Gaining weight 700 cal below TDEE

Options
adavis539
adavis539 Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello. Brand new to the forums, but I've been using MFP for a while now.

I'll get right to the point. I should be losing weight, and I'm gaining. Something is wrong, and I wanted some opinions on what it could be.

My TDEE is around 2550 according to various online calculators. My diary is open, but I'm not sure exactly what stats you can see. Male, 31, 5'11" 220 pounds, "lightly" active at work (I guess).

I have punched the (surely very popular) 2 pound per week loss goal into MFP, and it calculates 1700 to acheive this. Sure, not a bad place to start. 20% off my TDEE is 2040 so an extra 340 below that would be great.

I'm doing "OK" at sticking to the calorie goals. It's hard, and honestly most days I end up closer to 1800. So, according to that, I should be losing *some* weight. I am gaining 1-2 pounds, steadily, every week. According to MFP, I would have to be eating 3240 calories, daily, to get a 1 pound gain per week. I weigh myself daily (sometimes 2-3 times daily, hoping it was some kind of hydration level fluke or something). Body fat % on the scale (it's one of those that shoots an eletric signal through your feet) has gone up by about 1%, reading 25.5% currently.

I can't be eating double what I think I am. A good deal of the food I eat is scanned by barcode, and it's pretty easy to tell if you're eating a 6oz steak or 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. It's not like I'm absentmindedly chewing on whole sticks of butter here and logging them as 1 tablespoon servings. I have significantly reduced my soda intake (a serious hardship for me, and I can't stand diet soda at all) - almost every meal is with water. Alcoholic beverages are down to about once a year.

I am alternating between being depressed about this and being outright furious. What the heck, body?! What are we doing here?!
«1345

Replies

  • alexreyn13
    alexreyn13 Posts: 52 Member
    Options
    What have you got your activity set to? Based on your stats, your TDEE is around 2300 for Sedentary or 2700 for Lightly Active. Maybe going based off of Sedentary numbers will be better, netting you 1800 calories a day.

    Also I'd recommend a food scale to accurately log your food, it can't hurt.
  • adavis539
    adavis539 Posts: 3 Member
    Options
    Activity level is set to "light" in MFP. I work in sales, on my feet about 90% of the time, lots of moving around, lifting and stacking heavy boxes. I sweat hard enough most days I need to get something to wipe my face so it doesn't drip on my shirt. I'd say "lightly" active would be generous for what I actually do most days.

    I realize didn't mention exercise. It's usually only once per week (yeah I know, I should be exercising at least 30 hours a day, 8 days a week according to half the broscience on the internet out here), and it's about an hour per session. I keep my heartrate 80-90% of max HR for my age/weight for 30 minutes+, then 30 minutes of lifting. I do not eat-back the calories MFP says I "earned" while exercising.

    So, two people have suggested I weigh my food. I'm a little skeptical this will actually change anything. I don't think the grocery store is going to give me a 32oz steak and charge me for a 6oz. I'm also pretty sure it didn't mysteriously grow while it was in my refrigerator. I know how much a cup of milk is, or a tablespoon of butter.

    I know there's a lot of attitude in my posts, but the point I'm trying to make is that I can't be overeating my calorie goal by double and not realizing it. That's what I would have to be doing to gain the amount of weight I have gained in a month's time.
  • RA60172
    RA60172 Posts: 137 Member
    Options
    It's important to get use a food scale because even if your estimate for an item is only off a bit, it all adds up. And for certain things, like shredded cheese, it adds up FAST. My husband was skeptical about using my food scale for a while, but after only losing about 3 pounds over a 2.5 month period (in which I lost about 25 pounds), he gave it a shot. Now he's consistently losing 1.5-2 pounds/week.

    My food scale was $15 from Target. Super affordable. It's worth a shot.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    Options
    qatpg0a747gp.jpg
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    Options
    You have to weigh all sounds on a food scale all liquids in a jug you can't possibly know weights
    It's easy to over eat 1000s of calories not weighing or measuring
    Your probably eating a lot more than you think it's amazing how little food weighs in relation to calorie amounts like chicken you don't get much for 200 calories
    Peas sweet corn potatoes other starch vegetables are high in calories
    If you don't want to weigh food you need a plan where you don't have to as calorie counting is weighing & measuring everything :)
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member
    edited April 2016
    Options
    Can you open your diary so we can help

    Yesterday I had
    Light prawn sandwich
    Pack light crisp
    Jacket potato
    Chicken
    Veg
    Light mayonnaise
    Porridge
    Semi skimmed milk
    Sultanas

    1354 calories & thsrs all I got for that all weighed measured believe me it was little amount food

    500 calories more = just 4 slices bread
    Or 1 big steak and large salad
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Options
    adavis539 wrote: »
    I know there's a lot of attitude in my posts, but the point I'm trying to make is that I can't be overeating my calorie goal by double and not realizing it. That's what I would have to be doing to gain the amount of weight I have gained in a month's time.

    Indeed. Any chance you can have a metabolic rate test done locally (one where your breath is measured and analyzed at rest to determine calorie rate).
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    Options
    size102b wrote: »
    Can you open your diary so we can help

    It's open already http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/adavis539
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
    Options
    adavis539 wrote: »

    I know there's a lot of attitude in my posts, but the point I'm trying to make is that I can't be overeating my calorie goal by double and not realizing it. That's what I would have to be doing to gain the amount of weight I have gained in a month's time.

    There's a relatively simple way to test this out. Fancy being part of a science experiment of one?

    Given your stats and current intake (irrespective of the lack of exercise) you should be losing weight without question. A month would generally be sufficient for natural fluctuations to be accounted for on the scale (ignore the home body fat reading though - they are next to useless.)

    Now this is going to prove a little boring, and possibly a bit expensive, but it can put your mind at rest so it may be possibly worth the investment.

    There are numerous companies out there who market pre packaged meals / meal replacements and so on where they state they give accurate calorie counts (although they can be a little off the calorie level you will be keeping should budget for this.) Many of these companies target sports nutrition as well so it doesn't have to be poor nutritional choice supermarket ready meals.

    For two weeks eat 1,800 calories per day with these products only. See if you lose weight.

    You want to know what my money is on?
  • jesssiebee1983
    jesssiebee1983 Posts: 27 Member
    Options
    Check out your thyroid I reckon.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    Options
    Not to be redundant but you need to get a scale. It's hard to help when there isn't any accuracy with your intake.
  • FletcherLoder
    FletcherLoder Posts: 21 Member
    Options
    If you can't possibly be off on calorie count, then you have a medical condition.

    The only way to be truly accurate is to weigh everything...get a food scale and use it for two weeks to make 90% of your meals (stop eating out). If, after two weeks, you haven't lost any weight or are still gaining you need to go to the Dr.
  • cityruss
    cityruss Posts: 2,493 Member
    Options
    I call for Twinkie Diet v.2

    1800 calories a day.

    One month.
  • RobD520
    RobD520 Posts: 420 Member
    Options
    It has all been said at this point. Given what you are reporting, a medical consult seems sensible.

    A food scale is a good idea even if you are nearly certain you are weighing properly. Many of the entries in your food diary appear to be generic and don't include weights. I always wonder how helpful something like "Hamburger, two patties with bun" is when the weights of the patties AND the bun are not included. Restaurants offer two patty burgers that range from between 500 and 600 all the way up to 1800.

  • coreyreichle
    coreyreichle Posts: 1,039 Member
    Options
    adavis539 wrote: »
    Hello. Brand new to the forums, but I've been using MFP for a while now.

    I'll get right to the point. I should be losing weight, and I'm gaining. Something is wrong, and I wanted some opinions on what it could be.

    My TDEE is around 2550 according to various online calculators. My diary is open, but I'm not sure exactly what stats you can see. Male, 31, 5'11" 220 pounds, "lightly" active at work (I guess).

    I have punched the (surely very popular) 2 pound per week loss goal into MFP, and it calculates 1700 to acheive this. Sure, not a bad place to start. 20% off my TDEE is 2040 so an extra 340 below that would be great.

    I'm doing "OK" at sticking to the calorie goals. It's hard, and honestly most days I end up closer to 1800. So, according to that, I should be losing *some* weight. I am gaining 1-2 pounds, steadily, every week. According to MFP, I would have to be eating 3240 calories, daily, to get a 1 pound gain per week. I weigh myself daily (sometimes 2-3 times daily, hoping it was some kind of hydration level fluke or something). Body fat % on the scale (it's one of those that shoots an eletric signal through your feet) has gone up by about 1%, reading 25.5% currently.

    I can't be eating double what I think I am. A good deal of the food I eat is scanned by barcode, and it's pretty easy to tell if you're eating a 6oz steak or 2 tablespoons of salad dressing. It's not like I'm absentmindedly chewing on whole sticks of butter here and logging them as 1 tablespoon servings. I have significantly reduced my soda intake (a serious hardship for me, and I can't stand diet soda at all) - almost every meal is with water. Alcoholic beverages are down to about once a year.

    I am alternating between being depressed about this and being outright furious. What the heck, body?! What are we doing here?!

    Are you doing net calories, or just using TDEE?

    I ask, because if you are eating back calories from exercise, and you already told MFP you exercise X times per week, you're double dipping calories.

    If you are logging exercise in your diary, tell MFP you're sedentary. See if that fixes it.

    I'm a similar height, and age, (5'10, and 35), I lost pretty regularly 1.5 lbs per week while setting a calorie goal of 1800 every day. I didn't log exercise into MFP, and I was running 3-5 times per week for 30 minutes a pop. So, just for comparison.

    You can skip the "guided" part of calorie goals, and set one manually. If you're gaining, drop it by 100 cals per week, until you start losing at a your goal rate.

Categories