Nothing is working!
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GeorginaYoungEllis
Posts: 2 Member
I use My Fitness Pal religiously, sticking to my calorie count, and exercising every day, but I'm gaining weight and have been for the last several months. It's not a ton of weight, but over the course of a year, I've gained almost 10 pounds. I do cardio almost every day, though not very strenuous cardio, and strength exercises like Pilates and Yoga 3-4 times a week. What on earth am I doing wrong?
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Replies
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Eating too much15
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Several months of weight gain either mean your calorie goal is too high or you're eating more than you think you are. Your diary is closed, so it's hard to tell more than that.5
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How are you logging your foods? Are you weighing everything? Many times this is due to inaccurate logging.2
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You're eating a surplus of calories.4
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You barely mention calories at all. You can exercise all day long but if you're eating too much you're going to gain weight. Work on your logging. Use your food scale for all solids. Measuring cups/spoons for all liquids. Use the recipe builder. Use accurate entries. Don't over estimate exercise calories. Log every single thing that passes your lips. Be sure your calorie goal is calculated correctly.2
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"Nothing is working" because what you are doing is wrong.
Do the right things instead and you will be successful.
You are not working out as hard as you think (common) and/or you are eating more than you account for (very common).
Log everything, estimate high instead of low on food intake. Eat at about a 500 calorie deficit.
Stop counting "exercise calories" and eating them back.
If you are not working out hard enough that you need to stop, catch your breath and let your heart rate slow then it does not count as exercise. That is just activity.
You cannot exercise hard enough with Pilates and Yoga unless your diet is in line.
Your diet is not in line or you would not be gaining weight while doing Pilates / Yoga.
My wife teaches both for my gym; I understand the level of effort involved because I take part in the sessions along with my students.
Worry less about the "cardio" and focus on weight training instead.
Try StrongLifts5x5 or Thinner, Leaner, Stronger if you don't know what do do.
Pink dumbells are not much more useful than cardio.
You need full body workouts based around the barbell exercises.
The weight training will help prevent osteoporosis at the very least.
Don't start with the "weights will make me bulky" types of BS excuses either.
You are a woman and aren't on steroids so you will not EVER look like Mr. Olympia.
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What type of macros--if any--are we talking about here? Keeping to your calorie limit is fine, but if your macronutrients are not also a factor that could be part of the problem.
ALSO, have you considered that you've put on muscle? Because muscle is heavier than fat.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, screw the scale! How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit?1 -
What type of macros--if any--are we talking about here? Keeping to your calorie limit is fine, but if your macronutrients are not also a factor that could be part of the problem.
ALSO, have you considered that you've put on muscle? Because muscle is heavier than fat.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, screw the scale! How do you look? How do you feel? How do your clothes fit?
Yeah. No. You're not going to gain from eating the wrong macros if you're under calories
It's extremely hard to put on muscle - especially when not strength training and eating in a deficit.
The third one is true - the scale doesn't always tell the whole story (but if you've gained 10 lbs it's probably telling a pretty truthful one)8 -
No it isn't. Use words correctly. A pound of muscle weighs as much as a pound of fat.ALSO, have you considered that you've put on muscle? Because muscle is heavier than fat.
Muscle is more DENSE than fat and looks better on the human body under most circumstances.
And as @Ready2Rock206 said, you will not gain weight if you are really on deficit, no matter what your macros are.
It is unheard of for a woman who is not weight training 3 or 4 days per week to put on 10 lbs of muscle in a year.
That presumes about 60 minutes of weight training per day.
Pilates and Yoga will not put on that kind of muscle.3 -
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Based on your opening post, I suggest you ask yourself these questions:
1. What am I logging as exercise?
Light cardio for 30 minutes is maybe going to earn 100 calories, depending on your size which I don't know. Pilates and yoga also won't be a big calorie burn. It's really difficult to have confidence in the calorie burn claimed by a machine, and it's really difficult to have confidence in calorie burn claimed for pilates and yoga.
2. Am I eating all my exercise calories?
But wait! Didn't I just cast doubt on the calorie burn of the exercise you described? Yes, I did.
I suggest that you not eat back any of your exercise calories. You didn't say that you were eating back your exercise calories, but the unexplained gain you describe in a year can be explained by the uncertainty in the calorie burns you may be claiming and eating.
3. Am I cooking my own food, without accurately entering it into the recipe tool?
This is a way for you to lose a grip on portion control, and even to lose track of flavorings and condiments you may be using now which you did not use in months past.
4. Am I mixing diets?
Seriously. Are you allowing yourself unlimited WW fruits without counting them on mfp?
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OP. . I would love to see a follow up post in 3 months after you have taken some of the above advise ..
Good luck1 -
try switching up your cardio with HIIT and do some strength training. It would seem you are not in a caloric deficit which is required to loose weight, despite all of your good efforts. Also, if you do not have much weight to loose, the weightloss can tend to feel a little slower. you will need to show your diary or give some more info for us to give you a proper answer.1
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Your responses have given some really helpful things to consider. I am, generally, eating back my exercise calories. My calorie limit for losing weight is 1260 so it's really hard not to. Yes, I was fairly thin to begin with, and just want to get back to my original weight. I moved out of NYC, and have a much less stressful lifestyle, so I think my metabolism slowed down. I'm pretty sure I'm measuring portions correctly, but I think I need to do more strenuous cardio and more weights. Again, thank you for your responses. I have a lot of food for thought (no pun intended) here!0
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GeorginaYoungEllis wrote: »Your responses have given some really helpful things to consider. I am, generally, eating back my exercise calories. My calorie limit for losing weight is 1260 so it's really hard not to. Yes, I was fairly thin to begin with, and just want to get back to my original weight. I moved out of NYC, and have a much less stressful lifestyle, so I think my metabolism slowed down. I'm pretty sure I'm measuring portions correctly, but I think I need to do more strenuous cardio and more weights. Again, thank you for your responses. I have a lot of food for thought (no pun intended) here!
You're not measuring correctly if you're only "pretty sure". Get a food scale and weigh everything you consume.
You do not need more strenuous cardio to lose weight. You need to fix your logging.
More weights wouldn't hurt though.4 -
GeorginaYoungEllis wrote: »Your responses have given some really helpful things to consider. I am, generally, eating back my exercise calories. My calorie limit for losing weight is 1260 so it's really hard not to. Yes, I was fairly thin to begin with, and just want to get back to my original weight. I moved out of NYC, and have a much less stressful lifestyle, so I think my metabolism slowed down. I'm pretty sure I'm measuring portions correctly, but I think I need to do more strenuous cardio and more weights. Again, thank you for your responses. I have a lot of food for thought (no pun intended) here!
I agree with the others regarding weighing all of your food accurately. Also, depending on where you moved to, it's likely you're not doing nearly as much walking as you did while living in NYC. I know that whenever I visit NYC, my daily steps increase by 300-400% over what I normally average at home. Just something to consider. Best of luck to you!3 -
To help you be more sure you're measuring your food correctly, take a watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnnpUYmr0OM 3 -
CafeRacer808 wrote: »GeorginaYoungEllis wrote: »Your responses have given some really helpful things to consider. I am, generally, eating back my exercise calories. My calorie limit for losing weight is 1260 so it's really hard not to. Yes, I was fairly thin to begin with, and just want to get back to my original weight. I moved out of NYC, and have a much less stressful lifestyle, so I think my metabolism slowed down. I'm pretty sure I'm measuring portions correctly, but I think I need to do more strenuous cardio and more weights. Again, thank you for your responses. I have a lot of food for thought (no pun intended) here!
I agree with the others regarding weighing all of your food accurately. Also, depending on where you moved to, it's likely you're not doing nearly as much walking as you did while living in NYC. I know that whenever I visit NYC, my daily steps increase by 300-400% over what I normally average at home. Just something to consider. Best of luck to you!
The bold. I lived in DC for a few years and was constantly walking to get to destinations b/c I didn't have a car. I've since moved and now have a car. The amount of walking I did in DC is probably 4x as much as I'm doing now b/c I'm no longer dependent on public transportation.
Your activity level has probably gone down. You should reevaluate what your daily activity is now that you've moved.2
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