Why am I gaining weight on 1480 calories?

heymillie98
heymillie98 Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Please help! I don't know what is happening :(

A year ago (Dec. 2019), I weight around 75kg (I am 5'3"). Today, I weight around 53kg. To lose the weight (22kg), I limited myself to 1200 calories per day and attended three exercise classes per week.
Two weeks ago, I downloaded an app called Lifesum which tracks your calories. After entering my details, it put me on 1480 calories per day (almost 300 more than I had been eating).
Shortly after the new year (2021), I weighed in at 52.5kg. This morning, I weighed in at 52.9kg. I am so upset and I don't know why this has happened or what I can do to lose again. I'm so scared that I won't be able to lose or maintain my weight.
I don't eat anything bad (no cake, no chocolate, no crisps etc). The only thing I have been doing differently is having more calories and trying new foods. I have a smoothie bowl for breakfast (1 banana, 100g of blueberries, 1tbsp chia seeds, cashew milk, vegan yoghurt, and granola; total is around 350 calories). For lunch, I usually have avocado on toast but have been having this with mushrooms recently (fried with Frylight). Dinner usually consists of either pasta (what I was eating to lose weight) or, more recently, rice and tofu. This is usually around 400-450 calories.

I walk everyday for at least and hour and used to go to a yoga class every week (it is lockdown here so gym/classes are closed).

Can anyone tell me why I am gaining? My weight has never fluctuated like this before. It isn't water because I don't drink too much. I'm scared because I don't want to go back to what I was, and someone told me that my body is now used to 1200 calories and will gain if I go above this :neutral:

Replies

  • Andia15
    Andia15 Posts: 104 Member
    You'll gain temporarily due to a higher volume of food and waste being in your body. Stay the course and have faith. It'll come back off again. .4kg isn't anything at all. It's normal to fluctuate, especially when you get to a lower weight. Time of the month can also cause water retention. Wait it out for a few weeks and then adjust if necessary.
  • heymillie98
    heymillie98 Posts: 4 Member
    Thank you for your responses @Andia15 and @Lietchi - I'm just scared that I won't be able to maintain or lose again without drastically limiting my daily calorie intake. I weigh one a week and, in the past year, have never gained this much before. I'd feel better if I had maintained rather than gained. Thank you for your comments, they are really helpful!
  • nexangelus
    nexangelus Posts: 2,081 Member
    *shrug* according to TDEE website (and the information you have provided in your post) you should be eating 1700 - 1900 ish cals to MAINTAIN your current weight....are you weighing your food accurately and inputting every single thing you eat and drink? You are a healthy weight for your height, are you trying to lose more weight?

    What is your goal weight or goal range? As weight in females can vary 6 - 7 lbs due to monthly cycles alone....weight fluctuations happen hourly, let alone daily/weekly. Salty food, dehydration all affect overall weight because of water. How much food you have in your alimentary canal...if you have not urinated before weighing....your clothing, different clothing....etc, etc...
  • heymillie98
    heymillie98 Posts: 4 Member
    @nexangelus That's why I'm panicking! Yes, I weight everything before I cook it and put it into my app. I would like to lose another kilo just because my thighs and stomach are still a little podgy.
    I do have quite a bit of salt (in my cooking + on my avocado on toast) and don't drink very much... would that contribute to weight gain? I always go to the bathroom before weighing and I weigh naked...
  • heymillie98
    heymillie98 Posts: 4 Member
    xxzenabxx wrote: »
    heymillie98 wrote: »
    @nexangelus That's why I'm panicking! Yes, I weight everything before I cook it and put it into my app. I would like to lose another kilo just because my thighs and stomach are still a little podgy.
    I do have quite a bit of salt (in my cooking + on my avocado on toast) and don't drink very much... would that contribute to weight gain? I always go to the bathroom before weighing and I weigh naked...

    To me it seems like you need to eat more protein and lift weights and focus on changing your body composition rather than obsessing over the scale fluctuations. You’re 5’ 3” and leaning towards the lower end of the BMI scale! Definitely atleast start at home body weight workouts to build muscle and your composition will change and you will look less flabby. Take me for example: I’m 5’4” and I tried on a dress from when I was as a teenager (I’m 27 now) and weighed 125 lbs and it still fits me even though I’m 150-155 lbs now! Just because I’ve gained more muscle and lost fat! Maybe focusing on the scale isn’t right for you and you should focus on how clothes fit and taking progress photos. Please eat more protein because it seems like you’re hardly getting any! Aim for 0.6-0.8 g per pound of lean body mass. I basically aim for 100g-110g of protein per day.

    Oh, okay- thanks, that makes sense! And weights help with fat loss too? I'm just nervous about gaining fat... I do a lot of walking so maybe that has been adding to muscle gain? Thank you, I will up my protein intake!
  • Pras72
    Pras72 Posts: 10 Member
    At lower cals than u need, over a period of time body metab slows down. It takes body a bit of time to get used to new cals intake as well. Being low carb and low cals constantly over long time creates its own challenges..
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    everyone's weight fluctuates by a kg or two! I wouldn't worry unless you see it steadily go up by more than 2kg or so (and stays up longer than a few weeks)

    I'm practically the same height/weight as you and I've seen my weight jump between 53 and 57kg without me changing anything about my diet/exercise (it tends to settle around the 54kg mark tho)
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,972 Member
    FWIW, in context of PAV's comment about example weight-trend charts, this is what slow loss (around a pound a month, maybe a bit slower) looked like in Libra, with a 250-ish deficit and some high days bringing the average deficit to around half that:
    10bv06wb21el.png

    That's about the longest view I can give you and still have the little vertical lines that connect daily weights to the trend line. Those show you the high days. 😉 The down trend started higher in the 130s in late 2019, and was kind of level just before the March pandemic restaurant limitations took hold. Since, I've had a jump to a slightly higher level around the holidays (😆), not enough to worry me, but am back around 125 +/- again now.

    Look at July in particular. It looks like I'm maintaining then, maybe even gaining. Nope. I was on-plan in terms of eating, but re-started strength training after a long hiatus. That always adds a couple of water weight pounds, for me, and I hang onto them as long as I keep progressively training on a regular schedule. In August, you'll see a slightly steeper drop for a bit, where the fat loss (that had been hidden on the scale by water retention) finally shows up.

    My loss intended loss rate (pound a month or slower) is slower than what you're aiming for, but the basic idea of fluctuations in water weight or digestive contents hiding ongoing fat loss . . . I think that's pretty clear here, as is the idea that over the long haul, loss may be happening, even if it doesn't show up in the short run.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,976 Member
    To answer the q in the title of this thread:

    Simply bc u are eating more cals than ur body is burning.

    If your calc of cals consumed is correct, then ur calc of cals burned is wrong and vice versa.

    U can only lose wt if CI <CO or gain wt if CI>CO. It's not rocket science

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