How could I possibly be gaining weight

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ek0513
ek0513 Posts: 147 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been tracking calories for a year now and have lost 35 lbs doing this. I still have a good 25 lbs left to lose. For the last 4 months I have not lost any pounds, in fact gain 5. I have been keeping my calorie level at 1200, so I just don't know how I could actually be gaining weight. I'm wondering if this happened with anyone else, and if there's suggestions/advice on how to start losing again that would be greatly appreciated
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Replies

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    how long have you been eating 1200 calories for?

    do you own a food scale? do you weigh, log measure all your food? Do you eat back exercise calories?
  • mlheideman
    mlheideman Posts: 42 Member
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    You're not eating enough.
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
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    mlheideman wrote: »
    You're not eating enough.

    Funny. :)
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    Have you taken a diet break in the past year?
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
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    mlheideman wrote: »
    You're not eating enough.

    Nope.
  • ek0513
    ek0513 Posts: 147 Member
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    arditarose wrote: »
    Have you taken a diet break in the past year?
    No I've been steadily focuses on losing weight and I am usually very precise in tracking everything I put into my body
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    It's possible that you're not really eating 1200 calories, but that this whole time what you thought was 1200 calories is actually more than that, like 1500 or 1600. For the first 35lbs maybe that didn't matter, because it was still low enough that you could lose weight. But now that you're smaller and using less energy, the discrepancy is starting to matter.
    • Do you weigh everything you eat before you log it?
    • Are you ever using "generic" or other general database entries?
    • Are you targeting 1200 gross or 1200 net calories (i.e. are you eating back exercise calories on top of the 1200)? If so, are you maybe overestimating your exercise burns?
    • What's your current height/weight/age?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    ek0513 wrote: »
    arditarose wrote: »
    Have you taken a diet break in the past year?
    No I've been steadily focuses on losing weight and I am usually very precise in tracking everything I put into my body

    And like ndj asked, weighing everything?
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    (diet breaks are not bad things)
  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
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    Just took a quick peek at your diary, and my first thoughts were:

    1. You eat a lot of crap. Not a lot of calories, but a lot of really processed stuff and fast food. Yes, a calorie is a calorie, but good nutrition is important.

    2. I don't know what you're doing for exercise, but it's unlikely that you burned precisely 978 calories 3 days in a row from exercise. Are you using the calorie burns on MFP? Estimates from gym machines? Both are generally too high, so you may be eating back calories you didn't actually burn.

    3. Do you drink enough water?

  • ek0513
    ek0513 Posts: 147 Member
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    I don't weigh my food since I don't have a food scale, and I don't think that I am overestimating calories burned, I even think sometimes I underestimate that. I had an extremely active job in the summer where I was on my feet being physically active for 8 hours a day, and I don't think I was eating nearly enough for how much I was doing. Do you think this could have slowed my weight loss down? Also is it possible that I was just gaining muscle and thats why I didn't lose much these last few months. Also I'm 5'4" and weigh 155 lbs
  • ovinas1
    ovinas1 Posts: 413 Member
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    its happens to me also and I only eat between 1500 and 1700 per day. Your body adapts. What I do is completely change my diet. I go on a 20 gram carb max per day diet for at least a month and my body goes in Ketosis. That drops me 10 pounds in a month.
    Then I just go back gradually to Carbs(no more than 80 grams per day).

    Im not an expert this is only my opinion.(so dont everybody else kill me for it)
  • kellycasey5
    kellycasey5 Posts: 486 Member
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    How much do you weigh? How realistic is your goal? How active are you? How accurately do you log your intake? I am guessing 1200 calories is extreme for you.... I am doing a bit over 1200 and am basically housebound and very inactive minus walking a few blocks and 30 minutes on my bike. When my activity increases my doctor says I need to be around 1400-1600 calories, even for weight loss, and feels that 1200 calories is not realistic or maintainable and in the long run will likely result in me gaining weight. Gosh....totally harsh but then again his goal is to get me healthy and I trust him. I am also desperate as my weight has skyrocketed due to illness, depression, and eating fast food so I aim to stay at 1200 for month, at least until I hit 170. I am trying it anyways against his advice, but agree most days I would be happier at around 1400 in terms of fullness and energy for exercise, and would not do this long term.

    I think you likely need to increase your calories, and maybe your activity, but again, REALLY hard to tell without an open diary to see what you are doing. You may need to readjust your goals on your profile, as you have lost quite a bit of weight as well as possibly changed your activity level. I think 1200 is too low, especially for a year, and even more so if you log perfectly and exercise. Just my two cents. Others could help you more if you open your diary and exercise logs, and your weight.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
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    You're eating too much and you're most likely not burning as much as you think. I see things in your diary like 2 oz of fettuccini...Since you didn't weigh it, your 200 calories could be way off. Plus, did you not eat anything on it: butter, alfredo? Your eggs in the morning, not cooked with any oil? There's 120 calories in a tablespoon of oil. Just examples.
  • ek0513
    ek0513 Posts: 147 Member
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    ephiemarie wrote: »
    Just took a quick peek at your diary, and my first thoughts were:

    1. You eat a lot of crap. Not a lot of calories, but a lot of really processed stuff and fast food. Yes, a calorie is a calorie, but good nutrition is important.

    2. I don't know what you're doing for exercise, but it's unlikely that you burned precisely 978 calories 3 days in a row from exercise. Are you using the calorie burns on MFP? Estimates from gym machines? Both are generally too high, so you may be eating back calories you didn't actually burn.

    3. Do you drink enough water?

    I agree with you on the fact that I need to start eating healthier calories. That's something I struggle with. Also with my job, i am standing and working 8 hrs a day, and I used a fitness bracelet with heart rate monitor one day at work, which I burned over 1,200 calories just from my work. So the days that I didn't have that bracelet, but was still doing the same work, I just estimated about 978 calories for those days.
    Thanks for the input!
  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
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    ek0513 wrote: »
    I don't weigh my food since I don't have a food scale, and I don't think that I am overestimating calories burned, I even think sometimes I underestimate that. I had an extremely active job in the summer where I was on my feet being physically active for 8 hours a day, and I don't think I was eating nearly enough for how much I was doing. Do you think this could have slowed my weight loss down? Also is it possible that I was just gaining muscle and thats why I didn't lose much these last few months. Also I'm 5'4" and weigh 155 lbs

    If you care to weigh your food, you can purchase a decent food scale for $20. However, given how often you eat out (and I get it...you're in college), it wouldn't be very practical to drag that thing around with you. Unless you were actively trying to gain muscle by lifting heavy weights, you likely did not gain muscle. The change in your activity level is probably a factor, and maybe stress (again...college).

    What are you doing for exercise? Do you have the resources to try to improve the quality of your diet and do more of your own cooking? Have you started any new medications, specifically birth control?
  • BWBTrish
    BWBTrish Posts: 2,817 Member
    edited January 2015
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    How can you think you dont overestimate? You eat a lot of subway food for example.
    Its hardly a healthy diet you have going there.

    With only 35 pounds to lose a 1200 restricted diet is far to aggressive.


  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Buy a food scale. They're only like $15-$20 and since you're here asking about a plateau, this is the best advice anyone can give you. Track everything in detail. All this time you were probably eating way more than 1200 but losing weight anyway. For your height/weight/age, your TDEE is probably somewhere around 1750, and a 20% deficit would put you at a goal of around 1400. Try eating 1400 for a while -- that's with weighing and tracking carefully -- and not eating back exercise calories. Give that a try for 2-3 months, see how you do.

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