I just don't get it... :-/

Jen2Bfit
Jen2Bfit Posts: 125 Member
edited November 30 in Health and Weight Loss
Ok, I recently decided to get back to the gym and do Zumba so I could lose some weight. While in the process of this I also decided to try some other classes and not only did I like them, I do all of them on a regular basis now. A couple of them involve weight training. I am also trying to be very aware of what I eat. It seems that right now I am doing more for my health in all areas then I ever have before. The problem? I am gaining weight.

Replies

  • Mentali
    Mentali Posts: 352 Member
    How recent is "recently"?
  • Jen2Bfit
    Jen2Bfit Posts: 125 Member
    I started back to Zumba 6 months ago, I started the other classes in February and then added a couple more last month.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
    If you have just increased your exercise, particularly weight training, your body is likely retaining water to help with muscle repair. Also, depending on hormonal changes, your body can also retain water depending on your cycle.
  • Jen2Bfit
    Jen2Bfit Posts: 125 Member
    edited April 2016
    Thank you. I know weight training and gaining muscle can put on weight, it just doesn't seem like I am doing enough to put on weight. But water retention makes sense to me as well as hormonal changes.
  • elphie754
    elphie754 Posts: 7,574 Member
    You said you have been "watching what you eat" but do you actually accurately log your calorie intake? (Use a food scale to weigh portions). If not, you are likely eating too much (yes you can eat too much of "good" stuff) which will lead to weight gain.
  • Jen2Bfit
    Jen2Bfit Posts: 125 Member
    I have been using a food scale and been accurate about that. What confuses me more and I didn't realize my post was too long and it didn't show up is that when I have "bad" days and go over my calorie budget I tend to lose 1-2 pounds.
  • Sleepyscribbler
    Sleepyscribbler Posts: 20 Member
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.
  • girlwithcurls2
    girlwithcurls2 Posts: 2,282 Member
    Sleepyscribbler wrote: »
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.

    ?????
  • Mentali
    Mentali Posts: 352 Member
    Sleepyscribbler wrote: »
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.

    This is a myth.
  • JordisTSM
    JordisTSM Posts: 359 Member
    Sleepyscribbler wrote: »
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.

    Does that honestly make logical sense to you? If it does, how do you explain people that die of starvation?
  • Merkavar
    Merkavar Posts: 3,082 Member
    edited April 2016
    Sleepyscribbler wrote: »
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.

    Kind of doubt starving yourself or eating too few calories leads to weight gain or fat storage.

    I don't recall obese kids on those ads asking for money to help fight starvation.

    :smiley:

    OP go with water weight but double check your calorie logging, are you eating calories burned through exercise, maybe your over estimating how much you burn.

    Or maybe you are sneaking in "good" snacks here and there that you aren't logging.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    Jen2Bfit wrote: »
    I have been using a food scale and been accurate about that. What confuses me more and I didn't realize my post was too long and it didn't show up is that when I have "bad" days and go over my calorie budget I tend to lose 1-2 pounds.

    I think it's the "bad" days that are holding you back. They don't do what they seem to be doing. We humans tend to pay more attention to rare and unexpected things than to what usually happens. And fat loss doesn't happen fast - most of what you can see on the scales is water fluctuations. Focus on getting your eating in line. You can't outtrain a bad diet. For most people, weight loss is 80% what (or really, how much) you eat, exercise 20%.
  • maasha81
    maasha81 Posts: 733 Member
    Do you log your bad days as well? Do those calories totalled with what you eat during the week still have you at a weekly deficit? In addition to water retention, you may need to tighten up on calorie counting especially on those bad days. Best wishes OP
  • 6pkdreamer
    6pkdreamer Posts: 180 Member
    JordisTSM wrote: »
    Sleepyscribbler wrote: »
    I'm wondering if you're actually eating too little. If you don't eat enough your body (being a primitive animal, in essence) assumes you're facing a period of starvation, so it burns as few calories as it can get away with by not replacing less important cells, or doing less crucial procedures, and stores fat if it can. If you then eat a little more it says whew! I can go back to working properly and use up some of that fat I stored away when I thought I might be about to starve to death. So you eat a few more calories and lose a little weight.
    The moral of this story is, eat no fewer calories than you need to to lose weight. If you've been eating a very low calorie count, especially if you've still not been losing weight, add a couple of hundred more calories to your goal total. You might find you lose weight better that way.

    Does that honestly make logical sense to you? If it does, how do you explain people that die of starvation?
    You still stave but your body goes into conservation mode ie slower metabolism.
    Starving yourself will still happen it's just prolonged.


  • eldamiano
    eldamiano Posts: 2,667 Member
    Gaining weight means you are consuming too much...
  • 6pkdreamer
    6pkdreamer Posts: 180 Member
    Is your shape changing? More important than weight ie belt on a new notch, more definition etc
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    Jen2Bfit wrote: »
    Ok, I recently decided to get back to the gym and do Zumba so I could lose some weight. While in the process of this I also decided to try some other classes and not only did I like them, I do all of them on a regular basis now. A couple of them involve weight training. I am also trying to be very aware of what I eat. It seems that right now I am doing more for my health in all areas then I ever have before. The problem? I am gaining weight.

    "trying" to be very aware of what you eat does not mean eating in a deficit....there is the problem
  • smantha32
    smantha32 Posts: 6,990 Member
    Jen2Bfit wrote: »
    Ok, I recently decided to get back to the gym and do Zumba so I could lose some weight. While in the process of this I also decided to try some other classes and not only did I like them, I do all of them on a regular basis now. A couple of them involve weight training. I am also trying to be very aware of what I eat. It seems that right now I am doing more for my health in all areas then I ever have before. The problem? I am gaining weight.

    Take measurements also. They're a more accurate idea of what's going on. You could be gaining but still getting smaller.
  • cavia
    cavia Posts: 457 Member
    Jen2Bfit wrote: »
    I have been using a food scale and been accurate about that. What confuses me more and I didn't realize my post was too long and it didn't show up is that when I have "bad" days and go over my calorie budget I tend to lose 1-2 pounds.

    Can you open up your diary?
This discussion has been closed.

Categories