I'm getting really frusrated!!

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kmab1985
kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi All

A bit of background....I hit the gym everyday except weekends (2x running 30mins, GRIT 30 minutes, Bodycombat 2x 30 mins), I eat relatively well in the week, I will either try and stick to my 1200 calories that MFP recommends or I will eat some or all of my exercise calories, I try and limit carbs in the day but up my protein as after months of trying different things, I found lower carbs works better for me, I drink 4-5 litres of water a day. At the weekends I do struggle but not to the point where I binge eat or drink loads, typical breakfast on a weekend would be eggs, bacon, 2x toast, lunch anything from salad to a sandwich and then my tea, I agree that I probably do eat more calories on the weekend but not in excessive amounts!

I weighed myself this morning on the scales and in 2-3 weeks I have gained 4lb! I'm getting really frustrated at this! Its driving me insane :-( What am I doing wrong?? Before I discovered exercise and my eating habits were no where near as good as they are now, I would lose 1-2lbs each week but since I started exercising and eating so much better my weight is just fluctuating between 11st 4lb and 11st 10lb, 11st 10lb is what I am today!!! I'm 5ft 3inches so do still have a lot to lose!

Can anyone help me please?

x
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Replies

  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
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    See if this chart by lemonlionheart is helpful:
    cit9s3mkq3di.jpg
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    kmab1985 wrote: »
    Hi All

    A bit of background....I hit the gym everyday except weekends (2x running 30mins, GRIT 30 minutes, Bodycombat 2x 30 mins), I eat relatively well in the week, I will either try and stick to my 1200 calories that MFP recommends or I will eat some or all of my exercise calories, I try and limit carbs in the day but up my protein as after months of trying different things, I found lower carbs works better for me, I drink 4-5 litres of water a day. At the weekends I do struggle but not to the point where I binge eat or drink loads, typical breakfast on a weekend would be eggs, bacon, 2x toast, lunch anything from salad to a sandwich and then my tea, I agree that I probably do eat more calories on the weekend but not in excessive amounts!

    I weighed myself this morning on the scales and in 2-3 weeks I have gained 4lb! I'm getting really frustrated at this! Its driving me insane :-( What am I doing wrong?? Before I discovered exercise and my eating habits were no where near as good as they are now, I would lose 1-2lbs each week but since I started exercising and eating so much better my weight is just fluctuating between 11st 4lb and 11st 10lb, 11st 10lb is what I am today!!! I'm 5ft 3inches so do still have a lot to lose!

    Can anyone help me please?

    x

    Open your diary, you are not eating 1200 calories. To maintain this weight you are averaging closer to 2000. Opening your diary can help people figure out where you are miscalculating.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Sorry realised your diary is open, no idea why it was not visible to me before. In any case, it is empty! So how do you know how many calories you are eating?
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    If I don't log on MFP then I will write it all down, I tend to only log Mon-Fri and write down at the weekends, I have my own spreadsheet too, I didn't log yesterday as I didn't have access to my laptop but instead wrote it down. and I definitely don't eat 2000 calories per day!
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    Maybe I'm over estimating my exercise calories from doing that chart above, from now on I will only eat 50% of them and give that a try and see what the result is in a few weeks! I just feel like I am going very wrong somewhere but I cant quite find out where! And I often compare my weightlosses before exercise and better eating habits, before I would lose every week and on WeightWatchers lost around 2st whereas now I exercise and eat so much better yet I struggle to lose!

  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,179 Member
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    Try here: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/
    I have found this to be accurate in general.

    Going by TDEE, you would maintain weight around 1800 calories (total, including your exercise). So, either you are not really eating 1200, or you are overestimating a lot your burns. Or you undo all the work on the weekends?
  • Traveler120
    Traveler120 Posts: 712 Member
    edited October 2015
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    First, your exercise adds up to only 2.5 hrs/week. Even at a generous 400 cals/hr estimate, that's barely 1000 cals/week or 0.3 lbs, some of which you say you're eating back which essentially cancels your deficit out to almost nothing.

    Second, combine that with your eating more on weekends plus the likelihood of calorie under-estimation errors and exercise over-estimation and you easily end up with a flat line or even a gain. One way or other, you're not creating the necessary deficit.

    Solution? If your food is adequately filling and you're happy with it, you can keep it the same and just double your exercise to 5 hrs/week or increase intensity or both.
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    I only exercise in my lunch hour and my gym do 30 minute classes so Mon is combat, Tues I run 4k but trying to increase this, Weds I do GRIT then Combat for 1hr, Thurs Kettlebells and Friday another 4k run, and when I run I try and the last 5-10mins sprinting so my classes are quite high intensity i.e. get my heart rate going!

    Maybe I need to stop eating my exercise calories altogether then and see where that gets me!

    Thanks all...
  • seska422
    seska422 Posts: 3,217 Member
    edited October 2015
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    kmab1985 wrote: »
    Maybe I'm over estimating my exercise calories from doing that chart above, from now on I will only eat 50% of them and give that a try and see what the result is in a few weeks! I just feel like I am going very wrong somewhere but I cant quite find out where! And I often compare my weightlosses before exercise and better eating habits, before I would lose every week and on WeightWatchers lost around 2st whereas now I exercise and eat so much better yet I struggle to lose!
    Eating "better" doesn't impact weight loss. It's all about calories. If you eat too many "better" calories, you'll gain weight just like if you eat too many of any other kind of calories.
    kmab1985 wrote: »
    If I don't log on MFP then I will write it all down, I tend to only log Mon-Fri and write down at the weekends, I have my own spreadsheet too, I didn't log yesterday as I didn't have access to my laptop but instead wrote it down. and I definitely don't eat 2000 calories per day!
    Calories can easily creep in, especially on days where you don't log. Are you weighing your solids and measuring your liquids to get more precise calorie amounts or just doing estimates?

    I log food right before I eat it so that I can see exactly how many calories my serving will have and change my mind if I decide that it won't fit with my goals for the day. Some people pre-log entire days so that they can plan more precisely.
  • Cattree2002
    Cattree2002 Posts: 6 Member
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    I used to be set to 1200, but felt really restricted and over ate fairly often. So I decided to switch to 1500, it's only a pound a week loss, but I'm much more consistent, can have a big eat day and still average 1500. With exercise, if I'm only working out for 30 mins I don't eat any cals, but eat some on longer workouts.

    1500 (for me) is high enough to fuel some exercise without undereating, meaning I might lose a little more than a pound one week. And low enough to still lose weight without any exercise, if I'm feeling lazy or am not sure whether my exercise cals are accurate.
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    Thanks Cattree2002 - how did you determine the 1500 value? I've done some research on various websites and completed various calorie intake calculators and most of them are saying for my lifestyle, height, weight etc I should be on approx. 1500 per day (give or take a few calories) which would include exercise calories and I always select my exercise level as 3-5x times a week workouts at moderate intensity....

    I must add though that despite today being the same weight as I was in January 2015, I have dropped a dress size and lost numerous inches!
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    and can I also add that even though my workouts/classes are only 30 minutes long they are "heart racing" workouts...Lets just say, I couldn't hold a conversation when doing them...My gym do the LesMills workouts and the 30 minute ones are more intense than the 45 minute ones i.e. the intervals are much less in a 30 minute class than what they would be in a 45 minute class so its not a 30 min workout where we spend approx 10 minutes of that resting!
  • stephbella24
    stephbella24 Posts: 1 Member
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    You probably are not eating enough try your body weight x 10 and adjust from there. Not eating e enough can cause weight gain or stalled weight loss
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    My bodyweight x 10 equals to 1550, I've adjusted my calorie intake to 1500 and I'm going to give this a try for a few weeks! Is worth a try but I wont add my exercise calories in that!

  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,712 Member
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    stephbella24 wrote: »
    You probably are not eating enough try your body weight x 10 and adjust from there. Not eating e enough can cause weight gain or stalled weight loss

    No, not likely. OP, definitely start with not eating back your exercise calories. See where that gets you. If you still need to adjust then I'd do it via your diet. Exercise is great for fitness but you don't want to get to a point where you're relying on long, frequent work out sessions just to maintain your weight. That can get tiring. Track your food intake more closely and I think you'll see where you can make adjustments.
  • tayloralanj
    tayloralanj Posts: 137 Member
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    BZAH10 wrote: »
    stephbella24 wrote: »
    You probably are not eating enough try your body weight x 10 and adjust from there. Not eating e enough can cause weight gain or stalled weight loss

    No, not likely. OP, definitely start with not eating back your exercise calories. See where that gets you. If you still need to adjust then I'd do it via your diet. Exercise is great for fitness but you don't want to get to a point where you're relying on long, frequent work out sessions just to maintain your weight. That can get tiring. Track your food intake more closely and I think you'll see where you can make adjustments.

    Well said. And drink water.
  • kbakhtawar69
    kbakhtawar69 Posts: 40 Member
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    Try green tea. Three times a day. Morning, afternoon (half an hour after lunch, and before bed. In the morning it will hold off hunger for a while and also wakes you up. Afternoon, mainly after lunch, it will help in digesting the food faster. Before bed, it will help your body get rid of the toxins while you're asleep.

    Overall, it helps boost your metabolism, and after three months of doing this, switch to Oolong tea. Its twice as effective as green tea. Or just continue green tea.

    Lets just say, the bathroom will be your best friend
  • kmab1985
    kmab1985 Posts: 295 Member
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    Yeah I drink loads of water so theres no issue there...I know I can do it....I know I can NOT eat the exercise calories because I've done it today but some days I do feel more hungry than others....
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    edited October 2015
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    stephbella24 wrote: »
    You probably are not eating enough try your body weight x 10 and adjust from there. Not eating e enough can cause weight gain or stalled weight loss

    Yeah, that's why all the WWII Japanese POWs were so roly poly when they were liberated.......


    kbakhtawar69 wrote: »
    Try green tea. Three times a day. Morning, afternoon (half an hour after lunch, and before bed. In the morning it will hold off hunger for a while and also wakes you up. Afternoon, mainly after lunch, it will help in digesting the food faster. Before bed, it will help your body get rid of the toxins while you're asleep.

    Overall, it helps boost your metabolism, and after three months of doing this, switch to Oolong tea. Its twice as effective as green tea. Or just continue green tea.

    Lets just say, the bathroom will be your best friend


    Nonsense......


  • 3stepsahead
    3stepsahead Posts: 56 Member
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    stephbella24 wrote: »
    You probably are not eating enough try your body weight x 10 and adjust from there. Not eating e enough can cause weight gain or stalled weight loss

    tell that to the people that were held in Nazi camps with out food ...

    stop spreading that stupid concept k ? thanks

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