I exercise and eat healthy - but get fatter

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__nicole__
__nicole__ Posts: 10
edited January 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,

I hope that you can help me! I've got some questions concerning my exercise plan and my weight/body fat (I'm from Germany, so English is not my first language).

Here are some facts about me:
> 30 yrs old, 5'6
> I started eating healthy and exercising about one and a half year ago. I've never been chubby, I just wanted to get in shape. After some time, my body started to change in a positive way: I lost some weight (down to 125) and I went one jeans size down, body fat has been stable at 27 per cent.
> I've been eating pretty healthy: smoothie in the morning, vegetables/rice for lunch, chicken/rice/vegetables in the evening. I try to avoid bad fat and sugar. One cheat meal on Sundays.
> I've been exercising on a regular basis: Jillian Michaels (Ripped or Shred) 5 times a week, cardio 1-2 hours a week (mix of running and walking).
> Weight and body fat have been stable for about one year :)

> BUT NOW: Despite still eating healthy and exercising, my weight has gone up from 125 to 143 in the last five months, fat percentage from 27 to 32. I can even tell by looking in the mirror that it's fat... My flat stomach has turned into a flabby piece of fat. Huh??

Now I'm even bigger than before I started one and a half year ago. 1-2 jeans sizes up :\

My problem is that I can't understand why I'm getting fatter. I exercise and I eat healthy. My doctor has checked me from head to toe. Everything is OK.

So what's wrong?
Any suggestions?






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Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Are you carefully logging your calories?
  • kaotik26
    kaotik26 Posts: 590 Member
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    Maybe you built up muscle under the fat? It tends to happen to me if I don't keep my lifting and cardio balanced well.
  • __nicole__
    __nicole__ Posts: 10
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    No, currently not. I did it for a while to get a feeling for how many calories/fat etc I eat, but I didn't do it here on myfitnesspal. I used another app.

    I eat about 1300-1500 calories a day. Sometimes more. But I think I should definately not gain weight or even fat that way... I also don't think that I undereat...??
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
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    What's your BMR?
    What is your average daily activity like?
    Do you log your calories?
    Do use a food scale?
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    If you're not accurately tracking what you eat and drink then there is no evidence either way to confirm/deny if you're overeating or not.
  • SpockAdventures
    SpockAdventures Posts: 103 Member
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    I have been there, thinking that I was doing everything right and should be losing when I was gaining. What was really happening was I was deluding myself in thinking that as long as I was eating healthy foods, I just had to keep a relative count on calories. Fact of the matter is, at the end of the day I simply was eating too much. There were a lot of calories I was accounting for, serving myself larger than single portions but only counting single portion calories, etc.

    If you are exercising regularly, the only thing that could be going wrong is that you're just eating too much. Sucks, I realize, and it's hard to retrain your body to need less food, and it's killer when you first cut back and your stomach has yet to shrink to a normal size again, but it's the only way you are going to lose weight. Doesn't matter how healthy you eat - if you eat 2000 calories of healthy stuff per day, but only need about 1500 per day to function, you're overeating by 500 calories per day. After 7 days, that's a whole pound of extra calories. It sneaks up on you like that.

    Good luck, and I hope that you are able to get a hold of your struggles!
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
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    If you are gaining body fat, then you are consuming more calories than you are using.
  • prattiger65
    prattiger65 Posts: 1,657 Member
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    The simple science is, if you aren't losing weight, you are not in a calorie deficit.. Meaning, if your goal is weight loss, you are eating too much. You absolutely must know how much you are eating by weighing and measuring for accuracy. Start there and I will bet you will find your answer.
  • __nicole__
    __nicole__ Posts: 10
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    My BMI is 22.7

    No, I don't use a food scale.

    I'm a teacher. So I stand or sit during the day.

    OK, so I should better start to track what I eat. I just drink water or unsweetened tea, sometimes one cup of coffee in the morning.
  • dave4d
    dave4d Posts: 1,155 Member
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    Start tracking your calories. Everything you eat or drink....including the oils, marinades, and condiments that you use to cook or flavor your food and your cheat meal.

    I've had cheat meals that set me back an entire week on my weight. Without properly tracking your diet, it is very easy to gain weight.
  • __nicole__
    __nicole__ Posts: 10
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    OK, then I'll start tracking my calories again. Hope that'll help!
    Thanks guys :):D
  • ashleycde
    ashleycde Posts: 622 Member
    edited January 2015
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    __nicole__ wrote: »
    My BMI is 22.7

    No, I don't use a food scale.

    I'm a teacher. So I stand or sit during the day.

    OK, so I should better start to track what I eat. I just drink water or unsweetened tea, sometimes one cup of coffee in the morning.

    BMR is different from BMI. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is how many calories you would burn just staying in bed all day. In addition to these calories burned, you also burn calories from normal daily activity. Try this calculator to determine both.

    To lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume. A pound of stored fat is about 3500 calories, so you would need to be in a calorie deficit of 3500 calories per week to lose 1 lb each week. I would suggest a deficit of 0.5 lbs a week (or 1750 calories) based on your current weight and weight loss goal.

    I suggest getting a food scale to accurately measure calories. As an example, the cream cheese on my morning bagel looks like 2 tablespoons (30 g) but when I weight it, ends up being more like 45 - 50 g, a difference of 40-53 calories. Meat, if not weighed, is very difficult to gauge as well. All these calories add up, and can put you in a calorie surplus if you're not careful.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    edited January 2015
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    __nicole__ wrote: »
    My BMI is 22.7

    No, I don't use a food scale.

    I'm a teacher. So I stand or sit during the day.

    OK, so I should better start to track what I eat. I just drink water or unsweetened tea, sometimes one cup of coffee in the morning.
    I'd say it's time to recalibrate. Track what you *normally* eat to see what went wrong, THEN adjust.
    And, given that you're at a healthy weight, opt for 0.5LBSs a week.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Weight at its most basic is comparative math. Calories in versus calories out. When you eat more than your body uses, weight gain occurs. When you eat less than you use, loss occurs ... keeping that deficit in check, hitting macronutrient goals, and exercise can help preserve lean mass during weight loss.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Um, I don't mean to be personal here, but is there any chance you might be pregnant?
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    segacs wrote: »
    Um, I don't mean to be personal here, but is there any chance you might be pregnant?

    oh my. Good question.
  • AmandaHugginkiss
    AmandaHugginkiss Posts: 486 Member
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    You are underestimating your calories and overestimating you exercise calorie burn. Are you doing any kind of strength training? You should be. If you diet and don't do strength training, your body fat percent is going to go up. The higher your body fat percent, the fewer calories you burn at rest. You have a high body fat percent for someone of your body weight.

    Start strength training, start worrying about your body composition, up the protein and get a food scale.
  • NRSPAM
    NRSPAM Posts: 961 Member
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    What you're eating sounds healthy, but portion sizes are very important. Rice can be very high in calories if you're eating more than you are supposed to. Weigh/measure your foods. If you're not logging what you eat, it's easy to forget those little slip ups. Basically, what everyone else said....log your food, and don't forget to measure/weigh it also! ;) Don't forget to look at those food labels either.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,509 Member
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    One doesn't gain fat weight without a surplus (and some possible hormonal issue). You're eating much more than you think.


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