Ate more yesterday, weigh less today?!!?

mckenzie330
mckenzie330 Posts: 15 Member
edited November 10 in Health and Weight Loss
Help!

I am so confused and bewildered. I've heard a million different things: Make sure to meet the 1200 calorie goal, but don't go over. Don't go under or your metabolism will slow down. Actually, it doesn't matter if you go under, if you go a little over, ETC.

I don't know what to do! I have been trying to lose more weight for the past 3 weeks and the scale will NOT budge. For the past few days, I let things slide a little bit, just as a "break" I guess. And then I step on the scale today and I weigh less today than I have in weeks. What is going on?? Metabolisms are so confusing, I just don't get it.

What am I supposed to do if I want to get my weight down? I'm technically overweight according to the BMI too, so it's not like I'm at the weight I "should" be...

Replies

  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    Often times eating more food will cause your body to release extra water which results in a scale loss. It has to do with many things such as hormones, electrolyte levels, etc.
  • chickybuns
    chickybuns Posts: 1,037 Member
    Having a spike day once a week helped me get rid of my last 5 pounds. Also,it's good to fluctuate a little, don't always eat the same number eat day, mixing it up will confuse your body.
  • HannahRodriguez
    HannahRodriguez Posts: 19
    I know how frustrating this is I am struggling with this too, and all I can say is congrats on loosing weight and I hope we bot figure it out lol...
  • Pandorian
    Pandorian Posts: 2,055 Member
    have you been eating your exercise calories so far? If not this may be a good example of 'eat more to lose more', MFP is set up to give you a deficit to lose weight before exercise. Exercising burns calories so here we get to eat them back. At 1500 calories I was stuck I upped to 2000 calories before exercise and started losing again.

    Maybe the "1200" for you isn't enough in general, its certainly not enough for everyone, eat more but still under your maintenance number and you may see more come off.
  • knowwhentoshutup
    knowwhentoshutup Posts: 318 Member
    The best explanation to me was this:

    Food = Fuel.

    Eat the right stuff and it helps your body run more efficiently. Eat the right amount (for your body) and DO NOT starve yourself, and your body will not store the food as a response to not getting enough (which of course, slows your metabolism).

    I also agree with fellow MFP posters above. I usually have one day that I eat more - as a spike day. Since I started in January - the weight has been melting off. (Started at 216 - now down to 201) But, I am training for a half marathon and doing 30DS for strength training/cross-training - so it is taking work on my part.
  • tialynn1
    tialynn1 Posts: 884 Member
    What seems to be working for me is to not intake the same calories everyday. Most days, I eat back most of the calories I get from exercise. There are some days that I don't even make 1200 calories (but I try to get pretty close to it). I have been averaging 2 pounds a week since I started this journey.
  • amandasowards
    amandasowards Posts: 23
    I had the exact same problem today when I stepped on the scale. My weight wasn't going down but increasing for almost a week. I had a slack weekend on counting my calories so i figured that when i stepped on the scale today it would show and increase but in fact I had lost almost 2lbs since the previous weeks weigh-in. I have read over and over that it's a good thing to zig-zag your calories per day to confuse your body into fat burning mode all the time since it never knows how many calories you're going to take in for the day. Seems to be working so I guess I will stick with it for the time being.
  • maximouse
    maximouse Posts: 28 Member
    I'm so glad you posted this because I'd got stuck on the same weight for 2.5 weeks...so yesterday I cooked myself a lovely pizza and ate the whole thing.....and today I lost a 1lb! And I had lowered the amount I exercised too.

    As you said, metabolism......so inconsistent......I'm a woman with a plan but body has other ideas! I'm starting to go with this 'spike' theory as it seems to work, though I don't think I understand why. Will try it for the next week.....see if it works.
  • dis5150
    dis5150 Posts: 157 Member
    I also have the exact same problem! No real loss for 2 weeks, then went to a Chinese buffet and overdid it. Next day, down 1.5 lbs! But then I went back to eating my net calories and it went back up! Grrr!
  • onehotgirl
    onehotgirl Posts: 120
    Read this :smile:

    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/the-ltdfle.html
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
    When you eat more your metabolism speeds up and you will weigh less. That is the weigh that the web site is designed. If you have an allowance of 1200 calories and you work out and burn 200 calories then to net 1200 you will have to eat 1400 calories. That is how you do it, don't make things harder than they have too be. I just mean I think in the past we have starved ourselves to lose weight and couldn't keep it up because we were so miserable. This site makes if possible for me to work out more and burn more calories, especially on days that I want to have pizza or some other high calorie food and still lose weight. Its great!!!
  • danigirl1011
    danigirl1011 Posts: 314 Member
    Google re-feeding days and then pull up the page i think from like bodybuilder.com. It talks about eating 1-2 times a week more calories than normal to curb the cravings your body gets from producing leptin. I think it totally makes sense. It's a good read. i think i could explain what's going on with you. It also talks about how it will increase your metabolism when you go back to eating less.
  • TheAnie
    TheAnie Posts: 180 Member
    Here's the thing, everyone is different. Some people will put on weight if they go over the calorie limit. Not everyone burns the same 1200 calories the same way. Some people need to eat more to get their bodies to do anything.

    For awhile if I had a random spike day and ate more calories than usual my weight would drop.
  • HannahRodriguez
    HannahRodriguez Posts: 19
    Okay I found all this really helpful thanks! :)
  • HannahRodriguez
    HannahRodriguez Posts: 19
    thanks sounds like a good tip
  • krystinaarlene
    krystinaarlene Posts: 54 Member
    I had the same thing happen to me last night. I went over my calories by 300 something by eating a delicious price of cake before bed and I woke up almost a pound lighter. Can't wait to read those articles!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories