Why am I gaining weight

jagfam3221
jagfam3221 Posts: 1 Member
edited December 20 in Getting Started
Thank you for welcoming me to community.. I have been given 1200 calories daily.. I have been creative to make those calories stretch. I eat clean (whole food) 90% of the time. The first week I lost 8 pounds and now I am gaining 1-2 pounds back a day even though I am eating healthy and staying within 1200 calories..was wondering if you could shed some light on why this may be happening and how to change it

Replies

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited April 2019
    have you started a new exercise or increased exercise?
    how many total weeks have you been at this?

    i wouldn't worry about day to day variations, our weight moves around daily adn within a day based on water retention, hydration, what's "still in" our body, time of the month for women, etc. The initial drop as encouraging as it was wasn't a sign of how things will go each week. weight loss is a long game not one we see positive change daily/weekly

    lastly: using a food scale is highly recommended, and make sure to eat back exercise calories. 1200 is the lowest a woman (small woman) should eat to get enough nutrients and is unnecessarily low for most women.
  • avlucia
    avlucia Posts: 66 Member
    Wow 8lbs is high and like the previous poster I hope it was water weight. You really only want to be losing 1-2 lbs a week- you didn't get here overnight you're not going to be going back overnight either. Losing to quickly means excess skin and likely to plateau.

    It would probably help if you shared some of your numbers, how much do you weight, what is your goal, m/f, height?
  • JB1775
    JB1775 Posts: 136 Member
    Your calorie needs decrease as you lose weight and vice versa. So, make sure you're updating your weight so you can get the proper amount of calories.
  • psychod787
    psychod787 Posts: 4,099 Member
    Sharon_C wrote: »
    Dilvish wrote: »
    First off, don't weigh yourself daily. It is counterproductive and experts do not recommend it. Once a week is sufficient and better still, use a tape measure instead. Weight fluctuates daily due to water retention (men & women) so it isn't an accurate measure.

    This is wrong. Experts do recommend weighing daily. Get an app like Libra or Happy Scale, weigh yourself daily and record it. Study your fluctuations so you can determine why you're fluctuating.

    You will see that weight is not a linear downward trend but jumps around. The app will show you that while your weight fluctuates it is going down.

    Say you weigh yourself on Sunday and you weigh 150. Throughout the week you may go down to 149, 148, 147. The next Sunday you weigh yourself and the scale says 150. You think all of your hard work was wasted, what you don't see, because you're not weighing every day, is that you were down 1,2 or 3 pounds throughout the week and that last 150 was just a fluctuation.

    Weigh yourself every day. Get over the fear of the scale. Use it as a tool. Do not use it as your only tool, but still use it.

    Absolutely weighing in is very important. That being said, if you DO have scale anxiety, pick 1 or 2 days a week and weigh in. Make sure it's the same scale, same surface, sameish time, same clothing, and after urination and before eating or drinking. A weight trending app helps take the "white noises" out of the equation.
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited April 2019
    It's very common to have a big water weight drop the first week, and then little loss or even a gain in following weeks as the water weight evens out. In the meantime, you likely have fat loss going on that is being hidden by the noise on the scale. We really need 4-6 weeks to see a true trend on the scale, sometimes more.

    In the meantime, you might consider if 1200 calories is actually appropriate for you. Most people are inclined to choose a 2 lb/week loss rate even though their current body mass may not be able to support that in a healthy fashion.

    https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

    Wish you the best :)
  • akalostangel
    akalostangel Posts: 7 Member
    edited April 2019
    I generally lose about 1-2 lbs a week. I have lost a total of 19 lbs since January. I'm not a medical professional, but losing weight too quickly is not healthy and you are less likely to keep it off. Lifestyle changes take time and effort. My goal right now is 1500 a day, but I could do 1200 and be full. I probably couldn't do it everyday, though.

    Regarding when I get on the scale, I weigh myself whenever I feel like it, which is not every day, but more than once a week. Here is the best article I have found regarding when to weigh. Good luck to you.

    https://www.heart.org/en/news/2019/01/02/the-pros-and-cons-of-weighing-yourself-every-day
  • CieAilZai
    CieAilZai Posts: 7 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    jagfam3221 wrote: »
    Thank you for welcoming me to community.. I have been given 1200 calories daily.. I have been creative to make those calories stretch. I eat clean (whole food) 90% of the time. The first week I lost 8 pounds and now I am gaining 1-2 pounds back a day even though I am eating healthy and staying within 1200 calories..was wondering if you could shed some light on why this may be happening and how to change it

    That 8 Lbs was largely water...mathematically, you can't really lose 8 Lbs of fat in a week...so now you're seeing an uptick in water. Your bodyweight fluctuates naturally which is why you want to watch the trend over time (weeks and months) and not focus too much on the day to day.

    This is what weight loss looks like over time plotted on a graph...

    weighttrendgraph1.gif

    See the red line? That's the trend...that's what is important.

    Hi! Can you share where I can find a safe downloadable version of WeightWare for Mac?
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