Gained 10lb in a weekend after going out to eat... two months of clean diet later, it's still there
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texteach66 wrote: »It sounds like a doctor's visit may be in order, just to be sure there's nothing going on outside of your control.
I personally have a very hard time getting below the top of a healthy BMI. I plugged in your numbers now and you are within the healthy range (as I'm sure you know). Have you ever been at the weight you are aiming at? I suspect my trouble getting lower than the top of a healthy BMI is that I've been above that since I was a teenager - way above it for the majority of the time.
Just some thoughts. I hear your frustration and I'm very sorry. I hope you figure it out.
Yes, before I gained the weight (I lived near a smoker and it triggered constant migraines for about a year until I got out of my lease, which meant I stopped having the energy to work out or cook for myself = rapid weight gain) I was 125-135 for most of my adult life. My primary issue is I tend to carry weight on my stomach, so I want to cut that down for health and aesthetic reasons. I think if I carried weight a bit more evenly, I wouldn't be so concerned, but... my stomach has other ideas!
Thank you
monkeefan1974 wrote: »Have you been checked for PCOS or insulin resistance?
I have not recently. Thank you!Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Have you seen a doctor? Unexplained weight gain or loss can be a sign of illness.
I've been to a doctor in early July, but she didn't seem to think it was particularly worrisome. It's possible that she just didn't take me seriously (as you can see the people already in this thread basically telling me it's impossible so it didn't happen, lol) and believed I was just exaggerating!
I was hoping to bring this up with her again at my next appt now that I've done the reset diet and had no effect. I figure that if I ate super clean for a month and nothing changed, there has to be something else going on, right?Do you think it could be a hormone imbalance? It's sort of strange that you could eat so healthily and not lose but one pound a month. And that 12 lb gain also suggests that it could be something with your hormones. Maybe get that checked out.
This is something I have wondered. I have another appointment coming up in August, so I will bring this up SPECIFICALLY with her. Is there a particular test that I should be requesting?Has the heat increased where you are? I retain LOTS of water in the heat and carry that all through the summer months. Just a thought. For me it's hereditary. The water weight will drop off when the temperature comes back done towards fall.
I drink tons of water, but I don't think I've increased the amount. I've always been a heavy water drinker though, and this summer has been a bit milder than usual (thank god lol). It's a thought, though. Thank you!
Yes, request a CBC and a TSH test. CBC is a complete blood count and will check on things like hemoglobin levels. TSH will check in your thyroid gland which will give an indication of whether or not you have a hormone imbalance.
Thank you so much!monkeefan1974 wrote: »The problem could be in your "calories out", has your activity level changed? I remember when I started driving and stopped walking/riding the bus, I gained 10 lbs in 10 months! Also, have your thyroid checked. I'm hypothyroid and if I slip on my diet/activity even a little bit, I balloon and gain weight extremely fast!
Yes, somewhat, but I've tried to balance it out... I have tried to make up for less walking (my dog's age and arthritis is catching up with him, so he can only manage maybe 2 miles per day now as opposed to our past 6-8) with more time on the elliptical and stationary bike... but I've also tried to underestimate calories out.
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It's odd that you've had such a slow weight loss phase, with such slow losses, and that in itself raises questions. And now this issue-I usually don't jump on the 'it's a medical issue' bandwagon, but in this case there really may be something else going on, but I have no idea what. Hopefully your upcoming doctor appointment will shed some light on it!
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Have you double-checked all the database entries for the food you eat regularly to make sure you haven't accidentally used some inaccurate ones? When I got started, I was using some that were off by quite a bit.4
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texteach66 wrote: »It sounds like a doctor's visit may be in order, just to be sure there's nothing going on outside of your control.
I personally have a very hard time getting below the top of a healthy BMI. I plugged in your numbers now and you are within the healthy range (as I'm sure you know). Have you ever been at the weight you are aiming at? I suspect my trouble getting lower than the top of a healthy BMI is that I've been above that since I was a teenager - way above it for the majority of the time.
Just some thoughts. I hear your frustration and I'm very sorry. I hope you figure it out.
Yes, before I gained the weight (I lived near a smoker and it triggered constant migraines for about a year until I got out of my lease, which meant I stopped having the energy to work out or cook for myself = rapid weight gain) I was 125-135 for most of my adult life. My primary issue is I tend to carry weight on my stomach, so I want to cut that down for health and aesthetic reasons. I think if I carried weight a bit more evenly, I wouldn't be so concerned, but... my stomach has other ideas!
Thank youmonkeefan1974 wrote: »Have you been checked for PCOS or insulin resistance?
I have not recently. Thank you!Need2Exerc1se wrote: »Have you seen a doctor? Unexplained weight gain or loss can be a sign of illness.
I've been to a doctor in early July, but she didn't seem to think it was particularly worrisome. It's possible that she just didn't take me seriously (as you can see the people already in this thread basically telling me it's impossible so it didn't happen, lol) and believed I was just exaggerating!
I was hoping to bring this up with her again at my next appt now that I've done the reset diet and had no effect. I figure that if I ate super clean for a month and nothing changed, there has to be something else going on, right?Do you think it could be a hormone imbalance? It's sort of strange that you could eat so healthily and not lose but one pound a month. And that 12 lb gain also suggests that it could be something with your hormones. Maybe get that checked out.
This is something I have wondered. I have another appointment coming up in August, so I will bring this up SPECIFICALLY with her. Is there a particular test that I should be requesting?Has the heat increased where you are? I retain LOTS of water in the heat and carry that all through the summer months. Just a thought. For me it's hereditary. The water weight will drop off when the temperature comes back done towards fall.
I drink tons of water, but I don't think I've increased the amount. I've always been a heavy water drinker though, and this summer has been a bit milder than usual (thank god lol). It's a thought, though. Thank you!
Yes, request a CBC and a TSH test. CBC is a complete blood count and will check on things like hemoglobin levels. TSH will check in your thyroid gland which will give an indication of whether or not you have a hormone imbalance.
Thank you so much!monkeefan1974 wrote: »The problem could be in your "calories out", has your activity level changed? I remember when I started driving and stopped walking/riding the bus, I gained 10 lbs in 10 months! Also, have your thyroid checked. I'm hypothyroid and if I slip on my diet/activity even a little bit, I balloon and gain weight extremely fast!
Yes, somewhat, but I've tried to balance it out... I have tried to make up for less walking (my dog's age and arthritis is catching up with him, so he can only manage maybe 2 miles per day now as opposed to our past 6-8) with more time on the elliptical and stationary bike... but I've also tried to underestimate calories out.
No problem! Good luck and let us know how the appointment goes.0 -
TresaAswegan wrote: »animatorswearbras wrote: »Just spotted that you don't want to set to public, that's fine, but just go through yourself, did you log every day did you weigh, measure, include drinks, alcohol, condiments, cooking oil sometimes you don't realise you've been a bit lax or failed to log, but without that information I don't think anyone can offer you an explanation. x
Yes. I am on a very long streak of consistent MFP use! And as I said many times, I log everything, I measure everything. If people choose to ignore the information I've provided about what I was eating, I suppose that is their choice.TresaAswegan wrote: »Have you talked to your doctor about this?
(Have you replaced the batteries in your scale or moved it? Are your clothes fitting tighter?)
One meal is certainly not going to make you gain 10-12 lbs of fat. If there is truly no explanation for the sudden gain other than one meal... yeah, I would be headed to the doctor to see if there is something going on.
Other things possibly worth mentioning
- are you using a food scale to ensure you are actually eating what you think?
-If you alternate between 1200/1600 calories, you're only in a deficit every other week, so it makes sense that you lose at a very slow rate doing that. Actually, If your TDEE (Maybe you meant BMR?) is really only 1300 you would really be over eating on the 1600 days....
But even then, those things are not going to cause a sudden huge weight gain. You would have to eat 42,000 calories in excess to gain 12 lbs, and you surely did not eat that much in one meal. There must be something else going on.
I'm going to assume you only read the headline, as all of this is covered in my post. And yes, I immediately edited TDEE to BMR once I reread my post and noticed my typo. I'm not sure if it didn't refresh for everyone else?
I did not just read the headline lol. I actually read and then scanned your post a few times over before posting, which is probably why I missed your edit to BMR. I was mid post trying to compose my thoughts.... (Your post is extremely long winded, it would be easy for someone to miss something.)
While you mentioned using the same scale, moving a scale to a different place in your house is enough to make a difference. Changing the batteries could make a difference. (I still see no mention of either of those?) I have a friend who cannot weigh themselves at their home because the floor is not level and throws off the scale. This is why I still mentioned it.
I also didn't see any mention of a food scale in the OP. I see you've edited it now to add that.
I tried to make it clear that these were just things that came to mind and not likely the cause. The scale being inaccurate (whether before the gain or after) would likely be the biggest culprit, aside from a medical problem.
People post suggestions to help you troubleshoot in case you missed something. I'm not sure what kind of answers you were expecting otherwise?
ETA there are other responses saying literally the same thing as I did, and you are all for "spitballing" but totally dismissive to my response. Lol ok bye.
I'm sorry, I did not edit in the mentioned of the food scale - they were there from the start (it is what I use to measure my food, after all!). Also, I've mentioned multiple scales from the start as well, not just one.
Look, I'm trying to be clear, but it seems I cannot win - if I am overly detailed and soften my language, it's my fault for people missing the details because I am too dense and wordy, but if I try to be concise and point out that I already answered something and direct the person asking back to where it was already answered, I'm too rude.
I appreciate you taking the time, but the reason I directed you to my OP and not others is because they brought up things that were not already covered in my OP. I am not randomly trying to be mean to specific people over others, as that would make zero sense whatsoever - there is no bizarre favoritism where I randomly selected to be mean to you and nice to others.8 -
cerise_noir wrote: »Do you use a food scale to weigh all solid foods (raw meats, raw grains/pastas, nuts, raw legumes, fruits, veg, butter, mayo, yogurt, anything prepackaged/single serve etc) in grams, and cups/spoons for liquid only?
Do you choose the correct database entries? Have you updated your diet profile since you've lost weight?
You edited your post to say you weigh your food after I posted my question. There's an edit time stamp. It wasn't there from the beginning.
I wanted to add: do you log cooking oils and beverages? Do you use USDA entries for fruits, veg and meat? Also, there are many false entries in the database. Scanning isn't necessarily accurate and green checkmark entries are not necessarily accurate.
Have you changed the batteries in your food scale and bathroom scale recently? I see others have been asking similar questions but no response.7 -
Short answer...nobody here knows what's going on. Even at an average of 1400 calories a day (alternating weeks of 1200 and 1600), you should still be losing something on order of 4-5 pounds per month.
One question - was that 137 a true longer term average weight or could you possibly be cherry picking an extreme data point/circumstance and making more of it then it really was?
Personally, I know that my average weight is hovering at 205 right now but I did see a couple of 197s on the scale last week. It was because I weighed myself while extremely dehydrated (hungover), very fasted (I drank my dinner), and immediately after I went to the bathroom first thing in the morning.
I can even make my scale tell me I weigh less than that if I stand on it the wrong way or manage to position one of the scale's feet right on the grout line.12 -
Idk but something isn't adding up with your story.4
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Barring a medical condition, my money's on inaccurate logging as well.janejellyroll wrote: »Have you double-checked all the database entries for the food you eat regularly to make sure you haven't accidentally used some inaccurate ones? When I got started, I was using some that were off by quite a bit.8 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Have you double-checked all the database entries for the food you eat regularly to make sure you haven't accidentally used some inaccurate ones? When I got started, I was using some that were off by quite a bit.
Yes! This is a good thought, and I actually have to go in and manually add in quite a few corrected entries, frankly. I did notice this about... two years ago, I was definitely misreporting my calories simply because some entries were outdated or perhaps from other markets or something... however it happens, yeah, I've noticed this issue as well.
I do have to trust some of them (ie peaches or other fruits/veg that don't come with nutritional info) but I'm not sure what else can be done there, unfortunately. It's possible that the produce are really off in MFP, but I hope not!0 -
Yes, Dr. Visit for sure. Praying for you.2
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janejellyroll wrote: »Have you double-checked all the database entries for the food you eat regularly to make sure you haven't accidentally used some inaccurate ones? When I got started, I was using some that were off by quite a bit.
Yes! This is a good thought, and I actually have to go in and manually add in quite a few corrected entries, frankly. I did notice this about... two years ago, I was definitely misreporting my calories simply because some entries were outdated or perhaps from other markets or something... however it happens, yeah, I've noticed this issue as well.
I do have to trust some of them (ie peaches or other fruits/veg that don't come with nutritional info) but I'm not sure what else can be done there, unfortunately. It's possible that the produce are really off in MFP, but I hope not!
If there are raw ingredients or unlabeled things that you use a lot, it might be worth double checking. I have had good results just by Googling something like "lentils nutritional information." It's the foods without labels that I have noticed some of the biggest issues with.
It might be a long shot, but given everything else you've checked and clarified. . . maybe?1 -
I don't have anything to add to what's been said above... Good luck to you - sooo frustrating!! I know it takes me forever to lose anything at all due to Type II diabetes and Insulin Resistance <sigh> If your Dr performs the tests that were suggested, I hope you find your answer ((Hugs))0
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My primary issue is I tend to carry weight on my stomach, so I want to cut that down for health and aesthetic reasons. I think if I carried weight a bit more evenly, I wouldn't be so concerned, but... my stomach has other ideas!
Have you ever considered resistance training instead of dieting? If you build up your abs/core a bit, it'll make your waist a bit slimmer even without fat loss.3 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Have you double-checked all the database entries for the food you eat regularly to make sure you haven't accidentally used some inaccurate ones? When I got started, I was using some that were off by quite a bit.
Yes! This is a good thought, and I actually have to go in and manually add in quite a few corrected entries, frankly. I did notice this about... two years ago, I was definitely misreporting my calories simply because some entries were outdated or perhaps from other markets or something... however it happens, yeah, I've noticed this issue as well.
I do have to trust some of them (ie peaches or other fruits/veg that don't come with nutritional info) but I'm not sure what else can be done there, unfortunately. It's possible that the produce are really off in MFP, but I hope not!
Search for entries in the database by including "USDA" in the search. Eg. "Banana USDA" That will generally bring up the most accurate entries.7 -
Please ask your doctor to check your thyroid (blood test), or look for an endocrinologist. Hypothyroidism could cause the weight gain (probably not overnight, but maybe your scale was lying to you before - they tend to do that sometimes
) and be at fault for your slow metabolism. Do you maybe suffer from exhaustion and headaches?
I had the same problem and with the right dose of medication and MFP I'm finally on my way to drop the pounds I put on while being undiagnosed.
Best of luck to you!
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Short answer...nobody here knows what's going on. Even at an average of 1400 calories a day (alternating weeks of 1200 and 1600), you should still be losing something on order of 4-5 pounds per month.
One question - was that 137 a true longer term average weight or could you possibly be cherry picking an extreme data point/circumstance and making more of it then it really was?
Personally, I know that my average weight is hovering at 205 right now but I did see a couple of 197s on the scale last week. It was because I weighed myself while extremely dehydrated (hungover), very fasted (I drank my dinner), and immediately after I went to the bathroom first thing in the morning.
I can even make my scale tell me I weigh less than that if I stand on it the wrong way or manage to position one of the scale's feet right on the grout line.
If maintenance is 1600 ("1200 is a 400 cal deficit" per the OP) and that's alternated (I initially read that to be every other week?) every week (averaging 1400) that's only a deficit of 200 cal per day, or 5600 cals per month, which in theory would be 1.6 lbs per month loss.
Weight loss is slow when you have a small deficit obviously. Not to mention it's very easy to wipe out that small of a deficit with any logging errors.6 -
As for clothing, they do fit tighter. It's actually quite consistent in them fitting tighter where I tend to put on legitimate fat (upper thighs and lower abdomen). OFC, I thought lower abdomen could also just be bloat/water retention until it was suddenly 2 months later.......
Ovarian cancer. Uterine fibroids. Ovarian cysts. Sudden unexplained weight gain can be a symptom of all sorts of things that doctors blow off until it kills you.I figure that if I ate super clean for a month and nothing changed, there has to be something else going on, right?
Dunno why you think that, because "clean eating," no matter what you mean by that, is utterly unrelated to weight gain.there is an element of frustration when I sit down and take a lot of time to outline something thoroughly, multiple times even, only to have people ignore it.
The onus is on the speaker to ensure they're understood. On the internet, no one knows you're a dog. What you're describing is sort of like saying, "my car suddenly won't run unless the gas tank is empty;" I'm not surprised you're getting requests for clarification.
I think we still have insufficient data; the data I'd be most interested in is caloric intake for the last 12 months, with the most granularity you feel comfortable with (so a list of dates and total calories consumed would be most useful, and the total calories consumed for each quarter would be least helpful). You can go to your diary on the website and click the printable report button at the bottom, then change the dates covered, to avoid clicking the back button 365 times.
Honestly, though, my first guess is a serious medical condition. And none of us are going to be able to diagnose that.9 -
I don't know if I have anything significant to add, and this may have already been said, but there is ZERO chance it is fat gain. It is impossible. Is there any chance that your low weight of 138 was a fluke? My weight has fluctuated 5-8 pounds in a day and I've thought I hit a great new low and it was a fluke. So maybe somewhere in the middle? Maybe you are only up a couple of pounds really?7
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I understand how frustrating this can be! My weight loss has been really slow, primarily because any time I eat out, no matter what it is or if it fits into my calories for the day, my weight would spike 5-7 pounds overnight and take at least a couple weeks to come back off. I know it's water weight because obviously if I ate within my calories, it can't be actual fat gain. I started taking potassium and magnesium supplements, as well as Calcium with vitamin D. These are supposed to help counteract the sodium/water retention. Since I started taking them, the biggest spike I've had is about 2 pounds. So it definitely seems to be helping. My doctor also recommended a probiotic to help restructure my gut bacteria. I didn't notice much of a difference after taking it for a couple months, but it may help as well. I really hope you get it figure out!0
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As for clothing, they do fit tighter. It's actually quite consistent in them fitting tighter where I tend to put on legitimate fat (upper thighs and lower abdomen). OFC, I thought lower abdomen could also just be bloat/water retention until it was suddenly 2 months later.......
Ovarian cancer. Uterine fibroids. Ovarian cysts. Sudden unexplained weight gain can be a symptom of all sorts of things that doctors blow off until it kills you.I figure that if I ate super clean for a month and nothing changed, there has to be something else going on, right?
Dunno why you think that, because "clean eating," no matter what you mean by that, is utterly unrelated to weight gain.there is an element of frustration when I sit down and take a lot of time to outline something thoroughly, multiple times even, only to have people ignore it.
The onus is on the speaker to ensure they're understood. On the internet, no one knows you're a dog. What you're describing is sort of like saying, "my car suddenly won't run unless the gas tank is empty;" I'm not surprised you're getting requests for clarification.
I think we still have insufficient data; the data I'd be most interested in is caloric intake for the last 12 months, with the most granularity you feel comfortable with (so a list of dates and total calories consumed would be most useful, and the total calories consumed for each quarter would be least helpful). You can go to your diary on the website and click the printable report button at the bottom, then change the dates covered, to avoid clicking the back button 365 times.
Honestly, though, my first guess is a serious medical condition. And none of us are going to be able to diagnose that.
I think part of the reason people were asking follow-up questions is because we frequently have people ask for advice and they will state that they are weighing their food, logging each day, not skipping anything, etc and subsequent discussion reveals that they aren't weighing everything or they're skipping logging on Saturday or they don't log the oil they're using in cooking, stuff like that.
So even when someone makes certain statements, it can be helpful to clarify. Although OP knows what she meant, there have been threads in the past that were confusing for this reason.10 -
cerise_noir wrote: »cerise_noir wrote: »Do you use a food scale to weigh all solid foods (raw meats, raw grains/pastas, nuts, raw legumes, fruits, veg, butter, mayo, yogurt, anything prepackaged/single serve etc) in grams, and cups/spoons for liquid only?
Do you choose the correct database entries? Have you updated your diet profile since you've lost weight?
You edited your post to say you weigh your food after I posted my question. There's an exit time stamp. It wasn't there from the beginning.
I wanted to add: do you log cooking oils and beverages? Do you use USDA entries for fruits, veg and meat? Also, there are many false entries in the database. Scanning isn't necessarily accurate and green checkmark entries are not necessarily accurate.
Have you changed the batteries in your food scale and bathroom scale recently? I see others have been asking similar questions but no response.
I'm sorry, I assumed my responding about my weight being consistent across multiple scales (doc, my own, the trainer, etc) would convey the fact that it wasn't a battery issue. My fault. I suppose it's plausible that all of these scales have failing batteries at once, but... it's not likely. This is what I mean about not being able to win - I think something can be logically extrapolated, but it's apparently not clear, but if I outline it, I'm saying too much...
And yes, I log everything. By saying everything, I mean oils and sauces as well. The false entries are a good point, but something I noticed awhile back - I've been using MFP for a few years.
I'm not sure why you keep saying that I edited in the stuff about weighing my food, though - that truly was there from the beginning, even the reiterations. I predicted that people would miss it so I mentioned it multiple times, right alongside the stuff about my body comp and calorie stuff - I'm aware that people tend to jump to "eating too little" and "not recording correctly" as they ARE common issues, so I wanted to stave that off at the head. What I corrected were a few typos like "an" instead of "and", some wording that I felt was a bit too fluffy and made things unclear, and the BMR to TDEE error as well as typing '300' instead of '400'. If you missed it because I was too wordy, that's fine, but I'm not calling you a bad person because of it, so I'm unsure why you feel the need to do this. There is no value judgement of you going on here for missing a few lines in a post; you already said it was too dense and that's why you missed it... I'm just trying to redirect people to where I've already answered things.Short answer...nobody here knows what's going on. Even at an average of 1400 calories a day (alternating weeks of 1200 and 1600), you should still be losing something on order of 4-5 pounds per month.
One question - was that 137 a true longer term average weight or could you possibly be cherry picking an extreme data point/circumstance and making more of it then it really was?
Personally, I know that my average weight is hovering at 205 right now but I did see a couple of 197s on the scale last week. It was because I weighed myself while extremely dehydrated (hungover), very fasted (I drank my dinner), and immediately after I went to the bathroom first thing in the morning.
I can even make my scale tell me I weigh less than that if I stand on it the wrong way or manage to position one of the scale's feet right on the grout line.
This is also a good point. I was at 138 for about half a week, but even before then, I'd been at 140 consistently. So the jump to 150 is still crazy and sudden.
The 138 point made sense though, as it happened after some time at 1200 after hitting 140, so I do tend to assume it was my actual weight.3 -
This makes no sense, and brings to mind these questions and thoughts: (I did not memorize your post so it's possible you already answered some of these.)
Why were you trying to lose weight when that's already a healthy weight for 5'7"?
You say you were already losing .5-1 lb per month,and that has continued, losing 2 lbs in 2-3 months. So nothing has changed about your weight loss.
How you your clothes fit now compared to before you "gained" 10 lb? I would think there would be some noticeable difference.
Has your bf% changed? You said you know your bf% but did not share it. You could get it tested again to see if it reflects a 10 lb fat gain.
Since we know it's impossible to actually gain 10 lbs of fat in one or two meals, or even 2 days, logic says there is or was a problem with your scales. It doesn't make sense that your weight is consistent across mltiple scales in multiple locations. That doesn't happen for anyone. Don't fixate on the 148 or 138 number. It's a losing battle.
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Steady on I'm just trying to think of reasons with the little info I have noones a perfect logger I certainly had imperfect logs and got frustrated until I properly scrutinised my diary. Good luck if you're going to bite everyones head off.
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I'm trying to be concise and clear, so not using any sugarcoat-y or softened language. I know we like to sometimes call blunt people rude, but there is an element of frustration when I sit down and take a lot of time to outline something thoroughly, multiple times even, only to have people ignore it. [/quote]
It's alright you don't have to sugar coat your language it's just polite manners to respond as courteously as you've been offered advice, there was nothing accusatory in my posts and I was empathetic to your situation and your privacy, so since we're not sugar coating our responses and just going for concise and clear (also judging by your defensiveness when asked about checking your own diary) I really do suspect your loggings way off (barring any medical issue) and I really would go through it again honestly and critically, hope that's not too blunt.
And it doesn't cost anything to be polite and decent when you ask people for advice. If you don't take anything else on board today I hope you take that little nugget with you.20 -
My primary issue is I tend to carry weight on my stomach, so I want to cut that down for health and aesthetic reasons. I think if I carried weight a bit more evenly, I wouldn't be so concerned, but... my stomach has other ideas!
Have you ever considered resistance training instead of dieting? If you build up your abs/core a bit, it'll make your waist a bit slimmer even without fat loss.
I do some - I've been thinking of trying to up it this month, though, and started this past week doing a bit more strength training to see if maybe building some muscle would help my situation. I've been mixing in pilates with my cardio since I was experiencing muscle fatigue far before feeling TOO out of breath, so I thought if I got stronger, I could improve my endurance... it's one of the reasons I thought it was important to get the body scans and measurements, too, so I wasn't freaking out over muscle gain. But the lower abdomen fat is super stubborn! I notice better tone on my arms and legs (except upper thigh, RIP) so that is motivating. I will keep at it, though, especially with your encouragement!I understand how frustrating this can be! My weight loss has been really slow, primarily because any time I eat out, no matter what it is or if it fits into my calories for the day, my weight would spike 5-7 pounds overnight and take at least a couple weeks to come back off. I know it's water weight because obviously if I ate within my calories, it can't be actual fat gain. I started taking potassium and magnesium supplements, as well as Calcium with vitamin D. These are supposed to help counteract the sodium/water retention. Since I started taking them, the biggest spike I've had is about 2 pounds. So it definitely seems to be helping. My doctor also recommended a probiotic to help restructure my gut bacteria. I didn't notice much of a difference after taking it for a couple months, but it may help as well. I really hope you get it figure out!
I'd be interested in knowing what probiotic you're taking! I do take magnesium and potassium, as magnesium helps significantly with migraine prevention for me and I tend to get awful charley horses when I forget the potassium. I've tried a couple different probiotics, but honestly never seemed to notice much of a difference... just OTC buys, though.
I don't supplement calcium, though I do take a sweet potato based phytoceramide for my skin that includes D. I will also look into that, thank you!
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I appreciate everyone's feedback and efforts thus far, it's given me a few things to take to my doctor next week and request she tests for. As I mentioned, this is a new doctor (I had to swap health insurance providers earlier in the year due to my prior one being a clerical clusterf--- and screwing up my billing constantly) so I hope that she will be more attentive after seeing my MFP logs and (lack of) results since I'm sure she does get some people lying about how they've done X Y and Z but aren't losing weight before. So I'm not trying to throw her under the bus or anything as I'm completely aware how ridiculous this sounds, but I will feel better having some specific things to ask her about thanks to your suggestions.
I do have to leave now though for the day, and I don't want you guys thinking I'm just abandoning the topic or intentionally singling anyone out to ignore - I just have to go to work
Thank you all!7 -
TresaAswegan wrote: »If maintenance is 1600 ("1200 is a 400 cal deficit" per the OP) and that's alternated (I initially read that to be every other week?) every week (averaging 1400) that's only a deficit of 200 cal per day, or 5600 cals per month, which in theory would be 1.6 lbs per month loss.
Weight loss is slow when you have a small deficit obviously. Not to mention it's very easy to wipe out that small of a deficit with any logging errors.
That's my bad. I was thinking of maintenance as 1800+ from another post.0 -
i think that i read your post pretty carefully, but if i missed something, or something that was clarified subsequently, i'm sorry.
first, as a fellow 'slow loser' i totally sympathize and get where your frustration is coming from. i averaged about .25 pounds per week loss over the last 500 days then changed birth control and shot up 5 lbs instantly. it's difficult and it sucks to have to lose those pounds 'again,' and even though it's water weight, it's stubborn as all get out.
a couple of things stand out for me:
the first is that you're already at a healthy weight for your height, so loss will be slow, and the last 10 pounds are infamous for being the hardest to lose.
it definitely can be hormones or related to your reproductive health, so i would suggest going for your annual a bit early if you can to rule out medical issues related to that.
have you looked back at your diary to see if there was maybe an accidental pattern in the weeks before your low weight? is it possible that you were low carb, low salt in a way that could have led to a temporary loss of water weight? at this point it seems that the low may have been the anomaly rather than the high.
also, as @lorrpb points out above, if you've lost 2 pounds over the 2 months since, that's consistent with your rate of loss before. this is related to the 138 weigh in being a false low rather than the 148 being a false high.
regarding the database and potential logging errors - i believe you when you say you weigh and log everything, and i've found that cross referencing the USDA website with foods you log can help to select accurate entries. once you've logged them they'll be in your recents for a while and easier to find. also, i often search mfp for "USDA red onion raw" or something similar then make sure that the entries have listing for 100 grams as a short cut as those seem to be derived from the source pretty predictably.
finally, i know you feel you can't win so i want to say that i'm not intending this as a criticism, you gave a ton of detail in your post, and this may be just a side effect of your striving for clarity, but do you think maybe you're a bit too fixated on this? you're at a healthy weight, and your stress about losing these 10 pounds seems very high. cortisol has been correlated to water retention. (somebody woo me if i'm wrong on this one - i haven't researched or verified it.) is it possible that the stress itself is contributing to your difficulty in losing the weight? i've also read that cortisol is associated with long term / steep deficit diets. (again - someone woo me).
anyway, i hope that you figure it out, and be kind to yourself. these 10 pounds are not going to prevent you from having a happy full life. but being so scared to gain weight that you miss out on dates and fun and friends can really spiral into isolation and further restrictions.16 -
Has the heat increased where you are? I retain LOTS of water in the heat and carry that all through the summer months. Just a thought. For me it's hereditary. The water weight will drop off when the temperature comes back done towards fall.
I drink tons of water, but I don't think I've increased the amount. I've always been a heavy water drinker though, and this summer has been a bit milder than usual (thank god lol). It's a thought, though. Thank you!
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I drink a ton of water also and am extremely active. I only started to notice the water retention in the last year or so. It runs down the women's side of my family and they all seem to struggle with it. I'm 42 and starting to see some pre-menopausal issues/side effects so not sure if that has contributed. Just wanted to expand more on this.
I
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12 pounds up would put me up TWO sizes. I can't even imagine that happening in a couple of days. Def see a dr.0
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So, 2 days after your date you were 12 pounds heavier than before your date. Hmmmm - a puzzle, but a couple of thoughts.Has the heat increased where you are? I retain LOTS of water in the heat and carry that all through the summer months. Just a thought. For me it's hereditary. The water weight will drop off when the temperature comes back done towards fall.
I agree with this. I retained LOTS of water during the last couple of hot months I was in Florida. I returned to NY in July and much of the fluid retention decreased (not the fat gain though - lol).
I also agree with another poster and wonder if it's a change in scales or your scale position? Maybe you need a new battery? I think the scale itself is the culprit.
Are your clothes fitting any differently?1
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