Feeling Fat but not Gaining weight?

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I'm incredibly confused and frustrated with this whole weight thing! Maybe I focus to much on the scale or maybe I'm just crazy.

When I diet I go hard, I eat 1300 cals, I exercise, drink a bunch of water and eat fairly healthy for the most part! I generally lose about a pound a week but sometimes, if I have a cheat day or two, I'll gain like 5 pounds back! It was so frusterating!

This summer I said screw it, I was spending the summer visiting my boyfriend in another state and didn't want to focus on my weight, I've been eating whatever I want and tons of junk food. I feel super bloated and feel bleck, I decided to weight myself to see the damage I did after 2 months of basically binging and I gained a HUGE 2 pounds. I even tried 3 different scales cause I didnt believe I only gained 2 pounds

What the heck? I don't understand this. How can I gain 5 pounds from having a bad week during a diet, but only gain two pounds when I say screw it and don't even count or watch what I eat for 2 months? Granted, my boyfriend is a busy guy and I am a bit more active than I usually am but not by much.

Is it possibly to be gaining fat/weight but the scale not show it?

Replies

  • hhnkhl
    hhnkhl Posts: 231 Member
    edited August 2016
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    You know, I'm the same way. I'm losing weight, but it looks like my stomach is sticking out a lot more than it should be. It's like my eyes playing games with me. That and the people around me commenting in a negative way isn't really helping either..
  • AimiAutumn
    AimiAutumn Posts: 22 Member
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    hhnkhl wrote: »
    You know, I'm the same way. I'm losing weight, but it looks like my stomach is sticking out a lot more than it should be. It's like my eyes playing games with me. That and the people around me commenting in a negative way isn't really helping either..


    I feel like my eyes might be playing tricks on me, too. I don't really notice my clothes fitting differently, but then again I never had any particularly tight clothing to notice if its tighter? So I can't even be certain. I just don't get how my weight fluctuates so crazily when I diet but when I say screw it for two months I barely gain anything? Maybe I feel crappy from all the junk and maybe I shouldn't be complaining about only gaining two pounds over two months of binge eating, but its frustrating when I gain 5 pounds from a bad diet day when I'm trying so darn hard. I don't know what I'm doing wrong then and right now? I just dont get it.

    I honestly feel like I weigh so much more than just a 2 pound gain.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
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    You were eating at maintenance.
  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 846 Member
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    queenliz99 wrote: »
    You were eating at maintenance.

    ^^^ This. Left to yourself, you regulated your calories just fine. You ate at maintenance calories - in other words you consumed enough calories to replenish what you burned off.

    I've been at this for four years now, and I still cannot tell when I have gained or lost weight by feel. Excess salt, carbohydrates or exercise can really make me retain water. I feel bloated and squishy, sometimes for days until the water works its way out of my system.

    The best indicator I have for weight loss is whether I have been meeting my daily calorie goals - and I can only tell that by logging all my foods with accurate portions/amounts.

    The next best indicator is my quarterly hydrostatic body fat measurement.

    Body scale weight and even tape measurements vary quite a bit.

    How I look in the mirror, people remarking, "you've lost some more weight", how I feel, etc. are all too subjective to use accurately.

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    "I eat 1300 cals" "and eat fairly healthy" If you are 23 and you are eating 1300 calories then you cannot call that healthy, not even fairly healthy. Try eating more and with that energy you get from feeding yourself go for some walks or take up a sport. Lose weight through activity, not through starvation.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I always feel fatter when I lose weight, and when I've lost weight and I'm maintaining. That's why I measure.