seriously tried for 5 days and gained 5 lbs.

1. Can you please open your diary?
2. Do you use a food scale?

TavistockToad wrote: »

rhuffskinnybutt wrote: »

Ok so I tried for 5 days. I suck at this. I was just under or a hair over my calorie goal and still managed to gain 5lbs. This is seriously defeating.

5 whole days? And how long did it take you to gain the weight you want to lose?

If she gained 5 lbs in those 5 days, it's probably just as well she's asking for help now. It's not like she just didn't lose or something.

blankiefinder wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

You need more than 5 days to see anything. Your body weight can fluctuate a good 3-5 Lbs day to day due to water retention/release, more/less waste in your system, etc. There's more to the scale and your body weight than just fat...you're going to need to get a grip on that first and foremost.

This is all a process and you're going to have to look beyond a handful of days. Also, when you weigh in you should be doing some on the same day at roughly the same time and roughly the same conditions. This might sound stupid, but are you weighing in with clothes on? Did you eat a meal? Did you drink a lot of fluids? Did you use the restroom?

blankiefinder wrote: »

Are you weighing your food?

Are you working out? Are you eating back your exercise calories?

Stats? (Age, height, current weight, goal weight loss per week, calories...)

If you gained 5 lbs in 5 days, you are eating more than you think.

In general I agree...but it's pretty much mathematically impossible to put on 5 Lbs of fat in a week.

I agree, but it's not going to be 5 lbs of water retention either, probably a mix of regular fluctuations, water weight, and fat, if I had to guess.

I'm up 5 Lbs from Saturday...none of it's fat. Most people can fluctuate 3-5 Lbs day to day. Who knows, maybe the OP is weighing in wearing clothes and OP had lighter clothes on 5 days ago...maybe 5 days ago OP had used the restroom before weighing in...maybe 5 days ago the OP weighed in first thing in the morning and this time OP weighed in the afternoon or evening.

There's about a million different things that can be going on, and 5 days is really nothing.

Keep trying! Don't give up!

It takes 3500 calories to gain a pound of fat. There's no way you could have been close to your MFP calorie goal and still have eaten 17,500 (3500 x 5) extra calories in 5 days. So, either you are kidding us and you ate everything in sight for 5 days straight (LOL!) or you didn't gain 5 pounds of fat and instead are simply retaining some water. I'm betting on the water.

Seriously, our bodies retain and release water constantly. I can easily gain or lose several pounds of water from day to day. Hormonal fluctuations, heavy exercise sessions and too much sodium will all cause water retention.

I try not to weigh myself when I get my period (like now) because it makes it seem as though I've gained 5 pounds. Water weight can be annoying, and not just caused by that special monthly uninvited guest. But I decided to post here because while this site is a good tool, you have to kind of over estimate what you're eating and under estimate what it tells you you should be eating. I think it has my total daily calorie intake too high, so I don't eat back the calories it gives me from exercise. If I don't do any exercise at all, I try to go about 200 calories below what it says I need. Overall, since March 1, I have lost 13 pounds so the calories in-calories out does work. I wasn't using this site up until about 3 days ago when I got an email, so using my own calculations, I was doing fine. This site makes it much easier than an excel spreadsheet though.

Just adjust your daily caloric intake a bit or do a little more physical activity and you will lose weight. It's simple math. And don't even worry about the scale until you're at least 2 weeks in because it will cause you to quickly get frustrated.

Do you weigh yourself at the same time every day? I find I'm often a good 5 lbs heavier in the evening than I was in the morning.