Excising and eating better but my wife and I are gaining weight
alejandrovj
Posts: 3 Member
I'm 31 years old, 6'2" and 213 lbs and my wife is 28 years old, 5'2" and 145 lbs. I've been exercising for about 3 months now, maybe more and my eating habits have slowly been getting better, although every now and then I binge a little. My wife is about the same, although she hasn't been exercising as much as I have.
I started out a few months ago (around new years) going to the gym and doing weight training about 2-3 days a week pretty consistently in the mornings. Now I'm up to at least 3-4 days a week in the mornings and usually do Insanity 2-3 nights a week also. We've been eating better, although still not that good - we try to eat paleo most of the time but every now and then we have a few days in a row where we either get a dessert, or we go out to eat and don't eat healthy, but I'd say we eat better than we did 6 months ago.
For some reason we both have gained about 5 lbs in the last 3 months or so. I think our eating habits have a lot to do with it. We really want to eat better and try but always fail sooner or later. There must be an easier way or are we doing something wrong?? I'm out of ideas
I started out a few months ago (around new years) going to the gym and doing weight training about 2-3 days a week pretty consistently in the mornings. Now I'm up to at least 3-4 days a week in the mornings and usually do Insanity 2-3 nights a week also. We've been eating better, although still not that good - we try to eat paleo most of the time but every now and then we have a few days in a row where we either get a dessert, or we go out to eat and don't eat healthy, but I'd say we eat better than we did 6 months ago.
For some reason we both have gained about 5 lbs in the last 3 months or so. I think our eating habits have a lot to do with it. We really want to eat better and try but always fail sooner or later. There must be an easier way or are we doing something wrong?? I'm out of ideas
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Replies
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Exercise is a small part of the weight loss equation. Diet is a big part. You don't mention how much you are eating. It doesn't matter if you eat healthy (and that means different things to different people) if you are eating too much. Maybe read some of the sticky posts at the top of the forums. Sounds like you both are eating more calories than you use and this is what causes weight gain.0
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When your you say you are eating better but are you in a deficit? How accurate is your calorie counting? Do you pick the right entries from the database? The closer you are to your goal weight, the more accurate your calorie counting must be. How do you calculate your calorie burns?0
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You have to know how many calories you eat in order to lose weight. Use myfitnesspal to log what you are both eating and you will know why your'e either losing or gaining weight.0
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Eating Paleo 'most of the time' isn't a recipe for weight loss. Even eating Paleo ALL the time doesn't guarantee weight loss. Weigh and measure your foods until you're confident you can accurately eyeball a proper serving size.0
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It was a lot easier to watch what I eat before I got married. We have a hard time sticking to a diet/counting calories. It sounds like that would really help us though. Does anyone have any tips to stick to a diet?0
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Are you weighing everything ?0
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If you are gaining or maintaining then you're eating more than you think.
Buy a food scale, weigh everything you eat, measure all fluids and log it ALL honestly and accurately in to your diary. You could spend 8 hours a day, 7 days a week in the gym, but if your calories in are more than your calories out then you WILL gain weight.0 -
alejandrovj wrote: »It was a lot easier to watch what I eat before I got married. We have a hard time sticking to a diet/counting calories. It sounds like that would really help us though. Does anyone have any tips to stick to a diet?
Like @Christine_72 said, get a digital kitchen scale to weigh all solids. Measure liquids with a measuring cup. Log very accurately--using food labels you have in hand or MFP entries that match the online USDA database is an easy way to be accurate.
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alejandrovj wrote: »It was a lot easier to watch what I eat before I got married. We have a hard time sticking to a diet/counting calories. It sounds like that would really help us though. Does anyone have any tips to stick to a diet?
Do you mean sticking to your calorie goal, or are you attempting to follow a type of eating plan? I don't do specific eating plans, personally. Ideally you should be able to consume foods you like, so long as you're under your calorie goal. Satiety varies from one person to the next, and you have to figure out what works for you. The "tips" are endless, so these are by no means hard and fast rules:
Higher protein, fat, and/or fiber could help you feel fuller, longer
Increase vegetable consumption, especially low calorie ones. Don't be afraid to really load up on one or more full servings with meals!
Whether or not you're a fantastic cook already, try to prepare these items in a variety of ways to make them delicious - steamed, roasted, with/without oil, as part of a recipe involving other foods, etc
Some people tend to keep items they cannot yet moderate successfully out of the house. Until they get those under control, they might prefer to go out for one or two servings from time to time
Figure out if you prefer to "eat back" exercise calories, or just eat a flat number of calories everyday - what is your current daily target and what are your stats, if you don't mind my asking? A higher target can sometimes help you stick to the diet for the long haul, increasing success rates compared to trying to accomplish your goal too fast and giving up, if it's too rigid or unbearable
Consider pre logging your food, possibly the day before. Figure out meals and snacks that fit your lifestyle and eating patterns, then just eat to that plan the next day
Some keep their browsers open to their MyFitnessPal diary page, or you could download the mobile app and make it very accessible for logging
And yes, a food scale set in an accessible area can make it easy to measure and log your food, and do it consistently and accurately
What kinds of challenges do you experience logging your food, or sticking to a diet? Perhaps this could help us provide tips that may be a bit more specific to your situation. Good luck!!0 -
The Binge is your downfall. Keeping carbs below 100 grams/day, EVERY day will help immensely!
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I can imagine that it's very easy to gain weight eating Paleo if you don't measure your portions properly.0
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For starters, you need to track your food. Weigh and measure everything that you put in to your mouth. I would start out not making any changes and track your intake for a few days, you'll probably be surprised how much you are actually consuming. I've gotta say, learning actual serving sizes is kind of depressing LOL Once you see just how much you are eating, then start to make changes from there.0
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I've followed a couple of diets in the past that allowed me to lose weight without counting calories - South Beach and Whole 30. However, those diets are so restrictive that I gained every pound back plus extra when I inevitably stopped. Honestly, slowing down enough to weigh or measure my food and record it has been the easiest way to lose weight. I have scrap paper and a pencil near the kitchen so that I can write things down until I get a chance to get online and fill out my food diary here at MFP.0
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Like others suggested, you need to be in a deficit to lose weight, and counting calories will help you determine how many you are eating and whether you are in a deficit.
If eating paleo leads to cheating on your diet, or you generally struggle to stick with a diet, then maybe a specific diet that restricts certain foods isn't right for you two. Many people on here, myself included, lose weight eating the same foods we always did, just less of them. This helps reduce cravings and "cheating" since we don't feel deprived. I think many of us have also found that over time we start eating more healthy foods, particularly low-calorie foods like veggies and some fruits, to help stay full without going over our allotted calories for the day.0 -
eating paleo doesn't guarantee weight loss...only portion control does.
Counting calories isn't glamorous or in vogue atm like paleo but I can guarantee you this...if you stay in a reasonable deficit you will lose weight.0 -
michelle172415 wrote: »For starters, you need to track your food. Weigh and measure everything that you put in to your mouth. I would start out not making any changes and track your intake for a few days, you'll probably be surprised how much you are actually consuming. I've gotta say, learning actual serving sizes is kind of depressing LOL Once you see just how much you are eating, then start to make changes from there.
So true.
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Op if you don't have a food scale, I got some bad news.0
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I did the same thing as you guys a year ago. I started biking to work each day (16miles round trip) and eating "healthier". I never thought to log my food. I was probably consuming at LEAST 3000 calories a day. I was eating a ton of fruit, nuts, cheese, etc. And all that cardio just made me eat more. Logging really opened my eyes to what I was doing.0
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You said you "binge a little", how much is a little? Calorie count wise. Prior to me making changes my binges were very high caloric looking back that adds up.0
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It's all about math, you need to know how much you're eating calorie wise. As soon as you'll get a scale and count everything, weight will start falling off
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Thanks for all the replies. I am much more clear now. .. I need a food scale lol0
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alejandrovj wrote: »Thanks for all the replies. I am much more clear now. .. I need a food scale lol
Haha you picked up on that tiny bit of advice
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