Why am I gaining weight with Fitness Pal?

Options
13

Replies

  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,041 Member
    Options
    Overestimating your calorie burns and not eating enough.
  • christinemadden0223
    christinemadden0223 Posts: 175 Member
    Options
    Your starving eat more...protein and good fats together and carbs and protein after workouts. Never carbs and fat. Drink Cold water 1st thing in the morning. 20 min of something. Even 20 squats 10pushups 20 crunches. Breakfast 2 hours after waking. No package crap. If it's in a box, you're better off eating the box (lol) You'll get more nutrition out of it. Carbs only after work out. . Base calories + 400 on workout days, base calories - 400 on none workout days. It will work wonders

    I love eating the box.

    Are we friends yet?? jk
  • christinemadden0223
    christinemadden0223 Posts: 175 Member
    Options
    Don't weigh yourself after you eat... depression city
  • charleyreedto175
    charleyreedto175 Posts: 60 Member
    Options
    It sounds like you may have several different problems. First if you are being honest about what you eat and how much you may be eating the wrong type of foods. Some foods help you pack on the pounds very fast if you do not burn the calories off in the day. It takes about 3,500 calories to gain a pound. Look at what you are eating and logging in. Now that you see the idea of 3,500 calories per pound I will tell you all calories are not the same. A potato, pasta noodles and even rice will give you very basic calories. However, for most people it is the sugar that is converted to fat in these foods that will cause your weight gain. Yes I said. One potato, baked, boiled or nuked is like eating three snicker bars in one setting. The same goes for pasta and rice in different degrees. You can friend me if you want and look at my food lists. I eat everything. But I work out a lot. I have lost 80 plus pounds in six months because I figured what my trigger foods were that made me gain weight. I weigh in daily and I eat better. I know when my body weight goes up and I burn off the fat daily. It works for me. If you have questions just ask.
  • gigglybeth
    gigglybeth Posts: 365 Member
    Options
    don't know if anyone has mentioned, did you weigh yourself at the same time of day each time? i.e. nekkid, first thing in the morning, after dropping the kids off at the pool and before eating? Fairly normal for me to be up to 5lbs heavier at night than in the morning.

    Yep. Plus it's shocking how much your clothes weigh. There's a huge difference between weighing yourself in jeans and sweater versus workout pants and a tshirt versus your underwear.
  • fitmalika
    fitmalika Posts: 16
    Options
    It could be muscle gain. I lost loads of weight when i wasn't exercising, sitting around and eating lots... but i'm not toned or fit anymore. I cant run like I used to or stretch as far and it's because i'm loosing muscle and gaining fat. so yeah your weight gain could simply be muscle gain. good luck :)
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Options
    Your starving eat more...protein and good fats together and carbs and protein after workouts. Never carbs and fat. Drink Cold water 1st thing in the morning. 20 min of something. Even 20 squats 10pushups 20 crunches. Breakfast 2 hours after waking. No package crap. If it's in a box, you're better off eating the box (lol) You'll get more nutrition out of it. Carbs only after work out. . Base calories + 400 on workout days, base calories - 400 on none workout days. It will work wonders

    STAHP. You cannot say she is not eating enough when she has gained 5 lbs. Holy smokes. And I'll bet you didn't even look at her diary to see how accurate her logging is, did you?
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Options
    Overestimating your calorie burns and eating too much.

    Fixed it for you.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,324 Member
    Options
    It could be muscle gain. I lost loads of weight when i wasn't exercising, sitting around and eating lots... but i'm not toned or fit anymore. I cant run like I used to or stretch as far and it's because i'm loosing muscle and gaining fat. so yeah your weight gain could simply be muscle gain. good luck :)

    again....nope.

    5lbs of muscle in 4 weeks at a deficit?
  • heatbreakerr
    heatbreakerr Posts: 18
    Options
    I really think it may be water weight...

    Your body may be retaining water because it is not getting enough.

    How many glasses are you drinking per day?
  • amiehope71
    amiehope71 Posts: 3
    Options
    Your not tracking everything you put in your mouth. If you have a sub you have to track the bread, cheese, meat, veg and condiments and Salt. Try scanning in the Bar Code of every item and cut your calories back by 50 cal and see if you start to loose anything. For me I started to see a big change in my weight when I started really keeping better track of every single item I put in my mouth and was honest about my portions.
  • Mcgrawhaha
    Mcgrawhaha Posts: 1,596 Member
    Options
    Hi, I began this program about 4 weeks ago, am following a 1300 calorie plan
    and exercise about every other day. My goal was to lose about 8 lbs. I HAVE GAINED
    5 lbs. What is going on? It is not muscle weight, and I do not have thyroid issues (I had blood work
    done for that.). I am a 37 year old mom of 2 and weigh more than ever!

    if your truly gaining, your doing something wrong. either logging wrong portions, wrong indredients, fotgetting to logg things, such as condiments or bites / tastes here and there, over estimating your exercise and eating back too many calories... or, number one deal breaker... GUESSING FOODS / PORTIONS...

    calories add up so fast, and what you may think is 1300 per day could very well be way over. if you were truly eating 1300 per day, you would not be gaining...
  • jennegan1
    jennegan1 Posts: 677 Member
    Options
    Most likely options -

    1. Short term gain caused by sudden increase in exercise. Your muscles are holding water to repair, and this will increase your weight.

    2. It's a 'blip'. Weight loss isn't linear, and you'll go up and down even as you trend down overall. You may just have more in your bowel at the moment, or be retaining water.

    3. You are eating more than you think you are. If you aren't weighing everything you eat, you are probably eating more than you think you are. No matter how good you think you are at 'eyeballing it'.

    4. You aren't exercising as much as you think you are. Just as in 3, where most people under estimate their intake, most people over estimate their calorie burn. If you are routinely logging 1,000+ calorie burns, you are probably overestimating.

    None of these are personal - I don't know you and don't claim to - they are just the most common causes of your problem.

    This especially number one.....I started back in Sept on this sight thought I was doing everything correctly, didnt record my creamer or wine in take. Jumped up 6 lbs in a couple of weeks. I started to gain weight. Decided to cut back especially on the wine in take and started drinking more water....It took me over 4-6 weeks to see any difference in my weight Then lost a quick 10 lbs in about a month figuring it had to do with water retention and that my muscles got used to me being more active... So in your case that may be true. I think I read you say that you weigh everything. Do you even measure your drinks that are calories? Im telling you 5 ozs of wine look a lot less then what I thought it was
  • cwrn11
    cwrn11 Posts: 5 Member
    Options
    MFP is an estimate not a true accuracy on calorie burn. I thought i was burning all these calories and couldnt understand why i wasnt losing, i got another fitness tool fitbit and the difference in true activity burn was really far off form what MY fitness pal is claiming i burned. just fyi
  • Destinee704
    Destinee704 Posts: 69 Member
    Options
    Hi, I began this program about 4 weeks ago, am following a 1300 calorie plan
    and exercise about every other day. My goal was to lose about 8 lbs. I HAVE GAINED
    5 lbs. What is going on? It is not muscle weight, and I do not have thyroid issues (I had blood work
    done for that.). I am a 37 year old mom of 2 and weigh more than ever!

    It might be water weight. Are you drinking plenty of water and how long do you exercise every other day. You may have to workout a little more because your body may need a little shocker or wake up call.
  • refill09
    refill09 Posts: 1
    Options
    You should try weighing yourself only once per week instead of every day. Weigh yourself at the same time every time, as well. You can gain up to 5lbs of water weight in a day(I know I gain almost 7lbs in water weight through an 8 hour shift at work), so you're better off weighing when you first get up in the morning. Make a schedule and weigh only on say Mondays after you pee first thing in the morning instead of being sporadic about it. A lot of the posters here have good ideas as to what could be causing the gain, as well.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    Options
    Your starving eat more...protein and good fats together and carbs and protein after workouts. Never carbs and fat. Drink Cold water 1st thing in the morning. 20 min of something. Even 20 squats 10pushups 20 crunches. Breakfast 2 hours after waking. No package crap. If it's in a box, you're better off eating the box (lol) You'll get more nutrition out of it. Carbs only after work out. . Base calories + 400 on workout days, base calories - 400 on none workout days. It will work wonders

    i have a headache from reading this.
  • rooneyt2013
    rooneyt2013 Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    I am getting a food scale today!:smile:
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    Options
    I am getting a food scale today!:smile:

    i think the food scale will be a big help. it was an eye opener for me on how much i really was eating. checked your diary (it will help people offer advice so thanks for opening) and i suspect you are selecting entries that are similar or close to whatever you're eating. i'm guessing this based on the grocery store brands you are using. stop and shop and publix are not in the same regions. stop and shop is a northeast supermarket chain while publix is in the south. if this is the case you may really be eating more calories than you think because not all brands are equal. if i'm wrong sorry about that. :)
  • Annie_01
    Annie_01 Posts: 3,096 Member
    Options
    Your starving eat more...protein and good fats together and carbs and protein after workouts. Never carbs and fat. Drink Cold water 1st thing in the morning. 20 min of something. Even 20 squats 10pushups 20 crunches. Breakfast 2 hours after waking. No package crap. If it's in a box, you're better off eating the box (lol) You'll get more nutrition out of it. Carbs only after work out. . Base calories + 400 on workout days, base calories - 400 on none workout days. It will work wonders

    I won't argue with your formula if that is what works for you but I have done none of that and have lost 43lbs in 5 months. I average 2lbs a week and am quite happy with my progress.

Categories