Why am I gaining weight?
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Joolie567
Posts: 8 Member
I recently bought a FitBit, and I have began walking my dog about 3 miles per day + jogging about 1 mile (15 min pace) every 3 days. I have a desk job, so I don't do much else. When I started my new routine I weighed 140.2 lbs (I'm 5'3, 29 y/o, female). It's not a little over 30 days later, and I've some how gotten up to 146 lbs. It fluctuates between 144 & 148, but I can't get my weight any lower. My goal weight is 130 lbs.
I started paying more attention to calories by aiming to eat between 1,200 - 1,400 calories per day, and I measure everything out. There's only maybe 1 - 2 days per week that I'll dip below a 1,200 calorie intake, but I've never gone below 1,000. Here's an example of what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: SlimFast Chocolate shake mix made w/ unsweetened Almond Milk; 16oz Black Tea w/ 3 tsp sugar & 1 Tbsp half & half - 198 calories
Lunch: 1/2 Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich; 8 oz tea w/ 2 tsp sugar - 421 calories
Dinner: 1/2 Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo; 1 bag Panera chips - 545 calories
Snack: 1 oz Pepper Jack cheese; 7 Tomato Basil Triscuits - 250 calories
In total, I ate 1,414 calories & according to the FitBit, I burned roughly 1,819 calories. I calculated my BMR at around 1,300 calories. . . Shouldn't I be loosing at least 0.50 lb per week if I average a 400 calorie/day deficit?
What gives?
I started paying more attention to calories by aiming to eat between 1,200 - 1,400 calories per day, and I measure everything out. There's only maybe 1 - 2 days per week that I'll dip below a 1,200 calorie intake, but I've never gone below 1,000. Here's an example of what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: SlimFast Chocolate shake mix made w/ unsweetened Almond Milk; 16oz Black Tea w/ 3 tsp sugar & 1 Tbsp half & half - 198 calories
Lunch: 1/2 Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich; 8 oz tea w/ 2 tsp sugar - 421 calories
Dinner: 1/2 Panera Bacon Turkey Bravo; 1 bag Panera chips - 545 calories
Snack: 1 oz Pepper Jack cheese; 7 Tomato Basil Triscuits - 250 calories
In total, I ate 1,414 calories & according to the FitBit, I burned roughly 1,819 calories. I calculated my BMR at around 1,300 calories. . . Shouldn't I be loosing at least 0.50 lb per week if I average a 400 calorie/day deficit?
What gives?
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Replies
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Are you using a food scale or measuring cups/spoons?7
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Too much sodium? Increase H2O intake.3
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Well you didn't make the Panera sandwich so you don't know if those calories are right. If you eat out a lot, I would submit that you are likely eating more calories than you are logging.5
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Food scale...
The sandwich, the chips, the cheese, the triscuits...are all things you could easily be underestimating on.
Yes also possible the sandwich is more than you think. I eat out a LOT and typically use 1.1 or 1.2 of whatever the item is. As in, say I got a hamburger from in'n'out, I'll use 1.1 hamburgers as the entry for what I ate.
And unrelated to your weightloss, slimfast is just sugar-y water. There are probably better meal substitution shakes you could be consuming with more protein and less sugar. I'm sure plenty of people will pipe up to say you should be eating "real food" for breakfast, but I don't think it makes a difference if the nutrient quality is the same.
Do you weigh at the same time every day? Preferably in the morning after getting up and in the same clothes or naked?
You could also open your food diary if you want more suggestions.4 -
I agree that the sandwich probably has more calories than the menu says. I would log it as 1.2 or even 1.3 sandwiches (so half would be 0.6 or 0.65). See if that helps. Or make your own sandwiches; it doesn't take long, and you can weigh every ingredient as you make it.1
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Definitely use a food scale and weigh EVERYTHING. Also, I always assume when I eat something from a restaurant or fast food place that I got more than a single serving.
If you're gaining weight, and there's no medical condition as to why, then you're eating more than you think you are AND/OR burning less than you think you are. Seeing as you have a fitbit, as long as your settings are correct, you're probably eating more than you think you are.
Best of luck! :flowerforyou:3 -
How long have you maintained the weight gain? I know that my weight fluctuates up to 7 pounds with water weight gain over the month. I also tend to retain water for a bit after I start exercising when I've been fairly sedentary for a while. I'd say that unless you've remained steadily at the higher weight for a few weeks that a lot of it is probably water.
Since you are watching what you eat, do you feel like you are eating a lot less than before? You have a lot of fairly calorically dense foods like cheese and half and half and sugar that are really easy to underestimate if not weighing. I personally don't weigh my food because even years after recovering from an eating disorder, I tend to get crazy with it, but I try to overestimate and eat more fruit and vegetables, which are not so calorically dense, so mistakes just don't have as big an impact.
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It is possible you are under estimating intake but...
new exercise can cause fluid retention for up to 4-6 weeks...as well if you are stressing about it cortisol will cause water retention...and tonnes of sodium and...TOM.4 -
Weight is weird. I went from 155, to 158, to 157, and held steady there for a couple weeks despite exercise and eating right. Then two days ago, WHOOSH, I'm down to 153.8. Give it some time. Also, start measuring yourself and worry less about the scale. It's a better way to see results.4
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Barring the rare physical conditions....this article is excellent for helping identify causes.
Why am I no losing weight?1 -
Don't take the FitBit readings as totally accurate
any sudden jerks or jolts can add to the step/calorie burn count, a dog tugging on a leash on your arm could do it.
just a thought3 -
You're eating more than you think. I just figured this out the other day, even though I have a Fitbit. You need to weigh the sandwiches, you'll be surprised at how much pre-packaged and pre-made food is off by.4
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I became very careful with Panera: sodium is much more than I bargain for.
Half a bacon turkey bravo sandwich gives you in the neighborhood of 1,420 mgs of sodium, according to their database (https://panerabread.com/content/dam/panerabread/documents/nutrition/Panera-Nutrition.pdf). A full sandwich gives you close to 3,000. That's just one sandwich. There's still the rest of the day's intake to calculate. On me, 3,000 mg of sodium holds onto a heck of a lot of water, and tips the scales in an unpleasant direction. It washes out in a few days, but if sodium level is renewed every day or every couple of days, well, water grabbing comes in again.1 -
Hey guys. Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I do use both a scale and measuring cups, and the weight gain has been steady over roughly 30 days now - the same length of time I've been more active.
I noticed most people pointed out underestimating intake calories, but 7 triscuits is 7 triscuits - can't really underestimate that. I can definitely see underestimating prepared foods though, and I like the idea of logging 1.2 sandwiches, as an example, instead of 1. I am a little concerned about overestimating too much though. I don't want to eat too few calories. I'm definitely going to start trying to be less lazy and prepare my own meals. I only switched to SlimFast for breakfast, because it's convenient and I found I don't overdo my calorie goal by the end of the day. I was eating around 300 calories for breakfast (eggs, wraps, etc.), but sometimes I would be starving and overeating by lunch/dinner.
Ejbronte - I never realized just how much sodium was in Panera and other foods. I always look at the calories of what I was going to eat, but honestly ignore the rest of the info. I will definitely be keeping an eye on sodium now to see if that makes a difference.
Btheodore138 - Thanks for the tip - I'll try out measuring instead of scale obsessing.
Colorscheme - what do you mean by weigh prepacked/premade food? For example, how could I get a better idea of the correct calorie count in my Panera sandwich?
Considering I was maintaining 140 lbs doing nothing, I kind just assumed eating the same but being more active would cause the weight to fly off.0 -
Hey guys. Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I do use both a scale and measuring cups, and the weight gain has been steady over roughly 30 days now - the same length of time I've been more active.
I noticed most people pointed out underestimating intake calories, but 7 triscuits is 7 triscuits - can't really underestimate that. I can definitely see underestimating prepared foods though, and I like the idea of logging 1.2 sandwiches, as an example, instead of 1. I am a little concerned about overestimating too much though. I don't want to eat too few calories. I'm definitely going to start trying to be less lazy and prepare my own meals. I only switched to SlimFast for breakfast, because it's convenient and I found I don't overdo my calorie goal by the end of the day. I was eating around 300 calories for breakfast (eggs, wraps, etc.), but sometimes I would be starving and overeating by lunch/dinner.
Ejbronte - I never realized just how much sodium was in Panera and other foods. I always look at the calories of what I was going to eat, but honestly ignore the rest of the info. I will definitely be keeping an eye on sodium now to see if that makes a difference.
Btheodore138 - Thanks for the tip - I'll try out measuring instead of scale obsessing.
Colorscheme - what do you mean by weigh prepacked/premade food? For example, how could I get a better idea of the correct calorie count in my Panera sandwich?
Considering I was maintaining 140 lbs doing nothing, I kind just assumed eating the same but being more active would cause the weight to fly off.
Ok here's an example: I bought a pre-packaged pizza from a store and it said it weighed 255 grams on the package. But on my food scale it actually weighed 455 grams.
If you can find the nutrition info for Panera by weight, and weigh your sandwich on a food scale, you'll get a better idea of how many calories you're eating. Their breads are listed by oz's on this pdf: https://www.panerabread.com/content/dam/panerabread/documents/nutrition/Panera-Nutrition.pdf
I know their sandwich serving sizes go by half or whole, which isn't really precise. If you can maybe measure one piece of bread on your scale, then double it and you'll have how many oz the bread weighs and then check to see if it matches the nutrition info in the pdf. Then try to caculate the calories of the filling and see if it's accurate or not.
I mean, one sandwich could have 4 oz of bread, and another could have 3 oz of bread. I'm really surprised Panera doesn't list their sandwich serving sizes in grams other than the bread.1 -
A lot of my prepackaged food is heavier than a serving size on the nutrition info.
You say you still use measuring cups, what do you use the measuring cups for? You should use the scale for almost everything.1 -
Hey guys. Thanks to all for the comments and suggestions. I do use both a scale and measuring cups, and the weight gain has been steady over roughly 30 days now - the same length of time I've been more active.
I noticed most people pointed out underestimating intake calories, but 7 triscuits is 7 triscuits - can't really underestimate that. I can definitely see underestimating prepared foods though, and I like the idea of logging 1.2 sandwiches, as an example, instead of 1. I am a little concerned about overestimating too much though. I don't want to eat too few calories. I'm definitely going to start trying to be less lazy and prepare my own meals. I only switched to SlimFast for breakfast, because it's convenient and I found I don't overdo my calorie goal by the end of the day. I was eating around 300 calories for breakfast (eggs, wraps, etc.), but sometimes I would be starving and overeating by lunch/dinner.
Ejbronte - I never realized just how much sodium was in Panera and other foods. I always look at the calories of what I was going to eat, but honestly ignore the rest of the info. I will definitely be keeping an eye on sodium now to see if that makes a difference.
Btheodore138 - Thanks for the tip - I'll try out measuring instead of scale obsessing.
Colorscheme - what do you mean by weigh prepacked/premade food? For example, how could I get a better idea of the correct calorie count in my Panera sandwich?
Considering I was maintaining 140 lbs doing nothing, I kind just assumed eating the same but being more active would cause the weight to fly off.
actually 7 triscuits may not be 7 triscuits,if you weigh 7 of them you may get the grams it says(28 for example) but then again 7 may weigh 35g which is going to throw the calorie amount off. it can be off by more than you think. I learned this the hard way and I ate triscuits too back then. an large egg stating that its 50g on the package could weigh 54g,I have had iced tea and where it says the bottle is 18.5oz,I actually weighed the full bottle without the cap,drank the iced tea and then weighed the empty bottle and it was actually over 19oz of iced tea. the amounts on labels arent always accurate,you could have more or you could have less,very rarely have I found something to be an exact measurement/weight.every little bit adds up over time3 -
my favorite chips say 12 chips is one serving of 140 calories. i rarely find that to be the case - and i weigh every crumb. sometimes 12 chips is over 28 grams, rarely but sometimes under. but i doubt that the difference between the weight of 7 triscuits is going to be a problem.
is there dressing or cheese on the sandwiches? there's a lot of room for calorie variations there.
btw, some subways put a single slice of cheese in my salads, some put two slices, and the cheese is about 90 calories per slice. add an extra quarter avocado (they like us), and i can go over 150 calories for my salad even though i don't use any dressing or meat.1 -
itsbasschick wrote: »my favorite chips say 12 chips is one serving of 140 calories. i rarely find that to be the case - and i weigh every crumb. sometimes 12 chips is over 28 grams, rarely but sometimes under. but i doubt that the difference between the weight of 7 triscuits is going to be a problem.
is there dressing or cheese on the sandwiches? there's a lot of room for calorie variations there.
btw, some subways put a single slice of cheese in my salads, some put two slices, and the cheese is about 90 calories per slice. add an extra quarter avocado (they like us), and i can go over 150 calories for my salad even though i don't use any dressing or meat.
maybe not, but every little thing does count.yes I agree with it possibly being the sandwich as well because even the bread can be different in weight.
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