I am putting on weight?!

dmarshall87
dmarshall87 Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Ok so since Monday I have been walking 3-6miles a day. I drink 2-3 litres of water a day and have kept under my calorie goal as I am just not that hungry. - Although I do have 3 small meals a day.
Everyday I have been weighing my self on the Wii fit that's been telling me I am losing 2lb a day. Today I walked 6 miles and just weighed myself it says I have put on 3lb!!
How can this be if I have completely cut down on my food intake - well cut down on the rubbish, drink plenty of water and exercise! - which I never used to do.

Where am I going wrong??

Replies

  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    Open your diary would be a good place to start.

    Could be water weight due to the new exercise regimen.

    Are you eating your exercise calories back, as you should? If so, how do you determine your caloric burn.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator


    Could be water weight due to the new exercise regimen.

    this is most likely reason and common, keep at it for another 1-2 weeks and you will see a large drop
  • dmarshall87
    dmarshall87 Posts: 6
    No, I always end up with 400-500 calories remaining everyday.
    Usually that would be used up with chocolate and cakes once the kids are in bed!! But I have been really good with eating and the times I eat. And drinking the water usually fills me up.
    The food diary has really helped me look at the stuff I used to eat and I have cut a lot of it out and changed to healthy meals.

    I use google maps to estimate the walking distance of my journey and fitness pal converts in to calories.
    Today I earned 721 calories walking 6miles!
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    No, I always end up with 400-500 calories remaining everyday.
    Usually that would be used up with chocolate and cakes once the kids are in bed!! But I have been really good with eating and the times I eat. And drinking the water usually fills me up.
    The food diary has really helped me look at the stuff I used to eat and I have cut a lot of it out and changed to healthy meals.

    I use google maps to estimate the walking distance of my journey and fitness pal converts in to calories.
    Today I earned 721 calories walking 6miles!

    not likely unless you are a power walker- seems WAY to high unless you are also wildly over weight.

    I suspect you are victim to one of the most common issues with this process.

    1.) Underestimated food
    2.) Over estimated burn.

    = no loss or gaining. one of the reasons people tend to eat back a percentage of their exercise calories rather than ALL of it. Gives some buffer for those mistakes.

    knock back the calories you are eating back and or start under estimating the calories burned.
  • dmarshall87
    dmarshall87 Posts: 6
    Oh ok, I thought working out the distance and then timed myself and used the online app which I assumed would give me a fair estimate of the calories burned! - That's totally fooled me! :-(
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    Oh ok, I thought working out the distance and then timed myself and used the online app which I assumed would give me a fair estimate of the calories burned! - That's totally fooled me! :-(

    I'm not a numbers expert- but that seems high for just walking.

    It's always a safer- more conservative bet to under estimate you're burn.

    I lift heavy and hard and typically wind up with 3-400 calorie burns- the only time I push above 500 calories is when I lift and dance and its' a 3-5 hr work day for me- and not for nothing- I know I'm working harder than walking (unless we are talking mountain hiking that's a different ball of wax).

    That's not to say walking isn't good-or to make you feel bad- or it's not enough- if it's working for you and you LIKE do that. but just be careful about over estimating numbers. Just trying to give you a frame of reference.

    I would keep up the work- the deficit and just dial that back to a couple hundred and see what that does for you.
  • lydiaannepage
    lydiaannepage Posts: 172 Member
    I would try to invest in a heart rate monitor - the calories burned estimates on here are awfully high - a HRM gets you a better read out of exactly what you are burning during your workout. Hang in there!
  • Myhaloslipped
    Myhaloslipped Posts: 4,317 Member
    Well, it has only been a week. Are you weighing your food? When I first started, I was estimating everything and relying on MFP calorie burn calculations. I found that I was eating many more calories and not burning nearly as many calories as I thought I was. In addition to the HRM, I strongly suggest a food scale. Once I started weighing everything, the weight started coming off easily.
  • shira324
    shira324 Posts: 156 Member

    Everyday I have been weighing my self on the Wii fit that's been telling me I am losing 2lb a day. Today I walked 6 miles and just weighed myself it says I have put on 3lb!!

    I'm not an expert, but I don't think you could possibly be losing 2 pounds per day. Given the -2 per day, +3 one weigh-in, you're still losing weight, right? How accurate is the Wii Fit as a scale? I don't really know how that works.

    Don't get discouraged, tracking calories in and calories out can be daunting at first, but with the right tools, you can do this!
  • psych0kitty
    psych0kitty Posts: 313
    Fluctuations of ±5 lb are totally normal, especially for women. Relax and give it some time. There's no way you lose 2 pounds of fat in one day and there's no way you gain 3 lbs of fat overnight, either. It's a long-term thing.
  • jstout365
    jstout365 Posts: 1,686 Member

    Everyday I have been weighing my self on the Wii fit that's been telling me I am losing 2lb a day. Today I walked 6 miles and just weighed myself it says I have put on 3lb!!

    I'm not an expert, but I don't think you could possibly be losing 2 pounds per day. Given the -2 per day, +3 one weigh-in, you're still losing weight, right? How accurate is the Wii Fit as a scale? I don't really know how that works.

    Don't get discouraged, tracking calories in and calories out can be daunting at first, but with the right tools, you can do this!

    The body can fluctuate up to 5 lbs in a day. First, 2 lbs a day is a major loss rate. The recommended loss rate is 2 lbs a week. If this is your first week of a calorie deficit and long exercise, then you are probably losing a bit of water weight. This will slow down in the next few days. Weighing on the Wii fit may be an issue of accuracy, especially if you are not weighing on a hard surface.

    Weight loss is about a trend, not day to day weight. Many people do better weighing once or twice a week since the numbers can become overwhelming if it is day to day. If you want to continue weighing every day, pick one day a week as your "tracking" number. Only log this number each week and watch for the downward trend. Weight loss is not linear. You will most likely not lose every single week, but in the long run you will get to where you want. Be patient with the process and keep doing what you need to do.
  • dmarshall87
    dmarshall87 Posts: 6
    Thank you all! - I will give it a week or so and then weigh myself properly!

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