I have no idea what's happening......help please

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shauneemac
shauneemac Posts: 6 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been on and off MFP for a few years, I'm good for a while, my weight goes down, bad for a bit , it goes up and I re-start.

So I re-started again a couple of months ago and have been sticking to 1700 calories per day on average and at least one gym class per day - this varies, I do spin, bodycombat, kettlebells, HIIT etc. if I don't exercise every day I eat a few hundred calories less.

I have used a boditrax machine in this period of time at the advice of one of the trainers at my gym, and despite sticking to my programme my weight has increased. My stats look like the following;

Start (first week of Sept) Current (this week)
Height 169cm 169cm
Weight 79.1kg 81.4kg
BMI 28 28.8
Fat % 31.9% 30%
Fat Mass 25.2kg 24.4kg
Muscle Mass 51.2kg 54.3kg
BMR 1648 1722

I know its not a huge length of time but I would have expected some weight loss - nothing major, I'm going for slow and steady. I'm quite good at estimating calories and it has worked for me before, but am totally at a loss as to what's happening. Any ideas would be appreciated. I'm feeling healthier and eating well, feel trimmer but I'm not seeing it on the scale or in my clothes really. I'm starting to think I need to rethink how I'm approaching this, but not sure how.

Replies

  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    You're eating too much is the immediate thought. You might think you're good at estimating calories but if the scales are going up over time then it's generally over-estimating your food intake. Get a food scale and start checking if your eyeballing is accurate. I expect you might be very surprised!

    I also suspect you think you're burning more than you are exercising but until you know your logging is accurate you have too many variables to contend with to check that.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,922 Member
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    a37btb7mxb3t.jpg
  • desweds
    desweds Posts: 126 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10274548/how-to-lie-on-your-food-logging-and-still-feel-righteous/p1
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    It says you've lost fat and gained muscle. Keep at it. You won't gain muscle for long. The scale will go down.
  • Yi5hedr3
    Yi5hedr3 Posts: 2,696 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Start dropping calories. Start with 100.
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
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    it says you've gained 3 kilos of muscle - not a chance in that time frame! what method did you use to get these numbers??? is boditrax one of the handheld devices?? if so, not at all accurate and that is proven by the fact it tells you you put on 3 kilos of muscle!
  • shauneemac
    shauneemac Posts: 6 Member
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    Thanks for the replies. I guess underestimating could be a possibility, I try to measure as much as possible or eat something in a portion that's defined (e.g. sandwich from a particular chain) but maybe that's part of it. Given that the scale is going up its something to do with what I'm eating I guess so it's something I can look at.

    Muscleflex79 - it's one of the ones you stand on and hold handgrip where there are sensors on your feet and in your hands. Are these similar in terms of unreliability?
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
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    The bioimpedence machines probably estimate fat mass and non-fat mass, and that latter includes water, which is a part of what goes up when you exercise more. For me, it lasts a few months during which the scale stalls then things pick up again.
  • HollyMarie0595
    HollyMarie0595 Posts: 28 Member
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    WalkingAlong wrote: »
    It says you've lost fat and gained muscle. Keep at it. You won't gain muscle for long. The scale will go down.

    Exactly what I was gonna say
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
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    I would not trust those gym machines to give accurate readings of fat and muscle mass, as they are not all that accurate. As for your weight gain over time, you are eating too much food. Time to tighten up on the calorie counting and get back into that deficit. :)
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    shauneemac wrote: »
    I know its not a huge length of time but I would have expected some weight loss - nothing major, I'm going for slow and steady. I'm quite good at estimating calories and it has worked for me before, but am totally at a loss as to what's happening. Any ideas would be appreciated. I'm feeling healthier and eating well, feel trimmer but I'm not seeing it on the scale or in my clothes really. I'm starting to think I need to rethink how I'm approaching this, but not sure how.

    There's your problem.
  • mkakids
    mkakids Posts: 1,913 Member
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    http://youtu.be/TGcdyfDM3oQ

    Great video that shows just how much discrepancy there van be when measuring food vs weighing it.

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