I do between 2 to 3 hours of cardio a day and I'm still gaining weight, please help.

charlied8817
charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
In a nut shell, I started working out in May of 2017. I was 255ish pounds, 28 years old and 6'2.

I've been on a calorie count diet since then as well. Since May I've gotten down to 182.4( that was mid day this Saturday 1-20) since then I've gained weight, a loy of weight. I weighed in a few moments ago at 191.3.

My one day a week off are Sundays, i didn't go crazy over eating. I ate approx. 3500 on my day off, pretty much learn protien, nuts, fruits and veggies.

I've progressively put more weight on since Saturday. Monday i was 18t, Tuesday i was betwewn 185-187 , i didn't weigh yesterday.

Ive been under my daily calorie goal every day( since I've started in May I've gone over 6 times , 3 where during thr holidays) I make a point to under estimate my calories burned while exercising and overstating when I'm eating just to be on the safe side when I'm logging. I eat about 3,600 calories ( 45-50 carb 25 fat rest protein- I rarely hit my fat )on average, I have an active lifestyle so according to my fitness pal my maintenance is 2600 and I burn between 24 and 2600 a day

This has really bumed me out. What is wrong with me?

What can I do to help get this number down? And why is it fluctuating so much and staying there?

If it was water, wouldn't it quickly jump up and down?

I know this gets brought up a lot but I have never read a case like mine where it's such a drastic increase. It is pretty common for me to pack on a couple pounds here in there but it's never done this at this amount for this long.
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Replies

  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Maybe open your diary, but I know a sushi meal can add 3-4 lbs on me. I use too much soy sauce.
  • TriPaulCantRun
    TriPaulCantRun Posts: 50 Member
    Are your calorie numbers definitely right? I'm a similar size to you and mine are much lower than that. Losing I'm at about 1,900 per day.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    TriPaulCantRun wrote: »
    Are your calorie numbers definitely right? I'm a similar size to you and mine are much lower than that. Losing I'm at about 1,900 per day.

    I weigh all my food and count down to the pretzel I eat. If I'm not sure or go out to eat I over estimate to be on the safe side.

    For exercise calories, i under estimate what the cardio machines say. I use a fitbit and Samsung health for runs and I average those numbers together.
  • speedingticket
    speedingticket Posts: 73 Member
    So before Saturday, everything was going fine? If that's the case, don't worry. You can't have gained 9lbs in fat since Saturday. Worry about it if the trend continues to go up over the next few weeks (or if you start to feel unwell, of course, in which case see a Dr). My weight fluctuates by about 5lbs day to day (which is a lot relative to my size as I'm 160 and a 5'6 female). And that's fluctuations based on weighing at the same time of day, on an empty stomach, etc. If I weighed in the evening or after a meal, it would be even more.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    jflongo wrote: »
    I work out 1 hr / day. I'm 6'1" about 205 lbs, and my settings put me at 1810 calories per day. I don't eat the additional calories for Net Calories. I stay at 1810, or a hair lower. I have my set a sedentary since I work at my desk most of the day, and set at 1 lb / week loss. I am set a 40% carbs / 35% prot / 25% fat. Are you watching your Macros as well?

    To me 3600 calories a day is way too much, don't trust that it says your are burning 2600 calories each day. You are eating double what I eat per day. I would try dropping down to 2200 calories per day and watch your macros.

    I under estimate my exercise calories and RARELY eat anywhere near my total for the day. I normally eat 35-50% back.

    I'm normally at 23-26k steps daily.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    speedingticket wrote: »
    So before Saturday, everything was going fine? If that's the case, don't worry. You can't have gained 9lbs in fat since Saturday. Worry about it if the trend continues to go up over the next few weeks (or if you start to feel unwell, of course, in which case see a Dr). My weight fluctuates by about 5lbs day to day (which is a lot relative to my size as I'm 160 and a 5'6 female). And that's fluctuations based on weighing at the same time of day, on an empty stomach, etc. If I weighed in the evening or after a meal, it would be even more.

    Before Sunday, it was normal for me to jump 2-4 lbs. Obviously depending on what I ate and what not. It's never been this mich weight for so long. A couple days I get.

    I always weight in the AM after the bathroom , naked. Same scale.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    At your size it could certainly be water weight, but my take is this...

    if you're not losing weight appropriately you are eating too many calories. i would question how much you are actually burning with exercise/maintenance because those numbers don't sound right to me.
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    charlied8817 wrote: »
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld wrote: »
    It's only been since Sunday. chill. It can just be a high salt meal.

    What do you mean on Tuesday you were 185-187? Are you weighing multiple times a day and expecting the same result?

    I weighed in the Am before my workout and in the PM after a run.

    Even tho it's been 5 days?

    Thanks for your reply.

    5 days is nothing, our bodies can hold on to water weight for months in the case of surgeries etc.

    You can't weigh twice a day and compare the numbers. Weigh the same time every day wearing nothing. The morning after using the bathroom is most accurate.
    If you do it later in the day you have added food weight and water weight from eating and drinking. After a run you will hold water for muscle repair but some days you will have lost due to sweating etc.

    Why are you running every single day?

    I weigh on the same scale, in the am, after the bathroom naked.

    To stay in shape and not gain is why I run 6 out of 7 days a week.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    laur357 wrote: »
    Have you recalculated your calorie amounts since you lost weight? You won't have the same results if you're eating the same number of calories MFP recommended when you were 70 pounds heavier.

    Yes- Everytime I loss i update it in Samsung health and MFP.

    I normally finish each day well in the green. On average of 1000 calories.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,925 Member
    Most likely water weight, and additional waste. You ate more, part of it is probably still in your intestines. Of course that also has a weight.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    SportyKirsty wrote: »
    HI :)

    3500 is about 1000 more calories than the average sized man requires to sustain their weight so by eating 3500 you are likely to gain in many instances. Note i say average sized - perhaps at your original starting point 3500 was a suitable consumption for weight loss but as you've worked out and lost weight that initial figure isnt going to be the same. A smaller man wont need the same calories to sustain their weight, so do you need to review youer needs?

    When you exercise, what exercise are you doing? cardio, strength and conditioning? these can vary greatly in the calorie burn, after burn, are you drinking fluids throughout your workouts? is your salt intake too high so are you retaining water? are you weighing yourself in the same clothes and at the same time of day.

    Also how are you recording your food and exercise are you under estimating food and over estimating exercise? ive noticed a lot of the exercise readings on this are incorrect as its specific perhaps to the person who created the entry and I don't know their stats.

    Also the more exercise you do the more muscle you can build, muscle is more dense than fat. don't just rate your success and failures on your weight do a measure of how you feel in your own clothes, get a measuring tape.

    Hope all this helps! xx

    3500 is on average with 2-3 hours of cardio.

    Treadmill elliptical up outside running. I'm in the Washington DC area so it's been really cold and I haven't been able to run outside as much. When I use a cardio machine I always enter my info and jack up the intensity and resistance.

    I track on my fitbit, the machine I'm using and my heart rate. Also for outaide runs I use Samsung health.

    Yes under estimate my workout and over estimate my food. For example, I had coffe with almond milk this morning, i loged a half cup of the milk even tho I know it's less than that but can't say for sure.

    Thanks for the detailed reply.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    speedingticket wrote: »
    How much of your cardio is running, and how many miles are you running a week? It's not massively relevant to your weight gain, I would just be concerned about injury risk (which is obviously very relevant to keeping weight off). I understand wanting to exercise more than is strictly necessary for weight loss- I am a runner/triathlete, and I train for my health (physical and psychological) not weight loss (if anything it can make it much harder)...but 2-3 hours is a lot. I am hoping/assuming that a lot of those hours are cross training and/or resistance training (although that wouldn't count as cardio so maybe not?).

    Conservatively I'm in the low 40's high 50's each week for miles.

    2-3 hours is all running. Once a week I do abs, chest and back via weight training. Maybe 25-30 minutes.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    trwww wrote: »
    You're at a healthy weight and have a BMI of 23. Losing weight beyond that is very challenging. You have to be very strict and there can be no slip ups. Your sedentary TDEE is 2,200 calories and you say you're eating 3,600.

    You also say you're doing cardio three hours a day, but don't say what that means. Are you spending 180 minutes a day with your heart rate > 160 beats per minute seven days a week? If not, you're not doing three hours of cardio. Also, you say you're boring between 2,400 and 2,600 calories a day. Even with 180 minutes of true cardio, theres no way you're burning that much. More like 2,000 calories.

    So it sounds to me like you're overeating slightly and overestimating exercise calories slightly, which when you were heavier still resulted in weight loss, but now that you are within a suggested weight range, it results in maintenance instead of weight loss.

    To clarify, the two to three hours of cardio a day is a mixture of cardio machines like the elliptical as well as outside running. According to Fitbit and manually taking my pulse my rates it's between 145 and 165. Fitbit says I'm approximately 50% in fat burn and Cardio.

    On days when my work out there towards the top, the three hour a day or longer, if I eat under 3000 calories I feel like a zombie.

    Thanks for the input , I really appreciate your detailed response.
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    jflongo wrote: »
    charlied8817 wrote: »
    jflongo wrote: »
    I work out 1 hr / day. I'm 6'1" about 205 lbs, and my settings put me at 1810 calories per day. I don't eat the additional calories for Net Calories. I stay at 1810, or a hair lower. I have my set a sedentary since I work at my desk most of the day, and set at 1 lb / week loss. I am set a 40% carbs / 35% prot / 25% fat. Are you watching your Macros as well?

    To me 3600 calories a day is way too much, don't trust that it says your are burning 2600 calories each day. You are eating double what I eat per day. I would try dropping down to 2200 calories per day and watch your macros.

    I under estimate my exercise calories and RARELY eat anywhere near my total for the day. I normally eat 35-50% back.

    I'm normally at 23-26k steps daily.

    You put this in your post though?

    "I eat about 3,600 calories ( 45-50 carb 25 fat rest protein- I rarely hit my fat )on average"

    Also, if you are trying to lose weight just stick to your Calories, not the Net Calories.

    I rarely eat all my calories back from exercise according to my fitness pal is what I meant. I normally finish each day with about a thousand calories in the green. Also I it's very common for me to miss my fat macros by quite a bit.

    Sorry for any confusion and I appreciate your multiple responses.
  • jflongo
    jflongo Posts: 289 Member
    charlied8817 wrote: »
    trwww wrote: »
    You're at a healthy weight and have a BMI of 23. Losing weight beyond that is very challenging. You have to be very strict and there can be no slip ups. Your sedentary TDEE is 2,200 calories and you say you're eating 3,600.

    You also say you're doing cardio three hours a day, but don't say what that means. Are you spending 180 minutes a day with your heart rate > 160 beats per minute seven days a week? If not, you're not doing three hours of cardio. Also, you say you're boring between 2,400 and 2,600 calories a day. Even with 180 minutes of true cardio, theres no way you're burning that much. More like 2,000 calories.

    So it sounds to me like you're overeating slightly and overestimating exercise calories slightly, which when you were heavier still resulted in weight loss, but now that you are within a suggested weight range, it results in maintenance instead of weight loss.

    To clarify, the two to three hours of cardio a day is a mixture of cardio machines like the elliptical as well as outside running. According to Fitbit and manually taking my pulse my rates it's between 145 and 165. Fitbit says I'm approximately 50% in fat burn and Cardio.

    On days when my work out there towards the top, the three hour a day or longer, if I eat under 3000 calories I feel like a zombie.

    Thanks for the input , I really appreciate your detailed response.

    Just curious on your zombie comment. Are you making sure you are getting in enough fiber and protein?
  • charlied8817
    charlied8817 Posts: 22 Member
    jflongo wrote: »
    charlied8817 wrote: »
    trwww wrote: »
    You're at a healthy weight and have a BMI of 23. Losing weight beyond that is very challenging. You have to be very strict and there can be no slip ups. Your sedentary TDEE is 2,200 calories and you say you're eating 3,600.

    You also say you're doing cardio three hours a day, but don't say what that means. Are you spending 180 minutes a day with your heart rate > 160 beats per minute seven days a week? If not, you're not doing three hours of cardio. Also, you say you're boring between 2,400 and 2,600 calories a day. Even with 180 minutes of true cardio, theres no way you're burning that much. More like 2,000 calories.

    So it sounds to me like you're overeating slightly and overestimating exercise calories slightly, which when you were heavier still resulted in weight loss, but now that you are within a suggested weight range, it results in maintenance instead of weight loss.

    To clarify, the two to three hours of cardio a day is a mixture of cardio machines like the elliptical as well as outside running. According to Fitbit and manually taking my pulse my rates it's between 145 and 165. Fitbit says I'm approximately 50% in fat burn and Cardio.

    On days when my work out there towards the top, the three hour a day or longer, if I eat under 3000 calories I feel like a zombie.

    Thanks for the input , I really appreciate your detailed response.

    Just curious on your zombie comment. Are you making sure you are getting in enough fiber and protein?

    I ate a lot of veggies so I finish with about 50 grams of fiber a each day.

    35 to 40% of my daily end up being protein.

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