Increased calories and gained help !!

If you hit starvation mode, you slowed your metabolism down. You might continue to gain for a while before losing. Read this post to see what you can expect in readjusting:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/3047-700-calories-a-day-and-not-losing

What are your NET calories?

I would stay at the 1200 calories or eat your 1500 and exercise more. Most people on here eat their calories they burn, I think that is stupid, lol. I hope this helps, I'm kinda new to this. But my advice is really just DON'T EAT YOUR EXERCISe CALORIES!
Kim

When I plateau, I usually fast for 7- 12 days (master cleanse) to jump start my metabolism and kick cravings that I have. This might help.

But other than that, if you've been eating like you say you've been eating.... great job. Keep up the good work. Dont forget to love yourself in the process.

Initially when you add more cals the body will hold onto them because you were not feeding it right, do not lose hope, the problem you are encountering is not uncommon, I am helping a friend of mine lose weight and he has struggled for many years with it. We sat down and logged everything he ate for a week and he was starving his body from a nutrition standpoint. He openly said that its make or break for him, so I said ok then do exactly what I tell you to the letter and we will see what happens. The first 2 weeks he gained weight and was freaking out, but after that he dropped 5 pounds in 1 week, the first sign of weight loss. Then 5 the next week. He had already lost anything he had previously gained. All I changed was that he now eats a big breakfast, and more veggies in his diet. He can still have the treats but he has to earn them. 3 workouts a week with metabolic resistance training and proper diet is now his regimen and he is loving it. I told him that it was going to be hard on purpose so that when he found it easy he would be encouraged. So try to look at your diet from a nutrition stand point and not just a cal stand point and make the body work with you and not against you. The old adage of eat less and work hard do not always apply.

I would stay at the 1200 calories or eat your 1500 and exercise more. Most people on here eat their calories they burn, I think that is stupid, lol. I hope this helps, I'm kinda new to this. But my advice is really just DON'T EAT YOUR EXERCISe CALORIES!
Kim

If you understood how MFP works, you wouldn't be saying this. I've eaten most of my exercise calories consistently and am successfully losing weight, as are many others.

MFP estimates how many calories you need to lose your desired weight WITHOUT EXERCISE included - that's your normal daily goal. When you exercise, you burn even more calories, but since MFP has already given you the deficit you need to lose weight, you need to eat most of those calories back to keep your body fueled properly. It's not healthy or safe to try to have as high of a deficit as possible. Especially if you're doing a lot of exercise, you're not doing yourself any favors running on very little net calories.

Believe me it's not stupid to eat your exercise calories. I have been doing this for a bit and I have tried it both ways. When I first started I didn't eat my exercise calories and for the first few weeks I dropped weight really fast and then I hit my wall. My body stopped burning as fast and then stopped burning the fat all together and to make things worse My body burned muscle the whole time I was losing at first because I wasn't eating enough. I worked out 6 days a week and burned between 500-600 calories so my net calories for the day was around 600 calories for an entire day. My body needed more calories to burn and since I didin't give it enough it started burning muscle. So 13lbs I lost in the beginning was almost pure muscle I burned.

I then started to eat my exercise calories since I saw that folks suggested it and the first week I gained weight but then realized that because my body had slowed down so much from the crap I did to it in the beginning and not feeding enough that it had to adjust to the larger amount of calories I was giving it. After that first week of eating my exercise calories I began to drop 1/2 lbs every 3-4 days that averaged out to about 2 lbs a week and I am still to this day averaging that amount and still eating my exercise calories.

Give your body time to adjust and then you can judge, but it's only been a week. Then you'll know for sure it isn't working but don't just go by what others say, you have to try it and see what works for you.

Deb,

That is not uncommon. There are a couple of things that could be causing this:

1) Are you exercising? If you were eating 1200 calories each day but you were exercising, then you actually were not meeting your net calories for the day and your body was probably in starvation mode all this time. That would certainly account for your weight gain. Your body will absolutely gain weight at first and then it will drop.

2) What has your sodium intake been like for the past week? If your intake has been incredibly high and you haven't been meeting and/or exceeding your water goal, then that could be causing you to hold onto water weight.

3) You just changed your diet. It's actually okay to gain some weight when you make a major change to your eating habits! No REALLY, it IS okay!!! And YES, adding 300 calories per day is a MAJOR change to your diet! That's 2100 calories per week. Your body needs about 3 weeks to adjust to that new amount of food. You are most likely just holding onto the calories while your body figures out what the heck to do with them. Remember, you were eating 1200 calories per day for SEVEN months! Anybody's body would go "Whoa! What's this?!" for the first little bit.

4) What kinds of foods are you eating? Remember dear, we are what we eat. And even if you eat 1200 calories per day, if it's all poor foods--processed foods, fast food, cakes, cookies, etc...you're going to find that you won't be losing weight. And especially if you add back that 2100 per week and you're eating all of that everyday, you will see a weight gain.

BUT...

Most likely you are experiencing #3. And you need to give your body time to adjust. Don't feel bad. And remember, the SCALE does not determine how fit you are or how healthy you are. Pay more attention to your clothes and to the way you actually LOOK as opposed to what that scale says.

And don't forget these tips:

1) Don't weigh yourself within three days of eating a major meal of red meat. Red meat stays in the system for up to 3 days. And seriously...think about it...if you eat a 16 oz. steak every day for three days...that's 3 pounds!!! (grams actually matters more, but just roll with me on that one)

2) Poke your "fatty" area before you freak out. Look at the way your skin reacts. Does it bounce right back or does it make a slight impression first? That difference can tell you whether you're bloated from water or fat growth. I believe that if it bounces right back it's fat. And if it makes a slight impression first, it's water. You better google that though. And remember, that's not exactly a scientific test. It's just one way to help you measure.

3) Shrug it off and go for a jog. I am willing to bet that if you go ahead and go for a jog for 30 minutes 3x, you'll drop some of that weight pretty quickly.

4) Drink MORE water. Try drinking the equivalent of your weight in ounces of water for a few days. For instance, I weigh 171.1 pounds. Therefore I should drink 171.1 ounces of water. Which equates to = 21.5 glasses of water. Yep, that's right! That's A LOT of water. but really. You should try it. You might be surprised at what it can do. BUT REMEMBER, if you are NOT physically active, you should absolutely NOT do this for more than about 2-3 days or you could achieve water toxicity. And nobody wants that. If you are physically active, you will notice the difference in your energy but it won't be a risk factor.


Anywho, I hope that helps!

I would stay at the 1200 calories or eat your 1500 and exercise more. Most people on here eat their calories they burn, I think that is stupid, lol. I hope this helps, I'm kinda new to this. But my advice is really just DON'T EAT YOUR EXERCISe CALORIES!
Kim

Kim...I am very concerned for you. I am always concerned when I hear someone say that it is "stupid to eat back exercise calories". Your body needs a minimum of 1200 calories per day just to survive. When you burn calories exercising, your body burns more energy and needs more calories to survive. It may slow down the rate of weight loss, but it works and it helps people to maintain a healthy lifestyle for the rest of their lives.

It is also actually proven by medical science that if you do not eat your exercise calories back, then you are 90% more likely than people who do eat their exercise calories to gain all of the weight back within 6 months - 1 year. From the studies I've read (about 12 different ones), those who do not eat back their exercise calories are also likely to experience anywhere from a 5% to 20% gain on top of their original weight. And it is much more difficult to lose every time you go through this type of process.

I'm not saying this to be a jerk or to stand on a soapbox. I genuinely want everyone I've encountered on MFP to enjoy a healthy, happy life. And to be able to lose weight and look the way they want to look and to not have to diet forever. So I just hope you will take a moment to consider the future and not the immediate response and really give the option of eating those calories another go.

Thats not necessarily true for everyone,ive had not netted 1200 in over a year.not everyone is built exactly the same,not everyones bodys work exactly the same.everybodys diffrent.and while my circumstances are unusal i know i can not be the only one who manages just fine with low calories.Oh and during the time pierod that i stopped exercise and tracking calories i never gained a pound of the 35 i had lost at that time back.

Not really trying to start a debate - you don't say how low you go, which makes a difference, but just want to point out that "managing just fine" with low calories is not necessarily the same as eating the quantity and quality that is needed for optimal body functioning. Sometimes people don't realize that things could be better because they've been eating/living a certain way for so long. I do not believe that ANYONE can *optimally* run on really low net calories unless they are particularly (abnormally) small or have a metabolic (or some other) syndrome/problem that causes their body to work differently than most.

Thats not necessarily true for everyone,ive had not netted 1200 in over a year.not everyone is built exactly the same,not everyones bodys work exactly the same.everybodys diffrent.and while my circumstances are unusal i know i can not be the only one who manages just fine with low calories.Oh and during the time pierod that i stopped exercise and tracking calories i never gained a pound of the 35 i had lost at that time back.

Not really trying to start a debate - you don't say how low you go, which makes a difference, but just want to point out that "managing just fine" with low calories is not necessarily the same as eating the quantity and quality that is needed for optimal body functioning. Sometimes people don't realize that things could be better because they've been eating/living a certain way for so long. I do not believe that ANYONE can *optimally* run on really low net calories unless they are particularly (abnormally) small or have a metabolic (or some other) syndrome/problem that causes their body to work differently than most.

My net on any given day can be between 600 and 900 sometimes 1000.My body works just fine Ive have more energy than I ever have im stronger than i ever was.My hairs not falling out i am not dieting or restricting myself in anyway.My net is always that low has been since i started tracking calories a year ago.the only days i ever hit 1200 or more net are on special occassion type situations.im 5'6 btw