trying to lose weight, but keep putting it on!

Eat ALL the calories MFP tells you to, including your exercise calories.
Eat those calories in fresh unprocessed foods (fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat).
Drink lots of water.
Get plenty of exercise and plenty of sleep too.
Be patient.

Weight will drop.

Eat ALL the calories MFP tells you to, including your exercise calories.
Eat those calories in fresh unprocessed foods (fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat).
Drink lots of water.
Get plenty of exercise and plenty of sleep too.
Be patient.

Weight will drop.

^ What he said!

Eat ALL the calories MFP tells you to, including your exercise calories.
Eat those calories in fresh unprocessed foods (fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meat).
Drink lots of water.
Get plenty of exercise and plenty of sleep too.
Be patient.

Weight will drop.

Agreed

Two things that can really mess up the math:
not measuring your food accurately, and
trusting the exercise calories burned from MFP without checking them against a heart rate monitor

The other thing to consider is what are you eating? The more unprocessed the food the better. Are you eating enough protein? I am in the same boat as you. I recenty joined too and I have managed to lose one pound after putting on several pounds. I know I am losing though because I can fit into my skinny jeans...but not comfortably LOL. Anyways, it takes time to put weight on and it will take time to take it off. Remember this is a life style change and you have new routines to learn. Give yourself sometime to adjust. Try not eating heavy at night and eat a robust breakfast. Eat small and frequently..learn to listen to your body.

Its not just calories and out. Looking at your food diary you need to add sodium as a category! The stuff that you are eating is full of salt! Salt retains so much water and is an underrated weight loss killer. Skip the mcdonalds and make your own breakfast. You could eat so much more good real food. Sausage, chips, breakfast tacos and tv dinners are not a great source of food.

I suggest more veggies, fruits and more low salt proteins. Try chicken, turkey, steak! I promise if you eat cleaner then you will lose weight.

There are some health conditions, for example, your thyroid if you feel you have been accurate with what you have been eating, logging everything accurately and not losing you may want a physical to make sure you don't have a medical condition influencing your results. Also please measure because muscle is heavier than fat and you could gain muscle while losing fat but if that happens your measurements will show it. Good luck.

If everything you say is true (as far as staying at your required calorie level and exercising regularly), something may be wrong. I would see your doctor immediately. Yes, building muscle can add a little weight but 10 lbs in 2 weeks is alot of weight very quickly. I suggest making an appt for your Dr. ASAP. Good luck!

Make your diary public so people can give advice.

There's a lot of things you could be doing wrong...not drinking enough water, eating too much sodium, working out too much and not eating enough exercise calories back... Its also helpful to note your height/weight and goals....

Hang in there though...I see you just joined this month, so you probably haven't been at it all that long, and these things take time for your body to adjust and respond.

I echo this good advice, if you want specific help open your diary and feel free to friend me.

Hi!! I am new to this but some of the best advice that I have gotten on here is this: "you can't win if you don't keep score" Meaning you really need to be doing the food diary and tracking the workouts for it to be effective. I actually compiled as much information as I could before I started. Knowing the latest studies and what works and what doesn't. I think we all should limit carbs and make a target goal of eating protein at every meal. Keeping the carbs for snacks (like a Nature Valley granola thin) Also you need to add at least 8 glasses of water per day if you haven't already. Limit juice and eat fruit instead....way less calories. Try to stay away from manufactured foods.....they just aren't good for you. Whole grain instead of white breads and chicken instead of beef. Yesterday I was so excited I had Subway with turkey on a whole grain sub with all the veggies I wanted with lite mayo and was still under 350 and the best part I couldn't even eat it all:) I chose dried apples instead of chips and drank water. It was the first time I went out to eat in 8 days. I hope this helps sometimes the little tips go a long way:)

Looking way back on your diary, there's virtually no fresh vegetables and fruits. It's all processed frozen dinners, pizza, rice bowls etc. I would skip the beans and chips for breakfast and go for greek yogurt, oatmeal, almond milk and cereals. Eggs are fine, but take the time to make them instead of buying them. Kfc once in a while is fine, but not two or three times a week. Avoid pizza unless it's a reward etc.

One big thing I tell people when they start out, go through your fridge and get rid of the processed meats, sausages etc, take a big trip to the grocery and stay in the outside isles, fresh meats/proteins, dairy and cheeses, then on to the produce department. Buy whole grain whenever you can, avoid sugary cereals and especially take-out and fast foods. I have been to McD's only 3 times in the last 208 days, because I want to live better in the long term, not be satisfied for one quick meal then feel like garbage after.

you're going to need to sacrifice the time saving fast food, and start planning and preparing your meals. It just goes with becoming healthy.

Watch your salt, all that processed frozen food, and fast food is LOADED with salt. Some of your days, looking back on your diary, I would venture to guess have more than 4,000mg of sodium, but you should keep it under 2500, and drink a ton of water. This is where your fresh fruits and veggis come in. you'd be surprised how much they fill you up, but keep your calories down.

Good luck!

Logging "walking upstairs" for a few minutes seems a bit over the top and I think you're just hurting yourself by eating back those calories. Are these stairs to your home or something?


I would log only true exercises, like going for a brisk walk, instead of logging all of your short little movements(walking upstairs 2 mins, walking 2mph 5 mins, etc.)

seems to me you are actually eating too much because you are adding these calories in.