Tear me a new one,gained 8lbs despite diet and exercise, please help
sciencenovice
Posts: 40 Member
i started really getting serious about MFP and working out on April 6. I've lost a lot of weight before, but I'm not sure if it because I'm in my thirties now or what but I just can't drop any weight.
Anyway, I started logging everything, even my cheat days. Which was eye opening! After a week of deficit and working out I'd actually eat an entire pounds worth of calories in one day! Negating the entire 6 days. So I reigned that mess in and just stuck within maintenance of cheats were to come up. That's been just over 2 weeks.
I also had a calculated TDEE of 2270 and put my calorie goal at 1470. I workout 5 days a week and try not to eat back my calories. If I do eat back my calories, its about 100-200 calories over 1470, and not everyday.
No, I don't have a scale, though I measure and portion almost all of my food. Plus I try to add a bigger size or 10% more calories to what I'm unsure of. I feel like it's better to over shoot calories than under.
I think my diary is open, so you can see sometimes I sneak chips or ice cream in if my calories allow it. I know I haven't been perfect, but I don't know how it's *kitten* possible I gained almost 10lbs in a month!!! My clothes are not fitting any better. My only improvement is muscle definition in my arms. I Jazzercise, kickbox, and do interval strength training about 50 minutes at day. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Please tell me how I can possibly have *kitten* up this bad??? I mean I never gained this much not trying!
I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work but I was hoping for a conservative sustainable way of life. And yesterday's entry was my *kitten* it all to hell in eating 8lbs I beer and pizza because it doesn't matter anyway.
Anyway, I started logging everything, even my cheat days. Which was eye opening! After a week of deficit and working out I'd actually eat an entire pounds worth of calories in one day! Negating the entire 6 days. So I reigned that mess in and just stuck within maintenance of cheats were to come up. That's been just over 2 weeks.
I also had a calculated TDEE of 2270 and put my calorie goal at 1470. I workout 5 days a week and try not to eat back my calories. If I do eat back my calories, its about 100-200 calories over 1470, and not everyday.
No, I don't have a scale, though I measure and portion almost all of my food. Plus I try to add a bigger size or 10% more calories to what I'm unsure of. I feel like it's better to over shoot calories than under.
I think my diary is open, so you can see sometimes I sneak chips or ice cream in if my calories allow it. I know I haven't been perfect, but I don't know how it's *kitten* possible I gained almost 10lbs in a month!!! My clothes are not fitting any better. My only improvement is muscle definition in my arms. I Jazzercise, kickbox, and do interval strength training about 50 minutes at day. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Please tell me how I can possibly have *kitten* up this bad??? I mean I never gained this much not trying!
I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work but I was hoping for a conservative sustainable way of life. And yesterday's entry was my *kitten* it all to hell in eating 8lbs I beer and pizza because it doesn't matter anyway.
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Replies
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Open your diary, please.0
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I really recommend getting a scale. I was going over the same four pounds up and down consistently until I began weighing my food out.
You don't have to live on egg whites and celery, that's just ridiculous. What you need is to have an accurate understanding of your portions and a scale is one of the best tools to do that.
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I opened it*cringe*0
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Some of it could be water weight
Perhaps it could help to start weighing all foods0 -
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1
Also, you don't have a scale. If you were weighing on two different scales that could be an issue. Also, you should weigh yourself first thing in the morning before you've eaten anything.0 -
Urgent---get a digital scale as soon as possible---and use it. No excuses, "portioning", "eyeballing" etc.. don't cut it. You have no idea how much you're eating. In the beginning you have to be very exact. Once you really know how many calories you're eating, you can ask for advice. Best of luck.
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sciencenovice wrote: »I opened it*cringe*
The bad news: Your logging is not very good.
The good news: Your logging is not very good, improving it will help you solve this issue!
Scales are cheap, cheap, cheap. I would buy a scale and begin logging your foods by weight. Try to limit your use of generic database entries (you can't be sure whether or not the person who, say, fried the egg fried it the same way you did -- log the fat and the egg).0 -
water, likely but not over 1 day, j/k.
Reviewed.
Protein rarely goes over 100g daily, largely 40-60g/daily.
Carbs 200-300 whilst fats remain at 80-100 and/or exceed certain days which conversely has lower protein days.
Please consider reviewing TDEE once more in addition to looking at your exact protein/fat requirements and try to include this on your future entries for targets.
in addition, a cup of avacado, here is an example of how cup vs weight can differ. If one were to "pack" a cup it would be different from "cubed" etc, by weighing you remove this error and uncounted calories.
My 2 cents is all. I'm sure a large number will concur your protein is fairly low considering what it "appears" your goals are and based on your activity level. This is not the only factor, multiple things noticed but this was the first immediate. thanks.
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janejellyroll wrote: »I really recommend getting a scale. I was going over the same four pounds up and down consistently until I began weighing my food out.
You don't have to live on egg whites and celery, that's just ridiculous. What you need is to have an accurate understanding of your portions and a scale is one of the best tools to do that.
^this - I purchased a food scale for less than $20 and it has made a huge difference.
I don't live on egg whites and celery and I don't work out 3 hours a day.
I've lost 47 pounds. My diary is open if you want to look at it.
I would suggest you eat more protein for one thing. Especially if you are working out as much as you say you are. My trainer suggests to eat at least 100g/day since I am lifting weights and doing a lot of cardio.
I don't log my exercise so I don't eat back any of those calories. I think MFP greatly overestimates burns.
Try to stay closer to your macros (mine are set 40% carbs, 30% fat, 30% protein)
Plus, lots and lots of patience. You didn't gain the weight overnight and you won't lose it overnight. Good luck!
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You need an understanding of how alcohol throws off the body's metabolism. And the pizza and chips are pure garbage.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-alcohol-affects-metabolism.html#b0 -
If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?0
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If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?0
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Get a digital scale. Log accurately by weighing in grams or ounces and using verified choices in the MFP food log. By that I mean search for entries that are based on the USDA nutritional info or look at the food labels on what you eat and verify it against the entries you find in the system.
You have a lot of entries like "Aladdin BBQ Chicken Breast, 1 breast." A chicken breast can be small or huge and the calories change accordingly. Same for "Watermelon, 3.13 cup." It's great that you appear to be measuring in some way but stuff like that needs to be weighed whenever possible. Especially since all of your watermelon measurements end in .13 cup. The odds of all of your watermelon servings ending in .13 cup are low, which makes me think that you are bs'ing your measurements.
You also seem to drink a lot of your calories. That is a personal preference but keep in mind that you may find solid foods more filling than liquids.0 -
@rosiebenfield213 - a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weight the same. The difference is density.0
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You need an understanding of how alcohol throws off the body's metabolism. And the pizza and chips are pure garbage.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/how-alcohol-affects-metabolism.html#b
Even if you eat "pure garbage," you aren't going to gain weight if you're eating at a deficit.0 -
rosiebenfield213 wrote: »If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?
Too short a timeframe and nope not in a defecit ...and no progressive overload ...it ain't muscle
More likely innaccurate logging means eating at maintenance0 -
rosiebenfield213 wrote: »If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?
This is crap. Don't listen to it. Building muscle in a deficit is difficult. It is generally said to be possible for overfat beginners and returning athletes. Even if OP falls into the former category, she has not gained enough muscle in a month to make her clothes tight. The only thing you are likely right about is her having increased her fat.0 -
I looked at your diary (not commenting about yesterday... it happens, lol).
Too many generic entries, like donuts, half a potato (a potato can be anywhere from 100 to 300 calories, really), one piece of bread etc etc.
Seriously though, get a food scale. It takes 2 seconds to use (all you do is put the plate on the scale and hit a button a couple times) and it was an eye opener for me. The main issue is that you eat a lot of high calorie items (chips, bread, potatoes, rice, cookies etc), which is totally fine, but you have to be accurate or you can easily underestimate by a lot (and most bananas are 100 calories, not 77, for example).0 -
sciencenovice wrote: »i started really getting serious about MFP and working out on April 6. I've lost a lot of weight before, but I'm not sure if it because I'm in my thirties now or what but I just can't drop any weight.
Anyway, I started logging everything, even my cheat days. Which was eye opening! After a week of deficit and working out I'd actually eat an entire pounds worth of calories in one day! Negating the entire 6 days. So I reigned that mess in and just stuck within maintenance of cheats were to come up. That's been just over 2 weeks.
I also had a calculated TDEE of 2270 and put my calorie goal at 1470. I workout 5 days a week and try not to eat back my calories. If I do eat back my calories, its about 100-200 calories over 1470, and not everyday.
No, I don't have a scale, though I measure and portion almost all of my food. Plus I try to add a bigger size or 10% more calories to what I'm unsure of. I feel like it's better to over shoot calories than under.
I think my diary is open, so you can see sometimes I sneak chips or ice cream in if my calories allow it. I know I haven't been perfect, but I don't know how it's *kitten* possible I gained almost 10lbs in a month!!! My clothes are not fitting any better. My only improvement is muscle definition in my arms. I Jazzercise, kickbox, and do interval strength training about 50 minutes at day. Sometimes more sometimes less.
Please tell me how I can possibly have *kitten* up this bad??? I mean I never gained this much not trying!
I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work but I was hoping for a conservative sustainable way of life. And yesterday's entry was my *kitten* it all to hell in eating 8lbs I beer and pizza because it doesn't matter anyway.
without a food scale there is no way to know how accurate your logging is.
I would suggest getting one and weighing all your foods for about two to three weeks, I think the results will be eye opening.0 -
rosiebenfield213 wrote: »If you're doing that much exercise it could be that you're gaining muscle mass, which of course weighs a lot more than fat and can make your clothes uncomfortable if it is coupled with a slight increase in fat. You seem to have quite a carb and sugar rich diet so most likely a mixture of the two?
highly doubtful0 -
I took a look at your diary, too, because I had the same issues. Here's my take and you may or may not agree with some of my suggestions: First, you are now rocking more muscle than you think you have! That's awesome! All of that exercise is adding lean weight. You WANT that. Your measurements should give you a better idea of your actual SIZE, not WEIGHT. Second, your cheat days are pretty bad. It should be only a cheat MEAL, not a whole day. Don't eat longer than for 30 minutes during that meal. You will be less likely to eat way too much; your system has time to register all of the food. Third: you don't have enough fruits and veggies in your daily diet. You seem to eat several snacks that are full of sugar and your body is just trying to burn those calories off first before it can get to your body fat. Cut way back on your sugary snacks (or get rid all together and replace with apples and cheese sticks, prepackaged Tuna salad, etc.) and add at least one huge helping of green salad or steamed veggies to one meal. I know it's hard to prepare meals ahead but I swear by it. It will get the portion issues out of the way ahead of time and you won't have to guess. I usually make a huge salad at the beginning of the week and it keeps for up to 4 days or so. I have also found that when I stop eating after dinner, the pounds fall off quicker. Those nighttime calories were killing my efforts. These are just a few things I've tried and have had success with. I hope something works for you! Keep up the great effort!!0
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I am going with inaccurate logging + no food scale for 1000.00 Alex....0
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Tighten up your logging. I've never eaten only one teaspoon of butter on a potato.0
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I forgot to say one thing though... It's normal to retain water when you start exercising, plus if your period is due anytime soon, you could be retaining extra water too, so that might account for some of the weight gain.
Also it depends if you weighed at the same time, before eating etc too.0 -
I took a look at your diary, too, because I had the same issues. Here's my take and you may or may not agree with some of my suggestions: First, you are now rocking more muscle than you think you have! That's awesome! All of that exercise is adding lean weight. You WANT that. Your measurements should give you a better idea of your actual SIZE, not WEIGHT. Second, your cheat days are pretty bad. It should be only a cheat MEAL, not a whole day. Don't eat longer than for 30 minutes during that meal. You will be less likely to eat way too much; your system has time to register all of the food. Third: you don't have enough fruits and veggies in your daily diet. You seem to eat several snacks that are full of sugar and your body is just trying to burn those calories off first before it can get to your body fat. Cut way back on your sugary snacks (or get rid all together and replace with apples and cheese sticks, prepackaged Tuna salad, etc.) and add at least one huge helping of green salad or steamed veggies to one meal. I know it's hard to prepare meals ahead but I swear by it. It will get the portion issues out of the way ahead of time and you won't have to guess. I usually make a huge salad at the beginning of the week and it keeps for up to 4 days or so. I have also found that when I stop eating after dinner, the pounds fall off quicker. Those nighttime calories were killing my efforts. These are just a few things I've tried and have had success with. I hope something works for you! Keep up the great effort!!
wow, what a wall of bro science....
how do you know OP has more muscle???
lean weight, what is that? Is that better than regular weight?
Sugar has nothing to do with OP's problems. Are you trying to say that if she ate sugar in a deficit, that her body would burn that off first and she STILL would not lose weight?0 -
OP - what are you using to measure exercise burns, and are you eating 100% of those calories back?0
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you meontioned having noticed musscle definition and working out your weight could be muscle...also drink tons of water to help flush out your body it gets rid of a lot of stuff you dont need in its self...good job deciding to stick to my fitness pal
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I think someone "qualified" needs to start a "muscle thread". The newbs seem to be confused as to how one acquires muscle. Hint---it's hard, and doesn't happen by accident. 0
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I took a look at your diary, too, because I had the same issues. Here's my take and you may or may not agree with some of my suggestions: First, you are now rocking more muscle than you think you have! That's awesome! All of that exercise is adding lean weight. You WANT that. Your measurements should give you a better idea of your actual SIZE, not WEIGHT. Second, your cheat days are pretty bad. It should be only a cheat MEAL, not a whole day. Don't eat longer than for 30 minutes during that meal. You will be less likely to eat way too much; your system has time to register all of the food. Third: you don't have enough fruits and veggies in your daily diet. You seem to eat several snacks that are full of sugar and your body is just trying to burn those calories off first before it can get to your body fat. Cut way back on your sugary snacks (or get rid all together and replace with apples and cheese sticks, prepackaged Tuna salad, etc.) and add at least one huge helping of green salad or steamed veggies to one meal. I know it's hard to prepare meals ahead but I swear by it. It will get the portion issues out of the way ahead of time and you won't have to guess. I usually make a huge salad at the beginning of the week and it keeps for up to 4 days or so. I have also found that when I stop eating after dinner, the pounds fall off quicker. Those nighttime calories were killing my efforts. These are just a few things I've tried and have had success with. I hope something works for you! Keep up the great effort!!
This is complete and utter nonsense. I'll parse it out.First, you are now rocking more muscle than you think you have! That's awesome! All of that exercise is adding lean weight.
Nope. If she were eating in a deficit, she wouldn't be building more mass. Since she is almost certain eating in excess, and women gain 1-2 pounds of muscle per month at best, the best she can hope for is having gained 2 pounds of muscle and 6 pounds of fat since April 6. Not a great return!Don't eat longer than for 30 minutes during that meal. You will be less likely to eat way too much; your system has time to register all of the food.
To quote Miley Cyrus, HUNH?
Your food "registers" every bite of food you eat, no matter how fast you eat it. You can't speed eat and somehow trick your system. That's just silliness.You seem to eat several snacks that are full of sugar and your body is just trying to burn those calories off first before it can get to your body fat.
Weight Loss = Calories Out > Calories In.
Whether she eats 3 meals worth of pixie sticks or 3 traditionally "healthy" meals, that stays the same. It's about having a caloric deficit, bottom line. Eat sugary stuff doesn't prevent a person from losing weight unless said person is eating in caloric excess.
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sciencenovice wrote: »
I know I have to live off celery and egg whites and workout three hours a day to really make it work
False.
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