Why am I gaining weight from more nutritious food?
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lavapixie
Posts: 26 Member
Hey there! This is a bit silly but here goes. I'm 21, female and I'm about 170 cm in height (5'7?). I'm currently 80 kg (176 lbs) I've been using MFP since May of last year and so far I've lost 15 kg (about 33 lbs I think). I started eating better and I went swimming about 3 times a week and took walks. I've stopped the swimming for a while now because it's gotten very very cold where I live, and when I was walking home, my hair always froze and I got a nasty cold.
Anyway, last week I wasn't eating so well. I was too lazy to cook my own meals, so I just ate some protein bars, a few corny bars, some dark chocolate and whatever was for dinner. I was losing at least 200 gr (half a pound) per day and I was really happy about it, but I knew that I couldn't just keep eating like that because it wasn't nutritious enough. So I made a change this week.
Now I'm eating more "real" food, some nice all bran in the mornings, a bit of Greek yogurt with granola, honey and nuts, some protein bars still and what may be for dinner again. I always try to stay within my calorie goal, but sometimes I do go like 50 calories over. I'm pretty much eating again like I did before Christmas rolled around, just normal food and some nice protein.
I am doing some more intense exercises lately, been watching some videos on how to tone my abs and my legs. I don't get that sore afterwards but I do sweat a lot after these which I consider a good thing.
But for the last two days I've been gaining weight. 200 grams per day, 400 grams in total, which is 1 lb. I'm getting very frustrated, and it feels like it's ruining my progress. Am I making a big fuss out of this? I weigh myself everyday, I just have to because I'm scared that I will forget to later and I'll gain weight. It just works for me. I must admit I am a bit obsessed with it though because I weigh myself in the evenings too and well, pretty much everytime I go to the bathroom I weigh myself because I just have to know.
Does anyone else have this problem? It's really depressing. Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I also feel like I should tell you that I take the antidepressant Fluoxetine everyday, approx. 20 mg a day since 2015 if I remember correctly. I have been forgetting to take it a lot the past week so maybe that is connected but I doubt it.
Anyway, last week I wasn't eating so well. I was too lazy to cook my own meals, so I just ate some protein bars, a few corny bars, some dark chocolate and whatever was for dinner. I was losing at least 200 gr (half a pound) per day and I was really happy about it, but I knew that I couldn't just keep eating like that because it wasn't nutritious enough. So I made a change this week.
Now I'm eating more "real" food, some nice all bran in the mornings, a bit of Greek yogurt with granola, honey and nuts, some protein bars still and what may be for dinner again. I always try to stay within my calorie goal, but sometimes I do go like 50 calories over. I'm pretty much eating again like I did before Christmas rolled around, just normal food and some nice protein.
I am doing some more intense exercises lately, been watching some videos on how to tone my abs and my legs. I don't get that sore afterwards but I do sweat a lot after these which I consider a good thing.
But for the last two days I've been gaining weight. 200 grams per day, 400 grams in total, which is 1 lb. I'm getting very frustrated, and it feels like it's ruining my progress. Am I making a big fuss out of this? I weigh myself everyday, I just have to because I'm scared that I will forget to later and I'll gain weight. It just works for me. I must admit I am a bit obsessed with it though because I weigh myself in the evenings too and well, pretty much everytime I go to the bathroom I weigh myself because I just have to know.
Does anyone else have this problem? It's really depressing. Thanks in advance!
EDIT: I also feel like I should tell you that I take the antidepressant Fluoxetine everyday, approx. 20 mg a day since 2015 if I remember correctly. I have been forgetting to take it a lot the past week so maybe that is connected but I doubt it.
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Replies
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Normal weight fluctuations can be up to 5lb per day, particularly for women, you've made changes to both your diet and exercise this week which will impact water retention.
Your relationship with the scale isn't healthy, you don't need to be weighing everytime you go to the bathroom, all that is going to tell you is how much you've urinated or excreted - not about any fat loss, so it's not helpful.
If you really must weigh daily be consistent, weigh first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom and before eating and use a trendweight app such as Libra or Happyscale which will help you see if your weight is trending in the right direction which is what matters, the day-to-day weight doesn't.
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Yeah I know it's not healthy. I do weigh myself first thing in the morning before I do anything else and so far it has worked well. I know about the water retention and I've been wondering if that is the issue, but I drink 2 liters and sometimes more of water everyday. I am thirsty though late at night despite drinking 2 liters so I've been wondering if my body just needs more water in general than I previously thought.
Thanks, I will consider the apps you mentioned. Thank you for the reply and I will fix my relationship with the scale
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I only weigh myself once a day in the morning after using the bathroom. I’ve had up to 3lbs in weight fluctuations in one day if I weigh after a meal or drinking water etc but then it’s back down by the next morning. It took me 9 days to see some weight loss recently while I was on my period too so that can have an effect as well. I doubt you were actually losing .5 lb a day. It was probably just water weight from having lower calories and less filling foods.5
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That's because losing 200 grams a day is not typical, it's too fast so likely involved lots of water weight. Your water weight levels may be stabilizing up which explains the gain. Where you are in your menstrual cycle can also affect things. As long as you are within calories and logging accurately I wouldn't worry and would just trust the process. At your stats and depending on your calories, a good average loss would be about half a kilo (about 550 daily calorie deficit) per week.5
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tinkerbellang83 wrote: »Normal weight fluctuations can be up to 5lb per day, particularly for women, you've made changes to both your diet and exercise this week which will impact water retention.
Your relationship with the scale isn't healthy, you don't need to be weighing everytime you go to the bathroom, all that is going to tell you is how much you've urinated or excreted - not about any fat loss, so it's not helpful.
If you really must weigh daily be consistent, weigh first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom and before eating and use a trendweight app such as Libra or Happyscale which will help you see if your weight is trending in the right direction which is what matters, the day-to-day weight doesn't.
You contradict yourself and I also disagree. The exact reason you would weigh yourself multiple times a day after you do things that would change your weight is to understand exactly what your Normal weight fluctuation is. It can differ from person to person and depending on your current weight as it will change as you lose.
OP, There is nothing wrong with it at all. Just do NOT put any emotional attachment to the numbers. Use them to understand what is happening logically. If you just drank a liter of water and then weigh yourself and now you are up 2lbs. you dont need to panic and freak out because you KNOW its just the water. Water is not fat.
Make sure you are staying accurate with your calorie logging, tighten it up if you think your weight vs loss doesnt make sense , doing this so that you are accurate in your deficit. If you are accurate and you gain weight, you KNOW its not fat. Its not possible for it to be fat. You just need to give your body time to flush out what it needs to and since it is not linear it could be several days or weeks for it to show.
Also if you are female, look up and understand how your TOM affects your weight so that you do not freak out about it.
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Yeah that makes sense. I had that doubt as well, but I was so happy from losing that weight so I didn't think much of it. I'm just scared that I won't be able to lose much weight for the next months because of this. I know it's normal for weight loss to slow down when you're smaller but it's disheartening to me. I recently upped my calorie intake to 1325 but after this I lowered it to 1250 calories because I was feeling frustrated. Is that maybe too little for me?0
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Yeah I had my TOM a week ago so I don't think it's related but I always keep my eye on that and I know that my weight fluctuates the week before and I always get super hungry.
I know it isn't fat, but I'm just always worried about the number on the scale. It's dumb, I know and I need to get tougher, I just never want to be at my heaviest point again so I always keep an eye on it.
I know that I can't gain that much fat in just a matter of days, I just get depressed though when I see I have gained weight in the mornings. I don't mind it if the scale number is a bit higher in the evenings, I know that it's water and food so I don't freak out about it. I do however feel bad if it's more than a kg difference between night and day though if that makes any sense.2 -
It could also be that the prepacked food had more exact calorie counts, and the way you are measuring the more whole foods you are eating now is less accurate.4
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Yeah could be. I do weigh my food on a scale though, so I don't know if that is the issue, but it does make sense. Some of the foods I eat aren't in the MFP registry because they are of Icelandic origin but I usually read the nutritional information and I try to calculate circa how much I eat and how many calories it has ect.
I have entered some of the foods that I can't find in MFP registry manually or I have just found foods that are registered here that have similar nutritional value so it's probably not always 100% accurate but I somehow doubt it's the problem.1 -
You seem to associate temporary water weight loss as a “good thing”. It’s nothing.
Maybe set a non weight related goal, like buying a nice outfit in the next size down and checking once a month if you can fit it.3 -
Two days is not a big span of time, really, and with a new exercise routine you could be holding on to some extra water. I would give it a month and see if the trend overall goes down. You probably don't have far to go to a goal weight, so loss is probably not going to be more than a pound a week. As you get closer to your goal it's going to be more important to be as precise as possible with logging.0
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Yeah I actually have my eye on some clothes that I can buy in the next size down. I originally awarded myself for weight lost by buying some clothes I want but I'm starting to think that's not the best idea, at least not right now since I'm obsessed with the scale. I am super happy though because all my pants started to fall off my hips, and I'm gonna start buying some new pants anyway and buying a few pairs in a smaller size seems like a good idea for now.
And I still have a lot of weight to lose, about 20 kg (44 pounds) but I'm gonna try not to panic about weight fluctuation and I'm thinking I should measure my waist and my body in general more maybe. Just hope that doesn't turn into obsession as well haha. Thank you all for the replies. It put my mind at ease.1 -
Poisonedpawn78 wrote: »tinkerbellang83 wrote: »Normal weight fluctuations can be up to 5lb per day, particularly for women, you've made changes to both your diet and exercise this week which will impact water retention.
Your relationship with the scale isn't healthy, you don't need to be weighing everytime you go to the bathroom, all that is going to tell you is how much you've urinated or excreted - not about any fat loss, so it's not helpful.
If you really must weigh daily be consistent, weigh first thing in the morning, after using the bathroom and before eating and use a trendweight app such as Libra or Happyscale which will help you see if your weight is trending in the right direction which is what matters, the day-to-day weight doesn't.
You contradict yourself and I also disagree. The exact reason you would weigh yourself multiple times a day after you do things that would change your weight is to understand exactly what your Normal weight fluctuation is. It can differ from person to person and depending on your current weight as it will change as you lose.
OP, There is nothing wrong with it at all. Just do NOT put any emotional attachment to the numbers. Use them to understand what is happening logically. If you just drank a liter of water and then weigh yourself and now you are up 2lbs. you dont need to panic and freak out because you KNOW its just the water. Water is not fat.
Make sure you are staying accurate with your calorie logging, tighten it up if you think your weight vs loss doesnt make sense , doing this so that you are accurate in your deficit. If you are accurate and you gain weight, you KNOW its not fat. Its not possible for it to be fat. You just need to give your body time to flush out what it needs to and since it is not linear it could be several days or weeks for it to show.
Also if you are female, look up and understand how your TOM affects your weight so that you do not freak out about it.
What exactly is contradictory?
The OP's relationship isn't healthy with the scale, in her own words weighing multiple times per day is "obsessed", "scared" and "frustrated" by doing so, these don't imply what might have been a healthy curiosity.
I stated weighing every time you go to the bathroom doesn't really help, because lets be honest that doesn't help you understand your fluctuations from hormones, sodium, macro changes or exercise, it basically just tells you have heavy your *kitten* was.
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Looking at the situation objectively, I would do two things for myself in this situation:
1) take my medication very regularly. Set an alarm on my phone to remind myself. Certain types of medication can mess with one's system if doses are skipped or late.
2) Weigh once a week, say, say every Sunday morning before eating.
I know I have some tendencies toward obsession/compulsion and I find the trick is to catch myself early.
Good luck with everything and congrats on your weightloss thus far.0 -
Two major things: 1. Weight will fluctuate 1-2 lbs and it will not be fat loss or gain. It will be poop, water retention from working out, bran that is taking longer to digest one day, sodium causing water retention, not peeing as much the previous day, etc. I recommend getting a weight-trend app like Libra (Free) or Happy Scale (Free). There's nothing wrong with weighing every day. The issue is when you confuse a data point for a trend. Those apps create trends, minimizing the noise of water weight fluctuations and helping you see real gains and losses.
2. Are you using a food scale? Because your "healthy" foods are all things that are not going to be accurate by measuring cups. some nice all bran in the mornings, a bit of Greek yogurt with granola, honey and nuts. If you are just eyeballing servings or using measuring cups, you're possibly under or overeating serving sizes of those items.7 -
You've added more fiber to your diet and increased your exercise. So you've probably bulked up the stools in your body and you have some water weight while your muscles are recovering from the new program (even if you don't feel sore).
Keep at it and be patient - it all comes down to calories for weight loss. Accurate tracking with a food scale is key to knowing how much you're actually eating.1 -
Yeah I'm using a food scale. I eat about maybe 100 gr of Greek Yogurt, add 1/2 tbsp of honey (I know it's a lot but I really love that combination) and I usually add about 10 gr of granola and 10 gr of pistachios. I usually eat around 30 gr of all bran in the morning with a splash of skimmed milk. Those keep me full for a while, plus I drink plenty of water so I'm not hungry throughout the day, though sometimes I tend to get a little hungry at night for no reason.
I actually go over my fiber most days according to MFP so I don't know if that plays a factor in it. My stools (I know, TMI) have been less frequent though and harder to pass since I changed my foods for the past week so I think you're right that I have bulked some in my body. I think my body just needs to adjust to it like you said. Am I making sense?1 -
More nutritious food =/= fat loss. Calorie balance is still what matters. In the short term, you are having water weight fluctuations and you have indicated some reasons this could be happening. Less obsessiveness and more patience would serve you well.3
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