please help, really upset.

graces109 · October 2018

i’m feeling so so discouraged right now. I screwed it all up. i went into a calorie deficit and lost 4 pounds, but i think it was all muscle because i didn’t look different at all and because my macros were SO off i was only eating like 30-40 grams of protein (like how stupid am i) and then i binged for a week and gain two pounds. so now i’m like even fatter than i was before. do you think it’s possible that maybe i’m not fatter than i was before? any science behind this, like is it possible i ONLY lost muscle, like could i have also maybe lost one pound of fat? sorry this question is confusing. also my stomach is feeling so big, like did i gain two pounds of fat in my stomach? please help.

hippysprout · October 2018

I think you need to take a breath. You're trippin.

This takes time, and you aren't going to magically see some miraculous new body because you dropped four pounds. Forgive yourself for the binge and move forward. You're definitely going to have to get some realistic expectations though, because if you lose a couple of pounds and then come unglued because you don't look different in the mirror, and that sends you into a binge, you may have some deeper issues than a few extra pounds. Good luck.

rheddmobile · October 2018

Don't panic! To gain two pounds you would have to eat 7,000 calories more than your maintenance calories. Even if you did this, you can still start over. It's most likely that your belly feels bloated because of all the food in it. Also, when you eat a bunch of carbs, extra water is stored with them, and when you eat at a deficit, some of that water goes away.

Four pounds is really not that much, it's not surprising you don't look noticeably different. Take before photos and progress photos as you continue your journey to make it easier to see your progress. And be patient! It takes time to lose weight, and you will need to continue to modify your eating or you will gain the weight back as soon as you revert to your former ways. For this reason it's good to change your diet only a little at a time, so that you can maintain your new way of eating for the rest of your life. Have some good treats built in to your diet so you don't feel tempted to binge.

40g of protein isn't ideal but is more than the minimum recommended, you're fine. You can eat more protein going forward.

PAV8888 · October 2018

What is your current height, weight, age, goal? How much did you tell MFP you want to lose? How many calories are you eating? How active are you? Do you exercise? How long ago did you start eating at a deficit to lose the 4lbs? How often do you weigh yourself?

Fat increases and decreases do not happen overnight.

Losing and/or gaining lean mass does not always mean that you've lost/ or gained muscle mass: it just means you've lost / or gained non fat mass. Water weight and waste are also non fat mass. And really, the dang things just fluctuate and screw around with out scales. And there are many reasons why they come and go!

When losing 4lbs it is highly unlikely that you lost 4lbs of fat; but it is also highly unlikely that you lost much less than 2lbs of fat. A 1:1 ratio would actually be considered quite bad, and your chances are quite good that you did better than that! It would also be highly unlikely that you would gain fat to lean mass in a much worse than 1:1 ratio... so you would still be ahead of the game no matter what. Of course the exact ratios would depend on how much fat you have available to lose and how big of a deficit you applied.

But, last and not least... you can only move forward and it is pretty silly to be crying over spilled milk--right?

So let's review your setup, and see where you're trying to get, and figure out what is the best way to get you there!

lynn_glenmont · October 2018

rheddmobile wrote: »

Don't panic! To gain two pounds you would have to eat 7,000 calories more than your maintenance calories. Even if you did this, you can still start over. It's most likely that your belly feels bloated because of all the food in it. Also, when you eat a bunch of carbs, extra water is stored with them, and when you eat at a deficit, some of that water goes away.

Four pounds is really not that much, it's not surprising you don't look noticeably different. Take before photos and progress photos as you continue your journey to make it easier to see your progress. And be patient! It takes time to lose weight, and you will need to continue to modify your eating or you will gain the weight back as soon as you revert to your former ways. For this reason it's good to change your diet only a little at a time, so that you can maintain your new way of eating for the rest of your life. Have some good treats built in to your diet so you don't feel tempted to binge.

40g of protein isn't ideal but is more than the minimum recommended, you're fine. You can eat more protein going forward.

More than the minimum recommended for whom, someone who weighs 100 lbs? (And I'm usually on the side defending .85 g/kg/day as a reasonable minimum goal, which gets a pretty stiff resistance from people who claim that, despite being defined as adequate for 95% of people, it doesn't apply to people who are in a calorie deficit or exercising. Only 5% of people are in a calorie deficit or exercising?)

But I agree with the rest of it. Expecting to see a difference from 4 lbs is unrealistic (unless maybe OP really does weigh 100 lbs). Patience is good, as are reasonable expectations and a sense of perspective and not worrying about things you can't do anything about. 30 to 40 g of protein was almost certainly sub-optimum, OP, so you may have sacrificed more muscle mass than you needed to (but you only lost 4 lbs, and some of that was likely glycogen reserves and water, and some of it was likely fat), but you can't do anything about that now, so take a deep breath and get back to doing things in a sensible way, including more protein.

Millicent3015 · October 2018

You lost four pounds and reckon you gained two, which means you've lost two pounds so far. If you're panicking about such tiny amounts now, how are you going to react to normal weight fluctuations, which this probably is? Weight can fluctuate by two pounds or more a day. It doesn't mean you've gained fat or muscle, it might more likely be water retention, food waste, ovulation/menstruation if you're female and good old gravity, because physical objects like human bodies are affected like that. Stop fretting and learn to manage your expectations. No one is going to see a spectacular bodily change with only four pounds of weight loss unless they're a baby or very underweight. And if you're very underweight, it might not be a good idea to be trying to lose weight at all.

mitch16 · October 2018

OP, how old are you? I just checked your post history and 1) you are already underweight and 2) you have a flare for the dramatic in all of your posts. Have you checked in with a doctor on your weight loss goals lately?

cmriverside · October 2018

I would guess that you're quite young by the tone and content of your post.

Relax

For one thing, young womens' bodies go through really dramatic changes in young adulthood. I remember freaking out over my "fat" legs and my stomach when I was about 16-17 or so. I was in no way fat. I was 5'8" 135ish, which is on the low end of my healthy weight. It was just that I was no longer straight up and down with little girl stick legs and flat torso, and my body was redistributing its body fat (we all have to have some, especially women. It's biology.)

Second, like everyone is saying, it's common to have weight fluctuations. Step away from the scale. You're okay.

kjm3579 · October 2018

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-great-protein-fiasco/

Don't worry about protein -- eat a whole foods plant based diet and get plenty of exercise

kimny72 · October 2018

kjm3579 wrote: »

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/the-great-protein-fiasco/

Don't worry about protein -- eat a whole foods plant based diet and get plenty of exercise

"Nutritionfacts" is not a credible source, it's propaganda for an agenda.

Having said that, while low protein is not optimal, it's certainly no reason to panic and binge.

OP, please take a deep breathe and read some of these Most Helpful Posts when you get a chance. Weight maintenance is a lifelong process, and one day or one week where you don't stay on plan or don't get the results you hoped is no big deal!

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

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1161603/so-you-want-a-nice-stomach/p1

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10689837/does-this-uterus-make-my-stomach-look-fat/p1

please help, really upset.

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