Gaining weight

karen_hunter11 · September 2018

Hello, I'm so confused how to lose weight. My daily calorie allotment is 1200 per MFP. 3 days this past week I ate less than 800 calories and 4 days I ate a little over 1000 calories. I've been exercising 5-6 days a week for the last 4 weeks getting over 10,000 steps most days. I do have quite a bit of calories left to use but use earned from exercising but don't use them in fear of gaining weight.

I understand that I may not eat enough calories some days with is basically because I've been limiting the high starchy carbs out my diet. I was expecting to lose at least 2 lbs but instead gained 1 lb which is still showing on the scale 2 days later. Why would I gain weight considering my caloric intake and exercise this past week? This is so frustrating. I've been loosing and gaining the same pounds for 8 months while doing weight watchers so I decided to give MFP a try. It seemed to work the first 2 weeks but now I'm back to gaining again. Any ideas is greatly appreciated. I've given up so many foods I like and I fit in exercise inspite of the pains I encounter, just so I can lose weight and get healthy but it seems I'm wasting my time.

quiksylver296 · September 2018

New exercise causes your muscles to retain water to repair themselves. Water weight is not fat gain.

You need to eat 1200 calories plus exercise calories. You are seriously underfeeding your body and it's going to have bad results.

kommodevaran · September 2018

If you're not losing weight, you're not in a calorie deficit, either not for real, or consistently enough, or for long enough.

You're supposed to eat the suggested amount of calories, not less, but also not guessing, so you in reality are eating more. You need to use a food scale, and valid (validated by you) database entries, logging everything, and hitting that goal every day.

You may also have too high expectations of weightloss rate. Do not aim for or expect a higher rate than 1% of your body weight per week.

Then your weight always fluctuates, so you need several weeks of consistent eating less to see a real loss on the scale.

Lastly, don't exercise to lose weight; MFP is even designed for you to eat back exercise calories, and do not give up any food you like. You can eat anything in moderation.

jjpptt2 · September 2018

From the "easier said than done" diaries...

Take a step back and trust the process. Sounds like you know what you need to know, but your fears are getting in the way. Do what you know you need to do, then slow down and remember that results are likely to take weeks, not days, to see.

Trust. The. Process.

Msolberg926 · September 2018

This is what I do! Balanced meals. Every meal or snack. I don’t count calories! It works there’s NO secret. It’s just balanced eating. It works honestly!!

glassyo · September 2018

Msolberg926 wrote: »

This is what I do! Balanced meals. Every meal or snack. I don’t count calories! It works there’s NO secret. It’s just balanced eating. It works honestly!!

The secret is that you don't realize you're still eating in a deficit.

kommodevaran · September 2018

Msolberg926 wrote: »

This is what I do! Balanced meals. Every meal or snack. I don’t count calories! It works there’s NO secret. It’s just balanced eating. It works honestly!!

Yeah, but some people are so out of balance that they need to count calories. The sad thing is of course that some of those people also are so out of touch with reality that they don't count calories properly.

karen_hunter11 · September 2018

MSolberg926, what do you mean by balance at every meal? It seems if I include carbs in my meals I gain weight so I try to keep my meals consisting of protein, veggies and fruit and keep my fruit to 3 servings a day due to sugar content. I wish I can just figure out what works for like so many others seem to do.

AnvilHead · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

MSolberg926, what do you mean by balance at every meal? It seems if I include carbs in my meals I gain weight so I try to keep my meals consisting of protein, veggies and fruit and keep my fruit to 3 servings a day due to sugar content. I wish I can just figure out what works for like so many others seem to do.

What works is to eat at a consistent, reasonable calorie deficit, and to realize that there are a lot of things which will cause scale weight fluctuation, and that there's no need to panic when the scale number doesn't keep dropping every time you weigh in.

Good read here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

kimny72 · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

Hello, I'm so confused how to lose weight. My daily calorie allotment is 1200 per MFP. 3 days this past week I ate less than 800 calories and 4 days I ate a little over 1000 calories. I've been exercising 5-6 days a week for the last 4 weeks getting over 10,000 steps most days. I do have quite a bit of calories left to use but use earned from exercising but don't use them in fear of gaining weight.

I understand that I may not eat enough calories some days with is basically because I've been limiting the high starchy carbs out my diet. I was expecting to lose at least 2 lbs but instead gained 1 lb which is still showing on the scale 2 days later. Why would I gain weight considering my caloric intake and exercise this past week? This is so frustrating. I've been loosing and gaining the same pounds for 8 months while doing weight watchers so I decided to give MFP a try. It seemed to work the first 2 weeks but now I'm back to gaining again. Any ideas is greatly appreciated. I've given up so many foods I like and I fit in exercise inspite of the pains I encounter, just so I can lose weight and get healthy but it seems I'm wasting my time.

Are you using a food scale? If you were really eating such a dangerously low amount of calories, you would be losing weight and feeling fatigued.

Calories determine weight loss. What you eat can affect satiety, health, and fitness.

It is also perfectly normal to not lose weight for a week or two, it's usually due to water weight fluctuations. These threads might help:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084670/it-is-unlikely-that-you-will-lose-weight-consistently-i-e-weight-loss-is-not-linear/p1

kommodevaran · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

MSolberg926, what do you mean by balance at every meal? It seems if I include carbs in my meals I gain weight so I try to keep my meals consisting of protein, veggies and fruit and keep my fruit to 3 servings a day due to sugar content. I wish I can just figure out what works for like so many others seem to do.

I think it's a more overall balance - but she can answer for herself.

What I would like to comment on, is that you're not measuring output correctly either, not just input. Carbs bind water, so you may retain some water if you go from low carb to high carb. But that is water, not fat. And veggies and fruit are mainly carbs anyway, so you're not cutting carbs. Unless you have a real (medical) reason to limit/monitor sugar, just don't track it.

People have found out what works for them through learning, which is part taking in correct information, part experimenting and experiencing, part reflection and analysis, part acceptance and internalizing.

karen_hunter11 · September 2018

Hello, I haven't done high carbs in a long time and what I mean by cutting or limiting my carbs, I'm basically referring to the higher starchy fat carbs. Basically all the white carbs. I'm sure I didn't gain weight by eating too much veggies and fruit so I didn't limit those with the exception of not over doing it on the fruit. But who overeats veggies definitely not me. 😊

If I retain water weight than that 1 lb I gained should have been gone in a day or two correct? That hasn't happened yet. And why wouldn't I lose a few pounds weight considering what I mentioned my caloric intake was the past week along with the amount of exercise I did.

And what do you mean by "just don't track sugar" unless it's a medical reason? It's my understanding that sugar is the cause for weight gain. Am I misunderstanding your statement?

Thank you for your feedback.

diannethegeek · September 2018

Calories cause weight gain, not sugar.

Water retention can stick around for a week or so, in my experience. And it will always be bouncing up and down.

Too much fruit stalled my weight loss when I started out and wasn't tracking my cantaloupe.

Have you had a chance to read the links provided to you? They have some great information that might help clear up some of your misconceptions. There are also the stickied posts marked as "must reads" at the top of each forum section. Read those yet? Super great getting started posts there.

kommodevaran · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

Hello, I haven't done high carbs in a long time and what I mean by cutting or limiting my carbs, I'm basically referring to the higher starchy fat carbs. Basically all the white carbs. I'm sure I didn't gain weight by eating too much veggies and fruit so I didn't limit those with the exception of not over doing it on the fruit. But who overeats veggies definitely not me. 😊

If I retain water weight than that 1 lb I gained should have been gone in a day or two correct? That hasn't happened yet. And why wouldn't I lose a few pounds weight considering what I mentioned my caloric intake was the past week along with the amount of exercise I did.

And what do you mean by "just don't track sugar" unless it's a medical reason? It's my understanding that sugar is the cause for weight gain. Am I misunderstanding your statement?

Thank you for your feedback.

Carbohydrate is sugar, starch and fiber. Fat is not a carb. The color of the food is not important.

Your weight is constantly in a flux. One pound is nothing. One week is nothing. You lose weight over time when you're in a real calorie deficit. If you're not logging correctly, you can't know if you're in a calorie deficit, unless you monitor your weight over weeks. If you're not losing weight, it means you're not in a calorie deficit. That means that if you're logging, you're not logging correctly.

Sugar is not the cause for weight gain. Too many calories over time cause weight gain.

kshama2001 · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

Hello, I haven't done high carbs in a long time and what I mean by cutting or limiting my carbs, I'm basically referring to the higher starchy fat carbs. Basically all the white carbs. I'm sure I didn't gain weight by eating too much veggies and fruit so I didn't limit those with the exception of not over doing it on the fruit. But who overeats veggies definitely not me. 😊

If I retain water weight than that 1 lb I gained should have been gone in a day or two correct? That hasn't happened yet. And why wouldn't I lose a few pounds weight considering what I mentioned my caloric intake was the past week along with the amount of exercise I did.

And what do you mean by "just don't track sugar" unless it's a medical reason? It's my understanding that sugar is the cause for weight gain. Am I misunderstanding your statement?

Thank you for your feedback.

If you eat anything to excess you will gain weight. I find it helpful to limit baked goods, as I do not find them especially filling. I eat potatoes and rice, as I do find them filling. However, I watch my portion sizes. I find pasta yummy, but not especially filling, so I eat it, but watch portion sizes.

AnvilHead · September 2018

karen_hunter11 wrote: »

...It's my understanding that sugar is the cause for weight gain....

Nope. Too many calories is the cause of weight gain.

If sugar causes weight gain, how did this guy lose 27 pounds and hugely improve his health markers in two months while eating Twinkies, Little Debbies, Corn Pops cereal, Brownies, etc.?: https://www.diabetesdaily.com/blog/oh-dear-the-twinkie-diet-actually-works-268743/

kellyw4444 · September 2018

Hi Karen, I feel your frustration. One reason you might not be losing weight is that your calories are so low your body has gone into "starvation mode" where it conserves everything and won't give up the weight. You should eat at least 1200 calories per day to get what your body needs. Another reason might be that your body is building muscle - though this is a slow process. Other common reasons are water weight (due to hormones or muscle rebuilding) and/or your bowels (you should go at least once a day), but it could also be hormonal. Your body could also be dealing with low level inflammation, or an infection, or an overgrowth of bad bacteria in your gut or you could have food allergies that make your body not want to relinquish the pounds. Despite what people say on here, there is more to weight loss than just "eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight". I don't know how old you are or if you have any health issues, but there are a lot of other factors in play within your body. I had a friend who ate next to nothing, exercised daily and couldn't lose weight and it turns out she had a dental infection. Once the infection was cleared up, she started dropping weight.

I, too, tried Weight Watchers and did not have any success and all they could tell me was that I must not have been tracking properly (ie: I was lying about what I ate and how much I exercised). I have been doing MFP for 9 months now, weighing and measuring my food every meal, working out or exercising for at least an hour almost every single day. I was supposed to have lost 4-6 lbs per month, but after 9 months have lost only 20 pounds and despite my discipline, it has been incredibly slow. I have low grade inflammation (tendonitis), low thyroid and I am perimenopausal - hormones definitely play a part. I have had 3-4 month plateaus where I basically stayed the same, despite 20,000 calorie deficits each month. I eat 1200-1400 calories per day and burn 1900-2100 calories per day and still weight loss has been very slow. The good news is that with all the exercise, I am reshaping my body, getting stronger and I now fit into my old clothes. But it has been very hard to move that number on the scale. I am now looking at other ways to address my health issues, including an adrenal-thyroid diet for the next month and seeing a Naturopath who can work on my hormonal issues. My doctor was useless - when I told her how slow my weight loss was, she told me that was normal - uh, I don't think I should be up a pound when I burned over 20,000 calories more than I consumed last month! Anyways, I know it can be hard not to get discouraged. One of the things I have found helpful is to not focus so much on the scale and look at other indicators such as how my clothes fit, tracking my measurements and inches lost, my resting heart rate and how far I can walk. I also decided to set other goals that have nothing to do with my weight, such as walking a half marathon by my 50th birthday. However, I am still trying to figure out why my weight loss is so slow - but I am not giving up.

AnvilHead · September 2018

kellyw4444 wrote: »

Hi Karen, I feel your frustration. One reason you might not be losing weight is that your calories are so low your body has gone into "starvation mode" where it conserves everything and won't give up the weight...

Nope, that's not it either. "Starvation mode" is a myth.

Muscleflex79 · September 2018

kellyw4444 wrote: »

Hi Karen, I feel your frustration. One reason you might not be losing weight is that your calories are so low your body has gone into "starvation mode" where it conserves everything and won't give up the weight. You should eat at least 1200 calories per day to get what your body needs. Another reason might be that your body is building muscle - though this is a slow process. Other common reasons are water weight (due to hormones or muscle rebuilding) and/or your bowels (you should go at least once a day), but it could also be hormonal. Your body could also be dealing with low level inflammation, or an infection, or an overgrowth of bad bacteria in your gut or you could have food allergies that make your body not want to relinquish the pounds. Despite what people say on here, there is more to weight loss than just "eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight". I don't know how old you are or if you have any health issues, but there are a lot of other factors in play within your body. I had a friend who ate next to nothing, exercised daily and couldn't lose weight and it turns out she had a dental infection. Once the infection was cleared up, she started dropping weight.

I, too, tried Weight Watchers and did not have any success and all they could tell me was that I must not have been tracking properly (ie: I was lying about what I ate and how much I exercised). I have been doing MFP for 9 months now, weighing and measuring my food every meal, working out or exercising for at least an hour almost every single day. I was supposed to have lost 4-6 lbs per month, but after 9 months have lost only 20 pounds and despite my discipline, it has been incredibly slow. I have low grade inflammation (tendonitis), low thyroid and I am perimenopausal - hormones definitely play a part. I have had 3-4 month plateaus where I basically stayed the same, despite 20,000 calorie deficits each month. I eat 1200-1400 calories per day and burn 1900-2100 calories per day and still weight loss has been very slow. The good news is that with all the exercise, I am reshaping my body, getting stronger and I now fit into my old clothes. But it has been very hard to move that number on the scale. I am now looking at other ways to address my health issues, including an adrenal-thyroid diet for the next month and seeing a Naturopath who can work on my hormonal issues. My doctor was useless - when I told her how slow my weight loss was, she told me that was normal - uh, I don't think I should be up a pound when I burned over 20,000 calories more than I consumed last month! Anyways, I know it can be hard not to get discouraged. One of the things I have found helpful is to not focus so much on the scale and look at other indicators such as how my clothes fit, tracking my measurements and inches lost, my resting heart rate and how far I can walk. I also decided to set other goals that have nothing to do with my weight, such as walking a half marathon by my 50th birthday. However, I am still trying to figure out why my weight loss is so slow - but I am not giving up.

no, no, no. her body is not in "starvation mode" since there is no such thing (have you seen people who are actually starving? they lose weight - drastically) and she has certainly not put on muscle in one week while eating 800-1000 calories. she doesn't even mention being on a progressive lifting plan so that is a silly conclusion to jump to.

as others said, she is not eating at a calorie deficit, not giving it enough time or being affected by water weight fluctuations.

kimny72 · September 2018

kellyw4444 wrote: »

Hi Karen, I feel your frustration. One reason you might not be losing weight is that your calories are so low your body has gone into "starvation mode" where it conserves everything and won't give up the weight. You should eat at least 1200 calories per day to get what your body needs. Another reason might be that your body is building muscle - though this is a slow process. Other common reasons are water weight (due to hormones or muscle rebuilding) and/or your bowels (you should go at least once a day), but it could also be hormonal. Your body could also be dealing with low level inflammation, or an infection, or an overgrowth of bad bacteria in your gut or you could have food allergies that make your body not want to relinquish the pounds. Despite what people say on here, there is more to weight loss than just "eat at a calorie deficit and you will lose weight". I don't know how old you are or if you have any health issues, but there are a lot of other factors in play within your body. I had a friend who ate next to nothing, exercised daily and couldn't lose weight and it turns out she had a dental infection. Once the infection was cleared up, she started dropping weight.

I, too, tried Weight Watchers and did not have any success and all they could tell me was that I must not have been tracking properly (ie: I was lying about what I ate and how much I exercised). I have been doing MFP for 9 months now, weighing and measuring my food every meal, working out or exercising for at least an hour almost every single day. I was supposed to have lost 4-6 lbs per month, but after 9 months have lost only 20 pounds and despite my discipline, it has been incredibly slow. I have low grade inflammation (tendonitis), low thyroid and I am perimenopausal - hormones definitely play a part. I have had 3-4 month plateaus where I basically stayed the same, despite 20,000 calorie deficits each month. I eat 1200-1400 calories per day and burn 1900-2100 calories per day and still weight loss has been very slow. The good news is that with all the exercise, I am reshaping my body, getting stronger and I now fit into my old clothes. But it has been very hard to move that number on the scale. I am now looking at other ways to address my health issues, including an adrenal-thyroid diet for the next month and seeing a Naturopath who can work on my hormonal issues. My doctor was useless - when I told her how slow my weight loss was, she told me that was normal - uh, I don't think I should be up a pound when I burned over 20,000 calories more than I consumed last month! Anyways, I know it can be hard not to get discouraged. One of the things I have found helpful is to not focus so much on the scale and look at other indicators such as how my clothes fit, tracking my measurements and inches lost, my resting heart rate and how far I can walk. I also decided to set other goals that have nothing to do with my weight, such as walking a half marathon by my 50th birthday. However, I am still trying to figure out why my weight loss is so slow - but I am not giving up.

Very low calories will not cause your body to stop losing weight, otherwise no one would ever starve to death. Over a long period of time, severe dieting can lead to adaptive thermogenesis, basically lowering your metabolism - you will still lose weight, just slower than expected. It would still not cause you to maintain on 800 cals for months.

There is also no way OP is building muscle while drastically under-eating. Her body would not be diverting energy it so desperately needs for it's basic functions to grow muscle.

While there are certainly lots of other issues that can have small affects on weight loss, first and foremost it's best to make sure a new member is logging properly before jumping to all kinds of conclusions, sending them on wild goose chases. OP has not responded with info on how she is logging, and most people don't log accurately when they first arrive, so it makes sense to assume that's the issue until it clearly is not.

Those of us who stress calories and logging don't do so for kicks. We see newbies every day who insist they are "hardly eating anything" but once they learn how to log accurately realize they were eating far more than they think. I'd strongly advise you check out the thread I linked to in my earlier post, where there are PAGES of posts thanking the boards to clueing them into logging accurately.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10634517/you-dont-use-a-food-scale/p1

Are there instances where someone is logging well, being patient enough to ride out water weight fluctuations, and still not losing? Yes, and in those cases issues like medical conditions affecting hormones, bloating, stress, sleep, etc can be looked into. But 4 weeks and no info offered about logging accuracy - eliminate the most obvious first.

karen_hunter11 · September 2018

KellyW444, thank you. It helps knowing others understand the frustration. I would be floored if I was doing everything you mentioned you do and weight loss was so slow. I hate all the work it takes just to lose 1 darn lb a week. But I like the results when it all adds up and how it makes me feel which is why I keep trying year after year. I hope you find out what's going on with you sooner than later. But congrats for all the effort you're putting in!

Gaining weight

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