - 135-138 every day. I just started tracking again two weeks ago after a long break of just watching the scale and eating (what I thought) was not too much. Weighing my food hadn't really occurred to me, honestly - I just never thought about it.
It seems that some people think I should eat my exercise calories back and go by TDEE and some people think I need to eat less. I'm guessing this is a common debate around MFP?
If you are gaining, you are eating too much.
Generally, if she were gaining gradually over a longer period of time I'd agree. But her "gain" is only after 2 weeks. She runs every day. It seems more like that she's dealing with fluid retention and normal weight fluctuations.0 -
I don't know what to do anymore. I've been working my butt off in the gym running 5 miles every day, and eating between 1200-1400 calories (I don't eat back my exercise calories). I'm fairly new to this, but after losing two pounds, the scale just keeps going back up. I stepped on it today and was up another pound. What am I doing wrong? Eating too much, not working out enough? I just feel like crying, because it seems like the harder I try, the more the scale goes up.
(5'8 and 138lbs)
If you run 5 miles every day I have the impression you calorie intake is way too low. Many people think with eating less they will lose weight, but that's a myth. Why don't you check your TDEE? I bet your BMR is already higher then that and sporting daily means quite active. This one has a daily sporting option:
http://www.fitnessfrog.com/calculators/tdee-calculator.html
Thanks! I did the 'heavy exercise' option since my job is not physical. It came to 2470. I have to confess that I'm fairly uneducated about TDEE and how it relates to eating.
If your job is not physical, why did you chose heavy exercise? 2470 is high!!!
According to the limits, heavy exercise is if you workout 6-7 days a week. Daily exercise is if you workout 7 days a week and have a physical job as well:
Heavy exercise (ex: exercising 6-7 days/week)
Daily exercise (ex: exercising 7 days/week and working a physical job)0
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