gaining weight?? REALLY??

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kwebster1956
kwebster1956 Posts: 14 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've been dieting for about three weeks now, joined this about 12 days ago. I originally lost 6 lbs, today the scale says up 3 lbs...HOW CAN THIS BE????? I have bee under my calorie count every day sometimes as much as 300 under I keep my carbs down under 80. I am catching a cold and not able to do much exercize but still I eat under 1000 calories and GAIN weight?? Sooooo discouraging.... I also eat really healthy food. Has this happened to anyone else??

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  • vkpmusic
    vkpmusic Posts: 343 Member
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    You've slowed your metabolism. A woman must eat minimum 1200 calories a day of the body starts storing everything for energy. Eat at least 1200. Eat to where you are within say 50 either way of your calories every day including exercise calories and watch your sodium, which causes water retention. Things should pick back up.
  • arbragg
    arbragg Posts: 73 Member
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    Your not eating enough, your body needs a minimum of 1200 calories a day or it thinks your starving it and it begins to store everything as fat! Not sure of the actual definition, but search it in the posts, and u will find a more definite answer.

    It's awesome you are getting exercise but your body needs the fuel, as you are already running at a deficite at 1200 minumum calories a day.

    Hope that help.....and keep plugging away!!!
  • Neliel
    Neliel Posts: 507 Member
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    You shouldn't eat under 1200 calories a day, it's not good for you to eat so little. Are you drinking enough water?
    And how are your toilet habits? Sometimes I find a glass of orange juice is good for helping to empty the bowels.
    Honestly don't worry about a little gain, don't be discouraged, we all fluctuate!
  • vsangel87
    vsangel87 Posts: 108 Member
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    Well, there's a slght problem here...you're eating too little. Yes, it is possible to gain weight if you eat too little. In fact, it's harder to lose any wight if you consume only 1000 calories a day. MFP recommends that you don't go below 1200 calories a day for the sake of your health and weight loss. So, my recommendation: increase your daily caloric intake a little...consume at least 1200 calories a day and see if that makes a difference. :) Good luck to you!
  • katyncal
    katyncal Posts: 100 Member
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    have you been watching your sodium?> most of the time it is just water weight. sometimes I will gain a few pounds and then in a few days they will be gone plus more, our bodies are weird, so dont let it get you down. also how much water are you drinking? I noticed if I go under 6 cups a day I just dont lose as well
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Eat more
  • kwebster1956
    kwebster1956 Posts: 14 Member
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    I watch my sodium because I have high blood pressure. But I have to say that I am starting to feel VERY GUILTY about eating anything... which is why my calories are so low, one day by the end of the day I had 700 more calories I need to eat to get to 1200 and I felt so guilty to something else and I wasn't hungy.
  • ginnyroxx
    ginnyroxx Posts: 763
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    what all these people said. I wrote a similar post last week. I, too, lost 6 pounds - then gained 2 back. I wasn't eating enough. I also wasn't tracking the sodium levels in the foods I ate.....which meant that i probably wasn't drinking enough water, also.

    No, you're not gaining muscle this quickly, however your muscles will retain water until they figure out wtf is going on w/ this new activity.

    read my topic here:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/136231-if-your-cal-goal-is-set-to-1200-you-eat-your-exercise-cals

    and you can get some good info (and a tad bit of drama) by reading this one, too.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/135011--starvation-mode
  • Neliel
    Neliel Posts: 507 Member
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    I would also suggest drinking some herbal teas. They're very cleansing and good for you. Green tea with lemon is lovely.
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
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    I agree with what everyone else said. Also you may be PMSing. I go up by 3-5 lbs right before my period every month. It's a pain but at least I know that it'll be gone again the next week. Usually helps a bit if I drink lots of water and watch my sodium intake. But first and foremost eat more than 1200 cals a day... you can't be getting your body's nutritional needs met for less than that.
  • reneeot
    reneeot Posts: 773 Member
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    I've been dieting for about three weeks now, joined this about 12 days ago. I originally lost 6 lbs, today the scale says up 3 lbs...HOW CAN THIS BE????? I have bee under my calorie count every day sometimes as much as 300 under I keep my carbs down under 80. I am catching a cold and not able to do much exercize but still I eat under 1000 calories and GAIN weight?? Sooooo discouraging.... I also eat really healthy food. Has this happened to anyone else??

    You've lost 3lbs in 12 days that is is very good! Look at the postive results.

    You are in the process of developing the way you are going to eat the rest of your life. Don't swing to the other end of the pendulam from overeating to undereating. Continue making better eating choices and don't start obsessing about the SCALE, it will just frustrate you.

    If in a month you have lost 4-8lbs you are on target!!
    .
    :-)
  • eillamarie
    eillamarie Posts: 862 Member
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    Yupp, this is called "starvation mode". Your metabolism has dropped so low to accomodate for your severely decreased caloric intake that it's holding onto every single calorie you give it. You need to up your calories to no less than 1,200/day (and yes that means eating your exercise calories) if you want to fix this and begin losing weight again.
  • kwebster1956
    kwebster1956 Posts: 14 Member
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    Thank you all SOOOOO MUCH! I don't drink enough water, I will change that! I will add more food, maybe planning my next days food in adavance instead of logging in at the end of the day only to find out I didnt eat enough
  • ginnyroxx
    ginnyroxx Posts: 763
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    and 1mt I forgot to add. after increasing my calories...i finally lost a pound this week. still not back to my lowest weight, but the scale moved down! yours will too!
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    I watch my sodium because I have high blood pressure. But I have to say that I am starting to feel VERY GUILTY about eating anything... which is why my calories are so low, one day by the end of the day I had 700 more calories I need to eat to get to 1200 and I felt so guilty to something else and I wasn't hungy.

    Feeling guilty about eating, especially with this low calories, is extremely alarming. And no wonder, you're getting cold if you've been on so low calories for a while. It makes your body weak and all sorts of problems will arise. It can't be good for the blood pressure either! And what's up with 80 g of carbs?! You need way more than that! At least about 50% of your calories should come from carbs!

    You need to review your relationship with food and find the balance where you eat to fuel your body. Enjoying it is a good thing too but the primary reason for eating has to be to provide your body with all the nutrients, it needs. That is one thing this site is good to offer help with. Another is that it promotes healthy and safe weight loss, but the catch is that, that is always slow.

    It is a very good idea to plan the days meals ahead of time. I usually plan mine several days ahead, which makes it easy to create a balanced diet, make sure I get enough everything, and accommodate all increased calorie needs from exercise. It's better to move with small steps instead of trying to jump right into a new diet so no hurry.
    My advice is to eat what you like, plan everything ahead, and change small things one at a time to always improve your diet.


    Edit:
    I did a little snooping around and found a wonderful post that, I think, would help you a lot!

    700 calories a day and not losing
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing
  • kwebster1956
    kwebster1956 Posts: 14 Member
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    GREAT article, thanks so much, totally makes sense, That is exactly what I do. Is the balance in the food log the correct portions for someone like me I wonder?
  • alantin
    alantin Posts: 621 Member
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    I think that the MFP standard settings are about what they recommend for a normal person. I came up with mine by going through the Finnish Olympic Committee dietary information. I eat about 2000 Kcal a day at the moment and my balance is about 60% Carbs, 15% Protein, and 25% Fat, but on low calorie diet I would suggest changing some of the carbs for proteins to get enough of those. You should get about 0.8 - 1.0 g a day per kilo of your weight (about 0.4 g per pound or so..?) so when I began, I ate 1500 Kcal a day with 50% carbs, 25% protein, and 25% Fat.
    It could be said, though, that the carbs are the most important since they are the most important energy source for the body and getting enough actually even helps fat loss. Not getting enough increases the use of muscle protein for energy during exercise for example, since that is the next easiest option for the body to use. I don't really see much wisdom in all these low carb diets that have been so hot in the recent years.. Too much protein even taxes your liver and can cause damage! Sadly, fat is the hardest to convert to energy.. :ohwell:

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