Gaining weight 700 cal below TDEE
adavis539
Posts: 3 Member
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?!
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?!
0
Replies
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Get a food scale.23
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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.1 -
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.0 -
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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.3 -
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OP, in addition to getting a food scale, which i highly recommend, I peeked at the last three days of your diary and have some observations:
- A lot of "takeaway" food. While published nutrition info for restaurants is a great way to make smarter choices, that info is based on how an item is typically made. If the person who puts your sandwich together has a heavy hand, they can easily add hundreds of calories. Eating out sometimes is fine, but the more often you do that, the less sure you can be about your calorie total.
- Generic entries - like "dinner roll", "caesar side salad". Did you create that entry or did you find it in the database? There is a ton of incorrect info in the database. Make sure you are using correct entries.
Maybe one of those things is not enough to add enough calories, but combining all these issues together - eyeballing portions, using generic entries created by other users, and depending on restaurant employees to match a published calorie count - could definitely make a difference.
Once your diary is as accurate as possible and you give it a few weeks to see results, then if your results are still not quite right, it will be easier to pinpoint the problem. Good luck!19 -
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
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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
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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).
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Can you open your diary so we can help
It's open already http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/adavis5391 -
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?
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Check out your thyroid I reckon.0
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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.2
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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.3 -
I looked at your diary and this is what I see.
partial days logged
entries that are incorrect...for example this is a small one...a can of Dr pepper in Canada has 140 calories.
and if you think chicken parm one serving has 464 calories I need that recipe (mine has 700 calories per serving) and cherry pie...303 again I need that recipe...(mine is 500 Calories)
I also see hardly anything weighed...generic entries and homemade (unless you made it how do you know it matches)
barring that since you insist you know you aren't eating over must be medical or you are just that special.8 -
I call for Twinkie Diet v.2
1800 calories a day.
One month.1 -
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.
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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.0 -
Your TDEE is not a guarantee. Your actual TDEE may be a few hundred calories below what the calculator says. Even if you do find out you have a thyroid condition, the fact if the matter is that whatever your body is burning on a daily basis, you're eating more than whatever that amount is. It's the only way to gain weight. However, people have pointed out the inaccuracies of your food log and that's usually the first place to look. In any case, decrease your calorie intake.4
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If you're gaining then you are eating more than you think. Why not follow MFP's number instead of TDEE at least for now, track your food as accurately as possible. If you are eating at true deficit you will lose.2
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The first time I tried calorie counting without a scale and just eyeing everything I was not successful in losing much weight. I started using a scale a little about a week and half ago and have dropped just over a pound. I have been really surprised to see what 4oz of chicken really looks like or a serving of cooked rice. It made it evident quickly that I have been overeating. It does take a few more minutes to food prep but I think the more I use it the quicker it will be come for me. I would definitely suggest weighing everything.3
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Cook at home. Ditch the sugar water. Eat more vegetables.2
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If your food amounts are correct and you genuinely cannot lose weight then maybe a doctors appointment is warranted. I struggled for a long time with meal replacements, clubs, low carb, low cal doing all diets desperately following them correctly and could still gain. Eventually I became so ill I went to the doctors even though I have medical anxiety and it turned out my thyroid was being destroyed by hashimotos. I'm now being medicated and if I put all my input into mfp I lose 2 pounds week.0
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Stop eating out for one month. Weigh EVERYTHING. I weigh my Mayo .. My ketchup .. Butter.. Anything I use in my meal goes on the scale. You might be surprised what you are really eating. And drop the soda for that month too. See what happens.1
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Disregard everything you've read in this thread, here's the answer you're looking for:
You are a special snowflake. Your body's biological functions are so unlike any other that no matter what you do, you can't lose weight. In fact, your body is so uniquely efficient that it can produce extra energy to store when it takes in less energy than it needs. You will soon be contacted by physicists to be studied as you break the basic laws of energy.24 -
Your first mistake is trusting a scale that tells body fat. They lie.
Second... yeah, you're either underestimating your food, or using entries that are incorrect (which is VERY easy to do). What entry do you use for your 6oz steak, for example? I'm asking because entries for that are all over the place and if your steak has more fat, it will be completely off.
Third, if you're really convinced that you're a special snowflake, go see a doctor to make sure that nothing is wrong with you... but it's guaranteed that the problem is your logging.
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Disregard everything you've read in this thread, here's the answer you're looking for:
You are a special snowflake. Your body's biological functions are so unlike any other that no matter what you do, you can't lose weight. In fact, your body is so uniquely efficient that it can produce extra energy to store when it takes in less energy than it needs. You will soon be contacted by physicists to be studied as you break the basic laws of energy.
I would like to hire this guy and connect him to my energy network at home. Give him tiny chunks of food and I get masses of free energy back. Hey, this could solve the world's energy problems if we find more people like him and find a way to harness this energy created out of nothing.0 -
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.
I was going to post this, but someone beat me to it. Yes you could be eating double. See the video below. A food scale can be very eye opening about actual amounts eaten.
2
https://youtu.be/JVjWPclrWVY
http://youtu.be/vjKPIcI51lU
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