Why am I gaining back every lb I lose?
lohkin
Posts: 43 Member
I started using mfp 25 days ago, with a starting weight of 164lbs (only 10lbs less than what I weighed on my last day of pregnancy 7.5 years ago). I am 4'10" tall. I have been eating approx. 1100/1200 calories per day and exercising lightly several times per week (walking). At least once per week I exercise more vigorously (~300 cals burned). Over the last month, I've made major improvements to the types and amounts of food I eat, much to the irritation and mockery of my husband.
So why do my scale and measurements keep reverting back to my starting point? Every single pound I lose, I gain back almost immediately. I have made no progress and it has been a month. The app keeps telling me I should weigh 153 by now! It is such a blow to my motivation.
My goal is 140. I know I need to start increasing my exercise output, and that this is a long term commitment. But I am so incredibly discouraged by the lack of any progress resulting from my diet change that I can't imagine how additional exercise is going to make any difference.
What else do I need to do differently to make this work?
So why do my scale and measurements keep reverting back to my starting point? Every single pound I lose, I gain back almost immediately. I have made no progress and it has been a month. The app keeps telling me I should weigh 153 by now! It is such a blow to my motivation.
My goal is 140. I know I need to start increasing my exercise output, and that this is a long term commitment. But I am so incredibly discouraged by the lack of any progress resulting from my diet change that I can't imagine how additional exercise is going to make any difference.
What else do I need to do differently to make this work?
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Replies
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Are you weighing your food? It can be easy to under estimate your cals...0
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Are you drinking enough water? Your weight gain could just be water retention.0
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Have you calaculated your deficit properly?
Are you weighing and logging all your food. You say you are estimating.
It sounds like you are just eating ay maintenance and the fluctuations are simply the natural ones of your body. You can eat better food but still have no deficit.
Exercise cna make a difference if you have a good crack at it and do enough. Its much harder to lose weight via exercise than it is simply by cutting the deficit, but it has other advantages. Dint get wound up about exercise, just walk a little further each day until you are ready and want to do soemthing different.0 -
more than light walking? if youve been doing light walking for a whole month, it might be time to amp it up.0
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Hi - yes, I drink approximately 16-20 cups of water per day but don't always track it.morgiee_lynne wrote: »Are you drinking enough water? Your weight gain could just be water retention.
Hi - I do use measuring cups for my foods and eat pre-portioned foods with barcodes, etc.LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »You need to weight ALL solid foods and measure ALL liquids. That's the only way you will know if you're overeating (which it sounds like you are).
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do you stop and grab a tasty beverage everyday?0
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Just curious, can someone explain to me the reasons of weighing your food and what exactly the relationship to weight loss is in measuring your food? I'm kind of new to all of this, and want some input from the experts
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If you're not losing weight, then the 2 main issues are:
You have a hormonal issue you're not aware of.
You're eating more calories than your body needs. 90% of the time people overestimate how much they are really eating by either incorrect measurements, overestimation of calories burned, or flat out not logging EVERYTHING they are eating.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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underestimate how much they are really eating*0
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oh i didnt mean fast food - there's nothing wrong with that at all. but that's good that you are tightening where you see fit. I was thinking more along the lines of grabbing a juice or a tea on your walk home kinda thing. That can add 3-400 calories to your day if you add up all the servings in a bottle
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Just curious, can someone explain to me the reasons of weighing your food and what exactly the relationship to weight loss is in measuring your food? I'm kind of new to all of this, and want some input from the experts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY 0 -
LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »exercise doesn't make you lose weight, eating at a caloric deficit makes you lose weight.
Think youll find exercise burns calories which will contribute towards a weight loss. The calorific deficit doesnt have to come from eating, it just has to exist and could do so from exercise alone i.e eat at maintenance and exercise burning 500 calories a day.0 -
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LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »exercise doesn't make you lose weight, eating at a caloric deficit makes you lose weight.
Exercising gives you a caloric deficit.
Not everyone on this site just wants a number on the scale that can be reached through diet alone.
Some people want to look nice and be strong as well :flowerforyou:
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LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »
Hi - yes, I drink approximately 16-20 cups of water per day but don't always track it.morgiee_lynne wrote: »Are you drinking enough water? Your weight gain could just be water retention.
Hi - I do use measuring cups for my foods and eat pre-portioned foods with barcodes, etc.LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »You need to weight ALL solid foods and measure ALL liquids. That's the only way you will know if you're overeating (which it sounds like you are).
you actually need to WEIGH them on a food scale. Measuring cups vary...sometimes quite a lot.
+1 for this. Watch this video.. says it all really!
Edit: Dang! Someone posted the video before me!0 -
True, but I'm betting most people overestimate how many calories they are really burning through exercise.LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »exercise doesn't make you lose weight, eating at a caloric deficit makes you lose weight.
Think youll find exercise burns calories which will contribute towards a weight loss. The calorific deficit doesnt have to come from eating, it just has to exist and could do so from exercise alone i.e eat at maintenance and exercise burning 500 calories a day.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Thank you, Ninerbluff, for your helpful suggestion there might be something hormonal to investigate. I do have an IUD that could be preventing any progress. I had not consciously considered that before now.
And, now I will go eat my carrots, celery sticks and 120 calorie hummus cup for lunch
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Thank you, Ninerbluff, for your helpful suggestion there might be something hormonal to investigate.
Ugh, WTG ninerbuff. For the record, hormonal issues can certainly affect weight loss but they won't completely stop it.
OP, you've only been doing MFP for 3 weeks and you said that every pound you lose you immediately gain back. The most likely scenario is that you're not actually losing any fat, but simply watching your weight naturally fluctuate with water retention. As other posters have mentioned, you probably should consider actually weighing foods and also exercising at a higher intensity level (especially intervals).
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My calorie intake everyday is:
Breakfast = Around 500
Lunch = Around 700
Dinner = Around 300
Snack = 100 (2 50 calorie apples after workout and after dinner if I'm still hungry)
And I do a bunch of youtube 30 minute exercises that I think burns 200+ calories
That all and I'm currently loosing atleast .7kg-1kg a week.
I drink 0 calorie coffee or so I think so I don't include it.
I agree with them, If you're not losing anything you're either miscalculating your calorie intake or you have a metabolism problem of some sort, I suggest experimenting for a week with a proven 1,200 calorie a day plan (you could get recipes from the net) or 1,500 with exercise and check after a week if you just miscalculated your previous plan and if it doesn't work, I think you should see a doctor.0 -
LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »exercise doesn't make you lose weight, eating at a caloric deficit makes you lose weight.
Think youll find exercise burns calories which will contribute towards a weight loss. The calorific deficit doesnt have to come from eating, it just has to exist and could do so from exercise alone i.e eat at maintenance and exercise burning 500 calories a day.
it may help...but people still have to eat at a deficit. You can exercise but not have a deficit and gain weight.
You can eat at maintenance i.e no deficit, but if you are exercising, then that will create a deficit and you will lose weight.0 -
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True, but I'm betting most people overestimate how many calories they are really burning through exercise.LiveLaughLoveEat1 wrote: »exercise doesn't make you lose weight, eating at a caloric deficit makes you lose weight.
Think youll find exercise burns calories which will contribute towards a weight loss. The calorific deficit doesnt have to come from eating, it just has to exist and could do so from exercise alone i.e eat at maintenance and exercise burning 500 calories a day.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
But thats a completely different issue and not one being discussed. the question was do you have to be eating at a deficit to lose weight and my answer was no, being at a deficit is enough and that could come from exercise. You would have to measure to see.0 -
Just curious, can someone explain to me the reasons of weighing your food and what exactly the relationship to weight loss is in measuring your food? I'm kind of new to all of this, and want some input from the expertshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
Thank you for this! Very helpful and interesting!0 -
An IUD will not prevent weight loss. It's MUCH more likely that you are inaccurate in how you count your calories. I'm not saying you're lying...I'm saying you might be shocked when you weigh your food instead of measuring it.0
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