Seem to be gaining despite working out daily

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Replies

  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    I have happy scale and it shows slow gain over two weeks
  • Leonie_M234
    Leonie_M234 Posts: 57 Member
    I really think you will get a woosh!! where you suddenly lose a few pounds over night : ) This has occurred with me many times over the last year. I must hold water, especially when I change exersise routines or up the intensity. Trust the process and keep logging. Once you have enough data to look back on you can trust your stats, and plateaus will not feel quite so frustrating....good luck!
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I'm going to ask how big a deficit have you asked MFP to make for weight loss, and how much bigger are you making it by not correctly eating more when you do more?

    Your 1 comment makes it sound like you think you have to exercise for weight loss - like why would you count those calories if you want to lose weight.
    That is a misunderstanding of how things work.

    Because stress induced water weight retention has been shown to slowly add on 20 lbs.
    How many weeks of scale fat loss could that hide?
    Of course if the body is so stressed it is slowly increasing cortisol like that - that's a negative long term.
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    heybales wrote: »
    I'm going to ask how big a deficit have you asked MFP to make for weight loss, and how much bigger are you making it by not correctly eating more when you do more?

    Your 1 comment makes it sound like you think you have to exercise for weight loss - like why would you count those calories if you want to lose weight.
    That is a misunderstanding of how things work.

    Because stress induced water weight retention has been shown to slowly add on 20 lbs.
    How many weeks of scale fat loss could that hide?
    Of course if the body is so stressed it is slowly increasing cortisol like that - that's a negative long term.

    I’m not sure I have understood you, sorry!
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    I really think you will get a woosh!! where you suddenly lose a few pounds over night : ) This has occurred with me many times over the last year. I must hold water, especially when I change exersise routines or up the intensity. Trust the process and keep logging. Once you have enough data to look back on you can trust your stats, and plateaus will not feel quite so frustrating....good luck!

    I really hope so - thanks for the support! Feeling so demoralised - every day it creeps up! Like today and yesterday I was WELL under 1400 calories consumed, I went for walks and I worked out... but still the gain!!! Grrrrr
  • CorvusCorax77
    CorvusCorax77 Posts: 2,536 Member
    edited January 2021
    Hey goatelope! You and I are very similar! I'm 5'3.75" (gimme that three quarters of an inch!) and started out this time around at 172 lbs. I am not working out as much as you- I work out three to four days a week and I am logging dutifully with food scale and all. I think there are a few things possibly going on with you:

    (1) you are retaining water due to a new work out routine- this is TOTALLY FINE! Any day I lift weights, the scale is up the next day because your muscles retain water as part of their healing process. If you are doing resistance work five days a week, this could easily account for a few pounds. So think of it this way: you probably lost a few pounds of fat you don't realize because you're holding on to a few pounds of water. This is great!
    (2) You are probably doing body recomposition- you noted yourself that you are fitter! You are losing fat and gaining muscle. This is great! You don't really want to lose "weight," you want to lose "fat." And you are doing that.
    (3) the BESTEST news is that all the hard work you are doing WILL SHOW UP ON THE SCALE in time. As you increase muscle mass and continue to lose more fat than your body retains in repair water, you will see the scale go down.

    It sounds like you are doing everything right. If you have been at this for two weeks and no change, I'd say stick with it. If you have been at this for six weeks and no change, here's some things to think about:

    (1) are you actually eating enough? You say 1500 cals max. If that means that most days you're only eating 800 cals, that's bad news. You need to fuel your body or it will eat itself.
    (2) Should you see a doctor to make sure you don't have a medical condition contributing to your situation? Perhaps you need way more than 1500 calories. Perhaps you have a hormonal issue.

    All that being said, if you want to friend me since we are on similar paths, please do!
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,036 Member
    edited January 2021
    goatelope wrote: »
    heybales wrote: »
    I'm going to ask how big a deficit have you asked MFP to make for weight loss, and how much bigger are you making it by not correctly eating more when you do more?

    Your 1 comment makes it sound like you think you have to exercise for weight loss - like why would you count those calories if you want to lose weight.
    That is a misunderstanding of how things work.

    Because stress induced water weight retention has been shown to slowly add on 20 lbs.
    How many weeks of scale fat loss could that hide?
    Of course if the body is so stressed it is slowly increasing cortisol like that - that's a negative long term.

    I’m not sure I have understood you, sorry!

    What I believe Heybales is saying is that you might be undereating.

    What weight loss rate did you select in MFP? What activity level? MFP is intended to be used like this:
    - you enter your personal stats
    - you select a weight loss rate
    - you select an activity level that corresponds with how active you are not including intentional exercise
    - MFP gives you a base calorie goal for days when you don't exercise
    - when you exercise, you add (a reasonable estimate of) the calories burned to your calorie goal. If your don't, you create a larger deficit (faster weight loss rate than three one you chose)

    Creating a deficit that is too big
    - might be unhealthy depending on your circumstances: obese people can lose weight safely at a faster rate than people with less to lose. Risks are: brittle nails, hair loss, loss of muscle mass,...
    - but also creates more stress on the body. More stress on top of the stress of working out 6 days a week, which can lead to water retention, masking fat loss on the scale.
    Judging from the new thread you created, you are very worried about your weight trend, even more stress 😉

    I would suggest taking a break from working out for 3 or 4 days to give your body a break. And don't stay 'WELL under' your calorie goal, you don't need to be exactly on your goal, but aim to be close to it. Undereating is not a good thing.