Gained a pound despite eating under
halimaiqbal00
Posts: 288 Member
I'm 5' 7, 32 years old and female. I weigh 156 pounds and want to lose 6 pounds to get to my goal of 10 stones. I workout 3x a week for 45 min, lifting heavy Kettlebells (16 and 20kg) and for fun, a two hour brisk walk on a Saturday. I've been eating between 1500-1700 calories for the past 3 weeks and had lost 1 pound in the first two weeks and then gained it back in the last week. My diet is varied and I don't eat much junk at all, or high sodium, processed foods. Am I eating too little? Not sure where I'm going wrong but it's very disheartening. I know the scale weight should be the be all and end all but nonetheless, it's awful seeing it go up when I'm putting all the effort in. Measuring does not motivate me like the scale does. At all. Knowing I have to weigh in once a week holds me accountable. Any suggestions?
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Replies
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Eat in deficiency. Weigh/measure and accurately log your food. It's only been 3 weeks and you don't have that much to lose as you are already in a healthy weight range for your height. Weight loss is not linear and you will not lose each week. Good luck.4
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try adjusting your fitness/diet profile to lower calories. you wont be eating too little if you're gaining, but like Maidengirl said you've only been doing this a few weeks. you need to give your body time to adjust. make sure you're drinking your 2 litres a day of water. it really helps.
give yourself a chance and don't stress. it will come off. it may be slow as you are already in the healthy range but you'll get there.
good luck
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Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.4
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There are many more elements that make this up which could account for this. Muscle mass increases could account for the basis of stable / maintaining weight, or even putting on weight as you are increasing muscle mass with your workouts. fr33sia12 is right, you do need to log everything effectively, but you can also get to points where your body adjusts to a homeostasis to maintain it's weight based on caloric intake. Start with measuring everything, see if that makes a difference, if you don't then see if you get visual differences in how you look - that could be your lean muscle mass vs. fat.0
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Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.
C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.7 -
Its been only three weeks and actually you lost 1 pound... that the gain is (1 lb) is water weight/fluctuations and not a real fat gain. Its impossible to gain (fat) weight in a calorie deficit.
If you are not in a calorie deficit by having sub par logging (weighing your food intake and have logging inaccuracies), need to work on this.
You are not logging food every day, and you seem to work hard on eating under your calorie goal each day. need to work on meeting the goal, not trying to beat the goal. If you are set to 1450, 1500 calories to lose X pounds a week, eat those calories, not less.
You are only compounding your efforts by trying to do this more aggressive than needed.
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I have to weigh a medium egg out? I'm sure the calicoes of a medium hen egg are pretty much the same everywhere. The bread is weighed. It's a uk brand that I scanned. I accurately weigh everything0
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Thanks for the replies guys. I follow weight watchers and log on here from time to time to make sure that my calorie intake is below what I've set it to, which is why there are days I haven't filled in my diary on mfp whereas I've logged everything on my ww journal. Have been doing it religiously every day for over 6 years as well as weighing and measuring everything excluding a basic salad2
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try adjusting your fitness/diet profile to lower calories. you wont be eating too little if you're gaining, but like Maidengirl said you've only been doing this a few weeks. you need to give your body time to adjust. make sure you're drinking your 2 litres a day of water. it really helps.
give yourself a chance and don't stress. it will come off. it may be slow as you are already in the healthy range but you'll get there.
good luck
No to do adjust calories lower. This is bad advice.
OP you are already under eating the calorie deficit. For example one day this week I saw 1000+ out of the 1600 calories goal... Your deficit is already at the 1600, your goal is to NOT go under this number.
You compounding weight loss by under eating.1 -
Thanks RoxieDawn, very informative! I think I'll amp up my calories to 1700 a day and nothing under, and see how I fare. Does that sound ok?0
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halimaiqbal00 wrote: »I have to weigh a medium egg out? I'm sure the calicoes of a medium hen egg are pretty much the same everywhere. The bread is weighed. It's a uk brand that I scanned. I accurately weigh everything
I was surprised when I began to weigh eggs. They vary alot and have quite a few calories. A medium egg can vary, so I suggest weighing and find an entry for eggs that has it in grams. My medium egg is 64g. Take nothing for granted.5 -
halimaiqbal00 wrote: »Thanks RoxieDawn, very informative! I think I'll amp up my calories to 1700 a day and nothing under, and see how I fare. Does that sound ok?
Yes.. I promise if you stick to the calorie goal each day to lose X pounds, and carefully weigh and log your food intake every day, things will move along just nicely...
And if you get into a rut, take a look back at the chart and see if there are things you need to double check or reassess.
You got this!!!! 0 -
try adjusting your fitness/diet profile to lower calories. you wont be eating too little if you're gaining, but like Maidengirl said you've only been doing this a few weeks. you need to give your body time to adjust. make sure you're drinking your 2 litres a day of water. it really helps.
give yourself a chance and don't stress. it will come off. it may be slow as you are already in the healthy range but you'll get there.
good luck
No to do adjust calories lower. This is bad advice.
OP you are already under eating the calorie deficit. For example one day this week I saw 1000+ out of the 1600 calories goal... Your deficit is already at the 1600, your goal is to NOT go under this number.
You compounding weight loss by under eating.
sorry, i didn't mean lower calories, i meant lower weight loss. thanks for spotting that RoxieDawn.0 -
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
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I respectfully disagree. I don't weigh eggs but I do weigh bread slices. I've found a large discrepancy in my bread weights! Some slices by as much as 50g!
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
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I am a big proponent of weighing daily (particularly for women) because weight fluctuations are such a normal thing. Drinking and not peeing much before you weigh makes a huge difference!4
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ConicalFern wrote: »Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.
C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
If you read my whole post I did say "which makes me wonder what else you don't weigh" like dressings on salads, sauces etc. I was only giving examples of what I saw in OP food diary. Also when you only have a few pounds to lose and are not losing any weight even though you think you're eating at a deficit, obviously something is wrong and it could be something as small as not weighing a few foods and over estimating your calories, which all adds up.
My bread is supposed to be 33g a slice I weigh it and sometimes it's only 25g ok that's not much, but add that up over a few weeks/months and along with other foods you don't think you need to weigh, again, it all adds up.3 -
snowflake954 wrote: »halimaiqbal00 wrote: »I have to weigh a medium egg out? I'm sure the calicoes of a medium hen egg are pretty much the same everywhere. The bread is weighed. It's a uk brand that I scanned. I accurately weigh everything
I was surprised when I began to weigh eggs. They vary alot and have quite a few calories. A medium egg can vary, so I suggest weighing and find an entry for eggs that has it in grams. My medium egg is 64g. Take nothing for granted.
thanks, glad to know I'm not the only one.
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
Obviously not ridiculous advice as others have noticed the same.4 -
There's about a 7 gram variance between the different sizes of eggs (e.g., medium vs large vs jumbo, etc.) At 1-1.5 calories per gram that's maybe 11 calories difference between eggs. Not worth worrying over measuring.
As for 50 gram differences between bread slices--what kind of bread are you buying? Once in a great while I'll measure a slice of store bought bread, just out of curiosity, and there has never been a variance of more than 5 grams or so between actual weight and label-stated weight. In addition, the variance has been as much on the smaller size as on the larger size.
OP, one pound is nothing to sweat, especially as a woman. It is well within the normal weight fluctuation range.6 -
healthygreek wrote: »
I respectfully disagree. I don't weigh eggs but I do weigh bread slices. I've found a large discrepancy in my bread weights! Some slices by as much as 50g!
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
What bread slices are you buying where slices are off 50 grams?
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Consistency is key--you only have a few days of tracking--are all of your days looking like this?
Also--you've tracked some calorie burns from weightlifting? How are you calculating this?
You don't have a lot of weight to lose, so it's probably going to be slow...1 -
It's a pound!!! Get passed anything less than 5lbs unless your in a competition I weigh 185 before bed and 180 when I wake up.
weekly calories daily macros, get on your feet and move more than you are and the Magic happens1 -
ConicalFern wrote: »Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.
C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
If you read my whole post I did say "which makes me wonder what else you don't weigh" like dressings on salads, sauces etc. I was only giving examples of what I saw in OP food diary. Also when you only have a few pounds to lose and are not losing any weight even though you think you're eating at a deficit, obviously something is wrong and it could be something as small as not weighing a few foods and over estimating your calories, which all adds up.
My bread is supposed to be 33g a slice I weigh it and sometimes it's only 25g ok that's not much, but add that up over a few weeks/months and along with other foods you don't think you need to weigh, again, it all adds up.
Yes, your larger point that weighing is important for accuracy is a good one. Time after time we have seen people who started weighing everything and realize they were eating more than they thought. There's a thread in the Food forum about someone underestimating hundreds of calories in peanut butter. So while the OP's bread and egg calories might not add up to much, persistent not weighing could.
@halimaiqbal00 where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.
Additionally, if your exercise program is new, this frequently causes a temporary water weight gain.1 -
I wear a polar heart rate monitor and my heart rate is elevated and hovers around 85-95% of my max throughout the workout. It's strength and conditioning combination workouts.0
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kshama2001 wrote: »ConicalFern wrote: »Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.
C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
If you read my whole post I did say "which makes me wonder what else you don't weigh" like dressings on salads, sauces etc. I was only giving examples of what I saw in OP food diary. Also when you only have a few pounds to lose and are not losing any weight even though you think you're eating at a deficit, obviously something is wrong and it could be something as small as not weighing a few foods and over estimating your calories, which all adds up.
My bread is supposed to be 33g a slice I weigh it and sometimes it's only 25g ok that's not much, but add that up over a few weeks/months and along with other foods you don't think you need to weigh, again, it all adds up.
Yes, your larger point that weighing is important for accuracy is a good one. Time after time we have seen people who started weighing everything and realize they were eating more than they thought. There's a thread in the Food forum about someone underestimating hundreds of calories in peanut butter. So while the OP's bread and egg calories might not add up to much, persistent not weighing could.
@halimaiqbal00 where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.
Additionally, if your exercise program is new, this frequently causes a temporary water weight gain.
I think you may be into something because a week after I have finished my period, I feel very bloated and yucky inside, for 3-4 days. Not sure what ovulation times are for women0 -
halimaiqbal00 wrote: »kshama2001 wrote: »ConicalFern wrote: »Looking at your food diary you don't seem to weigh everything you eat, for example 1 egg or 1 slice of bread, which then makes me wonder what else you don't weigh. Also there's days where you haven't entered a meal at lunch or snack. Weigh and log everything you eat no matter how small.
C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
If you read my whole post I did say "which makes me wonder what else you don't weigh" like dressings on salads, sauces etc. I was only giving examples of what I saw in OP food diary. Also when you only have a few pounds to lose and are not losing any weight even though you think you're eating at a deficit, obviously something is wrong and it could be something as small as not weighing a few foods and over estimating your calories, which all adds up.
My bread is supposed to be 33g a slice I weigh it and sometimes it's only 25g ok that's not much, but add that up over a few weeks/months and along with other foods you don't think you need to weigh, again, it all adds up.
Yes, your larger point that weighing is important for accuracy is a good one. Time after time we have seen people who started weighing everything and realize they were eating more than they thought. There's a thread in the Food forum about someone underestimating hundreds of calories in peanut butter. So while the OP's bread and egg calories might not add up to much, persistent not weighing could.
@halimaiqbal00 where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain at ovulation and right before my TOM. Because of this (and because Lyle McDonald said to) I compare myself to last month, not last week.
Additionally, if your exercise program is new, this frequently causes a temporary water weight gain.
I think you may be into something because a week after I have finished my period, I feel very bloated and yucky inside, for 3-4 days. Not sure what ovulation times are for women
Read up: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10359984/women-menstrual-cycle-weight-and-fitness-matters/p12 -
Thanks pp! Informative and fascinating read0
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Get a scale that measures body composition, not just weight. You could be gaining muscle & losing fat but not know it. Or you could be losing muscle and gaining fat which would be definitely not what you want. You could just be bloated and retaining water. There's no way to know unless you are tracking your bidy fat percentage & lean muscle mass. They aren't very expensive - I found one on Amazon for only $30.
You could also track your waist measurement. If your weight stays the same or increases but your waist is getting smaller it's likely you are gaining muscle from all the exercise but losing fat. This is GOOD. A pound of muscle is about half the volume of a pound of fat. Having more muscle is healthy and increases metabolism and longevity.
Also you might already be at your ideal weight. It's hard to lose much more if so. Try to go by how you look and feel, not trying to hit a specific number on the scale.0 -
snowflake954 wrote: »halimaiqbal00 wrote: »I have to weigh a medium egg out? I'm sure the calicoes of a medium hen egg are pretty much the same everywhere. The bread is weighed. It's a uk brand that I scanned. I accurately weigh everything
I was surprised when I began to weigh eggs. They vary alot and have quite a few calories. A medium egg can vary, so I suggest weighing and find an entry for eggs that has it in grams. My medium egg is 64g. Take nothing for granted.
thanks, glad to know I'm not the only one.
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
Obviously not ridiculous advice as others have noticed the same.
Also, I checked out a couple of the OP's entries. 2 med eggs--120cals. I get 170cals weighing my medium eggs which is a 50 cal difference right there. Another is banana, peeled 150g---89 cal. I get 134cal for my banana. Those are just 2 mistakes I noted at 100 calories in one day, and I didn't check everything out. Those 2 things just popped out. OP I think you should tighten up your logging and use grams as much as possible.1 -
OP, your weight is at a healthy range. Perhaps you should eat at maintenance or just slightly below and start a progressive heavy lifting program like stronglifts.BenWatford86 wrote: »There are many more elements that make this up which could account for this. Muscle mass increases could account for the basis of stable / maintaining weight, or even putting on weight as you are increasing muscle mass with your workouts. fr33sia12 is right, you do need to log everything effectively, but you can also get to points where your body adjusts to a homeostasis to maintain it's weight based on caloric intake. Start with measuring everything, see if that makes a difference, if you don't then see if you get visual differences in how you look - that could be your lean muscle mass vs. fat.
Not in 3 weeks, and not in a deficit....
And, don't measure and guess. Use a food scale for everything that isn't pure liquid.
And...give it more time.
Hormones, high sodium, dehydration, constipation, high carbs... they can all contribute to masking/stalling actual weight loss.
Those body composition scales are crap. They are good for watching trends though, but not very accurate.
I agree, that was ridiculous advice. Weighing foods is important when it comes to many foods, but weighing eggs or a slice of toast is needless, and would not account for lack of weight loss.ConicalFern wrote: »C'mon you can log adequately without weighing eggs or slices of bread.
Weight fluctuates. Everyone has their preference, but I weigh myself every day and look at the average, rather than doing it once a week. Be patient, keep logging accurately and the weight will come of.
No, it is not ridiculous, actually. Eggs and bread slices do not weigh exactly the same in a package.
Also, with prepackaged pre-weighed foods, they are legally allowed to be 20% off.
All of the above makes a HUGE difference to someone who doesn't have a lot to lose and has a very small deficit and can very well put someone in maintenance instead of losing.5
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