Help me!
AlyssaP1987
Posts: 268 Member
Hey y’all! So I am frustrated that this morning, so wanted to come here for some advice. I’ve been eating great the past couple weeks. All weekend I stayed under my calorie goals.
Yesterday I was 480 calories under my goal (if you added in the exercise calories which I did not add back in). I only ate 1,200 calories and did a 20 min HIIT workout. I also drank lots of water. However I gained weight instead of lost.
I am on antiobiotics and a steroid for a throat infection, maybe that’s affecting my weightloss? But either way, I don’t like seeing the scale go up when I’m putting in so much work. Lol
I have 60-80 lbs I want to lose, so it’s not like there is a shortage of fat loss to shed.
Am I not eating enough? Any good macro calculators you can recommend?
Thanks in advance
I’m determined to reach my goals.
Yesterday I was 480 calories under my goal (if you added in the exercise calories which I did not add back in). I only ate 1,200 calories and did a 20 min HIIT workout. I also drank lots of water. However I gained weight instead of lost.
I am on antiobiotics and a steroid for a throat infection, maybe that’s affecting my weightloss? But either way, I don’t like seeing the scale go up when I’m putting in so much work. Lol
I have 60-80 lbs I want to lose, so it’s not like there is a shortage of fat loss to shed.
Am I not eating enough? Any good macro calculators you can recommend?
Thanks in advance
I’m determined to reach my goals.
1
Replies
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You have to be in a calorie deficit every day, for weeks on end, to lose weight. It's one of those times you have to put your big girl pants on and know that immediate gratification is not going to happen. If you rely on immediate gratification at best you will not lose weight, at worst you will continue gaining weight. It's why most people fail to keep the weight off.8
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sollyn23l2 wrote: »You have to be in a calorie deficit every day, for weeks on end, to lose weight. It's one of those times you have to put your big girl pants on and know that immediate gratification is not going to happen. If you rely on immediate gratification at best you will not lose weight, at worst you will continue gaining weight. It's why most people fail to keep the weight off.
Not true, every other time I’ve lost weight I lost almost daily
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Hang in there. Sometimes it takes time to start shedding. Give it a week and see what happens.2
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Infections add water weight (inflammation). Steroids add water weight (side effect). Challenging workouts add water weight (muscle repair). Drinking lots of water adds water weight until we urinate it out. Women's monthly cycles add water weight at various points, if you have cycles (hormone levels).
So the scale goes up, but it's not fat gain. It's just water. While it's there, it masks fat loss on the scale. At low enough calories, fat loss is still happening.
Fat loss is what most of us are really working for, right?
The water drops off eventually. No need to stress about it.
Know what else can add water weight? Stress.
Know what else is a stress? Eating too few calories. Eating 1200, exercising hundreds: That's the energetic equivalent of eating way less than 1200 calories. Fast weight loss isn't a great idea: Stressful, not sustainable, increases health risks.
Losing 60-80 pounds is going to take a long time, even if you lose fast. (I lost 50-some; it took just under a year.) Then comes maintaining your loss. That's a forever endeavor. (I'm in year 7+ of maintaining.)
Succeeding at that whole process is more likely with sustainable tactics, patience, and steady nerves.
Best wishes for long-term success, sincerely. The results are worth it.
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Hey there! I totally get your frustration – scales can be tricky sometimes. Just a heads-up, I'm not your typical nutrition expert or PT; I'm a bit more human and carrying some extra weight right now myself, some is understatement. 😅 But that's what makes this journey relatable.
Regarding your calorie intake, sometimes it's a bit of a puzzle. Weight can fluctuate due to various factors like water retention, muscle gain (from that awesome HIIT workout), muscle weighs more than far but is more demce so 1lbs of muscle is way smaller that a chunk of 1lbs fat so don't worry, medications, and even daily variations in digestion. It's not always about the calories alone.
By the way, I just made a thread over in the "Health and Weight Loss" section called "Fun Weight Loss Chain" where I'm hoping we all help each other stay motivated and share tips. Feel free to join us! You're determined, and that's what matters most. 💪😊0 -
Same here
I'm three weeks in being extremely strick with myself i.e., measuring all oil butter etc and I lost four pounds. I got back on the scale last week and had two pounds gained and another two this morning! I stick religiously to 1200 calories, and I know I can lose a pound a week because I lost 13 up to January one every week until it all came to a screeching halt, and I've been at the same weight since. I thought calorie counting was the answer but I'm about to give up. I'm on an anti-depressant and anxiety meds, IBS pill and Vit D/C. I'm 60 and thought I'd done with the menopause, but the sweats and insomnia are back again, don't know if this is a contributory factor. I'm so disappointed. 2 -
I did the same thing…
Weighed 11 stone 6…two days ago…
Weighed myself this morning and I weighed 11 stone 7…
I did the same last week…and it adjusted itself in the next few days…maybe it was water weight or salt intake from previous days I don’t know x
But keep going!
It’s a long and hard process…I lost weight just by the snap of my fingers before…but now I’m finding it tougher xx2 -
One day isn't a deal breaker. Weight loss ISN'T linear and you could be under and still gain due to fluctuations in the body. Just continue.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I see that you said that in the past when you were trying to lose weight - you lost every day. That's extremely rare and time/aging can change that so maybe that's just not the way it's gonna work for you anymore - I wish that was how it worked bc it'd be much more encouraging to many people trying to lose weight.
Generally speaking, it's not abnormal to gain/stay the same even after a week - of doing everything right. I lost .6lbs-.8lbs/week when I was losing weight...but there were def weeks I gained/stayed the same...and then weeks I lost multiple lbs.
Did you use MFP to calculate your calorie goal? Unless you are sedentary/petite --- it's possible that 1200 calories isn't an appropriate calorie goal for you. Especially if you then are working out and NOT eating them back - even though that's how MFP is meant to work. Disregard this if you used some other method to figure your calorie goal.
What are your stats? If you want to check what MFP has suggested, I'd suggest using TDEE.com and putting 'sedentary' as your activity level (even though it's not) just to get an idea of an estimate of how many calories you'd maintain your weight on, as well as what your BMR is. Don't eat less than your BMR routinely, but shoot to eat less than your TDEE (NET) - so eventually you do need to take your activity into account - how you do that will vary depending on what method you use to figure your calorie goal.
Also - I'm not sure how steroids affect you personally but many people definitely find they are noticeably more hungry (and eat more) when they are on them - this doesn't happen 100% of the time but it is a known side effect. Also, I think it's not abnormal to retain water when on a steroid too. So that def might be having an effect. So keep up and see what happens once your course of steroid is done.1 -
For the several people who've posted in this thread about feeling stressed and discouraged about scale fluctuations: Please, please read the thread linked below, especially the article that's linked in the first post on the thread.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Please read it, take it on board. Stay the course. I want to see you succeed, even though I'm a total stranger, because getting to a healthy weight (at age 60, finally!) has been such a powerful improvement in my quality of life. I want that for you, too.
Pick a course that you can stick with for the many weeks, many months, that it will take to reach goal weight. Don't leap on some some extreme, miserable ultra-low-calorie forced march through frequent punitive workouts and daily self-denial. It's not going to stick.
Extreme weight loss is not a healthy way to live. Find a healthy path, because there a healthy paths that lead to a healthy weight.5 -
AlyssaP1987 wrote: »sollyn23l2 wrote: »You have to be in a calorie deficit every day, for weeks on end, to lose weight. It's one of those times you have to put your big girl pants on and know that immediate gratification is not going to happen. If you rely on immediate gratification at best you will not lose weight, at worst you will continue gaining weight. It's why most people fail to keep the weight off.
Not true, every other time I’ve lost weight I lost almost daily
How's that working for you now? Cause it sounds like maybe it's not.5 -
Everyone is different, but being sick (especially if they put me on steroids) makes me gain a few pounds. This will pass and you'll feel better soon and get back to rocking on.2
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F*** that scale. Keep eating in a deficit and take weekly pics to really gauge progress. It's great to see the scale go down but it's never completely linear. Trust the process and the gains will come. Medications, sodium, stress, hormone fluctuations, inflammation from training, excess water, if you upped your carbs and quality of sleep can all cause weight to go up. It's not fat, it's water. I'm an 87 baby, dropped 80lbs over the course of 9 months. Every week was different, sometimes 1lb, sometimes 3lb but I was determined and have maintained it.1
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For the several people who've posted in this thread about feeling stressed and discouraged about scale fluctuations: Please, please read the thread linked below, especially the article that's linked in the first post on the thread.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Please read it, take it on board. Stay the course. I want to see you succeed, even though I'm a total stranger, because getting to a healthy weight (at age 60, finally!) has been such a powerful improvement in my quality of life. I want that for you, too.
Pick a course that you can stick with for the many weeks, many months, that it will take to reach goal weight. Don't leap on some some extreme, miserable ultra-low-calorie forced march through frequent punitive workouts and daily self-denial. It's not going to stick.
Extreme weight loss is not a healthy way to live. Find a healthy path, because there a healthy paths that lead to a healthy weight.For the several people who've posted in this thread about feeling stressed and discouraged about scale fluctuations: Please, please read the thread linked below, especially the article that's linked in the first post on the thread.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Please read it, take it on board. Stay the course. I want to see you succeed, even though I'm a total stranger, because getting to a healthy weight (at age 60, finally!) has been such a powerful improvement in my quality of life. I want that for you, too.
Pick a course that you can stick with for the many weeks, many months, that it will take to reach goal weight. Don't leap on some some extreme, miserable ultra-low-calorie forced march through frequent punitive workouts and daily self-denial. It's not going to stick.
Extreme weight loss is not a healthy way to live. Find a healthy path, because there a healthy paths that lead to a healthy weight.
This is super helpful thank you! Do you have a good macro calculator I can use?
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F*** that scale. Keep eating in a deficit and take weekly pics to really gauge progress. It's great to see the scale go down but it's never completely linear. Trust the process and the gains will come. Medications, sodium, stress, hormone fluctuations, inflammation from training, excess water, if you upped your carbs and quality of sleep can all cause weight to go up. It's not fat, it's water. I'm an 87 baby, dropped 80lbs over the course of 9 months. Every week was different, sometimes 1lb, sometimes 3lb but I was determined and have maintained it.
Thank you for your answer! Do you have a good macro calculator you use? Every one I do comes out with a different answer. Im in therapy for an eating disorder and want to make sure im eating enough for sure. I was anorexic in my past, now I am in recovery for binge eating/overeating . But I am doing amazing things and making progress!
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I'm a fat boy at heart and like feeling full. I use a high protein approach, 50% protein 30% carbs 20% fats. Protein has the highest thermic effect meaning you burn more calories digesting it and its hard to eat enough chicken breast and lean beef to be in a surplus. I know everyone has their own strategy but I eat 4-5 meals a day, lean meat with a *kitten* ton of low fodmap veggies for filler so my portions are huge. I will break if I feel hungry so I always have meals prepped and ready to go.1
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Certain medications can make you gain weight aswell…
That’s how I’ve put all my weight back
Went a bit fruit loopy for a while and was put on anti psychotics…and I piled it on by snacking on well…snacks 🤣🤣2 -
AlyssaP1987 wrote: »For the several people who've posted in this thread about feeling stressed and discouraged about scale fluctuations: Please, please read the thread linked below, especially the article that's linked in the first post on the thread.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Please read it, take it on board. Stay the course. I want to see you succeed, even though I'm a total stranger, because getting to a healthy weight (at age 60, finally!) has been such a powerful improvement in my quality of life. I want that for you, too.
Pick a course that you can stick with for the many weeks, many months, that it will take to reach goal weight. Don't leap on some some extreme, miserable ultra-low-calorie forced march through frequent punitive workouts and daily self-denial. It's not going to stick.
Extreme weight loss is not a healthy way to live. Find a healthy path, because there a healthy paths that lead to a healthy weight.For the several people who've posted in this thread about feeling stressed and discouraged about scale fluctuations: Please, please read the thread linked below, especially the article that's linked in the first post on the thread.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1
Please read it, take it on board. Stay the course. I want to see you succeed, even though I'm a total stranger, because getting to a healthy weight (at age 60, finally!) has been such a powerful improvement in my quality of life. I want that for you, too.
Pick a course that you can stick with for the many weeks, many months, that it will take to reach goal weight. Don't leap on some some extreme, miserable ultra-low-calorie forced march through frequent punitive workouts and daily self-denial. It's not going to stick.
Extreme weight loss is not a healthy way to live. Find a healthy path, because there a healthy paths that lead to a healthy weight.
This is super helpful thank you! Do you have a good macro calculator I can use?
The MFP default goals aren't a bad place to start, as long as you don't cut calories super low. (It's literally impossible to get reasonable nutrition on woefully low calories - that's one of many reasons not to shoot for ultra-fast loss.)
MFP's defaultsvare based on mainstream science-based nutritional principles. Why not start there, see how you do, then adjust if necessary based on real experience with your body and lifestyle?0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »
THIS is what weight loss looks like. It would be a wild anomaly to have a straight blue line — especially as a woman with a menstrual cycle.
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As others have said, give it time. Last week, my scale didn’t move for five days. Then I ate out with visitors multiple times, thought, “Oh, crap, now it’ll be even worse,” and weighed myself this a.m. with trepidation. Guess what? Two pounds down. I know the theory of fluctuation, but once you see it in action, it’s a lot easier to accept day-to-day anomalies without feeling discouraged - or at least that’s how I feel now.2
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AlyssaP1987 wrote: »Hey y’all! So I am frustrated that this morning, so wanted to come here for some advice. I’ve been eating great the past couple weeks. All weekend I stayed under my calorie goals.
Yesterday I was 480 calories under my goal (if you added in the exercise calories which I did not add back in). I only ate 1,200 calories and did a 20 min HIIT workout. I also drank lots of water. However I gained weight instead of lost.
I am on antiobiotics and a steroid for a throat infection, maybe that’s affecting my weightloss? But either way, I don’t like seeing the scale go up when I’m putting in so much work. Lol
I have 60-80 lbs I want to lose, so it’s not like there is a shortage of fat loss to shed.
Am I not eating enough? Any good macro calculators you can recommend?
Thanks in advance
I’m determined to reach my goals.
Hi Alyssa! The throat infection could definitely be contributing. Also, where are you in your menstrual cycle? Many women gain at ovulation as well as premenstrually.
This is much more typical:
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Ovulation weekkshama2001 wrote: »AlyssaP1987 wrote: »Hey y’all! So I am frustrated that this morning, so wanted to come here for some advice. I’ve been eating great the past couple weeks. All weekend I stayed under my calorie goals.
Yesterday I was 480 calories under my goal (if you added in the exercise calories which I did not add back in). I only ate 1,200 calories and did a 20 min HIIT workout. I also drank lots of water. However I gained weight instead of lost.
I am on antiobiotics and a steroid for a throat infection, maybe that’s affecting my weightloss? But either way, I don’t like seeing the scale go up when I’m putting in so much work. Lol
I have 60-80 lbs I want to lose, so it’s not like there is a shortage of fat loss to shed.
Am I not eating enough? Any good macro calculators you can recommend?
Thanks in advance
I’m determined to reach my goals.
Hi Alyssa! The throat infection could definitely be contributing. Also, where are you in your menstrual cycle? Many women gain at ovulation as well as premenstrually.
This is much more typical:
1 -
AlyssaP1987 wrote: »
Ovulation weekkshama2001 wrote: »AlyssaP1987 wrote: »Hey y’all! So I am frustrated that this morning, so wanted to come here for some advice. I’ve been eating great the past couple weeks. All weekend I stayed under my calorie goals.
Yesterday I was 480 calories under my goal (if you added in the exercise calories which I did not add back in). I only ate 1,200 calories and did a 20 min HIIT workout. I also drank lots of water. However I gained weight instead of lost.
I am on antiobiotics and a steroid for a throat infection, maybe that’s affecting my weightloss? But either way, I don’t like seeing the scale go up when I’m putting in so much work. Lol
I have 60-80 lbs I want to lose, so it’s not like there is a shortage of fat loss to shed.
Am I not eating enough? Any good macro calculators you can recommend?
Thanks in advance
I’m determined to reach my goals.
Hi Alyssa! The throat infection could definitely be contributing. Also, where are you in your menstrual cycle? Many women gain at ovulation as well as premenstrually.
This is much more typical:
Yeah, I used to retain 2-3 pounds of water when I ovulated.0 -
Nobody has brought this up, which has surprised me, and I've been trying to avoid being the one to yet again comment on something similar.
Each of us, especially as we age, (can) have health challenges that affect aspects of our lives and introduce limitations making some things good ideas and some things less so.
ED ideation can manifest in people with no previous history just by engaging in a large deficit for a long period of time.
Things are even more dicey for people who are already susceptible.
And you're definitely discussing large deficits on a percentage basis for you.
Because using large deficits that exceed 15-20% of your TDEE is the only way you could have lost weight continuously in the past--at a rate that was overwhelming natural weight fluctuations.
If a self declarared alcoholic who has been doing great not drinking for the past couple of years walks up to you and says "should I drink two glasses of wine at lunch or one hard cider for lunch and a beer in the evening" what answer would you give them?
You're asking about macros and counting calories and restricting food intake to the minimum while exercising.
I would urge extreme caution and some real talk with your medical/counselling support structure.
Is your current body weight a danger to your health? Because trying to manipulate it to where you want it to be sounds like it has the potential to be.
Move carefully, deliberately, with support. And consider your overall health first and foremost. Take care.2 -
Nobody has brought this up, which has surprised me, and I've been trying to avoid being the one to yet again comment on something similar.
Each of us, especially as we age, (can) have health challenges that affect aspects of our lives and introduce limitations making some things good ideas and some things less so.
ED ideation can manifest in people with no previous history just by engaging in a large deficit for a long period of time.
Things are even more dicey for people who are already susceptible.
And you're definitely discussing large deficits on a percentage basis for you.
Because using large deficits that exceed 15-20% of your TDEE is the only way you could have lost weight continuously in the past--at a rate that was overwhelming natural weight fluctuations.
If a self declarared alcoholic who has been doing great not drinking for the past couple of years walks up to you and says "should I drink two glasses of wine at lunch or one hard cider for lunch and a beer in the evening" what answer would you give them?
You're asking about macros and counting calories and restricting food intake to the minimum while exercising.
I would urge extreme caution and some real talk with your medical/counselling support structure.
Is your current body weight a danger to your health? Because trying to manipulate it to where you want it to be sounds like it has the potential to be.
Move carefully, deliberately, with support. And consider your overall health first and foremost. Take care.
Thank you for your response. I’m currently seeing a therapist and I am seeing a psychiatrist tomorrow (for my adhd, anxiety) I’ll chat with them about it. You’re right, my therapist doesn’t want me calorie counting, but I do need to lose about 60-80 lbs for sure. So I feel like in order to do that I have to work at it. I’ll talk with them tomorrow. Thanks!2
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