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brucedenny4544
Posts: 6 Member
I'm new to this discussion board but I am stumped by my recent weight gain. Please see below:
How would one gain weight even though they have been under their calorie intake for a week. I have gained 2.5 lbs. in one month while still being under my calorie intake for each week. Could it be I'm gaining muscle which weighs more than fat? I do exercise more than I have in the past which is mainly going on a stationary bike for 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. I am a 65 yr. old male and weigh 192 lbs. and my height is 5' 9.5" and my calorie intake is less than 1500 calories a day. I started dieting weighing approx. 231 lbs.
How would one gain weight even though they have been under their calorie intake for a week. I have gained 2.5 lbs. in one month while still being under my calorie intake for each week. Could it be I'm gaining muscle which weighs more than fat? I do exercise more than I have in the past which is mainly going on a stationary bike for 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week. I am a 65 yr. old male and weigh 192 lbs. and my height is 5' 9.5" and my calorie intake is less than 1500 calories a day. I started dieting weighing approx. 231 lbs.
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Replies
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How sure are you that you are truly in a calorie deficit? The additional exercise could cause a slight gain in muscle and (more likely) a gain in water weight. If you are losing fat at the same time you are gaining muscle it's highly unlikely that you gained enough muscle to not only offset the fat weight lost, but to also gain 2.5 lbs of muscle in one month.
Do you weigh/measure all your food? Do you count everything you consume, including drinks with calories?0 -
Using a weight calculator putting in my age, height, current weight (192 lbs.) to lose 12 lbs. by April 1st, I should be consuming just over 1700 calories a day. I weigh the foods I am not sure of the weight, and scan the bar codes on foods when possible. I document all of my daily food and snacks using myfitnesspal. I usually calculate alittle high on the foods. I walk more than I have in the past and like previously mentioned I do the stationary bike for 30 minutes 5 times a week as I have bad knees. It's just disappointing to get on the scale and find a weight gain. I will give an extra effort this week and hopefully see a difference next week. Is it beneficial (mentally) to get on the scale daily vs once a week? I weigh in once a week. Thank you for your time!0
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brucedenny4544 wrote: »Is it beneficial (mentally) to get on the scale daily vs once a week? I weigh in once a week. Thank you for your time!
No way for anyone but you to answer this one. For some it's helpful, for others it just provides confusion or stress.
It is important to remember that online calculators can only give an estimate based on averages. If you aren't losing on what the calculator says you might need to adjust down.0 -
If you're doing any weight training, I've heard that during muscle regeneration the muscles to retain water. Could it be water retention?0
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I certainly don't want to go below 1500 calories a day, therefore, I'll take a closer look at my calorie intake this week and see what happens at my next week's weigh in. Thanks for all your remarks.0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »brucedenny4544 wrote: »Is it beneficial (mentally) to get on the scale daily vs once a week? I weigh in once a week. Thank you for your time!
No way for anyone but you to answer this one. For some it's helpful, for others it just provides confusion or stress.
It is important to remember that online calculators can only give an estimate based on averages. If you aren't losing on what the calculator says you might need to adjust down.
There is no question that daily vs. weekly is a personal choice, but let me suggest you try daily for a couple of weeks and see what you think. I prefer daily because I like data. Also I'm concerned that if I just weighed once a week I might be hitting an up day and get more discouraged. But i don't obsess too much over the daily weight, put it into a spreadsheet and try to focus on the weekly trends.
It's just a thought.1 -
Good idea, I think I may try weighing in daily, I also like data which is why I like Myfitnesspal and what it offers.0
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brucedenny4544 wrote: »Good idea, I think I may try weighing in daily, I also like data which is why I like Myfitnesspal and what it offers.
Oooh. Then build a spreadsheet. I have columns for weight, 7 day average weight, day loss, 7 day loss, month loss, BMI, 7 day average BMI and % loss. Plus I have a line chart with my weight from the data. I've seen others with more info in their spreadsheets.
NO I AM NOT A GEEK!
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if you decide to weigh every day i would suggest getting an app that takes the data and smooths out the fluctuations into general trends. it can alleviate some of the stress of an uptick. happy scale and libra are two i can think of right away.
or you could be NOT A GEEK like @Tacklewasher and create your own charts to track what's meaningful to you.
full disclosure: i also have a spreadsheet corresponding my daily weights to TOM and ovulation.
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It's water weight, don't freak out. Constipation will do that too... Maintain the course and have some patience, you'll get there! Good luck!2
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I think I'll look for an app and create a spreadsheet like suggested. Anyone know of good apps for this?1
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Tacklewasher wrote: »brucedenny4544 wrote: »Good idea, I think I may try weighing in daily, I also like data which is why I like Myfitnesspal and what it offers.
Oooh. Then build a spreadsheet. I have columns for weight, 7 day average weight, day loss, 7 day loss, month loss, BMI, 7 day average BMI and % loss. Plus I have a line chart with my weight from the data. I've seen others with more info in their spreadsheets.
NO I AM NOT A GEEK!
I have a spreadsheet with daily weight graphs, weekly weight graphs, trend-lines, data I've exported from my FitBit (daily, monthly, annual comparisons), pie-charts...
I AM NOT A GEEK EITHER!2 -
If you overall have a downward trend, but this particular weigh in is up: it could easily be water weight (due to sodium, stress, or a # of other things) or something as simple as you ate at a different time of day yesterday and have more food 'waste' in your body than you normally do when you step on the scale.
In general, if you are certain you're eating at a deficit, don't worry about a single weigh in. But do keep your weighins comparable. Same scale, same time of day, same level of dress. And if you have not done so in a while, it might be time to replace your scale's battery. That can cause wacky results.0 -
Ps-I weigh everyday, but the fluctuations do not upset me. I consider my most recent, lowest weight as my current point. And kind of ignore the fluctuations until I get a new 'low' weight. And in general I look forward to the next 5. Such as yesterday was a new low of 136.8 and I look forward to seeing 135.0. This works for me, and I trust the science behind CICO.
(I lost weight in 2014, maintained in 2015, gradually put on ~12 pounds in 2016 so now I'm taking those back off!)0 -
shagerty777 wrote: »It's water weight, don't freak out. Constipation will do that too... Maintain the course and have some patience, you'll get there! Good luck!
KEY WORDS- DONT FREAK OUT!1 -
brucedenny4544 wrote: »Good idea, I think I may try weighing in daily, I also like data which is why I like Myfitnesspal and what it offers.
If you love data and plan on weighing yourself daily, I suggest you use a weight trending app like Happy Scale (iOS), Libra (Android), or trendweight.com (web based). You enter your daily weigh-ins and the app will create a trend line for you. I've found it to be a great way to keep my focus on my long term weight trends, rather than letting myself get caught up in normal day-to-day/week-to-week weight fluctuations.0 -
Insightful comments StaciMarie1974 ...........I guess I went down from my 232 lbs. to 189.5 in slow increments and then suddenly this little uptick had me wondering what's going on. I leaning toward water retention plus some muscle vs fat and will ride this out.0
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One side note: I tend to have higher weighins (week to week) on Monday-Tuesday and lower weighins on Wednesday-Thursday. I eat differently on the weekends, in terms of what & when. That has an impact on the scale because what & when you put food in has a relationship on when it comes out! So I don't expect a 'low' weighin at the beginning of the week.
That is the advantage of tracking daily weighins and having data over 2-3 months. You learn your body's trends. Keep in mind this is not so much about true bodyweight, but about the different levels of water/food mass weight. The overall goal is true weight/fat loss over time.0
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