Eating within calorie deficit, then why am I gaining?
JasmineDiver22
Posts: 148 Member
It's only been 17 days. Early I know. But my first 2 weeks I lost 2.5 pounds. I thought if you ate within your calories, you'd lose. I've been sick for almost a week now and haven't been able to go walking. (Yes that simple for others but I'm heavier and that's all I can do for now) when I first started, I was eating fruits, lots of veggies, and protein, and would treat myself to something if I had the extra cals but in moderation. (Like a Starbucks cake pop that's only 170 cals, or halo top ice cream) and on days where I had a lot of calories left from exercise and walking everywhere during the day/night, I ended up having well over 700 cals left. That's AFTER I had a huge meal. (Was only once though) Sometimes I'd have anywhere between 500-200 cals left. Just too full to eat the rest. The only thing I been eating is chicken noodle soup since being sick. Not sure if it's that, that made me gain because all of the sodium for the entire can because sodium cause water weight?? Idk. I'm honestly just really upset right now.
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Replies
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@MegaMooseEsq is right. That was unkind. I apologize. See the post below for more details.
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@aeloine what's the supposed to mean? Please explain? Since I'm new to all this, I'm sorry if it's dumb to you. Maybe I don't know what you know. So please, elaborate!2
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1. Open your diary (it might give us an idea where you might be making missteps in counting)?
2. How are you counting calories (are you using incorrect entries in the data base, only following package labels, using USDA databases)?
3. Are you using a food scale (if so, grams are a bit more accurate than ounces. If not, invest in one)?
4. How are you tracking calories burned (do you have a Fitbit, a Heart rate monitor, using your phone for steps, etc.)?
5. Are you eating all your exercise calories back (need to know #4 but also we usually suggest eating back half or less, as a rule of thumb. If the scale isn't moving, don't eat back any, because your exercise tracking method could be incorrect)?
6. There are a lot of discussions addressing this which could really be helpful. Without knowing your stats (height, weight, age, gender, how many calories you're actually eating, 1-5) we can't help you because this website is math based. We can help calculate TDEE and BMR, but won't know if you're hitting those numbers until we know #1-5.
ETA: in parentheses3 -
Weight loss won't be linear. Some weeks you lose, some weeks you don't. All kinds of things mess with the scale - sodium you mentioned, and also sore muscles (hold water) time of month. The scale lies. Just keep eating at a deficit (not too much) or you can experience a higher rate of lean muscle loss.8
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Read through this chart, and make any necessary adjustments.
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I have a food scale. I measure everything, meats, fruits, veggies, oils, sauces, etc. If it has a label on it, I scan it. I have a Fitbit that tracks... adds calories to MyFitnessPal. No im not eating all my calories back from exercise. I'm to full to eat the rest as I explained in my post. Anything I'm missing?3
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JasmineDiver22 wrote: »It's only been 17 days. Early I know. But my first 2 weeks I lost 2.5 pounds. I thought if you ate within your calories, you'd lose. I've been sick for almost a week now and haven't been able to go walking. (Yes that simple for others but I'm heavier and that's all I can do for now) when I first started, I was eating fruits, lots of veggies, and protein, and would treat myself to something if I had the extra cals but in moderation. (Like a Starbucks cake pop that's only 170 cals, or halo top ice cream) and on days where I had a lot of calories left from exercise and walking everywhere during the day/night, I ended up having well over 700 cals left. That's AFTER I had a huge meal. (Was only once though) Sometimes I'd have anywhere between 500-200 cals left. Just too full to eat the rest. The only thing I been eating is chicken noodle soup since being sick. Not sure if it's that, that made me gain because all of the sodium for the entire can because sodium cause water weight?? Idk. I'm honestly just really upset right now.
I'm sure it's just water retention from all the sodium in the soup and from your body trying to heal itself. Just keep tracking and I'm sure everything will even out in a few days. I weigh every day and it's normal to fluctuate by several pounds from one day to the next for hundreds of reasons. What's important is that you go down over time. Hang in there!9 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »I have a food scale. I measure everything, meats, fruits, veggies, oils, sauces, etc. If it has a label on it, I scan it. I have a Fitbit that tracks... adds calories to MyFitnessPal. No im not eating all my calories back from exercise. I'm to full to eat the rest as I explained in my post. Anything I'm missing?
Your stats would be helpful. It sounds like you're eating to maintenance. How did you come up with your calorie targets?0 -
Well this post should be deleted. Since people want to talk down and be a smart a s a to someone who might not know what they know. I just wanted a simple answer to my question to help me understand. Whoever posted the graph. Thanks. I needed to read that. Makes sense. And too @JenHuedy thank you for that info! Makes sense. I should know better to even be worried. Last time I lost weight, I lost 30 pounds and it took 3.5 months, and I didn't have any issues like I am now. It all came right off and was so easy... so that's why I'm like wtf is going on lol5
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What are your stats? (height, weight, age)
What is your daily calorie goal as set by MFP? Also, what activity setting did you choose? What rate of loss (0.5 lb/wk, 1/wk, etc)?1 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »I have a food scale. I measure everything, meats, fruits, veggies, oils, sauces, etc. If it has a label on it, I scan it. I have a Fitbit that tracks... adds calories to MyFitnessPal. No im not eating all my calories back from exercise. I'm too full to eat the rest as I explained in my post. Anything I'm missing?
No one stops losing weight because they aren't eating enough....period. Under eating can explain losing more muscle than fat, but to the scale it's still weight loss.
How many pounds a week are you expecting? 2.5 pounds in 17 days is excellent progress.
Water weight / waste cycle......that's my guess.8 -
You are focused on the wrong thing. Keep going. Focus on the food amounts (the process) and the results will still come later. Always the deficit will work, you are just being impatient and want it now, but if you keep going you will see.
Directly from my text book right this minute in college... this is why you must keep your focus on consistency and the food scale not the body weight scale:From a practical perspective, the values for carbohydrates and proteins and fats are too cumbersome, so they are rounded to the nearest whole number. That is why the energy content of carbohydrates and proteins is estimated to be 4 kcal/g and the energy content of fats is estimated at 9 kcal/g is used.
However, all the values obtained are estimates, and the error introduced by using the rounded off numbers is considered small and acceptable. At best, the amount of energy in food can only be estimated; the true energy value – when the potential energy from food is converted to useful forms of energy in the body – cannot directly be measured.
This difficulty in determining the “exact” caloric content of any food illustrates the imprecision and potential problems with strict “calorie counting” as a weight loss strategy. The caloric content of an individual food, a combination of foods in a meal, or the total amount of food consumed in a day can only be estimated. Tracking energy over weeks and months is especially difficult. Relatively small differences in body composition (for example, body fat loss or gain) but over relatively long periods of time.
The person who diligently counts calories may calculated the amount of body fat that should be lost in a given time period, but this may be counterproductive. If caloric intake is underestimated and body fat is not lost according to “schedule”, then the individual may conclude that the weight loss diet is not effective. In fact, counting calories gives the dieter a false sense of precision and an erroneous time frame for the loss of body fat. Although estimates of the amount of energy consumed daily can be useful, the precise caloric content of foods consumed cannot be determined.2 -
If you're measuring everything accurately, then chances are you just need to give it time. When you're losing at a gradual rate as you are (which is good!) it is easy for small fluctuations in water weight to completely block any fat losses you've made. Being sick, upping sodium with the soup, time of the month, any and all of these could be contributing. Give it time and don't get discouraged.
@aeloine: Come on, that first post was unkind. If you're getting frustrated with the repeat questions, either don't click through or take a forum break. That's why I try not to respond to anything with the number "1200" in it.15 -
I'm 23 years old, I'm 286 pounds, I'm 5'2. I set goal on MyFitnessPal that I want to lose 2 pounds per week, and I'm sedentary. Although my goal is to walk 30 mins 5 days a week. It set my cals @ 1510 a day.5
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »If you're measuring everything accurately, then chances are you just need to give it time. When you're losing at a gradual rate as you are (which is good!) it is easy for small fluctuations in water weight to completely block any fat losses you've made. Being sick, upping sodium with the soup, time of the month, any and all of these could be contributing. Give it time and don't get discouraged.
@aeloine: Come on, that first post was unkind. If you're getting frustrated with the repeat questions, either don't click through or take a forum break. That's why I try not to respond to anything with the number "1200" in it.
Thank you. Was just about to address that first "comment." Completely unnecessary.8 -
Fluctuations in your diet and physical changes (menstration, new workout routine, etc) can make your weight fluctuate more than 2.5 pounds due to just water weight. Focus on long term trends, fat loss, measurements, and reduce focus on 1-2 pound increments on the scale and you'll see more consistent progress. 17 days is just the beginning, keep your head up and stick with it. Sounds like you're doing a lot of great things.7
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@shaunshaikh thank you!0
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MegaMooseEsq wrote: »If you're measuring everything accurately, then chances are you just need to give it time. When you're losing at a gradual rate as you are (which is good!) it is easy for small fluctuations in water weight to completely block any fat losses you've made. Being sick, upping sodium with the soup, time of the month, any and all of these could be contributing. Give it time and don't get discouraged.
@aeloine: Come on, that first post was unkind. If you're getting frustrated with the repeat questions, either don't click through or take a forum break. That's why I try not to respond to anything with the number "1200" in it.
Thank you. Was just about to address that first "comment." Completely unnecessary.
You're right. I apologized and deleted. Midday hanger rearing its head.9 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »Well this post should be deleted. Since people want to talk down and be a smart a s a to someone who might not know what they know. I just wanted a simple answer to my question to help me understand. Whoever posted the graph. Thanks. I needed to read that. Makes sense. And too @JenHuedy thank you for that info! Makes sense. I should know better to even be worried. Last time I lost weight, I lost 30 pounds and it took 3.5 months, and I didn't have any issues like I am now. It all came right off and was so easy... so that's why I'm like wtf is going on lol
Hang in there & keep asking questions. Some answers may be hard to accept & may challenge some strongly-held diet beliefs, but the bulk of the MFP forum posters provide great, no-nonsense advice.4 -
Sedentary is a good way to go IMO
How many calories do you eat a day to lose 2 lbs?0 -
You mention being sick and eating a lot of chicken soup. Make sure that you're drinking enough to flush out some of that sodium. It may seem like the broth replaces water but that's not always the case.3
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JasmineDiver22 wrote: »I have a food scale. I measure everything, meats, fruits, veggies, oils, sauces, etc. If it has a label on it, I scan it. I have a Fitbit that tracks... adds calories to MyFitnessPal. No im not eating all my calories back from exercise. I'm to full to eat the rest as I explained in my post. Anything I'm missing?
are you measuring (as you say) or weighing everything? - big difference!1 -
JasmineDiver22 wrote: »I'm 23 years old, I'm 286 pounds, I'm 5'2. I set goal on MyFitnessPal that I want to lose 2 pounds per week, and I'm sedentary. Although my goal is to walk 30 mins 5 days a week. It set my cals @ 1510 a day.
Okay - your maintenance (TDEE) is about 2500 calories. So 2 pounds a week is doable (right now). Yes, the scale "should say" 4 pounds but the scale will fluctuate constantly. Just hang in there. Like shaunshaikh said.....you are looking for trends. There's even an app called trend weight to manage the frustrating ups & downs.
http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/
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shaunshaikh wrote: »Fluctuations in your diet and physical changes (menstration, new workout routine, etc) can make your weight fluctuate more than 2.5 pounds due to just water weight. Focus on long term trends, fat loss, measurements, and reduce focus on 1-2 pound increments on the scale and you'll see more consistent progress. 17 days is just the beginning, keep your head up and stick with it. Sounds like you're doing a lot of great things.
Agree with all this and many of the other posts upthread, especially acknowledging that weight loss is not linear. The chart posted above is also very helpful in rooting out issues.2 -
@Muscleflex79 I meant I weigh everything. Not measure. Sorry0
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Measure yourself! The scale always makes me sad. It barely budges for me either. haha.7
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This is gonna sound stupid to some of you and you will probably roll your eyes, but what is TDEE??1
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