I've put on 10lbs in my first week!

Jaygee13
Jaygee13 Posts: 19 Member
in Getting Started
I've been pretty confused about how many calories I should be eating and I've tried different calculators for how many I should be eating and I've gotten a range of 1,300 to 2000. I've put mfp to 1,600 and I'm hoping that's ok. I weigh 252 (or did at the start) and I'm now freaking out because I'm now 262!

My diary is open and please don't judge too hard that I'm not eating healthily yet (5 years of stuffing my face with junk is hard to stop straight away). I'm actually trying to focus on exercising more because I enjoy it. I've been lifting and doing C25k. I just can't understand this weight gain, from what I've read sometimes weight does go up but only by 2-4lbs. Am I doing something wrong, should I lower calories or is it that I'm eating the wrong food?

Replies

  • SquidVonBob
    SquidVonBob Posts: 290 Member
    Each pound of fat is approximately 3500kcal. That means that for that to be 10lbs of FAT you would of had to eat 35,000kcal ABOVE what your body burns in a week. You're body might have shocked itself into retaining water.
  • trayseef
    trayseef Posts: 1 Member
    My doctor told me the reason i wasn't losing weight and actually gaining (after losing 50 lbs) was because I started running. She said more times than not, your body is going to store up more to support the amount of energy it is taking to run.
    Just relaying my experience, hope it helps.
  • AlyssaJoJo
    AlyssaJoJo Posts: 449 Member
    Check your sodium too. I am not a clean eating, but BK can hit your pretty hard with sodium.

    I also see a few days in the red. While eating over here and there won't hurt anything - if you do it pretty often it's going to show. On the days where you want those extra cals you can always work out a bit more. I also see a few really LOW days. The amount you eat calorie wise isn't consistant what so ever. Under eating one day can also cause us to over eat the next.
  • ecw3780
    ecw3780 Posts: 608 Member
    What did MFP tell you to eat to lose 1 pound a week? Eat that. Don't worry about all those calculators, and your macros or what works for other people. You have to get used to eating a certain amount before anything is going to really start to work. if you find you are super duper hungry (and I mean hungry, not just stomach growling, feeling like you could eat or eating because other people are) eat back SOME of your exercise calories. MFP over estimates, so you don't really need all of them.
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
    An initial gain when first starting regular exercise is very common. Plus water retention if you've increased your fluid intake. Plus with ladies TOM is usually a factor. It's only been a week at least give it 4weeks to see how you get on. You're diary looks like you've chopped & changed your daily intake over the course of the week. Find a level & stick with it. Long term so long as you are eating up to your daily cal intake. Or even occasionally over you shouldn't have a problem. However, it's only been a week so if you could try to stick at your allowance it would help.

    *Are you weighing daily? Because gains & losses can fluctuate dramatically. Don't panic give it time. Be consistent & it will pay off.
  • pariskathryn
    pariskathryn Posts: 173 Member
    You're not eating the best food, that's true, but lifting and a sudden decrease in calories will lead to a fair amount of water retention. Just keep going-- if you eat in a caloric defecit, you will lose weight.

    But as you get more into getting healthy, be sure that you are getting the nutrients you need before and after your work outs. I lift and do C25K as well; I make sure I get good carbs and proteins before a workout and as soon I finish I have a quick protein-rich snack.

    Also, take your measurements along with weighing yourself! I haven't lost a ton of weight in the last several weeks, but I *have* lost inches.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    What did MFP tell you to eat to lose 1 pound a week? Eat that. Don't worry about all those calculators, and your macros or what works for other people. You have to get used to eating a certain amount before anything is going to really start to work.
    ^^^This. Log everything you eat accurately & honestly. Find reliable database entries. (There's a lot of incorrect data in there.) Weigh your food. Log your exercise, and eat back your exercise calories. If you're still not losing, eat back half your exercise calories.

    Read this: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1080242-a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-Sexypants
  • Jaygee13
    Jaygee13 Posts: 19 Member
    Yeah my calorie intake isn't consistent at the moment as I was trying stuff out. I think 1,600 will be what I stick at! With it being my first week I'm not too bothered if I go over, I'm probably used to eating close to 3000cals so anything apart from that is an improvement! I haven't checked every day, I'm only weighing once a week so it was a pretty big shock but I'm going to continue anyway and start getting used to this lifestyle.

    Anyway, thank you for the responses guys. You've calmed me down a bit :)
  • margueta562
    margueta562 Posts: 19 Member
    I think the trick is when starting out is to not focus on calories just ,yet. Defiantely track EVERYTHING you eat for a month just o figure out your actually calorie intake. Only eat when your hungry and try to leave a little food on your plate each time. Then start swapping bad meals with good healthy versions and try to reduce your calorie intake by 15-25% just so you get use to cutting back. It took me a year to break my habits.Drinking water between meals really helped me,too.If your dehydrated your body will retain water...
  • LiftAllThePizzas
    LiftAllThePizzas Posts: 17,857 Member
    If you are not weighing what you eat it's easy to underestimate and end up eating a lot more than you think you are.
  • _EndGame_
    _EndGame_ Posts: 770 Member
    Hmmm, that's odd, the first week or so you usually see dramatically big LOSSES, not gains.

    Are you weighing your food? Do you have accurate scales? Are you drinking plenty of water and keeping yourself hydrated?

    Perhaps you should go to the doctor, get some blood tests done - see what's what.

    Good luck!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    If you are not weighing what you eat it's easy to underestimate and end up eating a lot more than you think you are.

    ^^^this...

    also, if you just started all of that exercise this week then you're going to retain a lot of fluids for muscle repair.
  • leaner426
    leaner426 Posts: 89 Member
    I've heard that you lose weight in the kitchen, you get in shape at the gym. For me it's true. I don't lose weight by working out, I maintain or gain weight. I lose weight when I change what I eat.

    What is in the calories makes a difference. Rather than try to eat "healthy" all at once try drinking enough water and changing one thing (increase fiber, decrease fat, decrease sugar.) It helps me to find substitutions. For example a fudgesickle with 5 grams of fiber and 100 calories rather than chocolate. I can't eat too many or the fiber will really cause problems.

    As long as you are living healthier than before, consider it a win and hang in there. Give your body a chance to adjust. The weight will go down soon.
  • KetosisTina
    KetosisTina Posts: 197 Member
    Just looking at your diary.. I would pay more attention to carbs than calories. My husband dropped 87 lbs in 9 months by dropping the carbs. (sugar, bread, pasta, grains). It was hard but the lbs came off. Your weight will fluctuate as you put on muscle lifting but your bodyfat will go down. He went from 305 to 220 and from a 48 in pants to 36. He didn't count calories but we did watch the carbs. We were pretty extreme the first few weeks.. like 20 a day max. Then went up to like 40-50.
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    If you're using a scale at home, make sure that when you weigh in, you're putting the scale in the exact same place and that the floor underneath is as flat as possible. If the floor is uneven it can give you an inaccurate reading.
  • MissMintyMoo
    MissMintyMoo Posts: 10 Member
    Try focusing on healthy foods filling your calories, instead of the chocolate, bread and takeaways, unless you change to healthy eating habits you will never keep the weight off in the long run. I know you have said you are focusing on exercise but I think if you could make the change with your food I expect you'll start seeing the losses.

    Good luck, I hope you start to makes good losses.
  • tumbleral
    tumbleral Posts: 2
    I like the weight training too, but it does build muscle. Watch the size of the portions you eat - I hate counting calories. The weight comes off slowly but it gives you a good feeling.
  • brad2021hk
    brad2021hk Posts: 46
    You didn't gain 10 pounds in a week. Did you weight yourself in the same state? If you weigh yourself in the morning, after going to the bathroom, in your underwear...that's a lot different than weighing yourself after dinner and a 16 oz glass of water while wearing a sweater. I'm guessing a few pounds of water retention as well. I had some pretty big variation my first 2 or 3 weeks. When it was over, I ended up averaging 1 pound/week. Exactly what my calorie deficit predicted.

    Personally, I think it's a bad idea to change a program based on obviously flawed data. You can't look at your weight gain and say, "Gee, I totally am eating too many carbs." You can't even look at the weight and say that you're eating too many or too few calories or that it's obvious that you're mis-measuring your food. It's bad data. Making changes now can put you on too high or low a calorie deficit or force a change in macros that doesn't need to be done. Really, you just have to wait a little longer and stay the course.

    Basically, you're trying to setup a lifestyle. You made one big change that probably put you in the ballpark of where you need to be for life. Now, you're going to make minor adjustments. Minor adjustments to your calorie intake to tune your weight loss. Minor adjustments to your diet content and macros to help with hunger and to be well nourished. Finally, you're going to make minor adjustments over time to reduce your weight loss as you get closer to your final goal and maintenance.

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