I guess I am gaining instead of losing weight?

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Replies

  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
    ngagne wrote: »
    1) I think weighing yourself more than once per week is well... your body naturally is going to fluxuate slightly; water retention, stress, sleep, etc can call cause weight fluxuation. (apparently, I am not spelling "fluxuate" correctly...)

    2) if you're confident that you are being true and right with your food intake... Are you stressed? Are you getting enough sleep? These can cause issues with your weight as well, despite every-other good intentioned effort.
    But most of all, you said work-out videos. If you have been doing these for awhile, your body may just need a change, something more challenging. For example, a heavier, out of shape person will burn much more calories doing the exact same movement as a slim, in shape person. Your body may be "in shape" for the work-out you are doing and you're not burning as many calories anymore doing that work-out as you first did 2-4 months ago.

    My sleep is okay and I'm not stressed. You're probably right about the videos may be getting easier and I'm not burning as much which is why my caloric intake may be off everyday. They are walking videos so I normally was doing 2-4 miles and so I've since switched to jogging in place instead of walking to amp it up a bit. I do not have many other choices on what to use to work out so I'm really not sure how to change this. I do have a few zumba and dance dvds so many I can try those out instead?
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    The problem happens if you use cooked weights and raw entries in the database.

    In your case, you could convert and say that 9.1 oz cooked = 12 ounces raw. Doing the math, you ate 47% of the chicken one day and 53% the other. 12 x .47 = 5.64 raw ounces.

    You would NOT want to assume that 4.3 cooked ounces = 4.3 raw ounces.

    You could also assume that the law of averages works in the end, and log 6 ounces raw each day. Knowing one day is a little high and one day a little low, but in the end it balances out.
    Weighing meat in its cooked form but logging raw calorie information. (Meat is typically lighter when cooked, as some of the moisture cooks out. So the 3 ounces cooked may actually be 4 ounces raw.)

    Can you expand on this? Let's say I cook chicken breast. I weighed the whole breast beforehand and it was about 12 oz (including the little plastic it sits in technically, and it might still have been partially frozen, so some moisture). I cooked it, then split it in half (eyeball) and weighed each half, 4.3 oz and 4.8 oz. Was I okay to log the 4.3 one day and the 4.8 the other day? Or should I have logged the 12 oz it was when it was raw?

    I don't mean to sidetrack I've just taken a new recommitment to weigh everything and don't understand how my chicken, potatoes and broccoli are still only about 500 calories for dinner. It seems like I must be doing something wrong.

    Thank you. That's a pretty clear explanation. I just scanned the label when I entered the food in so wasn't paying attention to if it's raw or cooked. But the difference in calories is so small for something like chicken breast I'll err on the side of entering the pre-cooked amount so I can be sure I'm being accurate.

    The last 21 days I've lost 3.8 lbs. If my TDEE is what Scooby's Workshop says it should be AND my exercise calories are accurate, I should have lost 3.727 lbs. That's why I like having as accurate numbers as I can. It's really nice when the numbers work out. Also lets me know if the numbers aren't working out, I must not be logging accurately, or might be overestimating exercise calories. Keeps me in check.

  • paulandrachelk
    paulandrachelk Posts: 280 Member
    Change
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    lml852014 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    lml852014 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    lml852014 wrote: »
    I weigh things out on my food scale and then quick add them. Its just easier for me this way and how I've always done things.

    yet you're gaining weight so it's obviously not working...i personally hate when my staff says things like, "but this is the way we've always done it."

    if you're gaining weight as a trend over time, which it would appear that you are, albeit very slowly...then guess what? you're overeating...not by much, but you're overeating.

    I just dont see how me actually typing in specific foods can help? If I'm weighing things out (which I didnt in the past) and adding them isnt that more accurate?

    My point was the whole doing the same thing and getting the same unwanted results...obviously there is something wrong...I don't know what it is...a lot of people aren't truly honest with themselves even while keeping a diary...a lot of people closet eat...a lot of people account for most things, but not other things in their logging, etc...only you know that and only you can fix that.

    The biggest point here is that you're overeating...cut back or move more or a combination of both...that's it...if you're putting on weight, you're overeating what your body needs to maintain.
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    lml852014 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    lml852014 wrote: »
    I weigh things out on my food scale and then quick add them. Its just easier for me this way and how I've always done things.

    yet you're gaining weight so it's obviously not working...i personally hate when my staff says things like, "but this is the way we've always done it."

    if you're gaining weight as a trend over time, which it would appear that you are, albeit very slowly...then guess what? you're overeating...not by much, but you're overeating.

    I just dont see how me actually typing in specific foods can help? If I'm weighing things out (which I didnt in the past) and adding them isnt that more accurate?

    My point was the whole doing the same thing and getting the same unwanted results...obviously there is something wrong...I don't know what it is...a lot of people aren't truly honest with themselves even while keeping a diary...a lot of people closet eat...a lot of people account for most things, but not other things in their logging, etc...only you know that and only you can fix that.

    The biggest point here is that you're overeating...cut back or move more or a combination of both...that's it...if you're putting on weight, you're overeating what your body needs to maintain.

    I totally understand and didnt mean to come off as rude or snarky. I know I need to change something because whatever I'm doing isn't working. I cannot really afford a fit bit right now to track my heart rate so I think the thing is I am overestimating my exercise calories and possibly eating back more then I should be. Thats the only thing I can think because I barely eat much at all. I dont really eat fast food if I do I always track and if I drink alcohol its only on Sat evenings sometimes fridays but once again I track.

    Many people here think the exercise burns are inflated by about 50% - if you're eating back 100% of your exercise calories, there's your problem.

  • lml852014
    lml852014 Posts: 243 Member
    So say my calories for the day is set at 1360, I work out and burn 300 cals so should I only be left with 150 cals left for the day if I eat back half?
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
    Sounds about right. :)
    lml852014 wrote: »
    So say my calories for the day is set at 1360, I work out and burn 300 cals so should I only be left with 150 cals left for the day if I eat back half?

  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    lml852014 wrote: »
    ngagne wrote: »
    1) I think weighing yourself more than once per week is well... your body naturally is going to fluxuate slightly; water retention, stress, sleep, etc can call cause weight fluxuation. (apparently, I am not spelling "fluxuate" correctly...)

    2) if you're confident that you are being true and right with your food intake... Are you stressed? Are you getting enough sleep? These can cause issues with your weight as well, despite every-other good intentioned effort.
    But most of all, you said work-out videos. If you have been doing these for awhile, your body may just need a change, something more challenging. For example, a heavier, out of shape person will burn much more calories doing the exact same movement as a slim, in shape person. Your body may be "in shape" for the work-out you are doing and you're not burning as many calories anymore doing that work-out as you first did 2-4 months ago.

    My sleep is okay and I'm not stressed. You're probably right about the videos may be getting easier and I'm not burning as much which is why my caloric intake may be off everyday. They are walking videos so I normally was doing 2-4 miles and so I've since switched to jogging in place instead of walking to amp it up a bit. I do not have many other choices on what to use to work out so I'm really not sure how to change this. I do have a few zumba and dance dvds so many I can try those out instead?

    The exercise bit doesn't really work like that. You do burn less than you did originally, but because you lost weight. Your body weighs less, you're doing less work for the same exercise. It is not because you are 'in shape' for that particular exercise.

    The solution is to adjust your exercise calories for your lower weight, and if you want to burn more than that, you do what you've said you are doing and add more intensity or time.
  • blues4miles
    blues4miles Posts: 1,481 Member
    stealthq wrote: »
    lml852014 wrote: »
    ngagne wrote: »
    1) I think weighing yourself more than once per week is well... your body naturally is going to fluxuate slightly; water retention, stress, sleep, etc can call cause weight fluxuation. (apparently, I am not spelling "fluxuate" correctly...)

    2) if you're confident that you are being true and right with your food intake... Are you stressed? Are you getting enough sleep? These can cause issues with your weight as well, despite every-other good intentioned effort.
    But most of all, you said work-out videos. If you have been doing these for awhile, your body may just need a change, something more challenging. For example, a heavier, out of shape person will burn much more calories doing the exact same movement as a slim, in shape person. Your body may be "in shape" for the work-out you are doing and you're not burning as many calories anymore doing that work-out as you first did 2-4 months ago.

    My sleep is okay and I'm not stressed. You're probably right about the videos may be getting easier and I'm not burning as much which is why my caloric intake may be off everyday. They are walking videos so I normally was doing 2-4 miles and so I've since switched to jogging in place instead of walking to amp it up a bit. I do not have many other choices on what to use to work out so I'm really not sure how to change this. I do have a few zumba and dance dvds so many I can try those out instead?

    The exercise bit doesn't really work like that. You do burn less than you did originally, but because you lost weight. Your body weighs less, you're doing less work for the same exercise. It is not because you are 'in shape' for that particular exercise.

    The solution is to adjust your exercise calories for your lower weight, and if you want to burn more than that, you do what you've said you are doing and add more intensity or time.

    Concur. I'd say the opposite actually happens as you get more fit. You are capable of working at a higher intensity and therefore capable of burning more calories. I find for me personally, the calories I burn less of as I'm losing weight I tend to make up for as I get more fit until I get past a certain weight again, then I can't get much fitter (or not enough to make a calorie burn difference) and so my calories per activity drop back down again. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, use your weight loss as a reason to keep trying to work harder, up the intensity, and try new things.

  • dearmrsowl
    dearmrsowl Posts: 151 Member
    edited January 2016
    lml852014 wrote: »
    ngagne wrote: »
    1) I think weighing yourself more than once per week is well... your body naturally is going to fluxuate slightly; water retention, stress, sleep, etc can call cause weight fluxuation. (apparently, I am not spelling "fluxuate" correctly...)

    2) if you're confident that you are being true and right with your food intake... Are you stressed? Are you getting enough sleep? These can cause issues with your weight as well, despite every-other good intentioned effort.
    But most of all, you said work-out videos. If you have been doing these for awhile, your body may just need a change, something more challenging. For example, a heavier, out of shape person will burn much more calories doing the exact same movement as a slim, in shape person. Your body may be "in shape" for the work-out you are doing and you're not burning as many calories anymore doing that work-out as you first did 2-4 months ago.

    My sleep is okay and I'm not stressed. You're probably right about the videos may be getting easier and I'm not burning as much which is why my caloric intake may be off everyday. They are walking videos so I normally was doing 2-4 miles and so I've since switched to jogging in place instead of walking to amp it up a bit. I do not have many other choices on what to use to work out so I'm really not sure how to change this. I do have a few zumba and dance dvds so many I can try those out instead?

    YouTube has tons of free workout videos you can choose from. I'm sure you'll find something there that's new to you and challenging again. One of my favorites is the Fitnessblender channel. Different types of workouts and different levels of difficulty.