Gaining weight instead of losing

lccnhunter
lccnhunter Posts: 7 Member
edited November 19 in Fitness and Exercise
I've been working my butt off exercising and gaining a few pounds instead of losing while dieting. I currently do 4 1 hour sessions of combat hapkido, along with kickboxing 4 to 5x a week. I've been doing hapkido for 4 months and kickboxing for a little over a month. I should add that I do have hypothyroidism and am at the low end of normal. I keep my calories under 1500 daily. I've done some research and found this is actually common, however it doesn't do much for motivation. I do feel better and I'm getting some muscle tone in my arms and legs. Can anyone suggest something that may be able to help kickstart losing weight along with my routine? Thanks!

Replies

  • lucyholdcroft363
    lucyholdcroft363 Posts: 124 Member
    New muscles retain water! Hang in there for a couple of weeks, track your progress and see what happens! If nothing changes, make alterations to your diet and switch up your exercise.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    Are you using a food scale?
  • lccnhunter
    lccnhunter Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks! No, I've never used a food scale. I just monitor portion size and calorie intake.
    I'm getting tons of cardio and strength training doing both hapkido and kickboxing. For instance, my last hapkido class we did 120 push-ups, 70 squats and are constantly moving, running, kicking, punching etc. I am seeing results as far as muscle definition but I would really really like to drop 30 lbs. I'm in no massive hurry, I just thought for sure after 4 months, something would be changing on the scale.
    Thanks again!!
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    edited May 2015
    You might want to consider getting one. I think it's possible that you might be eating a bit more than you think.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • thesupremeforce
    thesupremeforce Posts: 1,206 Member
    If you haven't lost weight in four months, you're eating too much. There's no way around that one. Measure your food. "Water weight" isn't a four month thing. If you're eating at a deficit, there's no way you've gained enough muscle to cancel out weight loss.

    Like you thought, you should have lost SOMETHING if you were eating at a deficit. Therefore, you're likely eating more than you think.
  • BeesmaMFP
    BeesmaMFP Posts: 1,096 Member
    Have you talked with your doctor about how much your hypothyroidism is a factor? I would think that would definitely play in this. Has your doctor given you any help on how to lose weight with your condition? Is there such a thing as a nutritionist that specializes in weight loss and hypothyroidism?

    As a PP said, weighing your food is helpful. You may be eating more calories than you realize if you're just going by what the package says is a serving size. The video posted shows how that can happen with inaccurate measuring, though I gotta say if that's the way the average person measures things then obviously no one taught them how to use a measuring cup! I've never personally seen anyone measure as poorly as what's demonstrated in that video!
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
    BeesmaMFP wrote: »
    Have you talked with your doctor about how much your hypothyroidism is a factor? I would think that would definitely play in this. Has your doctor given you any help on how to lose weight with your condition? Is there such a thing as a nutritionist that specializes in weight loss and hypothyroidism?

    As a PP said, weighing your food is helpful. You may be eating more calories than you realize if you're just going by what the package says is a serving size. The video posted shows how that can happen with inaccurate measuring, though I gotta say if that's the way the average person measures things then obviously no one taught them how to use a measuring cup! I've never personally seen anyone measure as poorly as what's demonstrated in that video!

    While there is a bit of over-exaggeration in the video, I have experimented with a measuring cup and oatmeal. Mine when slightly below or to the rim will be 5-10 grams heavier than it should (for 1/2 cup).
  • BeesmaMFP
    BeesmaMFP Posts: 1,096 Member
    shadow2soul wrote: »

    While there is a bit of over-exaggeration in the video, I have experimented with a measuring cup and oatmeal. Mine when slightly below or to the rim will be 5-10 grams heavier than it should (for 1/2 cup).

    I do believe there's a difference between weighing and measuring (I weigh my food on a scale)--I'm not disputing that. But the video is like a bad infomercial. I'm just saying I've never seen someone use measuring cups like that. It was ridiculous to me. The point was almost lost on me because I was laughing at "this is the way the average person measures a cup of oatmeal."
  • lccnhunter
    lccnhunter Posts: 7 Member
    I need to make an appt to get my thyroid checked again. The normal range at my lab is from .50 to 4 and I was only at .6 last visit which is on the very low end of normal. Hopefully if I can get my "normal" up a little higher it will stimulate my metabolism. I will also get a food scale to measure but normally I stay even under 1500 a day, which again could be an issue. My body may be in starvation mode as crazy as it sounds. I am happy to see definition
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    lccnhunter wrote: »
    I need to make an appt to get my thyroid checked again. The normal range at my lab is from .50 to 4 and I was only at .6 last visit which is on the very low end of normal. Hopefully if I can get my "normal" up a little higher it will stimulate my metabolism.

    MFP has a Hypothyroidism & Hyperthyroidism group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/753-hypothyroidism-and-hyperthyroidism

    I have Hashimoto's (autoimmune thyroid disease), and I lost more slowly than most MFPers, so be patient! I did it by following the advice in the Sexypants post: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Thyroid meds (in my case, Synthroid & Cytomel) reduce the fatigue, so I can be more active. But I still kept gaining until I tightened up my logging.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    I'd definitely start by getting a food scale. Eyeballing portions doesn't work. I got my food scale for 10$ and it was a real eye opener!
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    lccnhunter wrote: »
    I've been working my butt off exercising and gaining a few pounds instead of losing while dieting. I currently do 4 1 hour sessions of combat hapkido, along with kickboxing 4 to 5x a week. I've been doing hapkido for 4 months and kickboxing for a little over a month. I should add that I do have hypothyroidism and am at the low end of normal. I keep my calories under 1500 daily. I've done some research and found this is actually common, however it doesn't do much for motivation. I do feel better and I'm getting some muscle tone in my arms and legs. Can anyone suggest something that may be able to help kickstart losing weight along with my routine? Thanks!

    You are not eating 1500 calories. You are eating way more than this, hypothyroid or not. It is "common" as in a lot of people really underestimate what they are eating and then look into some mysterious explanation for the weight gain. Exercise is awesome for health and fitness. But if you are not losing, you are eating way more than you think you are. Your eyeballing food, you are probably eating twice as many calories as you think, sorry.
  • mathandcats
    mathandcats Posts: 786 Member
    BeesmaMFP wrote: »
    shadow2soul wrote: »

    While there is a bit of over-exaggeration in the video, I have experimented with a measuring cup and oatmeal. Mine when slightly below or to the rim will be 5-10 grams heavier than it should (for 1/2 cup).

    I do believe there's a difference between weighing and measuring (I weigh my food on a scale)--I'm not disputing that. But the video is like a bad infomercial. I'm just saying I've never seen someone use measuring cups like that. It was ridiculous to me. The point was almost lost on me because I was laughing at "this is the way the average person measures a cup of oatmeal."

    Yeah, that video bugs me because the person obviously doesn't know how to use a measuring cup. However, I've had some huge differences with using a food scale vs. not - one time, I made a chestnut soup, and when I measured out the chestnuts by volume it said it would be ~500 cal. By weight, it was over 1000.

    Another major difference is actually weighing your packaged foods. I bought some cinnamon buns from the grocery store bakery, and they claim to be 250 calories per bun (75g). One of the buns was 125g = 417 cal! (just an estimate anyway, but still...)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    lucyholdcroft363 wrote: »
    New muscles retain water! Hang in there for a couple of weeks, track your progress and see what happens! If nothing changes, make alterations to your diet and switch up your exercise.

    all muscles retain water and the OP is not building muscle....you need to be obese or an 18 yo boy or new to lifting to do that outside of a bulk....and switching up exercise does not guarantee weight loss...
  • FoxyLifter
    FoxyLifter Posts: 965 Member
    Another vote here for getting a food scale and weighing all solids. I would start there. You'd be surprised.
  • lccnhunter
    lccnhunter Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks so much for all your replies! I had no idea that packaging could be so far off on calories, I ordered a good scale from Amazon today
  • Kycatz101
    Kycatz101 Posts: 5 Member
    I'm hypothyroid and take Synthroid. It took me 3 weeks on a 1200 calorie diet to lose 5 lbs. I think it's just part of being hypothyroid. My doc said she couldn't justify prescribing me anything to help...I just needed to work harder.
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