Gaining on 1400 kcals

KwonJiYong69
KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
edited September 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
The last 3 months I've been eating 1400 -1600 calories and my weights gone up 3.5kg. Mfp says I should be able to eat 1480 if I dont excercise but I'm pretty active, I walk 10 miles usually twice a week, I do outward bound stuff (canoeing, mountain biking) about once a week. And its not just muscle eeight. My waist has gone up 2 inches and the top of my thighs have got notcibly more fatty. Can someone help? I really don't understand what's going on with my body and why its storing fat
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Replies

  • Sloth2016
    Sloth2016 Posts: 838 Member
    How are you determining your calories consumed? Do you use a food scale to weigh out your food? Are the database items that you use to determine calories for often eaten items accurate? (These are user submitted and can be inaccurate). It doesn't sound like you are counting exercise calories, but if you are, do you eat back the calories you burned from exercise? (Many fitness trackers, computers and database entries for exercise can grossly overstate calories burned).

    Look through your routine and see if maybe there are food items you consume often that do not get logged.

    tl;dr - If you are gaining unwanted weight/size it is likely because you are consuming more calories than you intend.
  • Naruya8
    Naruya8 Posts: 48 Member
    Do you weigh everything you put in your mouth, or do you just go by serving size and eyeball the portion sizes? If the last part is true then there lies your problem - you're probably eating more than you think.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,324 Member
    May we ask how tall you are and how much you weigh? Maybe you are trying to maintain an unrealistic weight.
  • Vegplotter
    Vegplotter Posts: 265 Member
    Hi! What has happened to you happened to me too. And it took me literally decades to work out what's going on.
    Now I know I've found its easy to deal with.
    As I'm sure you know that in order to lose weight calories in must always be less than energy expended. As you might not know, when you go on a diet your metabolism slowly adjusts down to accommodate the reduced calories. That can happen regardless of the number of times you go to the gym or the minute quantity of food you put in your mouth. It's imperceptible. Perhaps you are sleeping a bit longer, licking the spoon when you measure out exact quantities. Seemingly tiny things make a difference.
    Though it might be hard to believe, you've reached your maintenance calories for the energy you use at the moment. MFP figures come from 'normal' people not people in the middle of a diet. You've just proved conclusively that they don't relate to you now.
    As its been three months you have no option but to start again. I'd recommend a MUCH lower calorie intake to start off with and go for 30minute bouts of exercise EVERY day, rather than a big hit once or twice a week.
    The good news is that you have got used to calorie counting, recording weight and activity monitoring. The three essentials of slimming! If you get into a good regime then you'll find your activity levels will rise as you increase calorie intake up to maintenance. Unless you are shortish you'll find that you'll be able to eat more further down the line.
    Happy to friend and give more advice privately.
    Good luck!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    Vegplotter wrote: »
    Hi! What has happened to you happened to me too. And it took me literally decades to work out what's going on.
    Now I know I've found its easy to deal with.
    As I'm sure you know that in order to lose weight calories in must always be less than energy expended. As you might not know, when you go on a diet your metabolism slowly adjusts down to accommodate the reduced calories. That can happen regardless of the number of times you go to the gym or the minute quantity of food you put in your mouth. It's imperceptible. Perhaps you are sleeping a bit longer, licking the spoon when you measure out exact quantities. Seemingly tiny things make a difference.
    Though it might be hard to believe, you've reached your maintenance calories for the energy you use at the moment. MFP figures come from 'normal' people not people in the middle of a diet. You've just proved conclusively that they don't relate to you now.
    As its been three months you have no option but to start again. I'd recommend a MUCH lower calorie intake to start off with and go for 30minute bouts of exercise EVERY day, rather than a big hit once or twice a week.
    The good news is that you have got used to calorie counting, recording weight and activity monitoring. The three essentials of slimming! If you get into a good regime then you'll find your activity levels will rise as you increase calorie intake up to maintenance. Unless you are shortish you'll find that you'll be able to eat more further down the line.
    Happy to friend and give more advice privately.
    Good luck!

    She's gaining weight, not maintaining.. and mentioning metabolic issues is not practical in this case.

    What is on point is she needs to eat less.

    Perhaps OP will come back to the thread and tell us if she is using a food scale to log her intake, and also how she handles her exercise calories, etc..
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Are you weighing your food that you consume using a food scale by chance? And is the extra 120 calories (difference between 1600-1480) from exercise?

    Right off hand, gaining weight means you are eating too much and not losing because you are not sticking to a calorie deficit.

    I weigh everything and/or the food I eat has calories as a portion ( like 1 bread roll is 190 cals or whatever) Yes I onky eat over 1400 when I have excercised but I will onky eat 1/3 calories back. Like I have to have burned over 400 or I wont let myself. I am very very cautious about food and I know for sure I am not over eating ( I used to have ednos so tbf I know way to much about what calories are in what anyway)
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    ugofatcat wrote: »
    Have you heard of Secret Eaters? This is a show where people have the same compliant you do, they keep gaining weight despite eating at a calorie deficit. The show places video cameras in their home and hire private investigators to figure out what is going on. Every episode has found the same thing. People are consistently underestimating how much they are really eating. Here is a link to the first episode:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYJrC3RTtgQ

    Trust me, I log EVERYTHING. I know EVERYTHING that I consume. If its food where id have to guess I will skip it and wait until I can make food or buy food that I know the calories of. Im not a so called "secret eater" haha.
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    Vegplotter wrote: »
    Hi! What has happened to you happened to me too. And it took me literally decades to work out what's going on.
    Now I know I've found its easy to deal with.
    As I'm sure you know that in order to lose weight calories in must always be less than energy expended. As you might not know, when you go on a diet your metabolism slowly adjusts down to accommodate the reduced calories. That can happen regardless of the number of times you go to the gym or the minute quantity of food you put in your mouth. It's imperceptible. Perhaps you are sleeping a bit longer, licking the spoon when you measure out exact quantities. Seemingly tiny things make a difference.
    Though it might be hard to believe, you've reached your maintenance calories for the energy you use at the moment. MFP figures come from 'normal' people not people in the middle of a diet. You've just proved conclusively that they don't relate to you now.
    As its been three months you have no option but to start again. I'd recommend a MUCH lower calorie intake to start off with and go for 30minute bouts of exercise EVERY day, rather than a big hit once or twice a week.
    The good news is that you have got used to calorie counting, recording weight and activity monitoring. The three essentials of slimming! If you get into a good regime then you'll find your activity levels will rise as you increase calorie intake up to maintenance. Unless you are shortish you'll find that you'll be able to eat more further down the line.
    Happy to friend and give more advice privately.
    Good luck!

    I really get what you're saying but this is my calorie needs for my height and my old weight. So if anything im eating less than i need bc ive still got it set for maintaining 3kg lighter
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    May we ask how tall you are and how much you weigh? Maybe you are trying to maintain an unrealistic weight.

    Im only 5'1 but I'm 49.3kg rn. I have a small bone frame also.
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    May we ask how tall you are and how much you weigh? Maybe you are trying to maintain an unrealistic weight.

    Im only 5'1 but I'm 49.3kg rn. I have a small bone frame also.

    BMR is approx 1209.. and TDEE is approx 1450.. I ran your stats using this calculator.. I usually run it on more than one, but this one has 2 that does not require body fat %

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    You are gaining because if your TDEE is really 1450 (I ran this as "desk job, sedentary) as I do not know your TRUE activity level that does not include Exercise..

    SO as a really small person, short in stature and your weight at 108 pounds, you are currently eating around maintenance. On exercise days, you are eating those back, hense weight gain.

    The exercise you do, can easily not be burning as many calories as you think, especially if you have become adapted to doing the same exercise regime for a long period of time.

    So basically im gunna have to live off a starvation about of calories bc exercise doesnt mean *kitten*...thats my life ruined
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Are you weighing your food that you consume using a food scale by chance? And is the extra 120 calories (difference between 1600-1480) from exercise?

    Right off hand, gaining weight means you are eating too much and not losing because you are not sticking to a calorie deficit.

    I weigh everything and/or the food I eat has calories as a portion ( like 1 bread roll is 190 cals or whatever) Yes I onky eat over 1400 when I have excercised but I will onky eat 1/3 calories back. Like I have to have burned over 400 or I wont let myself. I am very very cautious about food and I know for sure I am not over eating ( I used to have ednos so tbf I know way to much about what calories are in what anyway)

    You should be weighing the bread too - even if the label says "1 roll = 190 calories".

    Last weekend, I bought a loaf of sourdough bread that said 2 slices = 50 g = 130 calories. I weighed a slice. In reality, 1 slice = 55 g = 143 calories. If I'd blindly eaten 2 slices without weighing, I would have been eating 286 calories instead of the 130 that the label says. That's a difference of 156 calories just for one "serving" of bread!

    Thats going to be so hard to do oml but thank you! I didnt know they varied so much. I'm going to end up beinging some scales everywhere I swear haha
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Are you weighing your food that you consume using a food scale by chance? And is the extra 120 calories (difference between 1600-1480) from exercise?

    Right off hand, gaining weight means you are eating too much and not losing because you are not sticking to a calorie deficit.

    I weigh everything and/or the food I eat has calories as a portion ( like 1 bread roll is 190 cals or whatever) Yes I onky eat over 1400 when I have excercised but I will onky eat 1/3 calories back. Like I have to have burned over 400 or I wont let myself. I am very very cautious about food and I know for sure I am not over eating ( I used to have ednos so tbf I know way to much about what calories are in what anyway)

    You should be weighing the bread too - even if the label says "1 roll = 190 calories".

    Last weekend, I bought a loaf of sourdough bread that said 2 slices = 50 g = 130 calories. I weighed a slice. In reality, 1 slice = 55 g = 143 calories. If I'd blindly eaten 2 slices without weighing, I would have been eating 286 calories instead of the 130 that the label says. That's a difference of 156 calories just for one "serving" of bread!

    The end of that was supposed to say thank you so mucj for helping me out, I really appreciate it but it didnt seem to post it properly. .
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    May we ask how tall you are and how much you weigh? Maybe you are trying to maintain an unrealistic weight.

    Im only 5'1 but I'm 49.3kg rn. I have a small bone frame also.

    BMR is approx 1209.. and TDEE is approx 1450.. I ran your stats using this calculator.. I usually run it on more than one, but this one has 2 that does not require body fat %

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    You are gaining because if your TDEE is really 1450 (I ran this as "desk job, sedentary) as I do not know your TRUE activity level that does not include Exercise..

    SO as a really small person, short in stature and your weight at 108 pounds, you are currently eating around maintenance. On exercise days, you are eating those back, hense weight gain.

    The exercise you do, can easily not be burning as many calories as you think, especially if you have become adapted to doing the same exercise regime for a long period of time.

    So basically im gunna have to live off a starvation about of calories bc exercise doesnt mean *kitten*...thats my life ruined

    Oh my gosh.. you took that the wrong way... Your life is not ruined.. Did I make you think that really??

    You just need to change some things.. Increase your exercise volume and intensity, change the routine all together, but change it. Also just move around in general that is not exercise.

    You can decrease your calories say to 1300 and change the exercise and you will be fine. You will lose slower, but unfortunately this is the hand we are dealt. I am short in stature, older and when I have to lose weight my deficit is tiny too off being sendetary.. But I can change that and so can you.. Its not a death sentence.. I promise..

    You are already very very tiny.. not sure why the need to lose more..

    I'm honestly so bad at using this app._. I sent a reply to the wrong person bc the end of my reply to you was supposed to say thank you for helping me so much and I really appreicate ir but it didnt post. But yeah... maybe ill try 1300 calories and see if I can loose some. Or atleast the 3kg I gained!!
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    May we ask how tall you are and how much you weigh? Maybe you are trying to maintain an unrealistic weight.

    Im only 5'1 but I'm 49.3kg rn. I have a small bone frame also.

    BMR is approx 1209.. and TDEE is approx 1450.. I ran your stats using this calculator.. I usually run it on more than one, but this one has 2 that does not require body fat %

    http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

    You are gaining because if your TDEE is really 1450 (I ran this as "desk job, sedentary) as I do not know your TRUE activity level that does not include Exercise..

    SO as a really small person, short in stature and your weight at 108 pounds, you are currently eating around maintenance. On exercise days, you are eating those back, hense weight gain.

    The exercise you do, can easily not be burning as many calories as you think, especially if you have become adapted to doing the same exercise regime for a long period of time.

    So basically im gunna have to live off a starvation about of calories bc exercise doesnt mean *kitten*...thats my life ruined

    Oh my gosh.. you took that the wrong way... Your life is not ruined.. Did I make you think that really??

    You just need to change some things.. Increase your exercise volume and intensity, change the routine all together, but change it. Also just move around in general that is not exercise.

    You can decrease your calories say to 1300 and change the exercise and you will be fine. You will lose slower, but unfortunately this is the hand we are dealt. I am short in stature, older and when I have to lose weight my deficit is tiny too off being sendetary.. But I can change that and so can you.. Its not a death sentence.. I promise..

    You are already very very tiny.. not sure why the need to lose more..

    I'm honestly so bad at using this app._. I sent a reply to the wrong person bc the end of my reply to you was supposed to say thank you for helping me so much and I really appreicate ir but it didnt post. But yeah... maybe ill try 1300 calories and see if I can loose some. Or atleast the 3kg I gained!!

    You are most welcome.. change your exercise a bit too and move around more to increase your non exercise activity it will be a huge help in your case. And what I mean is take the stairs, park far away from door entrances, walk the long path to the bathroom at home, do something while watching tv, go for a short 10 minute walk at home, etc..
  • dmwh142
    dmwh142 Posts: 72 Member
    Well that does stink. You are a very tiny woman, even smaller than I am. After I reached my goal weight I started trying maintenance according to mfp recommendations. I quickly found I could not eat more than 1300 calories per day and maintain. Don't worry too much you are much younger and you will figure out a way to make this work for your life. I don't weight train but it is my understanding that building muscle for smaller women is essential for maintenance. I swim for exercise and it does burn a lot but I don't eat those calories back except for on the weekends. That seems to work for me. I hope you find the magic.
  • NewMeSM75
    NewMeSM75 Posts: 971 Member
    My best friend who is several years younger than me can lose easily off of 1400 calories. I can't. I'm 41 years old and 5 feet tall.

    Keep an eye on your sodium intake. That can make you can excess fluid. 1 bottle at 16.9 ounces is 1 pound. So if you retain a bottle of water, that's a pound. Also, when I begin exercising, I don't necessarily gain but losing is a lot slower but my clothes feel better. And if it's close to your time of the month, you will gain water weight.

    You can do this. Don't give up. And if you're choosing foods from the database such as meatloaf as an example, remember you don't know the ingredients that the person used. That can mess you up. Also, I weigh things. When I got my food scale, I weighed a potato and honest to goodness, it hurt my feelings. :D I would have never saw that tiny potato as large.

    It takes time and patience. It's hard because we want to see results quickly and we sure don't want to see a gain. But longer you do this, the more you learn from it.

    Best of luck!
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited September 2016
    RoxieDawn wrote: »
    Are you weighing your food that you consume using a food scale by chance? And is the extra 120 calories (difference between 1600-1480) from exercise?

    Right off hand, gaining weight means you are eating too much and not losing because you are not sticking to a calorie deficit.

    I weigh everything and/or the food I eat has calories as a portion ( like 1 bread roll is 190 cals or whatever) Yes I onky eat over 1400 when I have excercised but I will onky eat 1/3 calories back. Like I have to have burned over 400 or I wont let myself. I am very very cautious about food and I know for sure I am not over eating ( I used to have ednos so tbf I know way to much about what calories are in what anyway)

    You should totally be weighing that food, too. Weigh everything that has a set weight. Weigh all prepackaged items ans they can be off by about 20%. Weigh fruits and veg. Weigh deli meats. Weigh protien bars.Weigh. Everything. Weigh everything that isn't a clear soup, stock, juice, beverage. Weigh butters and oils. Do this before you drop your calories.

    oh..make sure you are choosing the correct food database entries. The correct entries are the ones that correspond to the brand name, type and weight of the food that you're consuming.

    Please open your food diary.

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited September 2016
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    I find your story pretty impossible to believe to be honest. You are claiming an intake of 1400 calories and that when you exercise you only eat back 1/3 of that burn. Lets ignore exercise for now, assume that is actually balanced.

    From what others did with TDEE you are basically eating at maintenance but you state you have gained 8 pounds over 12 weeks. 8 pounds over 12 weeks is 0.67 pounsd a week or 2350 extra calories a week or 330 extra calories per day.

    For that gain to be true and for your counting to be accurate you would have to have a TDEE of 1050 which is basically impossible.

    So it doesn't add up. Not sure why it doesn't add up so can't really give advice.

    My guess is other people's guesses. There is something you are logging innacurately. Regardless if you gained 8 pounds over 3 months legitimately (ie it wasn't just a spike on one day) then the solution is to eat less or move more.

    Not sure sure how to respond to this.. It is not important what OP is doing or not doing.. we helped her solve a problem she was having regardless if we understand that 100% or not. (sorry) ;)
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,427 MFP Moderator
    OP, can you open your food diary?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,179 Member
    @KwonJiYong69 I'll share a story of mfp failure with you. My daughter said that she failed to lose weight. She exercised. She logged everything on mfp except condiments.

    That thing she said about condiments is what I want to talk about. Condiments include sugar in your tea, syrup on your waffles, and salad dressing on your greens. In each those cases, the calories in the condiment is an integer multiple of the calories in the food. Are you pouring any kind of sauce onto your food and choosing not to log it? Are you using cooking oil in your food that you don't record?
  • KwonJiYong69
    KwonJiYong69 Posts: 66 Member
    edited September 2016
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    I find your story pretty impossible to believe to be honest. You are claiming an intake of 1400 calories and that when you exercise you only eat back 1/3 of that burn. Lets ignore exercise for now, assume that is actually balanced.

    From what others did with TDEE you are basically eating at maintenance but you state you have gained 8 pounds over 12 weeks. 8 pounds over 12 weeks is 0.67 pounsd a week or 2350 extra calories a week or 330 extra calories per day.

    For that gain to be true and for your counting to be accurate you would have to have a TDEE of 1050 which is basically impossible.

    So it doesn't add up. Not sure why it doesn't add up so can't really give advice.

    My guess is other people's guesses. There is something you are logging innacurately. Regardless if you gained 8 pounds over 3 months legitimately (ie it wasn't just a spike on one day) then the solution is to eat less or move more.

    In the nicest way, I know more than anyone if I am logging correctly and I AM. Id tou read previous you'll find that maybe one reason I could be going over is bc I'll go by packets sometimes. Likeif the packet says 1 roll is 160 thats what I'll set it as bc i didnt realise it could be different weight. Also its obvious my body doesnt digest calories exactly the same as a computer says so maybe?