working my butt off, eating under my calories and

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brynniebo
brynniebo Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
have actually gained a pound! what the heck is going on? I have gone to the gym faithfully for the past 3 weeks, have been eating under my 1200 calories per day (when you factor in the exercise) and hit my lowest weight last week, only to put on a pound after going out for dinner (ONE NIGHT) and I still didn't overindulge........... making me crazy!:frown:

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  • Captainfakeeye
    Captainfakeeye Posts: 16
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    If you're actually hitting the gym a whole bunch, the weight could be your muscles retaining water. Just keep at it, and the pounds are sure to shed! (Also, make sure that when you count your calories, you're counting correctly. Are you weighing every gram?)
  • Honey1990
    Honey1990 Posts: 81
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    look at the sodium in that meal you had. and is it close to tom? that could be a factor as well.
  • Angelamu77
    Angelamu77 Posts: 39
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    Give it a day or two because going out to eat can be packed with retaining water.
  • Lahdidahdah
    Lahdidahdah Posts: 33
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    make sure you go to the bathroom before you weigh; also, always check your sodium levels, retaining water will cause you to weigh heavier. Finally, i find that weight fluctuates by a pound or so every few days, so don't freak unless you continue to weigh the extra pound after several days.
  • Jenna1971
    Jenna1971 Posts: 28
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    Make sure you eat back your exercise caloies. you may also be consuming to few calories and your body is just hanging on to them - I increased my calorie intake by 250 calories and the wieght just fell off. JMO
  • brynniebo
    brynniebo Posts: 20 Member
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    thanks everyone..... the good news is that my clothes are definately fitting so much better and I'm actually in some things that I haven't worn for a looooong time..... so my body is shrinking..... I'm determined.........
  • mathjulz
    mathjulz Posts: 5,514 Member
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    It's probably not a pound of fat coming back. First guess would be water - restaurant foods tend to have more sodium and it might have caused you to retain fluids (it only takes a pint of water for an extra pound!). Are you measuring yourself as well as weighing? That might give you a more accurate idea of your progress, since some weeks you might be building almost as much muscle as you are burning fat (depending on what your exercise routine is), so you might not see a difference in pounds but will in inches.

    You might also want to consider eating a bit more. I have never gone below 1500 calories a day. I lost well on 1500-1600 a day with daily exercise (and I wasn't counting or "eating back" exercise calories, that was my total intake) several times (the weight came back with a new baby, lol), and I'm a small person, so I have a hard time understanding 1200 calories. Every body is different, though, but sometimes eating too little can stall out your weight loss.
  • JustEm1973
    JustEm1973 Posts: 1
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    Oh dear me...if you are working hard and exercising then as your percentage of body fat slowly reduces you are also likely to be increasing your lean muscle mass. As lean muscle is heavier than fat you may well see an increase in actual 'weight' which is why 'weight' per se has limited meaning in terms of your body composition and leanness. It is probably worth getting your body fat measured properly and then keeping track of that alongside just outright 'weight'. Your body composition is much more meaningful than a simple scale reading.:smile:
  • cocolo89
    cocolo89 Posts: 1,171 Member
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    i'm in the same spot. i hit my all-time low weight and 2 days later i'm up 1.5lbs and i have been exercising regularly and not going over my exercise calories. It sucks, i think it's water retention from working out. funny this is i quit exercising and tracking food for 1 week cause i had family over, and i ended up losing 2 lbs!! and then i started counting my food again and exercising religiously and i'm back up! i hate it, but i'm going to continue doing the right things and everything should work out in the end. i'm just stressing out cause i'm going on vacation next week!!

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