Gaining Weight

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LadyFlexible
LadyFlexible Posts: 108 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm trying to get back into tracking. I keep gaining though! I was 192 but now I'm in the 200lbs. I'm getting frustrated and scared. :cold_sweat: I try to exercise more than I eat but it seems so hopeless.

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  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Okay, when people talk about burning more than they eat you also have to take into account all of the calories your body burns every day just by being alive. Are you trying to exercise off every calorie that you eat, because that would make anyone frustrated!

    Opening your diary or talking a little more about your specific routine might help, but set your MFP profile up and follow the plan that it gives you, including eating back a portion of the extra calories it adds when you exercise.

    These are a couple of really great threads for people to get started with. Maybe you've seen them already, but I thought they might be useful:
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1235566/so-youre-new-here
  • LadyFlexible
    LadyFlexible Posts: 108 Member
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    I'm trying to make my deficit. I'll also look at those links after I'm done looking at my settings.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    LadyFlexible wrote: »
    I'm trying to make my deficit. I'll also look at those links after I'm done looking at my settings.

    MFP already sets your calorie goal with the deficit built in. When you exercise you're making it larger, possibly larger than your body wants to handle safely. You could eat at MFP's calorie recommendations and still lose weight without exercise if you wanted to. So don't get bogged down by trying to burn too many calories every day.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    If you're exercising like a fiend :) it's possible that your muscles are holding onto a lot of water to repair themselves. We should be taking one rest day each week so this repair can happen. Take a day off from exercising today or tomorrow and use it to focus more on your eating. Losing weight is 80% food intake and 20% exercise. You can lose weight without any exercise at all. I started out that way before I decided to walk more then eventually started running.

    Are you logging absolutely everything you eat and drink? Are you staying close to MFP's net calorie goal for you? (The deficit is already built in to your goal so you'll get more calories each day the more you exercise). Are you using a kitchen scale to weigh (preferred) or at least measuring everything you eat? Portion sizes are often much smaller than we think they are. Restaurant portions are the worst of all.

    Most of all, take a deep breath and try to relax. Those links should help to explain things a bit. We're here if you still have questions.
  • LadyFlexible
    LadyFlexible Posts: 108 Member
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    I will admit I am extremely guilty of not logging everything because I have a bad habit of grazing. I try to take the weekends off so I can repair. I drink water often. I'll have to look at my net calorie goals again. I've been eating out so I might be eating more than I should...Other than drinking water, how do you overcome a grazing problem?
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I am a grazer by habit, too. I would rather snack all day than sit down and eat a big meal. Pre-planning my food for the day helps, especially my nighttime snack. Forcing myself to actually log what I'm eating helps, too. If I know I need to log that Oreo I want to take out of the pantry then I'm less likely to take the Oreo, if you know what I mean. I also pre-measure a lot of my snacks into single serving sizes when I bring them home. Rather than take the giant Costco bag of Pirate's Booty to the sofa and eat out of it mindlessly for 2 hours while watching TV I take the single serving I've measured out earlier and when I'm done, I'm done. It makes me eat more slowly since I'm mindful that there's a finite amount and I know exactly how much I've eaten for logging purposes.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    Why are you frustrated and what is scary?
  • Tilran
    Tilran Posts: 626 Member
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    Make it a habit to log everything....you say you are guilty of not logging at times....well fix it. You can't expect a calorie counting method to work for you, if you don't actually count the calories. Every single bite, you need to track....and I bet you'll find out why the weight isn't coming off.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    Kalikel wrote: »
    Why are you frustrated and what is scary?

    This.

    Lady F,

    Weigh you food, log all you eat, and stay in your calorie goals, and you will lose weight.

    Also, just know that the weight loss journey is amazing.

  • LadyFlexible
    LadyFlexible Posts: 108 Member
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    The sudden massive weight gain especially after I was doing good maintaining weight.
  • mamaj825
    mamaj825 Posts: 1
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    I need help as well! I have gained 10 pounds in a month. It doesn't make any sense. I am in my 4th week of yoga, my 3rd week of zumba. I try to do each twice a week. I have limited bread, potatoes and pasta (previously at some of each at each meal). Today I weighed more than I have ever at any time in my life! I have been feeling so great working out, I was actually looking forward to weighing! I was so bummed - I went and ate ice cream and bread pudding this afternoon....Help!
    -
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    mamaj825 wrote: »
    I need help as well! I have gained 10 pounds in a month. It doesn't make any sense. I am in my 4th week of yoga, my 3rd week of zumba. I try to do each twice a week. I have limited bread, potatoes and pasta (previously at some of each at each meal). Today I weighed more than I have ever at any time in my life! I have been feeling so great working out, I was actually looking forward to weighing! I was so bummed - I went and ate ice cream and bread pudding this afternoon....Help!
    -

    Doesn't matter if you limit those foods. What matters is if you're in a deficit or not. If your body is burning more than you are feeding it. You could lose weight eating tacos and ice cream and gain weight eating salad. Weigh all your solid food and log consistently.
  • mrsdenno82
    mrsdenno82 Posts: 13
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    mamaj825 wrote: »
    I need help as well! I have gained 10 pounds in a month. It doesn't make any sense. I am in my 4th week of yoga, my 3rd week of zumba. I try to do each twice a week. I have limited bread, potatoes and pasta (previously at some of each at each meal). Today I weighed more than I have ever at any time in my life! I have been feeling so great working out, I was actually looking forward to weighing! I was so bummed - I went and ate ice cream and bread pudding this afternoon....Help!
    -

    Why are you, and OP, not READING what is being posted? "Trying to limit", "eating clean", "cutting out potatoes" does NOT mean you will lose weight. If you cut out bread and eat 3,000 calories worth of pudding, turkey and soda.. you are going to gain weight. You have to track your calories IN and have more going OUT than IN.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    LadyFlexible wrote: »
    The sudden massive weight gain especially after I was doing good maintaining weight.

    And you gained weight because you ate too much right?

  • LadyFlexible
    LadyFlexible Posts: 108 Member
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    Yes. I didn't expect to in such short time
    mrs.denno82, I am reading.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    mamaj825 wrote: »
    I need help as well! I have gained 10 pounds in a month. It doesn't make any sense. I am in my 4th week of yoga, my 3rd week of zumba. I try to do each twice a week. I have limited bread, potatoes and pasta (previously at some of each at each meal). Today I weighed more than I have ever at any time in my life! I have been feeling so great working out, I was actually looking forward to weighing! I was so bummed - I went and ate ice cream and bread pudding this afternoon....Help!
    -

    Others have pretty much covered it, but let's start here: Are you logging your food and staying within your calorie goals?

    If so, are you estimating or eyeballing any of your portion sizes? It's really easy to underestimate how much you're eating if it's not being measured or weighed. A food scale would be ideal but anything is better than eyeballing.

    If you're tracking your calories and staying within your goals and measuring all of your portion sizes correctly, then we go to the added exercise calories that MFP add. Are you eating any of those back? If so, what method are you using to estimate how much you burn? MFP and gym machine readouts have a tendency to be a little too optimistic with their burns. You may be eating back more calories than you're actually burning. Try cutting those back to something like 50-75%.

    If you've done all of that and you're still gaining weight (after giving your body time to adjust to new routines, which it sounds like you've done) then you either need to double-check that your goals are set correctly or make sure that there aren't any medical conditions that are complicating your weight loss.

    Does that answer your question?

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