So discouraged

3 lb in one week? new exercise regimen could mean holding water weight and all that.

If you are talking about gaining weight while logging at a deficit these past two months though: you are eating more than you think. At 5'9 your maintenance calories should be high enough though

Could you open your diary so that people who want to help can have a look?

Are you certain that walking for 30 minutes burns 250 cals? That seems like a very inflated figure. Try using the formula weight in lbs x 0.3 x distance walked in miles. What does that give you?
You are probably eating more than you think, are you weighting all your food on a digital food scale? If not, then you are almost certainly eating more than you think.

Agree about the water weight and exercise.

You point to your last WI, but how are you doing overall? How long have you been keeping a food diary? Do you use a food scale? Are you eating back exercise calories?

Folks get their backs up over this, but consider that the issue may be you aren’t eating in a deficit. Water weight, medical/medication issues, too many calories- can’t think of any other reason for gaining weight.

But take heart. All of these calculators give the impression that they are spitting out the exact number for you to eat in a deficit. You don’t get an exact number outside of a lab. Plus there are always calorie counting gray areas. If you don’t have a food scale get one.

If looking at your diary, you are convinced that your counting is as tight as you can get it, cut 100 calories per day and see if you can live with it. See it it moves the scale. Keep tinkering and adjusting until you find the right numbers. Be patient and determined.

Last thing. Don’t beat yourself up over a piece of chocolate or two if it fits your plan. Feeling deprived is a plan killer. The rigid eating austerity program rarely lasts for long.

The supplement chromium picolineate helped me break the sweet tooth habit.

Exercise, while good for you, isn't nearly as effective as calorie deficit for weight reduction.

missmelis1976 wrote: »

You guys are great, thank you so much.
Let me see if I can answer these questions:
1. How do I show you my food log?
2. I walk and run, together Sorry I just looked back and the highest was 205. Transposed my numbers
3. I've been on and off this site many years but most recently since mid - end August 2018
4. Definitely do NOT have a food scale. Do you really weigh every single thing you eat?
5. Yes eating back calories.. Maybe that's what is going on??

You need a food scale. Once you get used to it, you'll find it's easier than measuring cups.

missmelis1976 wrote: »

Just thought of something. A lot of things I guess on for calories b/c I can't find the exact thing I'm eating.. I make dinner each night. A lot of Pinterest recipes and so I try to find something close to it so how would I accurately figure out the calories in a casserole or dish I'm making for instance?

You can use the recipe builder on this site. It's under Food > Recipes. Enter in all the ingredients, the number of servings, and it'll calculate a calorie count for you for that portion. If you get a food scale, you can weigh the total amount of food to know how much a portion should be.

I second that humans are not so good at estimating food volumes and weights, I try to guess the weights before measuring to condition myself to be more accurate, maybe someday the scale will gather dust. I make home cooked dished alot, like pizza. I use https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 to get the macro, it can be tedious, but I get better at using it each time. I am definitely open to a better analyzer. Have a great day.