I have had it

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ConfusedDieter
ConfusedDieter Posts: 11 Member
edited December 2024 in Motivation and Support
I posted this in the general diet and weight loss section but I think it belongs here instead:

After starting with MyFitnesspal, the recommendation was that I should eat 1500 calories a day. I have been following that religiously for 4 days, buying frozen foods that had an exact calorie count on it. I have also incorporated walking for an hour each in the morning and evening. This morning, I weighed myself thinking my weight would finally be under 200 (it was 200 when I started and I really wanted to see it go down to 1 something. However, it was 201.

I was so upset and discouraged because even dieting is not helping me to lose weight so I feel like there is no hope that I will ever be at a healthy weight. So all day today I just ate a lot of junk food and didn't even bother counting the calories, since I feel like dieting is going to make me gain weight anyways.

Then later on today I weighed myself again and my weight was literally 206 lb, I'm not joking. So I gained 5 lb in one day. I will admit I had a lot of junk food. However I went back and counted the calories of everything and it was 3,000 calories. I thought it took 3,500 calories OVEREATING to gain 1 pound. I can't do this any more. I keep gaining weight arbitrarily. Either that or there is something wrong with me and my metabolism is really low like 300 calories a day or something. I have had it. I tried to get to a healthy weight but my weight keeps going up arbitrarily.

Replies

  • cessi0909
    cessi0909 Posts: 653 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    1) Be patient. You're only 4 days into it. I didn't lose a thing when I started until I reached the 10-day point.

    2) The junk food you ate was likely salty ... right? Salt makes you retain water and thus appear to gain weight.

    3) Stick with it. Weigh and log everything. Know that walking only burns about 200 cal/hour ... so eat a maximum of half that back. And don't "give up" after only 4 days. Stick with it for 4 weeks ... 4 months ...

    This.



  • mel35645
    mel35645 Posts: 267 Member
    I'm no expert but my guess would be that the lbs are coming from water retention. I love the convenience of frozen meals but eating them on a regular basis can be problematic because of the sodium. Losing weight is hard so all we can do is try to take it one day at a time and if you eat a lit of foods high in sodium try increasing your water intake. Trust me I know how frustrating this journey can be
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    It takes longer than 4 days.
    Weight fluctuates naturally during the day and you can appear to gain based on water retention due to lots of sodium, intense exercise, period. If you ate a lot and weigh soon after you also have that food/poop in your body.
    Weigh once a week at the same time of day on the same scale under the same conditions- right after you wake up and use the toilet but before you eat or drink anything. Take body measurements with a tape measure once a month. Take a progress photo once a month.
    Some people weigh every day. Regardless you need to understand that weight fluctuates and not give up or freak out based on the scale.
    Log everything as accurately as you can. Get a food scale.
    Give it at least 3 weeks before making changes. If you don't lose after that lower your calories a bit.
  • DianaGoth
    DianaGoth Posts: 1 Member
    The only time someone loses a lot of weight in 4 days is when the person is losing water weight which is no victory at all. I also find that I lose inches before pounds, which still takes about a month or so to see a difference. As far as the metabolism goes; it does play a big part of weight loss or gain. Exercise definitely helps with that when a person is persistent with their routine. I hope you don't give up on your health that fast.
  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
    edited July 2016
    http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/health/metabolism-myths/

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzcE9gBqJxo
  • st476
    st476 Posts: 357 Member
    You didn't gain 5 pounds, it's water weight that will come off in a couple days. You probably even gain 1 pound of fat. You really need to be patient. You can't just give up every time the scale goes up, because that's going to happen A LOT. It happens to me maybe 3 times a week. If you're eating at a deficit, you'll lose weight. Give it some time
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,010 Member
    Your weight isn't just fat. It's water and muscle and undigested food working its way through your system. Of course you gained weight after eating! Your weight included all that food you just ate that takes hours to digest.

    Log your food and drink, accurately and consistently every day.
    Weigh yourself no more than once a day, at the same time and in the same place. It might be best for you to weigh once a week for awhile to keep from being disappointed so easily.
    Move more, however you can.
    Constantly remind yourself that this is a LONG TERM process, and your weight can fluctuate by 5 lbs or even more daily based on water weight, exercise effects, digestion, humidity, etc.

    I hope this doesn't come off as mean, but it sounds like your biggest task is an attitude adjustment. If you push yourself to lose weight quickly and expect immediate results, you are going to mess with your head, be miserable, and probably continue to yo-yo. Don't go on a diet, create a lifestyle change. Find a way to eat that you can stick with for the rest of your life. Find physical activities you enjoy. Look for an average of around 1 pound of loss per week over several months. Include occasional treats of foods you enjoy in your daily calories. Be patient, and best of luck.
  • pdxwine
    pdxwine Posts: 389 Member
    Everyone else has already made great points. Four days is not long enough to measure any type of success.

    Also, I agree with others on the frozen foods. They are filled with sodium, and other ingredients that are not good. Eat real food. Measure and weigh it.

    Also, weighing yourself a second time in one day will discourage you. Think about it, you eat food that, let's say, comes in at 300 calories. It weighs 10 ounces. You eat more later, that weighs 16 ounces. You drink 16 ounces of water. You have not yet eliminated that food through absorption or using the bathroom. That is almost 3 pounds. Stop weighing yourself more than once a day.

    Get on track, do not binge out of frustration, take a walk and most of all, wrap your mind around changing your lifestyle. A diet is not going to work, changing your habits will.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Weight-loss is a marathon, not a sprint. The pounds didn't go on overnight and fat loss won't happen that quickly, either.

    Persistence and patience are key.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    @ConfusedDieter This morning I weighed myself and measured a gain of 2.4 lb from yesterday. Does this mean that I am going to weigh an additional 949 lb in a year by gaining 2.4 lb every day? I certainly hope not. I know exactly why I gained 2.4 lb overnight, and I don't object to it. The short of it is I had a lot of salty stuff yesterday. The sodium from the salt gets into my body and starts grabbing water. The kidneys in my body spend 24 hours a day grabbing water and stuffing it into the bladder. Occasionally, I empty the bladder. I drank much more water than 64 oz yesterday. I ate a lot of sodium yesterday. A lot of sodium in my body grabbed a lot of water in my body and it's more than my poor little kidneys can stuff into a bladder in 12 hours. The water being bound by the sodium was still in my body, upstream of the kidneys. That's when I weighed and measured a gain. 2.4 lb of water is about half a gallon, and that's well within what I drank yesterday. Today I'm staying on my eating plan, not going over my target on sodium, and tomorrow I'll measure a loss of about 2 lb. Monday I'll again stay on my eating plan, stay within my target for sodium, and then Tuesday morning I'll weigh again and be right at or slightly below where I was Saturday morning. The thing you need to understand is that water is heavy, salt grabs water, kidneys grab water and can excrete about 20-25 mg of sodium every hour.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    Lifestyle changes don't happen overnight, and neither does weight loss. I am 2 years into this journey, and still making tweaks and changes and learning to let go of my rigid ideas, bad habits, fears, and compulsions. You can do this, but you have to be ready to let go of more than weight, and to embrace a new way of living. *hugs*
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    edited July 2016
    I want to point out that this video http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/05/health/metabolism-myths/ had the large woman pointing out that 5-days in hospital on a drip not eating caused zero loss of weight. The doctor neglected to point out that the 'drip' was glucose delivering the 2000-2300 calories she needed to maintain her weight.
  • CoachJen71
    CoachJen71 Posts: 1,200 Member
    Also, using a website like Trendweight.com can be helpful for watching your weight and not getting freaked out by fluctuations. You have to have a Fitbit to use the site, but I am sure someone here must know of another program or site that works similarly and won't require buying a Fitbit. (Although, to be honest, I adore mine. Worth every penny to me!)
  • ConfusedDieter
    ConfusedDieter Posts: 11 Member
    Thanks for the explanations guys. I think I simply had the wrong idea. Someone once told me something like the calories from food get absorbed in 20 minutes so I assumed that if I created a deficit, I would be able to see it right away. I think I'm going to lower my expectations though, like losing 1 lb a month, so that I won't get disappointed.
  • st476
    st476 Posts: 357 Member
    ConfusedDieter wrote: »
    Thanks for the explanations guys. I think I simply had the wrong idea. Someone once told me something like the calories from food get absorbed in 20 minutes so I assumed that if I created a deficit, I would be able to see it right away. I think I'm going to lower my expectations though, like losing 1 lb a month, so that I won't get disappointed.
    You may have lowered it too much. If you're cool with 1 pound a month that's great but you could go for .5-1 pound a week, which is what most people do. You might end up getting impatient if you're only losing like .25 a week. Whatever works for you :smile:
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 26,352 Member
    ConfusedDieter wrote: »
    Thanks for the explanations guys. I think I simply had the wrong idea. Someone once told me something like the calories from food get absorbed in 20 minutes so I assumed that if I created a deficit, I would be able to see it right away. I think I'm going to lower my expectations though, like losing 1 lb a month, so that I won't get disappointed.

    The calories from liquid might get absorbed that quickly, but food can take days.

    Also ... food and liquid have weight.

    Try this experiment:

    First thing tomorrow morning, use the toilet, then go weigh yourself without any clothes on.

    Then drink 500 ml of water.

    Then weigh yourself again without any clothes on.

    Chances are, you will have gained 0.5 kg (about 1 lb).


    Also, if you are in a 500 calorie/day deficit (which is reasonable), using the 3500 cal = 1 lb thing, it would take 7 days before you'd see the loss of 1 lb.

    Of course, weight loss doesn't happen quite as nicely as that because of water retention and because of the weight of the food while it is being processed, etc. ... which is why you've got to look long-term.

    If you've got a 500 calorie/day deficit, you might be able to lose 4 lbs in a month, but you've got to stick with it every single day.

  • singletrackmtbr
    singletrackmtbr Posts: 644 Member
    ConfusedDieter wrote: »
    Thanks for the explanations guys. I think I simply had the wrong idea. Someone once told me something like the calories from food get absorbed in 20 minutes so I assumed that if I created a deficit, I would be able to see it right away. I think I'm going to lower my expectations though, like losing 1 lb a month, so that I won't get disappointed.

    Try to start with a pound per week. Measure EVERYTHING. Get a food scale that measures ounces and grams.

    I encourage you to use the resources at your disposal to learn more about the process of weight loss, eating right, activity, and exercise. If you just listen to what everyone tells you (us included) without ever doing any homework, you will probably never have a consistent plan, and will likely continue to fail.

    We want you to succeed! Do you you want it?
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Since weight varies so wildly you have to pick in between goals that are more directly under your control. Like adherence to your calorie target, fewer binges in a week, or a new fitness goal.

    Weight loss is a long trip like a scenic mountain trail. Make sure whatever you do that you are enjoying the journey.
  • feisty_bucket
    feisty_bucket Posts: 1,047 Member
    singletrackmtbr wrote: »
    lifestyle change.

    Yeah, that's the key; that's what it's all about. With diligence, any beginner can be in drastically better shape in a year.

    Just keep that in mind, do the work, and watch what happens.
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