Why did I gain weight?
Replies
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There's your problem! You're not eating enough calories for the amount of exercise you're doing so your bodies storing calories rather than burning them. Track & weigh everything you eat and drink, go on Google and find a site where you can learn about and work out your BMR (basic metabolic rate) then work out how many calories based on that you should be eating and go from there.
That is not how it works.....11 -
There's your problem! You're not eating enough calories for the amount of exercise you're doing so your bodies storing calories rather than burning them. Track & weigh everything you eat and drink, go on Google and find a site where you can learn about and work out your BMR (basic metabolic rate) then work out how many calories based on that you should be eating and go from there.
That's not the way it works. The body doesn't start storing more fat if the calorie deficit is too high. But what can happen is that if you don't fuel your workouts you won't burn as many calories as what the activity databases indicate you should be burning because your body simply isn't able to put out that level of effort. This may give people the impression that their body is storing more fat, but it is actually just a case of being sluggish.7 -
I looked at your diary and it seems that the math is not adding up sometimes.
For example, for Friday you enter 250 calories for 1/2 of a Roma Calzone. But, I just looked up the calories for that product / brand, and an entire one is 960 calories, so you are off by about 200 calories for just that meal. I saw a few other things during the week that seemed off to me as well.
Also, are you measuring and weighing everything you are eating? Like, the 1/2 cup of vodka sauce -- are you using a measuring cup, or eyeballing it?
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There's your problem! You're not eating enough calories for the amount of exercise you're doing so your bodies storing calories rather than burning them. Track & weigh everything you eat and drink, go on Google and find a site where you can learn about and work out your BMR (basic metabolic rate) then work out how many calories based on that you should be eating and go from there.
lol. no.3 -
Errors with your logging have been addressed.
I'm not sure what you mean by saying digital scales have not 'worked' for you after a month or so I wondered if you realised they do require a change of battery every so often so this may be helpful to know. Head up too the same will apply when using digital kitchen scales to measure your food accurately in grams.0 -
BlackRose278 wrote: »trigden1991 wrote: »
I don't actually know what that is.
They are saying if you took steroids this could easily be possible.
I'm going to say looking at your diary that maybe you aren't paying close attention to the actual portions by weighing everything on a scale, possibly some non recorded absent minded eating? Almost everyone does it (myself included) and has a hard time identifying it. You also have a lot of things like potato chips, soda, etc, processed foods, no vegetables, and always low on protein intake, this isn't very healthy either though shouldnt have too much to do with the weight.
Other questions which may help you identify problems besides that calzone being more calories than recorded that someone pointed out: are you actually weighing the butter you put on potatoes, cheese? Did you actually weigh 3oz and 1/2 cup of M&Ms? Home made lasagna needs every ingredient to be accounted for and weighed and then the portion percent determined at serving time, home made lasagna 250 calorie piece in my experience is next to impossible! Applebee's meals are notoriously high calorie and not portion size controlled. Whats a starbucks 1 pump 2 pump and how is anything starbucks only 50 calories? Many logging issues here, etc
Also about the scale, others pointed out consistent positioning, body state, time of day and battery change, but another issue: since most have an error range of 1-2%, a 150lb person can weigh +/-3lbs on any different day. That could mean -3lbs 3 months back and +3lbs today, accounting for 6lbs even.3 -
Weight Training does cause weight gain but it's mostly muscle mass. What you can do is do this everyday religiously: Breakfast: un-cooked oatmeal oats , with apple juice added with raisins. Lunch -popcorn or sunflower seeds in shells. DINNER: Meat and vegetables (chicken, fish, turkey) or meat and salad. NO Bread or Cheese or noodles pasta. The oats be the carbs to fuel the muscles during the day, the popcorn is the fiber. Dinner is protein and vegetable enzymes. The carbs. Be low. As the calories low the body can't store any excess ... because there is nothing to store , it gets used up.
The body goes into ketosis using it own fat storage , you slim down, to keep body weight at steady level you just add more carbs.foods.0 -
HippySkoppy wrote: »Errors with your logging have been addressed.
I'm not sure what you mean by saying digital scales have not 'worked' for you after a month or so I wondered if you realised they do require a change of battery every so often so this may be helpful to know. Head up too the same will apply when using digital kitchen scales to measure your food accurately in grams.
I have had the same electronic scale with the original batteries for over 4 years now. I can't imagine every scale going bad that quickly. I used to have a mechanical scale, it's numbers were all over the place. My digital kitchen scale eats batteries...
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Ok maybe I haven't got it 100% right I admit but I'm no expert I'm still learning myself but the basics of it is she's not eating enough calories for the amount of exercise she's doing each week.
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HippySkoppy wrote: »Errors with your logging have been addressed.
I'm not sure what you mean by saying digital scales have not 'worked' for you after a month or so I wondered if you realised they do require a change of battery every so often so this may be helpful to know. Head up too the same will apply when using digital kitchen scales to measure your food accurately in grams.
I also wonder if you by chance have a pet that likes to sit on your scale? I know that sounds funny but one of my cats LOVES to sit on mine and since he's rather 'plump' he turns it on every time and he drains the batteries
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HippySkoppy wrote: »Errors with your logging have been addressed.
I'm not sure what you mean by saying digital scales have not 'worked' for you after a month or so I wondered if you realised they do require a change of battery every so often so this may be helpful to know. Head up too the same will apply when using digital kitchen scales to measure your food accurately in grams.
I have had the same electronic scale with the original batteries for over 4 years now. I can't imagine every scale going bad that quickly. I used to have a mechanical scale, it's numbers were all over the place. My digital kitchen scale eats batteries...
I have to switch out the battery on my floor scale every couple of months because my cat sits on my scale and drains the battery (and no his multi-daily weigh-ins hasn't helped his weight problem
). 11 -
stylzemail wrote: »Weight Training does cause weight gain but it's mostly muscle mass. What you can do is do this everyday religiously: Breakfast: un-cooked oatmeal oats , with apple juice added with raisins. Lunch -popcorn or sunflower seeds in shells. DINNER: Meat and vegetables (chicken, fish, turkey) or meat and salad. NO Bread or Cheese or noodles pasta. The oats be the carbs to fuel the muscles during the day, the popcorn is the fiber. Dinner is protein and vegetable enzymes. The carbs. Be low. As the calories low the body can't store any excess ... because there is nothing to store , it gets used up.
The body goes into ketosis using it own fat storage , you slim down, to keep body weight at steady level you just add more carbs.foods.
Totally unnecessary. OP, please ignore. Especially the bolded part. Gaining muscle is a long, slow, and very specifically deliberate process. I guarantee that muscle gain isn't the issue you're experiencing here. Especially not 13 lbs worth.
As long as you are in a calorie deficit (eating less than you burn in a day) you will lose weight regardless of what you're eating.
For most people, a healthy range of nutritious foods that they actually like is the way to go. And leaving room in your daily 'budget' for a few treats here and there helps most people with compliance.
I must also reiterate the recommendation to get and use a food scale. Until you do, you have no way of knowing with any degree of certainty how many calories you actually eat each day.
Edited to add: Depending on what was going on with you when you recently weighed yourself - and assuming there's nothing mechanically wrong with your scale - understand that weight can fluctuate dramatically based on time of day, the amount of food currently in your system, retained water weight from exercise or salty foods, and - especially for women - their menstrual cycle. A combination of any of these on the day you weighed yourself could easily account for an additional ten pounds that has nothing to do with fat weight gain.
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Don't get me wrong, I eat potato chips too, but I feel like you might benefit by more foods that fill you up for less calories (like veggies). If you miscalculate lettuce or broccoli, the calories won't change all that much. But it's very easy to miscalculate things like pasta and calzones, and to be off by a lot.
It seems like you've been great about logging, but something's off. Try the scale, try eating foods you are more sure about the calorie count of. I don't use a scale, but I tend to overestimate if I'm not sure.2 -
Ok maybe I haven't got it 100% right I admit but I'm no expert I'm still learning myself but the basics of it is she's not eating enough calories for the amount of exercise she's doing each week.
Other people addressed this but no, what you're alluding to, starvation mode, is a myth. Your body doesn't gain weight if eating in a deficit, if it did, no one would ever die of actual starvation. There is a thing called adaptive thermogenesis which can result from prolonged periods of eating at a deficit, but it still doesn't result in weight gain while eating less calories than your TDEE.
What's likely happening here, as others have honed in on, is that OP isn't accurately logging food and thus eating more than she thinks. When someone isn't losing, or even starts unexpectedly gaining, that's almost always the culprit.9 -
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stylzemail wrote: »Weight Training does cause weight gain but it's mostly muscle mass. What you can do is do this everyday religiously: Breakfast: un-cooked oatmeal oats , with apple juice added with raisins. Lunch -popcorn or sunflower seeds in shells. DINNER: Meat and vegetables (chicken, fish, turkey) or meat and salad. NO Bread or Cheese or noodles pasta. The oats be the carbs to fuel the muscles during the day, the popcorn is the fiber. Dinner is protein and vegetable enzymes. The carbs. Be low. As the calories low the body can't store any excess ... because there is nothing to store , it gets used up.
The body goes into ketosis using it own fat storage , you slim down, to keep body weight at steady level you just add more carbs.foods.
Op please ignore this entire post7 -
stylzemail wrote: »Weight Training does cause weight gain but it's mostly muscle mass. What you can do is do this everyday religiously: Breakfast: un-cooked oatmeal oats , with apple juice added with raisins. Lunch -popcorn or sunflower seeds in shells. DINNER: Meat and vegetables (chicken, fish, turkey) or meat and salad. NO Bread or Cheese or noodles pasta. The oats be the carbs to fuel the muscles during the day, the popcorn is the fiber. Dinner is protein and vegetable enzymes. The carbs. Be low. As the calories low the body can't store any excess ... because there is nothing to store , it gets used up.
The body goes into ketosis using it own fat storage , you slim down, to keep body weight at steady level you just add more carbs.foods.
Op please ignore this entire post
I am doing the Keto eating plan and I totally agree with the bolded part! You do NOT have to eat in any certain way, or the same thing every day (unless you like to) to lose weight.0 -
I am curious by what process someone would gain 13 pounds and lose body fat? Absent, a scale that is just plain wrong....
I was thinking the same thing. For a woman, trying to eat in a deficit, it's pretty much impossible she gained 13 pounds of muscle in 2 months. Some reduction in body fat, yes, but that much muscle, no. Even 1 pound of muscle gain in 2 months is stretching it.
Also, what did you eat the night before. In addition to sodium, it could be food weight. My lesson learned, never weigh yourself the morning after a 16oz steak dinner.
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Look, I'm sorry, I looked at your diary and you are basically eating no fresh, unprocessed food.
Where are the fruit and vegetables in your diet? You eat processed food and have no idea what you are consuming with it.
I think you would really benefit from a low carb, high protein, high (healthy) fat diet. Please look it up.0 -
Look, I'm sorry, I looked at your diary and you are basically eating no fresh, unprocessed food.
Where are the fruit and vegetables in your diet? You eat processed food and have no idea what you are consuming with it.
I think you would really benefit from a low carb, high protein, high (healthy) fat diet. Please look it up.
Not everyone will benefit from that type of diet. Some will...some won't.5 -
snickerscharlie wrote: »stylzemail wrote: »Weight Training does cause weight gain but it's mostly muscle mass. What you can do is do this everyday religiously: Breakfast: un-cooked oatmeal oats , with apple juice added with raisins. Lunch -popcorn or sunflower seeds in shells. DINNER: Meat and vegetables (chicken, fish, turkey) or meat and salad. NO Bread or Cheese or noodles pasta. The oats be the carbs to fuel the muscles during the day, the popcorn is the fiber. Dinner is protein and vegetable enzymes. The carbs. Be low. As the calories low the body can't store any excess ... because there is nothing to store , it gets used up.
The body goes into ketosis using it own fat storage , you slim down, to keep body weight at steady level you just add more carbs.foods.
Totally unnecessary. OP, please ignore. Especially the bolded part. Gaining muscle is a long, slow, and very specifically deliberate process. I guarantee that muscle gain isn't the issue you're experiencing here. Especially not 13 lbs worth.
As long as you are in a calorie deficit (eating less than you burn in a day) you will lose weight regardless of what you're eating.
For most people, a healthy range of nutritious foods that they actually like is the way to go. And leaving room in your daily 'budget' for a few treats here and there helps most people with compliance.
I must also reiterate the recommendation to get and use a food scale. Until you do, you have no way of knowing with any degree of certainty how many calories you actually eat each day.
Edited to add: Depending on what was going on with you when you recently weighed yourself - and assuming there's nothing mechanically wrong with your scale - understand that weight can fluctuate dramatically based on time of day, the amount of food currently in your system, retained water weight from exercise or salty foods, and - especially for women - their menstrual cycle. A combination of any of these on the day you weighed yourself could easily account for an additional ten pounds that has nothing to do with fat weight gain.
this person stylze is giving the same"bad" advice on all forums, no matter what it is and telling people to eat really low calories and extremely low carb.Im beginning to think troll.I have asked them to please stop giving out bad advice but I see they keep going.1 -
BlackRose278 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »OP, can you open your food diary, please?
It is open to the public, at least I think it is.
Yep, your diary is open.
It is very clear to me that your problem is in your logging. It is unfortunately incredibly easy to consume far more calories than we realize. You are logging generic entries and not weighing your food, so your food diary is currently just a vague estimate of what you have been eating.
For example, you log "generic brushcetta" but the calories your actual brushcetta contains will vary wildly depending on how much oil is used to make it. Furthermore, you logged it as half a cup, which is not an accurate way to measure solid food.
I know it must feel frustrating to have put on weight, but the good news is that if you tighten up your food logging so that you are truly sticking to your calorie goals, then you will lose weight. All that is required to lose weight is to consume less calories than you burn, so it is definitely worthwhile to take the time to learn how to log your food properly.
Good luck with your weight loss goals, you can do this!
Edited to add: it looks like your goal has been set at 1000 calories. There is no need to set such a low goal. Instead, focus on accurately meeting a more reasonable goal, since you are almost certainly eating far, far more than 1000 calories.
Thank you, but I am endomorphic in terms of my body type: I gain muscle and fat extremely easily, but I cannot lose it as fast as someone who's an ectomorph or a mesomorph. Because of that, I need to keep a low calorie goal because, if I make it lower, I end up eating a lower amount (it's usually around 1200- 1300 now, before hand I would eat MUCH more because of the calorie goal being higher).
I wish I could exercise more, but my plantar fasciitis is so bad that I officially limp in the morning when I get up. I am going to focus more on muscle training, martial arts, and I will try to make sure I eat properly more. I apologize, I'm just not as smart as I should be in my major.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »You should weigh at least weekly. It is easy to gain 13lbs in two months, but if you weigh regularly you will see it coming and be able to turn it around. I had a while when I measured body parts instead of weighing. I thought I was doing well but then I stepped on the scales and saw the second largest number I had ever seen.
I would love to, but that makes me extremely depressed and I do not want to let myself sink back into chronic manic depression (I've been fine for a little over two years now, and I am not planning on that ever happening again).
Not to mention every scale I buy ends up being either broken or breaks within a month of use. I've kinda gave up on scales and, instead, use measuring tape and fat calipers.0 -
You're eating more than you think. Just looking at Friday's log, you have "1/2 of calzone", 3oz, 0.5c (half a cup I guess?), and the winner of all, 1 Slice-Cut 8.
I would suggest getting a food scale and weighing your food, and logging it accurately, and then seeing what happens.
I actually didn't eat that much of a calazone, I ate about two slices about 1 inch thick. I didn't know how to log that, so I just put "1/2" while my S.O. ate about the same amount and my mother had the rest. So, I'd say more of a 1/3 if anything. And I don't know what the other numbers mean. I apologize.0 -
UPDATE:
I am extremely stressed by finishing up my last semester before I graduate with a degree I cannot get a job in (health sciences) without going into a grad program of some kind. I have not had time to use my calipers or measure tape in a while because of my classes taking the more important role right now.
I have decided to focus on graduating knowing I will more than likely never get into graduate school since I didn't get into any this cycle (PA school is more competitive AND difficult than medical school). I will try again next year for continuing my education. During the mean time, I will try my best at changing my lifestyle more by restricting the amount I eat more, exercising more, seeing a nutritionist (if possible after graduation), and continue my weight training as well as martial arts.
I am seeming to lose more inches on my legs, which is good. I don't think I'll ever get rid of my backfat since they've been there even when I was at my lowest weight (137 lbs). It's more than likely because I have just a bit over an inch between my ribs and my hips. I am the definition of a permanent hourglass figure, THANKS PETITE BODY :'D
So yeah, I just wish to update people on this. I am not going to keep up with this discussion anymore and continue what I need to do to be better than what I am now. If I don't do what needs to be done, who will?
Have a great day!0 -
Sorry but just curious- you've gained weight yet lost inches around... have you grown taller by chance? It seems you are in college- I grew an inch taller in my early 20's, even though I thought I had stopped growing in height around age 13 at 5'3" which I still was every time I saw the doctor and they checked my height until around age 20 or so, then within a couple years measured again and I'd grown an inch!! I'm now 5'4" (and now in my 30s). You gain about 10 pounds for every inch of height gained. Could that be what happened? And before anyone says that's impossible and doesn't happen well the exact same thing happened to my mom, so maybe it's a weird genetic thing.1
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BlackRose278 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »OP, can you open your food diary, please?
It is open to the public, at least I think it is.
Yep, your diary is open.
It is very clear to me that your problem is in your logging. It is unfortunately incredibly easy to consume far more calories than we realize. You are logging generic entries and not weighing your food, so your food diary is currently just a vague estimate of what you have been eating.
For example, you log "generic brushcetta" but the calories your actual brushcetta contains will vary wildly depending on how much oil is used to make it. Furthermore, you logged it as half a cup, which is not an accurate way to measure solid food.
I know it must feel frustrating to have put on weight, but the good news is that if you tighten up your food logging so that you are truly sticking to your calorie goals, then you will lose weight. All that is required to lose weight is to consume less calories than you burn, so it is definitely worthwhile to take the time to learn how to log your food properly.
Good luck with your weight loss goals, you can do this!
Edited to add: it looks like your goal has been set at 1000 calories. There is no need to set such a low goal. Instead, focus on accurately meeting a more reasonable goal, since you are almost certainly eating far, far more than 1000 calories.
I agree with this also: It looks like you are not only weighing your food wrong (a lot of us don't accurately weigh our food) but you don't have enough variety. There may also be water retention due to the sodium you are taking in (potato chips/tomato soup etc have a lot of sodium). You should incorporate more veggies and fruits in your diet and eat more frequently. I also agree that 1000 calories is way too little, your body will hold onto whatever it has and you will in turn hold onto more weight/water.0 -
BlackRose278 wrote: »BlackRose278 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »OP, can you open your food diary, please?
It is open to the public, at least I think it is.
Yep, your diary is open.
It is very clear to me that your problem is in your logging. It is unfortunately incredibly easy to consume far more calories than we realize. You are logging generic entries and not weighing your food, so your food diary is currently just a vague estimate of what you have been eating.
For example, you log "generic brushcetta" but the calories your actual brushcetta contains will vary wildly depending on how much oil is used to make it. Furthermore, you logged it as half a cup, which is not an accurate way to measure solid food.
I know it must feel frustrating to have put on weight, but the good news is that if you tighten up your food logging so that you are truly sticking to your calorie goals, then you will lose weight. All that is required to lose weight is to consume less calories than you burn, so it is definitely worthwhile to take the time to learn how to log your food properly.
Good luck with your weight loss goals, you can do this!
Edited to add: it looks like your goal has been set at 1000 calories. There is no need to set such a low goal. Instead, focus on accurately meeting a more reasonable goal, since you are almost certainly eating far, far more than 1000 calories.
Thank you, but I am endomorphic in terms of my body type: I gain muscle and fat extremely easily, but I cannot lose it as fast as someone who's an ectomorph or a mesomorph. Because of that, I need to keep a low calorie goal because, if I make it lower, I end up eating a lower amount (it's usually around 1200- 1300 now, before hand I would eat MUCH more because of the calorie goal being higher).
I wish I could exercise more, but my plantar fasciitis is so bad that I officially limp in the morning when I get up. I am going to focus more on muscle training, martial arts, and I will try to make sure I eat properly more. I apologize, I'm just not as smart as I should be in my major.
somatypes(ectomorph,mesomorph,etc) have been debunked. it was a study done to see if a certain body type had a certain personality, it has nothing to do with how fast or slow someone loses or gains weight/muscle.someone just thought they would apply that to the study and make money off it.5 -
durstybritt wrote: »BlackRose278 wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »OP, can you open your food diary, please?
It is open to the public, at least I think it is.
Yep, your diary is open.
It is very clear to me that your problem is in your logging. It is unfortunately incredibly easy to consume far more calories than we realize. You are logging generic entries and not weighing your food, so your food diary is currently just a vague estimate of what you have been eating.
For example, you log "generic brushcetta" but the calories your actual brushcetta contains will vary wildly depending on how much oil is used to make it. Furthermore, you logged it as half a cup, which is not an accurate way to measure solid food.
I know it must feel frustrating to have put on weight, but the good news is that if you tighten up your food logging so that you are truly sticking to your calorie goals, then you will lose weight. All that is required to lose weight is to consume less calories than you burn, so it is definitely worthwhile to take the time to learn how to log your food properly.
Good luck with your weight loss goals, you can do this!
Edited to add: it looks like your goal has been set at 1000 calories. There is no need to set such a low goal. Instead, focus on accurately meeting a more reasonable goal, since you are almost certainly eating far, far more than 1000 calories.
I agree with this also: It looks like you are not only weighing your food wrong (a lot of us don't accurately weigh our food) but you don't have enough variety. There may also be water retention due to the sodium you are taking in (potato chips/tomato soup etc have a lot of sodium). You should incorporate more veggies and fruits in your diet and eat more frequently. I also agree that 1000 calories is way too little, your body will hold onto whatever it has and you will in turn hold onto more weight/water.
you will not hold onto anything. if the OP was actually eating so little they would still lose weight. water retention is a good possibility though.4
This discussion has been closed.
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