Frustration

BenMcNeelyJr · March 2019

I’ve been working out 5-6 days a week doing circuit training primarily using body weight with light weights mixed in. I’ve also been tracking my food intake. I’ve had my T levels checked and they are on the lower end of the normal spectrum for my age. I’ve GAINED 2lbs 😡😡😡 and I haven’t lost any size either 🤬. My fluid intake is almost strictly water and intake in about a gallon a day. I drink two to three cups of coffee a day which I have cut down from a pot a day. I don’t get it. I’ve been doing the circuit training for about two weeks but prior to that I was doing traditional lifting. I have also been swimming every day after my shift at the firehouse with a run or hike the day before my shift. I’ve been doing that for a couple months. Any suggestions?

SisterSueGetsFit · March 2019

The question you're going to get asked the most in response to this, is "are you weighing your food"?

But...I understand your plight. I've been working out religiously for over a month (mostly rowing), tracking/logging/weighing my food and not losing. Now...with that being said, I have a tendency to overdo it on the weekends, so I understand (mostly) why I'm not losing. I should still be losing a bit, but I'm not. I don't believe I'm wiping out my deficit so I am choosing to look at that fact I'm doing my body good by moving and hopefully the weight will drop soon. You're also going to hear "weight loss is not a linear process." All of this is true.

I'm sorry I don't have better advice to offer.

snickerscharlie · March 2019

Hi, Ben, and welcome to MFP.

The answer to your issue is somewhere in this chart:

cmriverside · March 2019

Yeah, what does "tracking my food" look like for you? How are you calculating your food calories intake?

If you open your Food page so we can see it, we may be able to spot common errors. Go to Food > Settings, then scroll down and click "Public."

Also, for how long have you been doing this? It takes a while to see results.

Panini911 · March 2019

if the exercise is new/increased your muscles may well be retaining extra water to repair themselves.

but agree with the "how are you tracking" questions and how long have you been doing this?

missysippy930 · March 2019

Exercise is great for overall health, and isn’t necessary for weight loss. Eating less calories than your body burns is how you lose weight. Are you tracking all your food precisely? Accurately weigh and measure everything you eat and drink. Barring no health issues you will lose weight.

zeejane03 · March 2019

missysippy930 wrote: »

Exercise is great for overall health, and isn’t necessary for weight loss. Eating less calories than your body burns is how you lose weight. Are you tracking all your food precisely? Accurately weigh and measure everything you eat and drink. Barring no health issues you will lose weight.

This.

Exercise is good for health, but has a pretty minimal impact for weight loss (especially since it tends to make you hungry afterwards and it's easy to eat away any calories earned).

Op, focus on your food intake-make sure you're accurately tracking your intake (food scale), and also that you're choosing correct database entries.

Also, as you get further along into this process start looking at your monthly weight trends instead of daily/weekly. That's because your weight will fluctuate a bit from day to day, due to normal bodily functions etc. If you're not already using a weight trending app look into getting one, very helpful! (Happy Scale for apple, Libra for android).

BenMcNeelyJr · March 2019

I’ve opened my diary to the public. I’ve been logging for a few years now although the consistency has varied. I use a food scale on some things but not all. I have found over the years that I over estimate the weight of what I eat. I changed up my workouts from a lifting/swimming/run or hike to a mostly body weight circuit/swim/run or hike. I do the circuit on my duty day, swim the day after, then the day prior to my shift I go for a run or a hike. My weight has remained for the most part constant. My last weigh in was about two weeks ago and I decided to check this morning and I have gained two pounds. I would expect weight gain with heavy lifting but I am more concerned that I am not losing size. I went to the doctor to get my T levels checked for other symptoms I was having and they came back at the low end of the normal spectrum for my age. All the research I have done says that as a male I SHOULD’NT restrict my calories but also should not over eat. MFP calculated my caloric intake to roughly 2645 which is around what other articles I have read and videos I have watched say. I am trying to increase my T levels to the average level for my age. That is my primary goal and excess body fat is a hindrance to that process which is the only reason I am concerned about weight loss. Otherwise I would be focusing on body measurements. When I log I scan the food if it has a barcode otherwise I try to put in the specific description and pick the closest item to the description. I’ve cut back on processed breads and am trying to stick to whole grains, trying to replace poly fats with healthy fats, I’ve cut out all supplements about two years ago so all my protein is primarily from meats with an occasional protein bar post swim. Currently trying to reduce the amount of sugar I take in. I would have expected to see at least a drop of a pound within the past two weeks since I’ve started the new routine but never would have thought to see a gain of two. It’s defeating to see that.

janejellyroll · March 2019

BenMcNeelyJr wrote: »

I’ve opened my diary to the public. I’ve been logging for a few years now although the consistency has varied. I use a food scale on some things but not all. I have found over the years that I over estimate the weight of what I eat. I changed up my workouts from a lifting/swimming/run or hike to a mostly body weight circuit/swim/run or hike. I do the circuit on my duty day, swim the day after, then the day prior to my shift I go for a run or a hike. My weight has remained for the most part constant. My last weigh in was about two weeks ago and I decided to check this morning and I have gained two pounds. I would expect weight gain with heavy lifting but I am more concerned that I am not losing size. I went to the doctor to get my T levels checked for other symptoms I was having and they came back at the low end of the normal spectrum for my age. All the research I have done says that as a male I SHOULD’NT restrict my calories but also should not over eat. MFP calculated my caloric intake to roughly 2645 which is around what other articles I have read and videos I have watched say. I am trying to increase my T levels to the average level for my age. That is my primary goal and excess body fat is a hindrance to that process which is the only reason I am concerned about weight loss. Otherwise I would be focusing on body measurements. When I log I scan the food if it has a barcode otherwise I try to put in the specific description and pick the closest item to the description. I’ve cut back on processed breads and am trying to stick to whole grains, trying to replace poly fats with healthy fats, I’ve cut out all supplements about two years ago so all my protein is primarily from meats with an occasional protein bar post swim. Currently trying to reduce the amount of sugar I take in. I would have expected to see at least a drop of a pound within the past two weeks since I’ve started the new routine but never would have thought to see a gain of two. It’s defeating to see that.

To lose weight, you will need to practice some form of calorie restriction because weight loss can only happen with a deficit. Is the MFP goal of 2,645 based on you entering a weight loss goal?

If you're not using a food scale for all solid foods, it may be a good idea to start. When people aren't losing weight when they expect to, the issue is often that they are eating more than they think they are.

BenMcNeelyJr · March 2019

I did put in a weight loss. I don’t always have access to a scale and meal prepping isn’t feasible at this time. We eat healthy at work and mostly healthy family meals at home.

missysippy930 · March 2019

Calories are calories.
You can over consume healthy calories as easily as “unhealthy” (whatever is considered unhealthy).
It’s the actual number of calories consumed that matters for weight loss, not the actual nutrition of the calories.

janejellyroll · March 2019

BenMcNeelyJr wrote: »

I did put in a weight loss. I don’t always have access to a scale and meal prepping isn’t feasible at this time. We eat healthy at work and mostly healthy family meals at home.

"Healthy" isn't really relevant when it comes to weight loss, you need a calorie deficit. If you're choosing less accurate methods of logging, then your progress might be slower than it would be otherwise.

snowflake954 · March 2019

BenMcNeelyJr wrote: »

I did put in a weight loss. I don’t always have access to a scale and meal prepping isn’t feasible at this time. We eat healthy at work and mostly healthy family meals at home.

Eating healthy has absolutely no effect on weight loss. You're maintaining and need to cut calories, or your calorie burn isn't as high as you think.

apullum · March 2019

Eating “healthy” may be important for various other health and fitness goals, but it’s irrelevant to weight loss. In order to lose weight, the only thing that matters is ensuring you’re consistently in a calorie deficit.

snickerscharlie · March 2019

Another thought to consider is that weight can flutuate rather dramatically from day to day - and even within the same day - based on hydration level, amount of food in the digestive tract, time of day you're weighing yourself, water retention for muscle repair or because of a high sodium meal.

Just because you weighed 2 lbs more, doesn't necessarily mean you gained 2 lbs of fat.

crb426 · March 2019

What is your activity level set to? Maybe you are eating too many calories for your actual daily burn?

csplatt · March 2019

I'd worry way more about calculating the calories in what I am eating, then purposefully reducing that into a deficit, than worry about how much I'm exercising.

AnnPT77 · March 2019

I'd point out that scanning items isn't any more accurate than typing them in: You still get an entry from the crowd-sourced database, probably entered by some MFP user, and they might not have been accurate when they entered it. It's good to check things against an authoritative source - the package, or the USDA database - the first time you use them. Once they're in your recent/frequent foods list, MFP will show those to you first.

It also isn't very important to get a close description of the food, necessarily. For example, there might be an entry for "Planter's Low Sodium Creamy Peanut Butter" and one for "Planters Lo-so Peanut Butter". What really matters is not that the name match exactly, but that the calories and nutrients are correct in the database entry, compared to the label.

Also, you don't want to be using other people's homemade recipe entries in the database, since you don't know how they made them (unless you have to estimate a meal you ate at someone else's house or something, in which case just pick a similar one from the database, ideally one on the higher side for calories to be safe, & estimate the portion size). If you're making something at home yourself, use the MFP recipe builder to log it, or (if you're eating the whole thing) just log the ingredients individually.

As to your main question, though, I agree with others that there's a decent chance you're seeing water weight gain on the scale, from new exercise, and that things will sort themselves out with time. It is important to log accurately, though, so you know where you stand.

JBanx256 · March 2019

BenMcNeelyJr wrote: »

I did put in a weight loss. I don’t always have access to a scale and meal prepping isn’t feasible at this time. We eat healthy at work and mostly healthy family meals at home.

Why isn't meal prep feasible? You're a fireman, right? I'm a police officer* so I kinda get your situation. Meal prepping takes me about 2 hrs/week. I just finished a meal (cold) sitting in my patrol car. If you're at a fire station you also have access to a full kitchen and everything, correct? Not trying to be a jerk, just trying to understand the issue. If you meal prep, you can weigh/measure everything. I know you said you think you overestimate your foods, but mathematically, if you're not losing weight...

Also, as others have pointed out, you can very easily eat "healthy" foods and still be in a calorie surplus.

*My husband is also LE/fire with the Forest Service. Unless he is actually ON a woodland fire, he can take prepped meals to work and thus has control of his calorie intake etc. When he's on a woodland fire (he gets dispatched all over the country for up to 3 weeks at a time), he loses weight because even though they have some astronomical calorie intake each day, he's just that active out there. CICO.

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