Stopped drinking every night and started eating very healthy and GAINING weight :(

kaitlynb92 · February 2018

Hello!!

I used to work out a lot but went to a really intense school back in April 2017 and went from 112lbs to 143lbs as of this month (February 2018). I used to drink like 6 8oz glasses of wine a night, then would order food (on top of dinner) and just eat generally unhealthy food and stopped working out.
January, I completely stopped drinking alcohol during the week, started eating really healthy meals, working out about 1-2 times a week (although trying to do more), as well as doing some stretch and yoga videos. I also get acupunture, drink 80oz of water every day and am generally just following a very healthy life style as of January 1.
Not only have I not lost a single pound, I've GAINED weight! As of this week, I'm somehow up 3 lbs to 147lbs. I'm getting really depressed and frustrated. I can't find anything on Google that is similar enough to my own story to really understand why nothing is happening. I figured some of this would shed off eventually from water weight and such but every other post I read always seem to be losing at least 2 lbs way faster than me.

Can someone shed some light on what I might be doing wrong? I was expecting to shed 1 pound a week but to not lose a single pound in almost 2 months is getting really discouraging

A little about me:

- Female
- 5'7"
- I try to do 30-40 minute YouTube workouts/Jillian Michaels type of workouts, followed by 15-30 minute stretch videos 2-3 times a week
- I am a developer so I sit all day
- Currently 147lbs
- I do drink wine on the weekends

Typical day of meals consist of:

Breakfast: 2 glasses warm water, each with 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, third glass warm water just plain, Black or Green tea with Dandelion Root tea - cut out coffee weeks ago

Lunch: Sauteed spinach, 2 eggs, 1/2 avocado

Dinner: Typically will be rice with a crap load of vegetables (eg. brown rice, bok choy, rapini, 1/2 avocado, onions), 1 cup hot tea with green superfood powder, 2 cups sleepy time tea. I usually only eat meat on weekends, though sometimes I'll make chicken breast, potatoes and mushrooms

Supplements: Chinese herbal supplements for digestion, Udo's probiotics, Magensium, Zinc, Omega 3, liver care pills ( I take the Chinese herbs, liver care, probiotics for digestion - my acupuncture lady told me I have acne because of digestion problems - and i take the magnesium, zinc for acne)

SORRY to anyone who actually takes the time to read this lol, I'm just trying to be super thorough at the chance someone can help me

EDIT: I forgot to mention what else I eat for breakast: oatmeal with 1/2 cup strawberries, chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and one hard boiled egg

janejellyroll · February 2018

You listed *what* you're eating, but not the total number of calories. Are you currently consistently hitting a calorie goal? If so, what is your goal? Are you consuming more on the weekends when you're having wine?

RoxieDawn · February 2018

You are eating too much. Depending on how much you are drinking and eating on weekends, even if you are under eating during the week, the weekend can have you in a calorie surplus cancelling out any deficit you may have been in during the week. How many cals eating during the week and weekends including wine?

Are you weighing and logging food here in MFP?

jgnatca · February 2018

First of all, you are trying hard enough. Cutting more isn’t going to gain you anything.

Second, are you weighing and logging your food? How many calories are you getting daily?

Third, some women go through a monthly weight cycle tied to their hormone cycle. You could be retaining up to five pounds water weight from that, hiding any losses you might have had from the new diet and exercise program.

I don’t think any of the supplements and vinegars are influencing the loss either way.

Keep at it and track your weight for a full two months. Then you will know if you need to make changes.

spartanhollis · February 2018

Sounds like a good start, but don't get discouraged. Giving up today means starting all over again tomorrow. It's so much harder to take weight off than it is to put it on! Maybe try intermittent fasting ("IF"), where you fast for 12 to 16 hours a day and eat only during non-fasting times. For example, i stop eating at 7pm and don't eat again until 11am the next day. IF has helped me A LOT -- in addition to helping me lose body fat, it helps me control how much I eat because there are only so many hours in the day when you can eat. There are a lot of YouTube vids on the topic. I suggest you watch one by Thomas DeLauer, who breaks it down scientifically. Good Luck!

Seffell · February 2018

Losing weight is about how much, not about what.
To lose weight you need to consume less energy (calories) than your body burns to live and move.
The only certain way to know how many calories you are consuming is to weigh all your intake and log it in the MFP diary using the correct entries. Set your goals to lose around 0.5lbs or 1lbs per week and eat only up to your goal calories.
If you do this you you will lose weight.

Eating healthy usually means eating nutritios food. But the fact that you are consuming food rich in nutrients has nothing to do with its energy contents. And to burn fat stores you need a deficit of energy. But by all means keep eating healthy food. Just less.

spartanhollis · February 2018

Also, you have to lose the drinking. It does more damage than we all realize. Not only did it make me eat more but it also contributed to my insulin resistance, which slows down the elimination of body fat.

FoodieMotion · February 2018

I notice you don't eat breakfast and your lunch is low calorie too. Your dinner I can't tell as you haven't put quantities and personally I don't think you are eating enough.

At 112lbs on your typical height/weight chart you would be considered underweight at 5'7" in height.

small frame 123-136
medium frame 133-147
large frame 143-163

Obviously there are deviations from this where athletes and bodybuilders are concerned but maybe opening up your diary would make it clearer as there are people on here much more experienced at this than me who can probably help with a bit more info.

angelsja · February 2018

FoodieMotion wrote: »

I notice you don't eat breakfast and your lunch is low calorie too. Your dinner I can't tell as you haven't put quantities and personally I don't think you are eating enough.

At 112lbs on your typical height/weight chart you would be considered underweight at 5'7" in height.

small frame 123-136
medium frame 133-147
large frame 143-163

Obviously there are deviations from this where athletes and bodybuilders are concerned but maybe opening up your diary would make it clearer as there are people on here much more experienced at this than me who can probably help with a bit more info.

OP is 147lbs now they were 112lbs that's the problem

jasondjulian · February 2018

Interesting.. so you don't actually EAT breakfast.

That's a lot of supplements... are you really sure those are all needed? Are you deficient in any of those areas?

You are clearly over-consuming. I'd bet it's the weekend drinking.. if you are used to 6-8oz glasses you are probably likely to over indulge on the weekends.. there are A METRIC CRAP LOAD of calories in 8oz of most wines. Each glass could be 250 calories... even at half your old volume, those 3-4 drinks could add up to 1000 extra calories in one go. Do that both weekend days, 2000+ calories on top of eating, there goes your 3500 calorie deficit to lose the 1lb/wk (if those are your goals).

Also, keep in mind that a crap load of vegetables can have a lot of calories too.. are these cooked in any oils or butter?

You've got a lot of WHAT you eat, but it doesn't seem like you are tracking HOW MUCH. That is what matters. Just because a food is thought of as "healthy" doesn't mean you can eat unlimited amounts of it.

Oranges are good for you, a 5lb bag of oranges is not. Extreme example, but you get the jist.

rsclause · February 2018

Healthy food is good but at the end of the day it's the calories that count. It's quantity not quality that governs loss or gain.

kaitlynb92 · February 2018

I do track my calories most of the time! For the better part of January, I was eating a ton of healthy food, but vegetables that didn't have a lot of calories so although I was filling up at every meal, I was only eating a calorie amount of around 900-1000 calories a day. I understand that my body probably went into starvation mode and held the fat (even though I wasn't trying to eat that little calories, I was actually eating a lot - just low cal veggies I guess). So since then, I've been eating about 1200 calories a day.

Yes, you guys are totally right, I definitely do consume way more calories on weekends with the wine. If cutting out alcohol completely is what I need to do, I'm happy to - I just didn't realize 2 days of wine could catch up to me so fast ahah.

And thank you for the tip spartanhollis! Sorry - not sure how to tag you on this. I have heard of that method before but never looked into it. I will do that tonight!

I see a couple people here saying to eat less - is this referring to weekends or weekdays? I definitely agree I can cut some calories on the weekends but if I eat any less on weekdays, I'll be going back under 1200 which I understand is bad.

At any rate, wow thank you so much everyone! I was not expecting so many responses - truly appreciated!

stanmann571 · February 2018

angelsja wrote: »

FoodieMotion wrote: »

I notice you don't eat breakfast and your lunch is low calorie too. Your dinner I can't tell as you haven't put quantities and personally I don't think you are eating enough.

At 112lbs on your typical height/weight chart you would be considered underweight at 5'7" in height.

small frame 123-136
medium frame 133-147
large frame 143-163

Obviously there are deviations from this where athletes and bodybuilders are concerned but maybe opening up your diary would make it clearer as there are people on here much more experienced at this than me who can probably help with a bit more info.

OP is 147lbs now they were 112lbs that's the problem

So OP is now a healthy weight. I don't see what the problem is.

Except that she hasn't mentioned what her goal weight is. Or what her other goals are.

Regardless... the imprecision in her tracking of her intake is going to be a major impediment in losing weight.

malibu927 · February 2018

kaitlynb92 wrote: »

I do track my calories most of the time! For the better part of January, I was eating a ton of healthy food, but vegetables that didn't have a lot of calories so although I was filling up at every meal, I was only eating a calorie amount of around 900-1000 calories a day. I understand that my body probably went into starvation mode and held the fat (even though I wasn't trying to eat that little calories, I was actually eating a lot - just low cal veggies I guess). So since then, I've been eating about 1200 calories a day.

Yes, you guys are totally right, I definitely do consume way more calories on weekends with the wine. If cutting out alcohol completely is what I need to do, I'm happy to - I just didn't realize 2 days of wine could catch up to me so fast ahah.

And thank you for the tip spartanhollis! Sorry - not sure how to tag you on this. I have heard of that method before but never looked into it. I will do that tonight!

I see a couple people here saying to eat less - is this referring to weekends or weekdays? I definitely agree I can cut some calories on the weekends but if I eat any less on weekdays, I'll be going back under 1200 which I understand is bad.

At any rate, wow thank you so much everyone! I was not expecting so many responses - truly appreciated!

Your body isn't in starvation mode, as it doesn't exist.

How are you measuring your calorie intake? Are you logging everything on the weekends including the wine?

Lounmoun · February 2018

Weight loss, maintenance or gain depends largely upon calories.
Generally if you are not losing weight over the course of 3+ weeks of consistant effort you do not have a calorie deficit.
Nowhere do you mention calories or tracking your calorie intake. Start there. Log everything as accurately as you can and see where you are.

You might be retaining water or food waste.

You may find some of these threads helpful:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10300319/most-helpful-posts-general-diet-and-weight-loss-help-must-reads#latest
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10359984/women-menstrual-cycle-weight-and-fitness-matters/p1
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10575000/water-weight-gain-stop-panicking#latest
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10232335/list-of-higher-protein-foods
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

janejellyroll · February 2018

spartanhollis wrote: »

Also, you have to lose the drinking. It does more damage than we all realize. Not only did it make me eat more but it also contributed to my insulin resistance, which slows down the elimination of body fat.

It's possible to lose weight while drinking. I did, many other people did here as well.

If it makes you eat more, than that is something an individual will have to consider. But I never found it to be a problem. As long as I hit my calorie goal, I lose weight.

janejellyroll · February 2018

kaitlynb92 wrote: »

I do track my calories most of the time! For the better part of January, I was eating a ton of healthy food, but vegetables that didn't have a lot of calories so although I was filling up at every meal, I was only eating a calorie amount of around 900-1000 calories a day. I understand that my body probably went into starvation mode and held the fat (even though I wasn't trying to eat that little calories, I was actually eating a lot - just low cal veggies I guess). So since then, I've been eating about 1200 calories a day.

Yes, you guys are totally right, I definitely do consume way more calories on weekends with the wine. If cutting out alcohol completely is what I need to do, I'm happy to - I just didn't realize 2 days of wine could catch up to me so fast ahah.

And thank you for the tip spartanhollis! Sorry - not sure how to tag you on this. I have heard of that method before but never looked into it. I will do that tonight!

I see a couple people here saying to eat less - is this referring to weekends or weekdays? I definitely agree I can cut some calories on the weekends but if I eat any less on weekdays, I'll be going back under 1200 which I understand is bad.

At any rate, wow thank you so much everyone! I was not expecting so many responses - truly appreciated!

If you're currently tracking your calories most of the time, begin tracking them all the time so you can understand what you actually need to adjust.

For the purposes of weight loss, your body doesn't care if it's all "healthy food" or other types of food, your body will lose weight if you're in a deficit and gain weight if you consume more than you're using. It's completely possible to blow out an overall deficit over a weekend, especially when alcohol is involved.

"Starvation mode" doesn't exist, in the sense you're using it. If you're gaining real weight (as opposed to temporary water weight gain associated with your time of the month or dehydration or exercise), then you're consuming more calories than you're using and your body is storing the excess energy.

You don't have to cut out alcohol completely (unless you want to or find it's an easier way for you to create a deficit). You just have to accurately log what you are drinking and make sure you're hitting your calorie goal.

kaitlynb92 · February 2018

jasondjulian wrote: »

Interesting.. so you don't actually EAT breakfast.

That's a lot of supplements... are you really sure those are all needed? Are you deficient in any of those areas?

You are clearly over-consuming. I'd bet it's the weekend drinking.. if you are used to 6-8oz glasses you are probably likely to over indulge on the weekends.. there are A METRIC CRAP LOAD of calories in 8oz of most wines. Each glass could be 250 calories... even at half your old volume, those 3-4 drinks could add up to 1000 extra calories in one go. Do that both weekend days, 2000+ calories on top of eating, there goes your 3500 calorie deficit to lose the 1lb/wk (if those are your goals).

Also, keep in mind that a crap load of vegetables can have a lot of calories too.. are these cooked in any oils or butter?

You've got a lot of WHAT you eat, but it doesn't seem like you are tracking HOW MUCH. That is what matters. Just because a food is thought of as "healthy" doesn't mean you can eat unlimited amounts of it.

Oranges are good for you, a 5lb bag of oranges is not. Extreme example, but you get the jist.

Sorry - I didn't realize I forgot to list breakfast. I actually eat breakfast every day - oatmeal with 1/2 cup strawberries, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, and one hard boiled egg.

As for the calorie intake of wine on weekends, you're absolutely right. I guess I was blindly hoping weekends wouldn't affect the week lol. Thank you for putting that into perspective - that makes a lot of sense.

I do track how much I eat, and often scan the bar code on food to make sure its as accurate as possible. Each meal is within a normal range, equalling up to about a 1200 calorie day (but now that I have better perspective of weekends, my weekend calorie intake is a lot more still).

kaitlynb92 · February 2018

stanmann571 wrote: »

angelsja wrote: »

FoodieMotion wrote: »

I notice you don't eat breakfast and your lunch is low calorie too. Your dinner I can't tell as you haven't put quantities and personally I don't think you are eating enough.

At 112lbs on your typical height/weight chart you would be considered underweight at 5'7" in height.

small frame 123-136
medium frame 133-147
large frame 143-163

Obviously there are deviations from this where athletes and bodybuilders are concerned but maybe opening up your diary would make it clearer as there are people on here much more experienced at this than me who can probably help with a bit more info.

OP is 147lbs now they were 112lbs that's the problem

So OP is now a healthy weight. I don't see what the problem is.

Except that she hasn't mentioned what her goal weight is. Or what her other goals are.

Regardless... the imprecision in her tracking of her intake is going to be a major impediment in losing weight.

I am not a healthy weight in the slightest, actually. 147lbs is not an unhealthy weight in general - BUT, I've gotten to that weight by drinking wine, eating fast food, and not working out enough. If I had gotten to this weight by eating right and exercising, you would be correct in saying that. My goal weight is to get back around 120 lbs or even just to lose the fat and tone up, regardless what the number weight may be.

LivingtheLeanDream · February 2018

Weekend eating can wipe out any calorie deficit during the week, been there, done that.

Track your calories every day and stay consistently within your calorie budget and you will lose.

luveydov · February 2018

Make sure you are counting the calories for those chia, hemp, and flax seeds. They are calorie dense and if you are not measuring accurately can skew things dramatically.

Stopped drinking every night and started eating very healthy and GAINING weight :(

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