Confused by weight gain
GrowlingLucifer58
Posts: 21 Member
Hi everyone!
I basically signed up to MFP to lose just a couple of pounds, nothing major. In recent months, my weight has crept up a bit, so I just wanted to get it back down to what I was before.
However, for some strange reason, I'm still continuing to put on weight, and genuinely have no idea why. Just to emphasise, we're not talking loads here (no medical emergency - just a few pounds).
I'm carefully tracking what I eat, and have been weighing all foods - apart from things like green veg, which I'm a little less exact on. However, given that the calorie difference tends to be minimal, I haven't worried too much about weighing these foods - as I'm usually eating under my allowance anyway.
I'm also exercising - doing 30 day shred and trying to walk as much as possible.
I'm not sure what's causing the weight gain, given that I've now been eating carefully for about six / seven weeks, plus exercising for four weeks. Just to emphasise, I'm not feeling particularly stressed out by this, as I'm quite light anyway - but I don't want to get into a continuous cycle of putting on more and more weight!
Any suggestions anyone? (It's a bit of a shame, as I've got a bikini to squeeze into next week - lol)
I basically signed up to MFP to lose just a couple of pounds, nothing major. In recent months, my weight has crept up a bit, so I just wanted to get it back down to what I was before.
However, for some strange reason, I'm still continuing to put on weight, and genuinely have no idea why. Just to emphasise, we're not talking loads here (no medical emergency - just a few pounds).
I'm carefully tracking what I eat, and have been weighing all foods - apart from things like green veg, which I'm a little less exact on. However, given that the calorie difference tends to be minimal, I haven't worried too much about weighing these foods - as I'm usually eating under my allowance anyway.
I'm also exercising - doing 30 day shred and trying to walk as much as possible.
I'm not sure what's causing the weight gain, given that I've now been eating carefully for about six / seven weeks, plus exercising for four weeks. Just to emphasise, I'm not feeling particularly stressed out by this, as I'm quite light anyway - but I don't want to get into a continuous cycle of putting on more and more weight!
Any suggestions anyone? (It's a bit of a shame, as I've got a bikini to squeeze into next week - lol)
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Replies
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Are you eating back exercise calories? If you open your food diary people will be able to give you more accurate feedback. You say you’re “usually” under your allowance, how often is usually? Is there anything else you’re not weighing?0
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If you can get into a bikini, just wear it and have fun. You probably look better in it than you think!1
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If you are gaining it is either DOMS (which is typically temporary) or you are consuming more calories than you think. MFP database can be wrong so avoid generic and homemade entries. Your diary isn't open, but that could help the rest of us help you see what could be going on.0
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Could also be water retention if you're eating a lot of sodium.1
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If it is water retention drink extra water to dilute the sodium and go low carb for a couple days. The water weight will drop off. Otherwise there isn't much to do except lose a pound more or less of fat. It isn't healthy to lose too much more than 2 pounds in a week and will be difficult to do so close to goal weight.0
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Do you mean on a scale or in inches around your body of mm of fat on a caliper? The scale can be a funny thing. I agree that water retention can add to the scale and add bulk. Sodium should be 1500-2300 mg per day. Also, i think dehydration makes you retain water. Otherwise, as you know it is a in and out game. I know that cals in cals out is very important, but what you eat affects your body composition. I am no expert, but most women do not get enough protein.2
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What was your starting weight 6-7 weeks ago, and what is it now? If in the 1-5 pounds range, could easily be water weight.
How many calories do you eat per day? Height, age? Do you 'eat back' your exercise calories? If so how many calories do you add per day for exercise? (Could be overestimating exercise cals, we often don't burn as much as we think...)0 -
I'd say I'm pretty low-carb already. I'm allergic to wheat, which makes life trickier in that department! I can't work out how to open my food diary, but I usually eat something along the lines of:
Breakfast - granola, blueberries, a few walnuts, almond milk
Lunch - loads of green veg, usually fried in a teaspoon of coconut milk, plus loads of spices (occasionally I chuck 100g or so of tempeh in there for a bit of oomph!)
Dinner - varies a lot, but usually something fairly veg heavy, with perhaps a couple of quorn sausages, a small portion of pasta etc.
Snacks tend to be rice cakes, a couple squares dark choc, the occasional treat (yep, peanut M&Ms were on the menu the other night - but I factored them in..!) etc. I track it all pretty diligently (as in - apart from green veg, I weigh everything or read the packet for calorie details). Normally I end up around 300-500 calories under the recommended - that's with exercise factored in (so 100-300ish below?)
As I said, it's not too big a deal and I'm not wigging out about it - it's just a bit odd, is all! I wondered water retention too - someone told me exercise causes temporary water weight gain, and I suffer with this anyway. However, after four weeks, wouldn't it have calmed down by now? And I'm presuming it takes far longer for muscle to develop. ;-)
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Sounds like you aren't eating enough which can stress the body and cause cortisol release which will cause weight gain. I would change your goals to 1 pound loss per week and see what happens.0
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Thanks Cathipa- I did wonder that myself; given that I didn't want to lose much in the first place. I'm not sure how I ended up on the 2lb weight loss goal - I'll see if I can fix that (surely my technological 'prowess' can stretch that far...)1
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GrowlingLucifer58 wrote: »Thanks Cathipa- I did wonder that myself; given that I didn't want to lose much in the first place. I'm not sure how I ended up on the 2lb weight loss goal - I'll see if I can fix that (surely my technological 'prowess' can stretch that far...)
OP before you go down the road with having a reducing active thyroid hormone, shutting down sex hormone production, and raising stress hormones like cortisol the following reasons we retain or gain water weight
1) Increase (volume or intensity) exercise
2) Women (two times a month (ovulation and mensus)
3) Hydration or lack there of (electrolyte imbalance)
4) Carbs (more causes gain and less water loss
5) Muscle recovery
6) Sodium excess
OP are you indeed eating so much less calories and have been doing this for a very long time to cause metabolic issues? I highly doubt you have any metabolic issues.
But def change the goal to 1 pound, no need to do this so aggressively that you not just loose fat, but some of your muscle will be lost too. Don't want that do you?0 -
I've been upping the exercise for 4 weeks now (prior to that, it was mainly just walking - nothing too energetic!). I was warned about water retention and muscle recovery, but when reading about it online, it seemed to suggest this should only last a couple of weeks max?
And no, we don't want muscle loss - not after all this hard work
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To open your diary go to: settings/diary settings/diary sharing/ then set it to public.0
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GrowlingLucifer58 wrote: »Hi everyone!
I basically signed up to MFP to lose just a couple of pounds, nothing major. In recent months, my weight has crept up a bit, so I just wanted to get it back down to what I was before.
However, for some strange reason, I'm still continuing to put on weight, and genuinely have no idea why. Just to emphasise, we're not talking loads here (no medical emergency - just a few pounds).
I'm carefully tracking what I eat, and have been weighing all foods - apart from things like green veg, which I'm a little less exact on. However, given that the calorie difference tends to be minimal, I haven't worried too much about weighing these foods - as I'm usually eating under my allowance anyway.
I'm also exercising - doing 30 day shred and trying to walk as much as possible.
I'm not sure what's causing the weight gain, given that I've now been eating carefully for about six / seven weeks, plus exercising for four weeks. Just to emphasise, I'm not feeling particularly stressed out by this, as I'm quite light anyway - but I don't want to get into a continuous cycle of putting on more and more weight!
Any suggestions anyone? (It's a bit of a shame, as I've got a bikini to squeeze into next week - lol)GrowlingLucifer58 wrote: »I'd say I'm pretty low-carb already. I'm allergic to wheat, which makes life trickier in that department! I can't work out how to open my food diary, but I usually eat something along the lines of:
Breakfast - granola, blueberries, a few walnuts, almond milk
Lunch - loads of green veg, usually fried in a teaspoon of coconut milk, plus loads of spices (occasionally I chuck 100g or so of tempeh in there for a bit of oomph!)
Dinner - varies a lot, but usually something fairly veg heavy, with perhaps a couple of quorn sausages, a small portion of pasta etc.
Snacks tend to be rice cakes, a couple squares dark choc, the occasional treat (yep, peanut M&Ms were on the menu the other night - but I factored them in..!) etc. I track it all pretty diligently (as in - apart from green veg, I weigh everything or read the packet for calorie details). Normally I end up around 300-500 calories under the recommended - that's with exercise factored in (so 100-300ish below?)
As I said, it's not too big a deal and I'm not wigging out about it - it's just a bit odd, is all! I wondered water retention too - someone told me exercise causes temporary water weight gain, and I suffer with this anyway. However, after four weeks, wouldn't it have calmed down by now? And I'm presuming it takes far longer for muscle to develop. ;-)
I'd normally agree with you about not weighing green vegetables not making a significant difference, but since you seem to be a veg* then in your case you could indeed be getting a lot more calories than you think from veggies.0 -
Is it close to your time of the month? I'm usually up a few pounds around mine.
Your calorie goal could be too high. Maybe look into that and/or just reduce by 100 calories or so (or run/walk an extra mile).
You could maybe swap the granola every other day to see what that does or have a total fruit/veg day to move the scale.
Good luck0 -
Cortneyrenee04 wrote: »Is it close to your time of the month? I'm usually up a few pounds around mine.
Your calorie goal could be too high. Maybe look into that and/or just reduce by 100 calories or so (or run/walk an extra mile).
You could maybe swap the granola every other day to see what that does or have a total fruit/veg day to move the scale.
Good luck
Could be hormones however, the calorie goal is being tracked every day, so decreasing calories not a great idea, also swapping food around is not necessary and getting the scale to move by swapping foods around does not work like that.
OP states the carbs are lowish.. I highly doubt pasta, granola, and veggies is over 100 carbs or so (so I would say lowish around 80 - 100.. if I had to guess)
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I'm usually well within the daily recommended carb thing on MFP. I wouldn't have said I'm particularly a big carb person full-stop - I'd say most of my diet is veg, some fruit, occasional protein (tofu, tempeh, occasionally quorn, eggs etc.) and a moderate level of carbs. I don't eat bread, I have rice maybe once a week, potatoes maybe once a week, pasta once a week - those sorts of levels! And yes, the occasional 'treat' which I will admit isn't always healthy, but doesn't make up a significant portion of my diet.
Hormones - interesting you should say that, as my hormones have been all over the place recently, and doc suggested I might be pre-menopausal (in mid-thirties - eeek!). Boobs definitely bigger! I suppose it's a bit of a mystery!
However, my clothes aren't particularly any tighter, and I'd say I look a bit more toned, which is far more important. The weight thing was just perplexing me more than anything else.0 -
How long has it been? Sorry if I missed that somewhere.
Hopefully it levels out soon! I'm glad you're not stressed about it- it doesn't help.
(Swapping foods out helps for me, btw)0
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