2 week delay in weight gain??

tabletmfp
tabletmfp Posts: 53 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all, I was doing real well in maintenance for the last few months and allowing myself a cheat meal on Saturdays which had no effect. I was maintaining around 60 kilos. But two weeks ago i had the usual cheat meal. This time it was pizza and I ate lots ,like I normally do on Saturdays. I followed that by my usual 3 fast days of 650 calories on Mon we'd and Fri. This has been enough for me to maintain, but last Saturday I was up on the scales at 60.6 which didn't bother me too much. I carried on this week with my 3 usual fasts. I thought it was just water weight and I'd be back around 60 kilos today. Now I have done 6 fasts since the pizza episode and stuck to 1600 calories the other days. I was shocked to see that I'm still gaining and now at 61.1 today!!!! The damage has been huge from one pizza meal! I can imagine the damage it does to people who eat it regularly! I imagine it's the salt and cars that cause the damage. Anyone got any ideas?

Replies

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited March 2016
    I am going out a limb here and simply ask what in the world is your weekly goal to maintain weight by integrating 650 calorie fasts? Are you fasting for a complete 24 hours and break fast with 650 calories, then eat normal the next day, start the fast again, rinse and repeat Mond - Fri and then you have cheat meals Sat and what do you do on Sunday?.

    Please please explain this entire process..

    ETA I waited in the thread for you to come back and reply, so I will just say this you did not have this "two week delay" in gain, it has been gaining during the entire two weeks and it showed up last sat and this sat, so you have got this process of gaining consistently by eating to much however you did that. You don't have one magic meal stay in weight gaining mode after it has been processed in the body.

    This process for maintaining is new to me, so I am having a hard time understanding this process you follow for alternate day fasting..
  • tabletmfp
    tabletmfp Posts: 53 Member
    I lost 18 kilos on the 5.2 plan. At the end it was harder to loose so I did 4.3. At around 60 kilos I wanted to maintain so I upped my 500 calories to 650 for those 3 days, and stuck to 1600 on non fast days. I was still loosing a bit, so I introduced a cheat meal on Saturdays. This has worked well for me. The only problem arose when I had pizza for the cheat meal, and now I'm still gaining 2 weeks later! Sorry if I confused you.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,486 Member
    It is not the pizza. You may have become a little lax in your logging, it happens to most of us. Tighten up your logging and check that your deficit calories are still correct for the weight you are now (60kg). It is good to reassess your calories every 10-15 lbs. the closer to gaol the sooner you should reassess.

    TOM, or a little water retention may be the cause also. Remember you would have to have eaten 3500 calories over your maintenance in pizza for it to have caused the weight gain.

    Cheers, h.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited March 2016
    I did the average per day eating if she is eating 1600, 650, 1600, 650, 1600, 650, 1600 this is 1192 calories per day to loose weight. NO way a person is not loosing eating this little.

    But I will ask if this is for maintain or loosing weight? I would think loosing at this small of calories.

    Is there food scale being used? If not, then my questions are done.

    When calories are being consumed higher than a persons "maintain calories" a person gains real scale weight by eating much more than they think they are. You need to log all calories and not logging properly by weighing it adding it the diary is not being accountable for adhering to the deficit MFP setup for you.

    Water retention would balance it self out from a high sodium intake within a day or two, not two weeks later. And this meal is way out of her body at this point. and the gain has been happening for two straight weeks so either.

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited March 2016
    tabletmfp wrote: »
    I lost 18 kilos on the 5.2 plan. At the end it was harder to loose so I did 4.3. At around 60 kilos I wanted to maintain so I upped my 500 calories to 650 for those 3 days, and stuck to 1600 on non fast days. I was still loosing a bit, so I introduced a cheat meal on Saturdays. This has worked well for me. The only problem arose when I had pizza for the cheat meal, and now I'm still gaining 2 weeks later! Sorry if I confused you.

    I to have to honestly ask are you logging using a food scale?

    Was this pizza meal, more than 3500+ calories above your maintenance calories to eat that day?

    Why not back off the alternate day fasting for a couple of weeks and go to normal deficit spread out through the week? No cheat meals or days. Perhaps you can change up the body's response and/or better yet reset by eating maintenance for two weeks?

    I can 100% say that to gain scale weight (fat) you have to over eat your maintenance calories and one meal did not do this or this meal even continuing to keep you in weight gain mode.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Thanks for your responses. Im just curious really. No I have never used a food scale. Yes it was a huge pizza, but calorie wise it cant have been any/much worse than my usual take away Chinese or chicken n chips with wine on saturday nights. I have no idea how many calories in a large pizza but I know its a huge amount. Im just surprised that the damage is showing 2 weeks later. For the last 2 weeks I did nothing different to normal ie 650, 3 days, and 1600 , 3 days. Im trying not to worry about it, as my plan has been working fine for 4 months.
  • leanne0627
    leanne0627 Posts: 109 Member
    Has anything else changed? Less exercise or more? More or less carbs? And is it fat gain or just weight gain. My weight changes all the time depending on tom, water retention, glycogen levels etc. One meal can not cause weight gain 2 weeks later. But there are 100s of things that can cause the scale to move in either direction that isn't even a fat loss or gain. Thats why the scale is such a bad measure of progress. Have your measurments changed?
  • richardgavel
    richardgavel Posts: 1,001 Member
    Fine <> accurate. I certainly believe it's possible to lose weight without a food scale but imagine you were trying to keep a 500 calorie deficit, and because of the lack of food scale your totals were off by 100 calories (very easy). You'd still be at a deficit and losing, just not as big as you thought. At some point, the lack of accuracy will come back and bite you.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Ok guys I will take measurements next week and maybe buy a food scale, but I still think there is something inherently 'bad' about pizza FOR ME, maybe extra sodium at off the radar levels, and over and above other junk or fast food. This is why I normally dont touch pizza. It just confirmed what I instinctively thought. I find it interesting really. I guess I am lucky that its only 1.2 kilos extra and Im not trying to loose now. It will be a long time before I ever touch pizza again. Ha!! Even all the extra food I had at Christmas time didnt have this effect.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    OH sorry to confuse you even more!! I have 2 profiles on here!!
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
    I have no idea what kind of plan you are following, but eating a pizza does Not cause you to gain weight 2 weeks later. Steadily over eating most likely will. I had a high sodium intake day the other day with some pizza and some brownies, the next day I weighed like 2lbs more. The day after that I was still up a lb today 3 days later back to normal. That's the way water weight works. Also that's why most of us in maintenance have a 3-4lbs weight range before we go into the action stage where you ready at a deficit again.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    You're 'maintaining' on 1100 cals a day? Doubtful.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    You don't measure and you don't weigh your food. Please read all the sticky posts at the top of each forum. Until you begin following the basics recommended on this site, and you think you know it all "instinctively"already, there really isn't anything else to say. :s
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Tavistock, nobody maintains at 1100!! I would be dead if I did that.
  • starryphoenix
    starryphoenix Posts: 381 Member
    Might just be water weight. It happens to the best of us. Sometimes weight just fluctuates as well.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Thank you Liahna! I like a positive response!!
  • maxit
    maxit Posts: 880 Member
    My personal experience has been that actual gains (not just water weight) have not been detectable in an instant and there often is a several day delay for a gain to show up.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Ok maybe that is true Maxit, I will just carry on and see what is on the scales next week. Even if it is fat, its just one kilo of fat, so I have to keep some perspective here. Either way its not a huge problem. Maybe I shouldnt have said anything, as I think I irritated some people on here!!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    1961dublin wrote: »
    Tavistock, nobody maintains at 1100!! I would be dead if I did that.

    So you're not logging?
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
    1961dublin wrote: »
    Ok maybe that is true Maxit, I will just carry on and see what is on the scales next week. Even if it is fat, its just one kilo of fat, so I have to keep some perspective here. Either way its not a huge problem. Maybe I shouldnt have said anything, as I think I irritated some people on here!!

    I don't think you irritated anyone, your post(s) were confusing though. Without figuring out how many calories you consume on your cheat day it is impossible to know how many you consume in a week. It's why I recommend against so called cheat days and fasting in general. Fasting tends to lead to binges which is what you do on a cheat day. You'd be better off, IMO, by eating a little more everyday and 1 day a week eating at maintenance if you felt the need to still do so. I think you can successfully fit in a little pizza and a little snack everyday and still meet your calorie goals, which might help alleviate the need for cheat days and binging.
  • 1961dublin
    1961dublin Posts: 124 Member
    Tavistock, yes I am logging, very much so, for the past 2 years. But I make an exception on saturday nights. And yea, I dont know how many calories I consume on Saturdays. I dont want to know. This works for me in maintenance. I dont feel deprived. Again, I am sorry if I have not been clear about my goal, which is to maintain!!

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