I’ve gained another 0.2 pounds since yesterday :( what’s wrong with me

goatelope
goatelope Posts: 178 Member
in Motivation and Support
I just can’t stand it - I’m four weeks in, working out between 30-45 mins per day a mixture of cardio and resistance through the body project online workouts

Calories are 1500 per day which is what I was recommended by MFP for weight loss. I’m doing everything I can and the scale just goes up and up

I am not slimming down - I just took tape measure measurements

What is wrong with me

Replies

  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »
    There is nothing wrong with you. It is normal. Weight fluctuates on a daily basis for various reasons such as hormones, fluid retention or rehydration, medication, whether you've had a bowel movement, amount of exercise you did the day before etc.

    If you can't cope with daily fluctuations don't weigh daily, weigh once a week or every fortnight.

    Google: weight fluctuates on a daily basis - you will find plenty of articles

    Thanks but I am now 3 lbs heavier than last week
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,885 Member
    Everything that has been said in your other recent threads is still valid.

    If you are still gaining weight over the next four weeks, then perhaps reevaluate. But for now: relax! Stressing like this is only going to exarcerbate any potential stress related water retention.
  • thisvickyruns
    thisvickyruns Posts: 193 Member
    you need to stop weighing yourself every day, or even every week, if fluctuations upset you.

    weight loss isn't linear.
  • SunnyBunBun79
    SunnyBunBun79 Posts: 2,228 Member
    Maybe the calcs are wrong and you need to go on a different calorie deficit?
  • goal06082021
    goal06082021 Posts: 2,130 Member
    A pound of fat contains 3,500 calories. If you did not eat an extra 10,500 calories on top of what your body needed to keep you alive last week, you have not gained three pounds of fat. A pint of water weighs a pound, and the human body is 55-60% water. I didn't see if you mentioned it already, but are you measuring your food in any way, or just eyeballing it?

    If you're not using a kitchen scale to weigh out your portions, you may be eating significantly more than you think you are, even if you are measuring volumetrically (cups and spoons). Volumetric measurements are for liquids, solid foods should be weighed in grams or ounces. You can pick up a decent kitchen scale for less than $30 (I have an Escali and it works great). Try that, if you aren't already doing so, and see if that moves the needle any.
  • squeaker87
    squeaker87 Posts: 82 Member
    If you’re female, “that time of the month” can cause fluctuations as well. Mine is always a little crazy the week before it starts. Cycles make a big difference.
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    Did you read the water weight article we posted in your other thread?
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    goatelope wrote: »
    tiptoethruthetulips wrote: »
    There is nothing wrong with you. It is normal. Weight fluctuates on a daily basis for various reasons such as hormones, fluid retention or rehydration, medication, whether you've had a bowel movement, amount of exercise you did the day before etc.

    If you can't cope with daily fluctuations don't weigh daily, weigh once a week or every fortnight.

    Google: weight fluctuates on a daily basis - you will find plenty of articles

    Thanks but I am now 3 lbs heavier than last week

    I can be up or down anywhere from 0 to 3-5 Lbs day to day depending...up 3 Lbs is well within the norm of regular bodyweight fluctuations, particularly in a week to week weigh in.

    That aside, are you weighing in at the same time of day and under the same conditions? Are you clothed? For most people, this means pretty much first thing in the morning after you've used the restroom and typically unclothed. Also keep in mind that if you aren't one that goes everyday, that will play with the scale as well given you will have digestive waste building up.
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    Hello everyone

    I am weighing everything; I then check the calories and log it. I would say allowing for any errors, I eat 1500 calories per day. I calculated 1743 for maintenance, and so I thought consuming 1500 would lead to loss.

    I do not always get 10000 steps in, but I work out 6 times per week; 2-3 of those days I do 30 mins and the rest of the time more like 45-50. I’ve been doing that for just over a month now.

    I weigh everything, I drink water and I never have alcohol.

    It’s not my time of the month - I’ve seen steady gain of between 0.2 and 0.5 pounds per day.

    Thanks for any help
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,539 Member
    Between 0.2 and 0.5 pounds per day for how long?

    Gaining after starting or increasing exercise is probably the #1 complaint here. If your numbers are right, it almost certainly water. Stay the course.

    The alternative is to cut calories. Fact is that the calculators are based on averages and statistics. The numbers are not exact.
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    edited January 2021
    2.4 lbs heavier this morning - I thought WTF this is harder the older you get.
    But I will continue on this quest until I reach the mountain top, until then I am slowly climbing my way to the top
    I starting adding weights to my workout instead of just doing the elliptical - my legs are feeling smoother and the thigh rub seems to be going away
  • socajam
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    goatelope wrote: »
    Hello everyone

    I am weighing everything; I then check the calories and log it. I would say allowing for any errors, I eat 1500 calories per day. I calculated 1743 for maintenance, and so I thought consuming 1500 would lead to loss.

    I do not always get 10000 steps in, but I work out 6 times per week; 2-3 of those days I do 30 mins and the rest of the time more like 45-50. I’ve been doing that for just over a month now.

    I weigh everything, I drink water and I never have alcohol.

    It’s not my time of the month - I’ve seen steady gain of between 0.2 and 0.5 pounds per day.

    Thanks for any help

    Get yourself 100% Cranberry Juice or 100% Cherry Tart Juice from Trade Joe's
    Just be prepared for a pissing contest - both really works with getting rid of water retention
  • eliseducky
    eliseducky Posts: 12 Member
    are you constipated?
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    Hi, about 9 days
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    eliseducky wrote: »
    are you constipated?

    No
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    Interesting re juice! I will try & thanks
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    socajam wrote: »
    2.4 lbs heavier this morning - I thought WTF this is harder the older you get.
    But I will continue on this quest until I reach the mountain top, until then I am slowly climbing my way to the top
    I starting adding weights to my workout instead of just doing the elliptical - my legs are feeling smoother and the thigh rub seems to be going away

    Thanks so much
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    goatelope wrote: »
    Interesting re juice! I will try & thanks

    Adding more calories isn’t necessarily a great idea...
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,333 Member
    edited January 2021
    working out causes a false gain in water retention due to the tears in the muscles. That can last up to 6 weeks. So.. do not despair. The main thing you must do is make sure you're using a food scale and weigh all your food to make sure you are on point with calories. Guessing and going by what's on the nutrition label isn't good enough. Remember nutrition labels and menu calorie estimates are legally allowed to be off by 20 percent.

    Stick with it... be diligent.. and fine tune what you're doing. Don't let the devil on your shoulder tell you it isn't working. not true.

    and to make you feel better..I just lost 3 pounds since last Saturday ...and I really can't tell at all.. and it makes me wonder what's wrong with me.. am I losing muscle? The fat I want to go bye bye looks just the same to me. We all doubt ourselves.. nothing ever seems good enough. just stick with it..
  • goatelope
    goatelope Posts: 178 Member
    Thank you so much - I will definitely keep going
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,622 Member
    goatelope wrote: »
    Hello everyone

    I am weighing everything; I then check the calories and log it. I would say allowing for any errors, I eat 1500 calories per day. I calculated 1743 for maintenance, and so I thought consuming 1500 would lead to loss.

    I do not always get 10000 steps in, but I work out 6 times per week; 2-3 of those days I do 30 mins and the rest of the time more like 45-50. I’ve been doing that for just over a month now.

    I weigh everything, I drink water and I never have alcohol.

    It’s not my time of the month - I’ve seen steady gain of between 0.2 and 0.5 pounds per day.

    Thanks for any help

    If 1743 is correct (it's just an estimate, right?) then eating 1500 (accurately counted) would indeed result in weight loss. Specifically, you'd expect to lose half a pound a week, on average. The words "on average" are really important there (as are "just an estimate" and "accurately counted").
    .
    Most of us experience water-weight fluctuations of a pound or more overnight, regularly. Against the backdrop of daily fluctuations through a range of a couple of pounds . . . well, it could take weeks to show up clearly. It might not even show up in a weight trending app.

    In about October 2019, I started an intentional plan to (re-)lose some vanity pounds, while overall in weight-maintenance mode. I took about a 200-250 calorie deficit off my long-tracked, well-documented maintenance calorie level, similar to what you're you're doing. However, I also let myself have a more indulgent day now & then, even eating well over maintenance occasionally. The chart below is a view of how that looked in real life on the scale. (The solid downhill-ish line is the Libra app trend line, a sort of rolling average. The vertical lines connected to it are linking each daily weight to the trend line.)

    10bv06wb21el.png

    There are times in there where *even the trend line* thinks I'm maintaining or even gaining weight, let alone the way the daily weights bounce around (and that's without menstrual cycles making things even weirder, as I'm past that age)! Look at July, specifically: I resumed weight training around then, which for me always means about a 2-pound water weight increase that hangs around as long as I keep lifting regularly. It took until August for the ongoing fat loss, which had been continuing the whole time, to finally show up on the scale. Clearly, though, if you look at the trend line over many months shown there, I've gone from the mid 130s to the mid 120s: Fat loss, really slowly.

    Really slow loss can be a great thing, practically painless. But you need several things for it to work:

    * Patience
    * A really good estimate of your calorie needs for maintenance
    * A rock-solid calorie tracking process that you trust and can rely on, even when the scale and even the trending app tell you loss isn't happening
    * Extreme patience

    Did I mention patience? 😉

    Now, if you actually have a 200-250 calorie deficit, you'll lose a little faster than I did. With my high days figured in, I was averaging something in the 100-150 calorie deficit range, over the whole period. But the basic message is still true: Slow loss is slow, and deceptive on the scale. A week or two in *any* calorie reduction regimen tells you very little. When loss is intentionally slow, a couple of weeks tells you even less.

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