I've been on this for two weeks now and gained one pound! I

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sveltemarilyn
sveltemarilyn Posts: 16 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I'm feeling discouraged today because I seem to not be losing any weight at all. In fact, I've apparently gained a pound. Now, I've seriously upped my exercise, and I'm trying hard not to eat the exercise points. I am eating some of them. My hubby says don't eat any of them, but I get woozy and sick feeling late in the day if I don't eat some.
A friend of mine says I may be putting on muscle and that if I keep this up I'll see some weight loss too. Any ideas?:grumble: :grumble:
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  • rawrkeia
    rawrkeia Posts: 75 Member
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    Take measurments. That's a good way if you think you're building muscle.

    However, from everything I've read on here, you are supposed to eat your exercise calories. You have already burned them off, so its a bit of a treat. Plus your body has to get a certain amount or else you will stall.
  • Frank09051949
    Frank09051949 Posts: 3 Member
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    Muscle does weigh more than fat.
    Try looking at your measurements rather than your weight to see if they have changed.
  • Diary_Queen
    Diary_Queen Posts: 1,314 Member
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    I gained a pound too..... everyone says to eat more. keep net cals over 1200. im gonna try that for a while and see how it goes. there are lots of people here that lost weight that way. cant hurt to try!!! feel free to add me and we can chat about it sometime :)
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
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    How many calories are you eating every day? When I started actually logging what I ate...I found out a lot...one thing is that I wasn't eating enough calories. Once I corrected that..the weight started to fly off..but of course I did exercise too.

    Good luck!
  • mikesmom313
    mikesmom313 Posts: 2
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    Hi there! Don't be discouraged. I agree with your friend...because you are working out alot, you are gaining muscle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you'll see either no change or weight gain earlier on. your weight WILL drop soon...keep up the good work! And if you are feeling woozy, then that is a sign that you aren't eating enough....eating TOO little causes weight gain as well. =D
  • RdySetGO11
    RdySetGO11 Posts: 89 Member
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    It takes 1 month to put on 1 lb of muscle, so I doubt that's what it is. What is your activity level? MFP is set up for you to eat those calories you earn from exercise. Do you wear a HRM so that you can accurately log the calories you burn? I find that MFP calories burned for some exercises is fairly low and then sometimes they are high. It just depends. Hope this helps even though it's not much!
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
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    if you have been truthfull and eaten healthy and exersiced..

    water retension(i get mine 2 times in a month,ovulation time and period time)
    also you won't be gaining muscle quite yet,that will take a little time..

    as for eating back you cals i would do at first until you get used to the routine of healthy eating and reduce them slowly
    xx
  • dobsonk56
    dobsonk56 Posts: 2
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    I, too, have gained a pound in two weeks. First week I lost 10, but that was probably all water. I exercise 6 days a week, but not sure if I ate all those calories that I wouldn't put on more!!
  • lawtechie
    lawtechie Posts: 708 Member
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    Good morning. Your diary isn't available for viewing so I can't comment on that but my thoughts are you should be eating a minimum of 1200 calories. If you exercise, eat those calories back otherwise you're falling below the 1200 your body needs to function and will hang on to it.

    As for "muscle weighs more than fat" it doesn't. A pound is a pound is a pound. More muscle fits in the same space as fat, which is why people say to take measurements.

    Give it 2-3 weeks of good clean eating to see a difference. Keep up the exercise. If still no difference, consider making your diary public for a time/comments.

    Good luck!
  • DancinSMartiPants
    DancinSMartiPants Posts: 363
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    I agree with taking measurements. They will keep you up when the scale gets you down. 2 weeks might be too early for measurements to show much, though.

    Do you have a food scale? Until I got access to one I didn't realize how off my portions were. I don't have one of my own, but using my friend's a couple times was really eye opening. That will definitely be my next purchase.
  • PalmettoparkGuy
    PalmettoparkGuy Posts: 212 Member
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    You gained because you're not eating your exercise calories.
  • jdelot
    jdelot Posts: 397 Member
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    Eat your exercise calories. I know this seems counter productive, but not eating them is keeping you from succeeding. Somewhere on here there is a "newbie" post. If someone knows where it is, please put the link up.
  • ChristineMarie89
    ChristineMarie89 Posts: 1,142 Member
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    mayby u have gained muscle take measurements. when are you weighing?? if u weigh after u have ate and drank etc. you probably will weigh more i weigh at least one lb more in the afternoon then the morning. weigh wen u get up. mayby its ur scale(my old one was messed up n i had it for three days) so thy can go out at any ttime lol. mayby u jst need to examine what ypou have been doing and tweek it a lil i am no expert but ther are a lotta things that could be happening but whatever you do DONT GIVE UP or u will never get results.
  • Lucy1421
    Lucy1421 Posts: 14
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    Just one more thing. If you have stepped up the workouts then your body is probably holding more water. It will do that at first and will let go in a few weeks when it gets used to it. I agree you should eat your exercise calories. When I wasn't doing that I wasn't losing. Once I upped my calories to at least a net of 1200 I started losing. Just keep up the good work, don't get discouraged. i have gone weeks without losing before too or also gaining.
  • LivLovLrn
    LivLovLrn Posts: 580 Member
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    eat your calories!!! The calories MFP recommends is the amount you need to consume to lose weight at the rate you entered into the database (1 pound a week, 1.5 pounds a week or 2 pounds a week). When you exercise you are using more energy and so you need to eat more calories. Your body may want to hang on to what you've got to feed itself if you are not eating back your calories.
    Also, take a big cleansing breath and be patient. It takes a while for your body to adjust to something different. Each person is different in how long it takes to adjust, but I I always recommend giving it a good month at least.
  • AuntSissy152
    AuntSissy152 Posts: 27 Member
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    II've only been doing this for a week. Everyone is giving you good advice. The only thing I can add is to be sure you weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after the bathroom and before eating breakfast. I also think it takes a bit for your body to realize you mean business with placing it on a diet.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    I had to giggle when you called the exercise "points" - does that mean you come from WW? I did and do the same slip-up with calling calories points.

    As far as your gain, it's likely a combination of not eating your exercise calories and changing up your exercise. Any time we start a new exercise program or increase intensity, the muscles will react by retaining water as part of the natural healing process. To counteract this, make sure you're eating properly and drinking at least 8 cups, if not a few more.

    You definitely want to eat back your exercise calories because MFP is set up in a way so that you don't HAVE to exercise to lose weight. They already figure in a calorie deficit based on how many pounds per week you said you wanted to lose. If you don't eat back at least half of the calories you burn during exercise, you are seriously undernourishing your body.

    Trust the plan, it works!!
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,239 Member
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    While it is possible to put muscle on while eating at a calorie deficit, especially if you started from a completely sedentary lifesyle, it is very slow. I put on something like 5-6 pounds in 9 months. In fact unless you are training with weights, it is unlikely it is muscle. More likely, since you said you upped your exercise is that your muscles are retaining water. This post explains it more completely http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis The other thing that is possible is that you are not measuring your portions carefully enough, or you could be establishing too large a calorie deficit by eating too little and not eating at least some of your exercise calories back as they are not accounted for in your daily allowance here on MFP.

    I would suggest a couple of things. First, open your diary so people can make suggestions based on it. Second, if you don't have a digital kitchen scale, get one as weighing your portions is the more accurate way to control the portions. Third, make sure you are drinking enough water.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,701 Member
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    While it is possible to put muscle on while eating at a calorie deficit, especially if you started from a completely sedentary lifesyle, it is very slow. I put on something like 5-6 pounds in 9 months. In fact unless you are training with weights, it is unlikely it is muscle. More likely, since you said you upped your exercise is that your muscles are retaining water. This post explains it more completely http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis The other thing that is possible is that you are not measuring your portions carefully enough, or you could be establishing too large a calorie deficit by eating too little and not eating at least some of your exercise calories back as they are not accounted for in your daily allowance here on MFP.

    I would suggest a couple of things. First, open your diary so people can make suggestions based on it. Second, if you don't have a digital kitchen scale, get one as weighing your portions is the more accurate way to control the portions. Third, make sure you are drinking enough water.
    THIS^
    For those that don't know it you need a CALORIE SURPLUS to build and gain muscle. While there are rare instances it can happen, building muscle on calorie deficit is almost impossible. And to even gain 1lb of muscle is VERY hard in one month's time.
    Just want to dispell this "you're building muscle" inaccuracy when people are on a weight loss regimen.
  • sveltemarilyn
    sveltemarilyn Posts: 16 Member
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    Thanks for the good advice, everyone! I'm really working on portion control and eating enough calories without overestimating the amount I'm burning.

    Does anyone else find the MFP calorie counts on exercise higher than other sources? Do you use other sources to estimate the calories you burn?

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