What's the point

24

Replies

  • LittleLionGirl1304
    LittleLionGirl1304 Posts: 24 Member
    sychun1304 wrote: »
    mlinci wrote: »
    Hi OP,
    Just to share in the past, before I started counted calories I eat, I'd gain weight EVERY SINGLE TIME I'd step up my exercising. This is because every single time, though I was convinced I was eating less, I was actually eating more.
    It's only when I started weighing, in grams, every single thing that I ate*, that I managed to get my calorie intake in control. A year and a half down the line, I'm over 40lbs lighter.

    I'd definitely recommend that you look at how precise you are with measuring your calorie intake first. Because that's by far the likeliest reason you are not losing/ are gaining weight. Even if you think that can't possibly be the case.

    * I weigh food where possible. I estimate when I can't weigh, but I make sure I don't underestimate by choosing higher calorie entries when given a choice, and trying to learn what portion sizes look like.
    mlinci wrote: »
    Hi OP,
    Just to share in the past, before I started counted calories I eat, I'd gain weight EVERY SINGLE TIME I'd step up my exercising. This is because every single time, though I was convinced I was eating less, I was actually eating more.
    It's only when I started weighing, in grams, every single thing that I ate*, that I managed to get my calorie intake in control. A year and a half down the line, I'm over 40lbs lighter.

    I'd definitely recommend that you look at how precise you are with measuring your calorie intake first. Because that's by far the likeliest reason you are not losing/ are gaining weight. Even if you think that can't possibly be the case.

    * I weigh food where possible. I estimate when I can't weigh, but I make sure I don't underestimate by choosing higher calorie entries when given a choice, and trying to learn what portion sizes look like.


    I've been using a scale to measure food, I've steadily been cutting down 25% of what I used to eat. Is that not enough? I figured with the cardio it would be enough of a void to cut weight. Also, I've started drinking much more water than I used to. But water weight is supposed to shed after a couple weeks right?

    How does the minus 25% compare with your tdee?

    What's tdee?
  • size102b
    size102b Posts: 1,370 Member


    OP you need to find your calorie intake level to lose weight eating 25%?less than you used to could still = too many calories
  • LittleLionGirl1304
    LittleLionGirl1304 Posts: 24 Member
    Rawr619 wrote: »
    Rawr619 wrote: »
    1. Are you weighing your food with a food scale? If not, get a scale and start weighing to the gram.

    2. Are you eating back all of your exercise calories? Myfitnesspal notoriously overestimates exercise calories, try eating back half instead of all.

    3. What is your height and weight? Calorie goal?

    You still have yet to answer these questions I asked. I asked to be helpful. But if you don't actually want help then that's fine, but your post sounded like you wanted help/advice.

    Yes I have a scale and I use it.
    I've been tracking my food and calories and I don't eat back the calories I've burned.
    I'm 5,7, currently 180, but normally I'm 170. Calorie goal set from mfp is 1700
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Odds are you simply need to eat less. Normally I suggest waiting it out but I've never heard of a woman eating in a deficit, starting lifting, and gaining an actual 10 pounds in a month from initial water weight. Or were you exaggerating for effect, similar to the comment about your tree trunk legs?

    Stop getting defensive. Take the time to learn about losing weight and lifting before going off half-cocked complaining about people accusing you of this or that. Accept that you have a lot to learn and show some appreciation for people who take time out of their lives to offer help.

    5lbs water from exercise, 3 from period, 2 from excess sodium....? Maybe?
  • SpotLighttt
    SpotLighttt Posts: 174 Member
    Firstly, are your clothes feeling tighter?

    If so, you are eating more.
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  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Odds are you simply need to eat less. Normally I suggest waiting it out but I've never heard of a woman eating in a deficit, starting lifting, and gaining an actual 10 pounds in a month from initial water weight. Or were you exaggerating for effect, similar to the comment about your tree trunk legs?

    Stop getting defensive. Take the time to learn about losing weight and lifting before going off half-cocked complaining about people accusing you of this or that. Accept that you have a lot to learn and show some appreciation for people who take time out of their lives to offer help.

    I managed +6lb last week from a combination of DoMs and ToM, so it might just be possible, but seeing as I'm already back down 5/6 of that it's not that likely. Would be a lot of over eating though to gain 2lb a week.
  • RaeBeeBaby
    RaeBeeBaby Posts: 4,246 Member
    The scale is not the only indicator, it's only one tool. You might also want to take your measurements and see if you are losing inches. Your "tree trunk" legs might actually be smaller than you think if you have burned off some of the fat and possibly gained some muscle. I know after I started working out I noticed my legs looked funny - like I had this dent on the side that had never been there before. Guess what? it was my muscle actually visible for the first time!

    If you really want help and advice and to be successful there are lots of tools available here on MFP. I've learned a lot just reading other people's posts. Also, regardless of what MFP sets for you that might not be your optimal calories for weight loss. Personally, I cannot lose at 1700 calories even with exercise. Too much for me. I shoot for about 1400 with daily exercise and I'm in a slight deficit seeing slow results.

    Good luck!
  • allcaremed
    allcaremed Posts: 3 Member
    edited March 2017
    this is driving me nuts, was losing 3-4 weekly until I stated back to weight training 3x week & eliptical 5 x week. Its hard but I have to be confident that Im doing the right thing by exercizing, measuring everything that goes in, I cant use the scale numbers to validate what im doing. The losses will come. Heres an article that helped me come to this https://www.muscleforlife.com/not-losing-weight/
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    Are you counting all your beverages? Are you using any protein supplements, smoothies, etc?
    Any packaged foods that you rely on the label for the nutritional info? Any regular restaurant meals that you rely on their published nutritional info for?
  • RivenV
    RivenV Posts: 1,667 Member
    Looks like the last time you logged food (according to your food diary) was 3/2/18, the day you started, incidentally... and that doesn't look like you logged all day, either.

    You say you're using your food scale--great!! But you need to actually log the food you're weighing in MFP, otherwise I don't see how you're tracking it...unless you're keeping track in your head. If that's the case, I'd still recommend logging the food instead of mentally tracking it since you're not getting the results you want or expect.

    I'd also recommend reading the first page of this post https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1080242/a-guide-to-get-you-started-on-your-path-to-sexypants/p1 Seriously, it was so helpful for me and for a lot of other people.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Odds are you simply need to eat less. Normally I suggest waiting it out but I've never heard of a woman eating in a deficit, starting lifting, and gaining an actual 10 pounds in a month from initial water weight. Or were you exaggerating for effect, similar to the comment about your tree trunk legs?

    Stop getting defensive. Take the time to learn about losing weight and lifting before going off half-cocked complaining about people accusing you of this or that. Accept that you have a lot to learn and show some appreciation for people who take time out of their lives to offer help.

    I'm a woman who gained 7 pounds while eating in a deficit after starting to lift weights. (It's the big spike early Nov.) If it had coincided with my period and high sodium meals I might have hit 10. It came off fairly quickly because I got sick.

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  • Afura
    Afura Posts: 2,054 Member
    I'll agree, when we ask questions, it's repetitive, but it should also explain that we're all looking for the same answer. It came seem a little daunting when it's all coming at you though. We're all so eager for your answer! :lol:

    I'll agree with @RivenV , from when we look to see what might be an 'off' indicator, there's no food tracking. Do you log your food somewhere else? Written down, different app, etc? I see the exercise is reporting for Su-Tu at least, but it still leaves us with the question of the food. :smile:
    Your clothes are fitting a little looser, so that's a good indication there is some change. The scale is a horrible overall indicator of weight loss because of so much flux, which is why some change to measuring instead. I do the scale and curse the repeated days of no loss (and believe me, I have thunder thighs too, wish I could get rid of them).
  • LittleLionGirl1304
    LittleLionGirl1304 Posts: 24 Member
    jemhh wrote: »
    Odds are you simply need to eat less. Normally I suggest waiting it out but I've never heard of a woman eating in a deficit, starting lifting, and gaining an actual 10 pounds in a month from initial water weight. Or were you exaggerating for effect, similar to the comment about your tree trunk legs?

    Stop getting defensive. Take the time to learn about losing weight and lifting before going off half-cocked complaining about people accusing you of this or that. Accept that you have a lot to learn and show some appreciation for people who take time out of their lives to offer help.


    Sadly I'm not exaggerating. I have gained exactly 10 pounds. And I feel like it's all gone to my thighs. My shirts are looser now, which is nice but my thighs are literally becoming tree trunks. I hate it! But.. my *kitten* has grown too, which I kind of like hehe. But jeezaloo I wish my thighs would stop growing.
  • LittleLionGirl1304
    LittleLionGirl1304 Posts: 24 Member
    I'm risking getting flagged for this, but could you be pregnant,OP?

    Nope! Ruled that one out lol
  • LittleLionGirl1304
    LittleLionGirl1304 Posts: 24 Member
    Afura wrote: »
    I'll agree, when we ask questions, it's repetitive, but it should also explain that we're all looking for the same answer. It came seem a little daunting when it's all coming at you though. We're all so eager for your answer! :lol:

    I'll agree with @RivenV , from when we look to see what might be an 'off' indicator, there's no food tracking. Do you log your food somewhere else? Written down, different app, etc? I see the exercise is reporting for Su-Tu at least, but it still leaves us with the question of the food. :smile:
    Your clothes are fitting a little looser, so that's a good indication there is some change. The scale is a horrible overall indicator of weight loss because of so much flux, which is why some change to measuring instead. I do the scale and curse the repeated days of no loss (and believe me, I have thunder thighs too, wish I could get rid of them).

    I log my food manually in a notebook, it's just better for me to be able to see a physical copy of what I eat so I can flip through it quickly. But I decided to start logging it here now, since other members can see it and help
    Me out. (I wasn't aware that other members could see my diet on here before)
  • BlueSkyShoal
    BlueSkyShoal Posts: 325 Member
    Do you feel like your thighs are "fatty" bigger or "muscley" bigger? Usually cardio doesn't bulk you up like strength training does, but I mean you ARE still using your muscles with cardio . . . I used to do stair stepping (literally exercising in a stairwell, lol) and I definitely saw my legs get more toned from that.

    The fact that your clothes are fitting looser at the waist is a great sign! Even if the scale doesn't show it, you must be losing fat for that to happen.
  • fasterpssycat
    fasterpssycat Posts: 30 Member
    edited March 2017
    sychun1304 wrote: »
    Everyone seems to be asking the same question. Have I been eating less? Yes. I keep a food journal and I record everything I eat, and I log all my runs/excercise with MapMyRun. I feel like you guys are accusing me of lying about what I eat. So why don't you just come right out and say it. If I had been eating like a pig then yeah. I would understand why I'm not losing weight, and wouldn't have bothered to make a post. but what the hell. I'm following the "move more eat less" motto and all I've done is gain. Am I doing the wrong workouts? I usually do 20 mins of high intensity elliptical, 10 mins of stairs, and 20 mins of high intensity rowing in a day, then I go to work where I'm on my feet all day. Am I doing the wrong things at the gym? I don't want gains, I don't want to bulk up. I just want to slim down. Don't get me wrong. I like seeing my muscles more prominant, but I also don't want to keep gaining. My legs and thighs are getting really bulky. Is it from the cardio?

    Lay off the "you're probably eating like a cow" comments okay? It's already been asked 5+ times and the answer is no. If you don't have anything helpful and nonsarcastic to add, please do me a favor and unfollow this post.

    It sounds like you're doing exercises that, depending on how your body works, could be building up those muscles faster than you're losing fat. I have to be very careful about weight training because I bulk up quickly. My mom and I both can muscle up like tanks, it's nuts. She went to a trainer once and mentioned how fast we gain muscle and he was like, "Yeah, ok. Do these weighted squats and lunges it's fine." Three weeks later he had to backtrack his cynicism and rework her routine. Maybe adding in some more yoga/pilates style exercises can help lengthen those muscles so they don't look bulky could help? I personally have gone that way because I have thick thighs that are well-padded atm. If I was building those muscles without the stretching I'd be built like a chubby Lou Ferrigno from the waist down in no time.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    edited March 2017
    I think OP should take comfort from the possibility that her unintended overeating combined with the weight training may indeed have caused her to gain muscle. Her description of losing inches round the waist while gaining them on the thighs suggests that some muscle has been built there. So it may not have been a weight loss fail so much as an unintended bulk.

    But you need to start counting now, OP, if you want to lose that fat.
  • CattOfTheGarage
    CattOfTheGarage Posts: 2,745 Member
    Seems like OP didn't like the answers
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    sychun1304 wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure a lot of you feel this way too. I've been training hard at the gym for a month now, and I've been eating smarter and eating less. And after all this you'd think I'd at least lose 1 lousy pound right? WRONG! I've gained 10 pounds since I started! My thighs are getting so big that my pants are ripping at the inseams! Thinking about throwing in the towel and cutting my losses.

    im sorry but this is me all over, i train doing body combat 4 times weekly, i stock to a TDEE allowance of 1600 as this includes any exercise.
    this week i gained 4lbs, last weeks i also gained 4lbs, im not new to this, ive been a member for years and i always the thought the yo-yo of my dieting was from my under active thyroid, however im now adequately medicated and im still yo-yoing badly, 8lbs in 2 weeks has to be water, why? i dont know, its not my TOTm, and so the Drs are now trying to take me off my mini pill in hopes that its this thats causing it.
    heres the cruncher: im also on orlistat yep! the crap yourself drug. whilst i do get little grumbles, my diet is moire of less spot on. and still am gaining like this? why? not a clue, do i want to throw in the towel? hell yeah, will i? probably not as im a fighter and something has to move eventually.
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