gaining instead of losing!?

brookegehman
brookegehman Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've only been on my journey for a week now but for the whole week I've been eating right and only eating as many calories and carbs as I'm supposed to, but instead of losing I've gained 3 pounds. I just don't understand because before I would eat whatever and however much unhealthy junk food I wanted.. I feel like now that I'm not I should be losing weight.. Any ideas why this is happening?

Replies

  • dsrabinovich
    dsrabinovich Posts: 24 Member
    Maybe you are bloated? Getting your period?
  • NoIdea101NoIdea
    NoIdea101NoIdea Posts: 659 Member
    Firstly, it has only been 1 week; weight loss isn't always immediate, in fact, a lot of people including myself notice that you can lose one week, maintain for the next two even though you are still doing everything right, then lose on the next week, and so forth in a cycle. Give it a good three weeks before you consider there is a problem.

    That said, we need more info. What is your age, height, current weight?

    What is your goal weight?

    Do you know what your TDEE is?

    How active are you and do you eat back exercise calories?

    Do you measure all your food with a food scale and log everything, including drinks?
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Excess sodium
    TOM/ovulation
    New or increased exercise

    Weight loss is not linear. Be patient, and if it doesn't start to go down in a few weeks then reevaluate your logging.
  • soapsandropes
    soapsandropes Posts: 269 Member
    A few things: are you accurately tracking your food? Are you drinking more water or have changed your diet dramatically (more fiber, less salt, etc)? Are you exercising more than usual? Could it be hormonal changes (assuming you are a woman)? After a week of a new lifestyle your body is going to be freaking out a little and might be hanging on to some extra water. Give it a month to settle.
  • DemoraFairy
    DemoraFairy Posts: 1,806 Member
    Firstly, a week isn't long enough to measure any sort of progress. Weight loss isn't linear - some weeks you'll lose, some you'll stay the same, some you'll gain.

    Secondly, we all fluctuate everyday, and a 3lb fluctuation is perfectly normal. If you weigh weekly it's possible you were 4 or 5lbs lighter yesterday and are just fluctuating today. A number of things can cause fluctuations, such as salty foods, a new exercise regime, undigested food, and sometimes fluctuations just seem to happen for no obvious reason.

    Stick to it for a few more weeks and see how it goes.
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    edited June 2015
    Weight fluctuations are a normal, daily occurrence and a week isn't long enough to determine anything, really. My weight can change by up to five pounds overnight after some pizza! lol So it could be as simple as water retention. Is it your TOM? Have you started exercising, too? What's your sodium intake like? More importantly, though, are you weighing and logging your food accurately? Since you seem pretty new here, this is a good place to start learning:

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1

    Best of luck!
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg
    wl4.jpg 246.2K
  • leggup
    leggup Posts: 2,942 Member
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg

    <3<3<3

    Did you make this? I am in love. Might want to shorten some of the text, but excellent flow.

  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    leggup wrote: »
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg

    <3<3<3

    Did you make this? I am in love. Might want to shorten some of the text, but excellent flow.

    Yep, still trying to find the balance between 'enough information' and 'way too many words', haha
  • discretekim
    discretekim Posts: 314 Member
    Yeah no idea why but I seriously only lost half a pound in my first 2-3 weeks. Now I'm starting to lose. I think the starting exercising etc makes a difference. Don't give up!
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
    define "eating right"

  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg

    This is GOLD. Should be a sticky. Then half the threads could end after providing a link to that!
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    leggup wrote: »
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg

    <3<3<3

    Did you make this? I am in love. Might want to shorten some of the text, but excellent flow.
    I seriously love this! When you get it "perfected" consider getting it turned into a sticky. I'd happily share a link to it when I'm answering these types of questions.

    One minor point, I've yet to find a good $15 food scale. The ones with the features I'd recommend are closer to $30. That should probably either be adjusted or left out. :smile:
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    brookegehman wrote: »
    I've only been on my journey for a week now but for the whole week I've been eating right and only eating as many calories and carbs as I'm supposed to, but instead of losing I've gained 3 pounds. I just don't understand because before I would eat whatever and however much unhealthy junk food I wanted.. I feel like now that I'm not I should be losing weight.. Any ideas why this is happening?

    did you weigh in at the same time of day and under roughly the same conditions as your last weigh in? body weight can easily fluctuate anywhere from 1-5 Lbs day to day and throughout a given day...weight isn't static and there are numerous things that influence scale weight beyond just fat.

    weighing in on the same day, same time of day (usually AM after restroom, etc), and under same conditions (naked or wearing the exact same thing) is important to providing a baseline to work with.
  • lemonlionheart
    lemonlionheart Posts: 580 Member
    SueInAz wrote: »
    leggup wrote: »
    lemonlionheart wrote: »
    1skcfac9ha46.jpg

    <3<3<3

    Did you make this? I am in love. Might want to shorten some of the text, but excellent flow.
    I seriously love this! When you get it "perfected" consider getting it turned into a sticky. I'd happily share a link to it when I'm answering these types of questions.

    One minor point, I've yet to find a good $15 food scale. The ones with the features I'd recommend are closer to $30. That should probably either be adjusted or left out. :smile:

    I'll think about that, I just pulled the number from what people in the forums have said- most seem to be happy with spending $10-$15. Maybe I'll just change it to 'digital scale'. I'd love to say "decent digital scale with a tare function" but then it gets too wordy, half the people won't know what that means, etc... :)

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