Counting calories, exercising, weight going up???

Papa_Swearingen
Papa_Swearingen Posts: 139 Member
edited September 26 in Health and Weight Loss
Yep that's right. I've been doing very well at counting my calories, staying under or within my calorie goal, running two miles at least 3 times a week, and I'm STILL at the same weight or fluctuating up. Thoughts? Reasons?

Thanks,
Matty

Replies

  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    Gaining muscle is my first thought. How are the measurements? Are your clothes looser?
  • jaymae22
    jaymae22 Posts: 8
    I'm haiveing the same issue. I started running and the ab belt a few days after I started dieting . At first I lost 8 pounds, which I'm assumong was water weight. But now nothing... Is it because of turning fat into muscle?
  • Melissaol
    Melissaol Posts: 948 Member
    You need to eat your exercise calories. It sounds funny, but its so true. Also drink alot your of water.
  • swest222
    swest222 Posts: 455 Member
    How's your sodium intake??
  • drizoun
    drizoun Posts: 1
    Maybe you can try cutting your carb intake... when I'm cutting weight I try to not eat any carbs after 5pm... this will allow your body to not store the excess carbs as fat overnight.. Also if its possible run in the AM before you eat. Your carb stores should be low and your workout will burn more fat. If you are starved when you wake up drink a protein shake (whey protein). It should fill you up, but will have limited carbs. This works for me. Let me know if this helps. Also don't weigh yourself everyday..stick with a plan and do it once a week. Weight is a very deceptive gauge for progress, because it fluctuates so rapidly, body fat % is a better judge of progress.
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    If you're talking more than a 2-3 of weeks without weight loss, check your sodium levels. Have you started a new exercise routine that may have cause injury? Both high sodium levels and mild injury cause you to retain water. Next I would say *really* check your calories and make sure that your database entries are correct. Check a few different sources for how many calories you've burned as well. A bad database entry that's 100 cals under can kill you if it's something you eat a couple of times a day. Couple that with calories burned being off and....well....yeah.

    "Starvation mode" is not good for you. You may be missing out on important nutrients in starvation mode. That being said (covering my butt :-D ) you WILL NOT stop losing weight for extended periods of time in starvation mode. Your rate of returns won't be as great over 2 lbs a week, but you don't stop losing weight. You *will* set yourself up for massive cravings and binging if you don't keep healthy emergency snacks on hand if you've been negative in calories for a while (and then you can adjust until you know how many calories your body is satisfied with while losing weight).

    I gained seven pounds in a few days because I ate holiday food this weekend. I didn't even go over my 1200 calories - and that's NOT including exercise (which I did about 40 min of cardio daily). I know it's from excess sodium and processed sugar. The sugar makes it harder to get a good workout (for me). It makes me tired and my form suffers - causing mild injury. The sodium stops my midnight bathroom run and I wake up all puffy, dry-mouthed and crusty-eyed. Not good. In a few days I know I'll be back where I was and fighting for more. Water, water, water...
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    Because the OP is male, I'm not going to go into great detail about TOM being an issue. Because one of you that did "me too" was female...

    ...(look up what TOM does for weight loss :-D )
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    I have lots of thoughts on this, but you really didn't give us any information to go on. Just saying, what you said means very little. In order to give an informed opinion, we need as many facts as you can or are willing to provide. I'm talking specific numbers, don't be shy, give us every single number you can think of that might (how ever slightly) influence your weight. I mean, height, weight, age, activity level, exercise amounts, water levels, macronutrient breakdown, meal times, amount of sleep, any medical conditions, exercise types and schedule, quality of sleep, how you feel after exercise, how much water you drink...etc. it's all important.
  • NaturalQTat50
    NaturalQTat50 Posts: 1
    You've probably reached a plateau. There is something you are not giving your body that it needs i.e. food, exercise and you are going to have to figure out what that is. Change exercise routine. And also try changing the "Type" of food you are eating. I hope that hepls.
  • Lisa__Michelle
    Lisa__Michelle Posts: 845 Member
    I was going to try to help you but your food diary is not public so I can't give you any reasons from my opinion. Are you eating your exercise calories? Are you OVER estimating your exercise burn and then eat back more than you should... or vice versa and under estimating and under eating? Are you accurately weighing and measuring your portions of food? It's hard to say without being able to actually see.
  • AussieLaurelle
    AussieLaurelle Posts: 38 Member
    Please read this blog, it helped me understand the weight gain ( a few weeks late) so much and totally makes sense !

    http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan
  • Papa_Swearingen
    Papa_Swearingen Posts: 139 Member
    I've been counting cals for a few years now, so I don't think I'm making errors. My clothes don't really feel looser, so I'm thinking I'm taking in too much salt. Salt is so freaking hard to cut out of a low calorie diet! The foods that are low cal have no taste, so salt is added, the foods that are high calorie don't need the extra salt....( even though they are still probably loaded with salt)

    I try to drink at least a gallon of water a day. I'm bashful about my weight, even though I'm just a big guy, so probably not going to throw that out on a discussion board.



    Friend me if you like! Then you can see what's going on.
  • farmgirl88
    farmgirl88 Posts: 91 Member
    I've been counting cals for a few years now, so I don't think I'm making errors. My clothes don't really feel looser, so I'm thinking I'm taking in too much salt. Salt is so freaking hard to cut out of a low calorie diet! The foods that are low cal have no taste, so salt is added, the foods that are high calorie don't need the extra salt....( even though they are still probably loaded with salt)

    I try to drink at least a gallon of water a day. I'm bashful about my weight, even though I'm just a big guy, so probably not going to throw that out on a discussion board.



    Friend me if you like! Then you can see what's going on.

    Have you ever thought about going on a detox? Not something crazy like whatever that spicy lemonade thing is, but a raw vegetable and lean protein only detox. Forcing yourself to eat "plain" food (no salt, no sugar, no processed anything) for a few days helps to "reset" your tastebuds. I was able to kick my sugar addiction in less than 14 days and I was able to lower my sodium intake significantly. I never feel hungry and the pounds are peeling off (which is great because I had been at a plateau for over a month).
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    Take some time to learn to cook and you can nix a bunch of the salt laden processed stuffs. There's tons of flavor in herbs and spices. :-)
  • dlombard23
    dlombard23 Posts: 4
    A lot of people will tell you that it's muscle, but if you just started this workout/diet plan that's not what it is. When you exercise you increase your water intake. Your weight issue is most likely water weight and will stay that way until your body gets used to the increase in water that you are taking in.
  • Papa_Swearingen
    Papa_Swearingen Posts: 139 Member
    The article below fits my scenario. Yesterday I ran the farthest I'd ever run since high school (8 years ago). So maybe I'm experiencing the water retention deal. Also, combined with too much salt and I'm a recipe for the michelin man effect.

    Please read this blog, it helped me understand the weight gain ( a few weeks late) so much and totally makes sense !

    http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan
  • Papa_Swearingen
    Papa_Swearingen Posts: 139 Member
    Hey! I know how to cook! My wife thinks I should have been a chef :-)

    Take some time to learn to cook and you can nix a bunch of the salt laden processed stuffs. There's tons of flavor in herbs and spices. :-)
  • donicagalek
    donicagalek Posts: 526
    Hey! I know how to cook! My wife thinks I should have been a chef :-)

    Take some time to learn to cook and you can nix a bunch of the salt laden processed stuffs. There's tons of flavor in herbs and spices. :-)

    Then ditch all the extra salt, man! X-D The only one that wins from eating rocks is Charlie Sheen.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
    Seriously Brutus, if you want to talk about it, pm me. What your doing right now is guessing, and that's not good. As someone who's been helping people for a long time on MFP and someone who's spent a lot of time researching and studying nutrition, health, kinesiology, and bio-mechanics, I can help you figure out what your deal is, but in order to do that, we need to have a conversation with a lot more information in it. And If I can't figure it out, I know who to refer you to to help you (no, I'm not the end all of weight loss, I have people that I turn to when I'm stumped as well).

    Sometimes we all need help, if you want mine, just ask. Feel free to peruse my profile, it's public. I'm a certified personal trainer, an MFP member for 4 plus years, someone who lost quite a bit of weight (65 lbs all tolled) and has kept it off for quite some time, and I'm also a forum Moderator here on MFP, so you can at least trust that I'm not some jerk who's going to take your info and smear it around or do bad things with it.

    -Banks
  • kaytedawg05
    kaytedawg05 Posts: 209
    Hi Matty

    Sounds like muscle building. Take your measurements! Also, you can add some stationary biking! Using Heart Rate (HR) training methods, boosting your HR to 70-80% for a consistent 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, not only is excellent work out for your heart, but you put your metabolism into a certain high burning level into your fat storage.

    Also reduce your carbs and replace those calories w protein calories.

    The thing about the stationary bike is: you can immediately see ur HR, and you can set it to a quick start wo/hills for 30-40 minutes, and maintain an easy speed- just move up one level of difficulty to boost your HR, or swing your arms in "running mode" to really pump up the heart.

    Switching from bike to running will quickly increase your strength & endurance. You'll be running 5 miles before you know it.
    BEST WISHES!


    I'm not promoting ANY of the ads on this page, but here's some info
    http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,321 Member
    Unless we have more to go on it is pretty much impossible to help. We have no idea on how many calories you eat in a day, what they are made up of, or the like. It would be good to be able to see you food diary. How are you measuring your portions? A good digital kitchen scale is very helpful in this area. It is very easy to have extra calories build up through the day from little mistakes in measuring.

    As for exercise, running it good. Intervals are better. High Intensity Intervals are even better. I would also suggest looking into some sort of strength training. You don't need weight to start, you can do body weight exercises. For that matter using body weight exercises you can do Metabolic Resistance Training as well. I have some stuff on Metabolic Resistance Training on my blog here http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/rileysowner
  • dlombard23
    dlombard23 Posts: 4
    The article below fits my scenario. Yesterday I ran the farthest I'd ever run since high school (8 years ago). So maybe I'm experiencing the water retention deal. Also, combined with too much salt and I'm a recipe for the michelin man effect.

    Please read this blog, it helped me understand the weight gain ( a few weeks late) so much and totally makes sense !

    http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=why_the_scale_goes_up_when_you_start_a_new_workout_plan


    Exactly what I was talking about. Hang in there-it should only be temporary.
  • Papa_Swearingen
    Papa_Swearingen Posts: 139 Member
    Have you ever thought about going on a detox? Not something crazy like whatever that spicy lemonade thing is, but a raw vegetable and lean protein only detox. Forcing yourself to eat "plain" food (no salt, no sugar, no processed anything) for a few days helps to "reset" your tastebuds. I was able to kick my sugar addiction in less than 14 days and I was able to lower my sodium intake significantly. I never feel hungry and the pounds are peeling off (which is great because I had been at a plateau for over a month).
    [/quote]


    I'd be willing to try that! Can you layout a plan so I can get an idea?
  • DebbieMc3
    DebbieMc3 Posts: 289 Member
    Welcome to my world. In the last 16 days, I've gained almost 5 lbs.
    In the last few months, I'm only down 3 lbs yet dropped almost 2 clothing sizes.
    Don't worry about the number if you know that you are following your program properly and honestly.
  • jaymae22
    jaymae22 Posts: 8
    O.K. What does eating my exercise calories mean?
This discussion has been closed.

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