I don't understand what is going wrong

Seibert_Scott
Seibert_Scott Posts: 7 Member
in Motivation and Support
Help!! IDK what is going on. I've been on MFP for about 6 weeks. My calories are down 3500 each week and I've GAINED 2 pounds overall. I don't understand. This is insane. I've done MFP in the past and it's worked well, but IDK what has changed.

This is the most frustrating point in my life. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I hate it and myself. I'm extremely frustrated with losing weight. I should be down at least 6 pounds, but here I am with a weight gain. It makes no sense. Even if you consider the time of day I've weighed myself or water weight I still should not have gained weight.

I'm quite strict with my reporting on what I've eaten and how much. Each little snack or bit I take in I report. I exercise and usually underreport how much/long I've exercised.

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Can you open your Food Diary so we can help you troubleshoot?

    Go to FOOD > Settings, scroll down and set it to Public and click "save."
  • darklyndsea
    darklyndsea Posts: 56 Member
    Is the exercise new? You can gain weight when starting new exercise.
  • Seibert_Scott
    Seibert_Scott Posts: 7 Member
    Thank you, I just changed my Food settings.

    No. the exercise is very familiar. I swim and I've swum for a long time.

    The only thing I can imagine is that we just returned from a year in China. I did not do MFP in China. It would have been very difficult. I tried to exercise in China, but finding a pool was difficult so I did not swim the last 3 months of our stay there.

    I wonder if it's stress, but that still wouldn't explain a weight gain with all the calories spent.

    Thank you for your interest and replies.
  • joone_9
    joone_9 Posts: 152 Member
    This kinda just recently happened to me (albeit it was 3 almost 4 weeks in) and I was so bummed. I decided to just stick with what I was doing for another week and then was going to cut by 150 cals per day. But after eating a well deserved indulgence of about 500 cal over my usual daily allowance the next day I seen a 5lb drop..yup..just like that. For me I think what was going on was that I was not eating enough so when I finally had one day where my body had plenty it let go and dropped the weight. So I actually started eating 100 cals more a day and the scale is still moving down. So I would say first start maybe cutting by 150 cals for 2-3 weeks and if nothing then maybe add back 150 more than your current (or do the opposite..it’s up to you). Studying the magic number and monitoring it as I lose is what is working (and this is different for everyone). Whatever you do..stick with the healthy eating and exercise as it’s good for your mind and body and eventually you will lose with the new healthy lifestyle. It just may not be as fast as you like.
  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    What time of day are you weighing yourself? You made reference to that.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited September 2019
    Do you weigh all your food on a digital food scale before logging?
  • Seibert_Scott
    Seibert_Scott Posts: 7 Member
    I usually weigh myself in the morning after using the bathroom (sorry to reference that, but..)

    I haven't weighed all my food on a digital scale. I do own one and will weigh from time to time. Good suggestion though. I should weigh my food again, but I don't think this is the reason for a gain in weight.
  • gallicinvasion
    gallicinvasion Posts: 1,015 Member
    Flying in an airplane can cause water retention!
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    Seibert_Scott wrote: »
    I usually weigh myself in the morning after using the bathroom (sorry to reference that, but..)

    I haven't weighed all my food on a digital scale. I do own one and will weigh from time to time. Good suggestion though. I should weigh my food again, but I don't think this is the reason for a gain in weight.

    It can be.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    gallicinvasion wrote: »
    Flying in an airplane can cause water retention!

    True ... this is one of many things that can cause water retention.
  • BarbaraHelen2013
    BarbaraHelen2013 Posts: 1,940 Member
    Your daily calorie goal at 3,070 (before exercise) calories seems on the high side to me, unless you’re very tall and very heavy.
    If that’s a weight loss target calorie count, what weight loss rate have you set? At a pound loss a week that suggests your maintenance is in the 3500+ cals range.

    What are the stats that you put into MFP to generate that target? Height, weight, gender, age etc...I’m just wondering if the problem lies in there somewhere.

  • SuperMotivated56
    SuperMotivated56 Posts: 119 Member
    Just stick with it! 👍🏻. I also started extremely slowly and then gained weight a couple of times.... I know how demotivating that can be. I decided to stick with it as I was feeling better physically and mentally as a result of the cleaner, better eating and the exercise (walking). I’m pleased to say that the scale has only just started moving in the direction that I want it to 🥳. Rather than getting down on myself for not losing at the rate that I hoped I would (or that others report), I keep focusing on my improved mental and physical wellbeing when I hit these patches.
    Take care of yourself - especially emotionally 💭💝
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    BarbaraHelen2013 wrote: »
    Your daily calorie goal at 3,070 (before exercise) calories seems on the high side to me, unless you’re very tall and very heavy.
    If that’s a weight loss target calorie count, what weight loss rate have you set? At a pound loss a week that suggests your maintenance is in the 3500+ cals range.

    What are the stats that you put into MFP to generate that target? Height, weight, gender, age etc...I’m just wondering if the problem lies in there somewhere.

    Good point.

    His calories are all over the place ... one day the goal is 3070 the next it's about 2200 then back to 3070. On days when he's aiming for 2200, he's often well over.

    I would suggest entering your information into MFP and let MFP decide what your calorie count should be. Then stick with it for the next 6 weeks.
  • Seibert_Scott
    Seibert_Scott Posts: 7 Member
    edited September 2019
    Thank you all for your comments.

    Regarding my calorie count. My daily goal is always 2190 before exercise. I do not change the goal personally. I do let MFP do its math. After exercise it often jumps to, well, IDK why it's at 3k, but typically it is close to 3k. I try to exercise at least 4 times a week.

    With other people looking at my progress (or lack thereof) I can see how erratic my calorie count is. I find it hard to believe that this is a major problem and would cause me to gain weight, but I will do my best to be more fastidious in recording my daily intake.

    A question about fasting. In the past I have fasted one day a week. My understanding is that this helps with those of us in stages of pre-diabetes. I am clearly in that demographic. It has worked well in the past. Do any of you do this?

    Thanks again for your support and encouragement.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,615 Member
    When you exercise 4 days a week what do you do?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    Yeah, those 900 calorie exercise days? I would lower that to 500 for an hour, MAX.

    It sounds like you have quite a lot of weight to lose, I would not eat above 2500, regardless of exercise. If you're quite overweight, you have plenty of body fat to "fuel" your exercise. Exercise calories are a problem at the higher body weights because the calculations tend to get a bit skewed at the outer edges.

    If you are not Losing weight, you're eating too much. Full Stop.


    Dial in the food logging: so log everything and as accurately as you can, and dial back that calorie number for exercise. Do that for a month, see how it goes.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1
  • dcheez
    dcheez Posts: 3 Member
    I have found that once you start working at a caloric deficit you stay off the scale for at least 3 weeks. It takes 3-5 weeks before your body starts burning fat for energy after it’s used the food energy
  • try2again
    try2again Posts: 3,562 Member
    edited September 2019
    * Reread original post and decided my comment probably wasn't applicable. ;)
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,416 Member
    try2again wrote: »
    Seibert_Scott wrote: »

    The only thing I can imagine is that we just returned from a year in China. I did not do MFP in China. It would have been very difficult. I tried to exercise in China, but finding a pool was difficult so I did not swim the last 3 months of our stay there.

    Most comments have things covered, and I definitely agree with @cmriverside about the calorie burn estimates likely being too high. But just wanted to mention, if you were not exercising the last 3 months, and then started up again recently, the gain may just be water retention for muscle repair. Or as has been mentioned, from your flight if it was recent.

    Thanks.

    I can't believe no one has linked the fluctuations thingy:

    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations/

    Seibert, if you are fairly over-weight, expect up to 10 pounds of fluctuation due to a variety of things like air travel, stress, hydration levels, exercise, sleep. It's normal.
  • memurph88
    memurph88 Posts: 102 Member
    I'm looking at your past 3 - 4 days of your food diary and it looks like you're eating a lot of processed / pre-made foods (no judgement, I don't know your schedule or cooking skills!). I think if you add more homecooked meals, fruits & veggies into your diet and try to eat more often (while staying under the suggested calorie intake) you might find that helpful. When you cook at home you can control the amount of oil, salt, etc. that is used and that can help reduce the calories.

    I'm only telling you what I do, and it happens to work for me.

    Best of luck on your journey! :smile:
  • Seibert_Scott
    Seibert_Scott Posts: 7 Member
    Yes, I know last week was a bad week. Frustration with my weight issues and meeting up with people. I eat when frustrated, or bored, or happy, or it's my birthday, or it's your birthday, or it's somebody's birthday... et. al.

    I do cook for myself and my family most of the time. My favorite meal for dieting is a chicken salad, but I haven't been able to make that for a couple of weeks. I think I'd do well with a routine, but to get into a routine is quite difficult sometimes.

    I'll keep at it.
    Thank you everyone.

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