Can't stop gaining weight?

karajf0413
karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

Over the last year I had managed to lose about 12 pounds, by eating around 1700 calories a day plus running 3-4 times a week. Since the end of January, with no change to my diet or exercise routine, I managed to gain back all of this weight. I'm not eating a calorie surplus, so I don't see how I can gain this all back, and obviously 12 pounds can't be "water weight". I'm also fairly certain most of it is not muscle. I'm beginning to suspect I might have a thyroid condition because I'm experiencing some of the other conditions of that besides weight gain. Anybody have any experience with this? Or information on what I might be doing wrong?

My current stats are:
5'4"
150 pounds
27% body fat

Please and thank you :)

Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    well since your diary isn't open we can only guess really.

    But no it's not muscle...12lbs in muscle for a woman eating at a surplus and lifting heavy would take probably a good year if not more.

    If you open your diary it might be easier to say...but until that happens...

    Do you use a food scale?
    Do you eat exercise calories back? If so how are they calculated? and how many do you eat back?
  • karajf0413
    karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
    I don't currently have a food scale, I just try to do my best by eyeing it but I do usually measure out cups for portions sizes. I do eat my exercise calories back, but most of the time I only burn around 300 calories so it's not usually a huge addition for the day. More recently I haven't been eating as well as I had during the time I was gaining the most weight, which is weird because the weight gain has slowed down now even though I've been eating not nearly as cleanly.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Since the end of January, with no change to my diet or exercise routine, I managed to gain back all of this weight. I'm not eating a calorie surplus.
    Yes, you are. You're underestimating your food &/or overestimating your burns. Log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Weigh your food. 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

    I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost just like everybody else—by eating at a deficit. The only way to tell if you have a thyroid problem is blood tests.
  • karajf0413
    karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
    Well, you could be right about me underestimating, but the thing is that I was losing weight pretty consistently for awhile there. I'm still eating about the same amount of food and running the same amount of time, so I don't think it's necessarily an underestimation problem. It could still be true though. But if that were the case would it really be possible to gain a pound a week? That's how much I was gaining at one point. I don't think I can just underestimate to the point where I'm actually eating "3500" calories more than I should be in a week?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    When I first started with MFP I had 1380 net calories a day...should have resulted in 1lb a week weight loss...

    I was losing 1/2lb..so that means I was under estimating by 250 calories a day...and that was me being very very careful...exercising etc.

    Food scales are invaluable with tracking your intake.
  • karajf0413
    karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
    Okay, well thank you all for the advice. I'll definitely try to get a hold of a food scale so I can more accurately log my calories. :)
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    Over the last year I had managed to lose about 12 pounds, by eating around 1700 calories a day plus running 3-4 times a week. Since the end of January, with no change to my diet or exercise routine, I managed to gain back all of this weight.

    So here's my guess, especially if you never ran before. Your endurance has improved and, everything else being equal, you are probably burning fewer calories this year running the same distance as last year. Mathematically, especially if you haven't been wearing a heart rate monitor to check, this is my guess (and I've just made up some number to illustrate it)

    SW 150 lbs.
    Weight in Jan. 138, 12 lbs lost
    Average deficit for 2013 = 115 calories per day

    At the start of your running, you burned, let's say 400 calories running for 40 minutes. But now you only burn 250, because your body and muscles are more efficient, and you weighed a little less. That 115 calorie deficit is razor thin, if you aren't using a scale. If your TDEE has gone down because you are doing the same exercise you did a year and half ago, and you are eating just 150-200 calories more than you did last year, you can do the math and figure out how you're gaining now.

    Get a scale. Get a HRM. You'll do ok, promise. Good job losing before, you got this!
  • karajf0413
    karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
    Ah, yes I agree that is probably true. I don't have a heart rate monitor (I'm contemplating getting one) and I normally just go by what the treadmill or myfitnesspal says. Often, I use my average speed from the treadmill and just put that in for myfitnesspal for the amount of time I run. Normally it says around 250-300, but that's probably not very accurate. Thank you for pointing that out. :)
  • OkamiLavande
    OkamiLavande Posts: 336 Member
    Did you change your MFP goals since losing the 12 pounds? Your caloric needs and macros change a bit with every tend pounds lost so you may be eating more than you think because of that.
  • karajf0413
    karajf0413 Posts: 17 Member
    Yeah I did I think. I still ate around 1500-1700 calories a day though, instead of the like 1700-1900 I had been eating when I weighed more. It didn't make a really drastic difference on my BMR.
  • missabeez
    missabeez Posts: 280 Member
    I reccomend a food scale since it is cheap. Others may disagree, but I don't think a hrm is necessary. For me at 180, I have been putting in my running burns at about 100 cals per 15 mins. I used this site to calculate it and it seems decently accurate.

    http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/running-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

    Good luck!
  • lavendy17
    lavendy17 Posts: 309 Member
    I'm still eating about the same amount of food...

    You know, when you don't measure, and this happens to a lot of people, little by little the amounts creep up. Also here and there you may nosh on something and not write it down...

    We sometimes lose our discipline after we lose weight. Just refresh your routine and track accurately for a bit to see where you stand.

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