Weird weight fluctuations, why???

Water retention plays a role in that

Only 1200 calories per day? Are you sure that's enough? That sounds like a child's diet to me.

Even in the scorching 100-degree heat that gives me a tiny appetite, 1200 calories per day is about 400 calories short.

@KatsName

High carbs can cause water retention, so this perfectly normal. Some of those carbs may have also been salty (chips? Pretzels? Fries?) which might have contributed further.

How tall are you? What’s your current weight?

Although I wouldn’t frame it as aggressively as the poster above, unless you are very short, that does seem like too few calories.

I’m you also mention that you burnt pretty much everything I ate through exercise..

Are you saying you burnt 1200 calories via exercise? I exercise several hours a day (happily retired) and even on days I turn my rings five or six times, I seldom burn that many calories via exercise.

If you’re using a fitness tracker, it sounds like it may be over-awarding calorie burn. If you’re relying on equipment in the gym to calculate your burn, they are particularly notorious for stating too high a burn. (I’m look at you, treadmill and elliptical.)


You need to be eating back some of your exercise calories. Otherwise you’re going to find yourself in a yoyo cycle of being famished and eating, cutting even harder, rinse and repeat til you quit.

It would be so much better to set a higher goal, lose less per week, but make it something you can stick to.

Overdo, binge, overdo, binge get frustrated and quit, losing zero weight, versus lowering your expectations and being kinder to yourself, and finding yourself many pounds lighter in six months.

Which result sounds more pleasant and more accessible?

KatsName wrote: »

I'm trying to stick to the 1250 mark because that is what the app suggests and that is also what my health coach recommended. My BMR for maintaining is 1675, with mixed with exercising it is supposed to come out to 2 pounds a week. My exercise routine is where I tend to lack the most dedication so most of my weight loss has to come from the diet side of things. I am trying to get myself into exercising more often as to be honest I really don't do much normally as I work a desk job.My BMR for maintaining is 1675

Thank you for the graphing it does help me not feel like I'm screwing up somewhere. My long term goal is spread out over a year. I'm 3 weeks into this and I was pretty happy when I was at almost 4lbs lost. Then I check in again and I'm up 2 lbs so in 3 weeks I've only lost 2 lbs now which is frustrating.

The app doesn't suggest your calorie goal - picking different rates of weight loss is your choice and massively affects your base calorie goal (to which you should be adding exercise calories).

BMR isn't maintenance calories - that's TDEE.
BMR is what you would burn at total rest and in a fasted state - a long way from maintenance calories which have to include daily activity, TEF and exercise.

Exercise is for health, fitness, body composition - and even enjoyment!
Yes it's perfectly normal for someone starting out with a new exercise routine to retain water weight which can mask (but not prevent) fat loss. Look far further into the future and you will see that doing good things (like exercise) is great and short term stalls are absolutely trivial in the long term.

Others have already explained the difference between BMR and
TDEE.
Another perspective: aiming for 2lbs of weight loss per week actually means 1000 calories of margin between your calorie goal and maintenance.

KatsName wrote: »

I'm trying to stick to the 1250 mark because that is what the app suggests and that is also what my health coach recommended. My BMR for maintaining is 1675,

Others have pointed out that BMR =/= TDEE, but quite frankly if you are basing that statement on what your "health coach" said, you need to ditch that person and get a coach who actually knows what they're talking about.

KatsName wrote: »

The health coach I saw was the only one I could use through my health insurance. So it's not like they are some random person off the street, they are a nutritionist.

I stand by my previous statement - IF that is indeed the information that they gave you, it is flat-out bad information, full stop. If it's possible you misunderstood or misquoted, obviously that's a different story. But if they told that your "BMR for maintaining is 1675," that is absolutely incorrect. Once again, I'm far from the only person who has pointed this out. This isn't an attack on you (far from it); it's saying that you were given crap information by someone who *SHOULD* know better.

Being a "nutritionist" doesn't mean anything (at least in the US); there is no certification necessary. A registered dietician actually requires qualifications & certifications. If that's the only person you have access to through your health insurance, that kinda sucks TBH.

Try only weighing yourself once a month or every 2 weeks. You're gonna fluctuate day to day. And if that discourages you then stay off the scale. The scale is one tool for weight loss and fitness. Try focusing on small goals beyond the scale. Take body measurements monthly too. Celebrate walking farther or when you can increase reps or weights in a workout routine. Focus on tracking your water intake, hitting enough protein and fiber each day.

Also on days your exercise I would eat back around half of your exercise calories.

KatsName wrote: »

I've been super strict on tracking everything and yes I did eat too many carbs yesterday. However I'm consistently in a calorie deficit staying at the 1200 calorie mark for food intake, and yesterday I burnt pretty much everything I ate through exercise. So why do I wake up 2 pounds heavier than the previous day?

Where are you in your menstrual cycle? I gain water weight at ovulation and right before my TOM, and have a subsequent loss afterwards. Because of this, I compare myself to the same point in my cycle last MONTH, not last WEEK.

Like others have said, a 2 pound gain overnight is a completely normal water weight fluctuation.

Just for the sake of comparison, I’m the same height as you. SW was 222. Granted, I started at a post-menopausal age 56, but conventional wisdom (which is BS, btw) decrees that weight loss should be harder.

When I started I ate 1470, walked an elderly dog regularly,and did vinyasa flow yoga five or six times a week. I walked the mile round trip to the studio, too. I lost ten pounds a month for the first three months.

My gym, which is owned by a local hospital, offered dietician visits for peanuts, so I took advantage. A knowledgeable and concerned dietician is worth their weight in gold, btw.

The first thing she did was to tell me to increase calories to 1700. I did, and still lost ten pounds a month. (By this time I had added Pilates twice a week to the yoga schedule.)

At the six month point I found a wonderful trainer, who immediately chewed my *kitten* out and had me increase to 1900 and then insisted I increase to 2100, then 2300. I had turned into a machine. Delight at losing and being able to move freely means I want to do it all. I walked more, did C25K, added weight training a couple times a week.

Even at 2300 I was still losing consistently, until I actually dropped too low, and lost a bunch of muscle- even though I was training regularly. She threatened to drop me if I didn’t put on some weight, and very literally re-started my training from scratch to rebuild muscle.

At the level of exercise you describe, even if your tracking is inaccurate, your calorie count is too low.

I currently work out several times a day, for my own pleasure, because I enjoy being able to do all these things I couldn’t do- couldn’t even dream of doing - three or four years ago.

I normally shoot for 3000-3200 a day to maintain at my current rate of exercise, which is extensive. I don’t say that to brag but to show that it’s possible for a woman our size to eat generously - to NEED to eat generously- if we are exercising.


Btw my food diary will show I’m cutting right now. I gained a few following several weeks overseas. Things were too chaotic to weigh food and log in my usual detail.

All this to say, eat something. Be kinder to yourself. Food is fuel. Food is enjoyment. Food is a necessity. Food is not a villain or danger to be avoided.

KatsName wrote: »

I've been super strict on tracking everything and yes I did eat too many carbs yesterday. However I'm consistently in a calorie deficit staying at the 1200 calorie mark for food intake, and yesterday I burnt pretty much everything I ate through exercise. So why do I wake up 2 pounds heavier than the previous day?

That's not weird, it's normal.