weight is creeping up

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I've been having a lot of anxiety because despite "doing everything right" I am seeing a slow/steady weight increase on my scale. I weigh my food, keep my calories around 1700 (low-isa carb, track macros). I am pretty active. I usually do cardio (elliptical/stair climber/run) 3x a week, I do workout videos on my off days. I get plenty of "active minutes" on my fitbit, and almost always hit 10,000 step goal.
I am feeling defeated when i weigh myself twice/week and it keeps going up, up, up. my waist measurement is pretty close to what it has always been but I feel like my body looks bigger. Historically i have had a lot of anxiety related to my weight and this feels pretty defeating.
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Replies

  • Seffell
    Seffell Posts: 2,226 Member
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    What are your stats?
  • MaggieLoo79
    MaggieLoo79 Posts: 288 Member
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    Are you a woman? It may be hormonal. Go to the doctor and get your hormones and thyroid tested.
  • lkeskih1
    lkeskih1 Posts: 14 Member
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    gebeziseva wrote: »
    What are your stats?

    i'm 5'4" and 119lbs
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Yeah what's your weight. height, age gender, non exercise activity like?

    You might have calories set too high? You might not be tracking accurately- double check that the food entries you're choosing are correct calories
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Do you use a scale to measure food?
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited November 2016
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    lkeskih1 wrote: »
    gebeziseva wrote: »
    What are your stats?

    i'm 5'4" and 119lbs

    You're already at the low end of a healthy bmi and that doesn't give you a lot of wiggle room. You should either be maintaining at this point or aiming for .5lb loss per week (and not trying to lose more then a few more pounds). You have to be incredibly precise with your data if you're trying to still lose weight, because you have almost no room for error.

    Also as a side note: there's all sorts of things that can cause your scale to show a gain, that's not related to actual fat gains. Sodium intake, hormones/time of month, digestion timing, water retention from exercise, constipation, scale batteries going dead, using a different scale, moving scale to a different location in your house, taking a shower before weighing etc etc etc.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    lkeskih1 wrote: »
    gebeziseva wrote: »
    What are your stats?

    i'm 5'4" and 119lbs

    why are you trying to lose weight?
  • lkeskih1
    lkeskih1 Posts: 14 Member
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    lkeskih1 wrote: »
    gebeziseva wrote: »
    What are your stats?

    i'm 5'4" and 119lbs

    why are you trying to lose weight?

    I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight as much as I am trying to lose fat/tone up. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, taking up less space. However I have a body fat scale and that number has been going up as well.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    edited November 2016
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    lkeskih1 wrote: »
    lkeskih1 wrote: »
    gebeziseva wrote: »
    What are your stats?

    i'm 5'4" and 119lbs

    why are you trying to lose weight?

    I'm not necessarily trying to lose weight as much as I am trying to lose fat/tone up. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, taking up less space. However I have a body fat scale and that number has been going up as well.

    scales are useless for measuring body fat.

    have you recently started a lifting programme? if you want to 'tone up' then you want a very small deficit and a decent strength/resistance programme.
  • lkeskih1
    lkeskih1 Posts: 14 Member
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    Do you use a scale to measure food?

    i use a food scale. I am 27, 5'4" and 119, woman. on the weekends i work as a server (very active job) during the week unfortunately i spend a lot of time sitting and driving as I am a student and have an office job. But i make sure to take walks at lunch, and i almost always get my "30 active minutes" and 10000 steps.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    If you are consistently gaining weight over a long period 6+ weeks then you are eating more than your TDEE.

    However at your weight I would not advise losing any more weight.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    You don't need to lose weight
  • lkeskih1
    lkeskih1 Posts: 14 Member
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    You don't need to lose weight

    I may not NEED to lose weight but is like to not gain. And I'd like to lose body fat.
  • sllm1
    sllm1 Posts: 2,114 Member
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    I would go back to, "Do you use a scale to measure your food?" The smaller you are, the more accurate you need to be.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Maybe you should look into body recomposition. It's where you gain muscle and lose body fat. I believe it involves weight lifting and proper macros. Check bodybuilding.com or muscleforlife.com for help how to do this.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
    edited November 2016
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    This video might be helpful

    https://youtu.be/urtIhnqRlcs
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    And if you are gaining weight your maintenance calories may be too high, you may actually be in a slight surplus. Try dropping your daily calorie goal by 100 calories and see if that stops the weight gain? Or you could keep calories the same but increase the intensity or amount of exercise. Try hiit cardio or plyometric exercises instead of the elliptical. Strength training/lifting weights is also really great for fat loss because it has an afterburn effect so you don't just burn calories as you're actively working out (like with cardio) but for hours later as well, and it takes calories to repair and build the muscle. Also having more lean muscle mass increases the metabolism because muscles require calories where as fat tissue does not. Don't worry about getting bulky either that's a myth. If anything having more muscle will make you look leaner even at the same body weight.
  • courtneyfabulous
    courtneyfabulous Posts: 1,863 Member
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    Also how old are you?
  • Dnarules
    Dnarules Posts: 2,081 Member
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    And if you are gaining weight your maintenance calories may be too high, you may actually be in a slight surplus. Try dropping your daily calorie goal by 100 calories and see if that stops the weight gain? Or you could keep calories the same but increase the intensity or amount of exercise. Try hiit cardio or plyometric exercises instead of the elliptical. Strength training/lifting weights is also really great for fat loss because it has an afterburn effect so you don't just burn calories as you're actively working out (like with cardio) but for hours later as well, and it takes calories to repair and build the muscle. Also having more lean muscle mass increases the metabolism because muscles require calories where as fat tissue does not. Don't worry about getting bulky either that's a myth. If anything having more muscle will make you look leaner even at the same body weight.

    I find it hard to believe, given the information she has provided, that 1700 would be a surplus. I think it would be more likely she is eating more than 1700 due to logging issues. I would start there and not drop calories.

    My main question is (and sorry if I missed it).....how long has the gain been going on? Because if this is just a short term thing, there are all kinds of reasons the scale may move up.
  • lkeskih1
    lkeskih1 Posts: 14 Member
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    Also how old are you?
    I'm 27. Thanks that's all good advice. I'm nervous about dropping calories, I've been reading thing that make me think I maybe my metabolism is set low because of dieting for multiple months.