Gaining instead of losing!

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evanf1995
evanf1995 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm the last few attempts I made at losing weight I found myself constantly checking the scale and realizing that I'm actually gaining weight! I watch what I eat and I go to the gym 4-5 times a week but I still end up getting negative results!! What am I doing wrong?

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  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    your body will naturally fluctuate several pounds per day and vary from week to week. Look at trends over 4-6 weeks. If you are consistently gaining, you are eating too much.
  • murp4069
    murp4069 Posts: 494 Member
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    Are you consistently gaining or are these just fluctuations? If it's consistent gain you are probably eating more calories than you think. Do you log your food? And if you do, do you log it accurately or just estimating?
  • evanf1995
    evanf1995 Posts: 3 Member
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    I use this app to track everything from water to food to vitamins I take and I try to keep my intake in check...maybe I'm doing too much weights at the gym and not enough cardio?
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10196160/scale-stress-syndrome/p1
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    evanf1995 wrote: »
    I use this app to track everything from water to food to vitamins I take and I try to keep my intake in check...maybe I'm doing too much weights at the gym and not enough cardio?

    how many calories are you eating? How long have you been tracking? And how much weight gain.


    The split between weight training and cardio doesn't mean much.
  • evanf1995
    evanf1995 Posts: 3 Member
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    It tells me to eat 3210 but I NEVER eat that much..I've been on and off tracking for 2 months...and it's not huge gains but in 4 weeks I gained 5 lbs, the second week I lost but every other week was a gain
  • ClosetBayesian
    ClosetBayesian Posts: 836 Member
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    3210? What are your stats? Height? Weight? Goal? Is that 3210 including exercise, or no? Are you weighing everything you eat using a digital food scale?
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    evanf1995 wrote: »
    It tells me to eat 3210 but I NEVER eat that much..I've been on and off tracking for 2 months...and it's not huge gains but in 4 weeks I gained 5 lbs, the second week I lost but every other week was a gain

    ARe you eating back exercise calories? If so, I would probably not do that.


    Can you open your food diary though? What I find the biggest issue is accuracy and consistency... aka, people aren't using a food scale and people don't log every day. This causes us to eat a lot more calories than we think we are eating.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    evanf1995 wrote: »
    It tells me to eat 3210 but I NEVER eat that much..I've been on and off tracking for 2 months...and it's not huge gains but in 4 weeks I gained 5 lbs, the second week I lost but every other week was a gain

    Bolded is probably the root cause.

    Weight loss requires accuracy, consistency, and patience.
  • Clobern80
    Clobern80 Posts: 714 Member
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    3210 seems like a lot unless you are tall and quite large and only going for -.5 pounds per week. I am 6'2" and weighed 382 to start and I was only allotted 2550 calories at a -1.5 pound per week deficit. When I go and change my goal to -.5 pounds per week weighing 368, I am still only allotted 3090 calories. So I am not sure where you are getting your numbers unless you are larger than I am.
  • Deadlifter87
    Deadlifter87 Posts: 8 Member
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    I took a dexa scan the other day I was 252 lbs and 172 lb of lean mass it said with my extreme work and gym routine my daily caloric intake to maintain should be 4200 cal/day and 3500/day to lose weight, but I still only eat around 2000-2500 and its keeps me losing weight at a better pace. Try lowing to 2500 cals and you should start dropping weight
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
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    Dexa scan provides calorie intake suggestions now? Or is this just with the place you got yours done?
    Deadlifter87 wrote: »
    I took a dexa scan the other day I was 252 lbs and 172 lb of lean mass it said with my extreme work and gym routine my daily caloric intake to maintain should be 4200 cal/day and 3500/day to lose weight, but I still only eat around 2000-2500 and its keeps me losing weight at a better pace. Try lowing to 2500 cals and you should start dropping weight

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,397 MFP Moderator
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    Deadlifter87 wrote: »
    I took a dexa scan the other day I was 252 lbs and 172 lb of lean mass it said with my extreme work and gym routine my daily caloric intake to maintain should be 4200 cal/day and 3500/day to lose weight, but I still only eat around 2000-2500 and its keeps me losing weight at a better pace. Try lowing to 2500 cals and you should start dropping weight

    Just going to point out, that if you actually do maintain at 4200 calories, and you are eating 2500 calories or less, you will have a much harder time maintaining that 172lb of lbm. Grant it, you will naturally lose some, but aggressive weight loss deficits make it much harder.

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