2-3 wks of consistent diet & exercise - I gained weight?!

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ezizabef
ezizabef Posts: 5
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

I am new to MFP, but I have been tracking all of my diet and exercise through another app for the last three weeks. I am a 29 year old female, 5'10 and 148 lbs. I have a desk job, but I do exercise 6 days a week for about 45 minutes (usually through vigorous dog walks or kettle bell training, but I started doing the Daily Burn TBT training about a week ago). I aim to eat 1200 calories NET - I track every single thing I consume, and weigh/measure too. I don't know exact calories burned, but I never log that I burn more than 100-150 for the 45 min workouts. I also try to drink about 6 glasses of water a day and I don't drink soda (usually stick to iced tea, water, and a glass of milk or orange juice in the morning).

The problem I am seeing is that I have gained 2-3 pounds since I started my diet and exercise plan three weeks ago. I am exercising more and eating less and I went from maintaining to gaining? I don't understand what I am doing wrong or what I should be doing to get the scale to go in the right direction. I have read similar posts and people suggest that the calories may be too low, but my BMR is about 1500 so I don't think 1200 NET is crazy. I thought I may be retaining weight, but the scale has not dipped in all of the three weeks, so I'm doubting the water weight theory.

I am happy to be eating better and exercising more and don't plan to stop, but I have a vacation in a month and was really hoping to tone up and drop about 5-6 pounds in the 6-7 weeks I had until the vacation and now I am gaining weight which is bumming me out.

Any ideas as to what I am missing here?

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    Open your diary.
  • jnv7594
    jnv7594 Posts: 983 Member
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    I'm having the same issue. I have tracked everything religiously. I exercise at LEAST 5 times a week. And I am staying within my caloric, fat, etc. limits and eating as healthy as possible. In fact, I increased what i was eating a few weeks ago because I was only hitting about 1300 calories a day instead of closer to 1500. Many people have said if you eat too little it can stall weight loss. And I have a substantial amount of weight to lose...about 90 pounds. At any rate, I have been steadily gaining weight the past couple of weeks. I'm seriously about one gained pound away from giving up. Good luck to you. Hopefully someone can give you some answers.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    5'10 and 148 is a very healthy weight. Losing weight is difficult and slow when you're already in a healthy weight range.

    Are you meticulously tracking and determining both your calories in and calories spent? Because you have a much smaller window for even minor discrepancies.
    I am happy to be eating better and exercising more and don't plan to stop, but I have a vacation in a month and was really hoping to tone up and drop about 5-6 pounds in the 6-7 weeks I had until the vacation and now I am gaining weight which is bumming me out.

    Again - being that you are already a healthy weight, I think your goals are far too aggressive and likely unattainable.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
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    Are you weighing everything you eat to make sure your portions are correct? Also, remember that water weight and time of cycle is a big factor for many cycling women. A single salty meal can also affect your weight by 2 to 5 pounds in water weight easily.
  • jasonmh630
    jasonmh630 Posts: 2,850 Member
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    You should be basing your calorie deficit on your TDEE number, instead of BMR. Your BMR is the amount of calories your body needs if you were, say, in a coma. It's the number your body needs just to exist. Your TDEE is your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, which takes into account your movement and/or exercise for the day. Take THAT number and subtract between 15-20%. But at your height/age/weight, you're ALREADY at a healthy weight... So weight loss will already be difficult since you're in that range already.
  • ezizabef
    ezizabef Posts: 5
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    I completely understand, I'm just worried I am going to keep gaining even though I'm eating less and exercising. I have been very good about tracking the calories I consume. I will weigh and measure all of my portions and don't I don't snack or have a bite of this or that, but in the event I do, I always track it. When it comes to tracking exercise I don't know how many calories I am burning, but I do workout pretty hard for 45 minutes straight 6 days a week and usually just say 100-150 calories burned.

    I wouldn't be upset if I kept up with this and didn't see much downward movement on the scale, but it's the upward movement that has me nervous.

    BTW, thank you all for responding so quickly!
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    Most people don't realize that it's normal for your weight to fluctuate quite a bit. Were you weighing yourself on a weekly basis before you started making changes? Most people don't, so they weigh in on day 1, call that their starting weight and assume that it's static, but that could've been on the low end of a fluctuation.
  • ezizabef
    ezizabef Posts: 5
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    Most people don't realize that it's normal for your weight to fluctuate quite a bit. Were you weighing yourself on a weekly basis before you started making changes? Most people don't, so they weigh in on day 1, call that their starting weight and assume that it's static, but that could've been on the low end of a fluctuation.

    I thought about that, too; however, I've always weighed myself regularly (about 4 times a week). I heard that I should weigh myself once a week on the same day of the week and before I eat breakfast, but I just keep weighing myself everyday now just hoping the the gain will come back off!
  • princesskjr
    princesskjr Posts: 16 Member
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    Hi,

    Maybe your creating muscle? Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be a possibility.

    How often do you weigh? There are so many different factors as to why you've gained weight but dont let them get you down,

    Keep going and im sure that the weight will come off
  • ezizabef
    ezizabef Posts: 5
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    Hi,

    Maybe your creating muscle? Muscle weighs more than fat so that could be a possibility.

    How often do you weigh? There are so many different factors as to why you've gained weight but dont let them get you down,

    Keep going and im sure that the weight will come off

    I'm hoping some of the gain is coming from my muscles repairing themselves and retaining water. I have been working out and most days I end up pretty sore, so I'm just crossing my fingers that it is some water weight from those muscles. I doubt it's from my muscles getting much bigger/denser--they might be sore but I can't imagine they've gained 2-3 lbs from a couple weeks of working out.

    I appreciate the encouragement, I have to keep telling myself exactly what you said!
  • shabaity
    shabaity Posts: 791 Member
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    You can fluctuate up 4-5 lbs in a day. I ended up with doms the other days and was up 2 lbs.
  • ezizabef
    ezizabef Posts: 5
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    You can fluctuate up 4-5 lbs in a day. I ended up with doms the other days and was up 2 lbs.

    It's been the same weight for the last few days, which is why I'm worried about the gain.

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