In my first week and gained weight--help talk me down?

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ByrdMessy
ByrdMessy Posts: 94
in Motivation and Support
I started counting calories the 17th and joined MFP a few days later. A couple days after, I'd lost 2 lbs, but now I'm back up 5! I've heard people say don't pay attention to the first few weeks, it could be water retention, etc. I guess I could just use some support by hearing more of the same. How do I know I'm not doing something wrong?

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  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    Keep in mind that our bodies fluctuate daily due to tons of variable factors including monthly cycle, water retention, not drinking enough water, high sodium levels, etc.

    You've just started so it would be hard to judge your body's patterns because you simply haven't been doing this long enough to have a pattern. I'd just keep doing what you are doing for at least another few weeks and see where you stand then. It could be your body adjusting, your body getting ready to show you a big loss, you might be getting ready to start your period, you might have had too much sodium, you may have lifted some weights and your body is trying to repair muscles. Too much to guesstimate at right now.

    Just hang in there.
  • retunks
    retunks Posts: 34 Member
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    don't get discouraged, I've gone thru the same, and likely most people have. You will find that you go up and down, a lot based on water retention. Plus I don't know if you are exercising too, if so you could be putting on some muscle and replacing fat. Anyway, stay at it for the long haul. I started 3 years ago and have lost 60 lbs, without being completely fixated with it. I do know that I feel better, have more energy, my BP is down a lot and I look better. Stay at it, you will see results.
  • wynnn
    wynnn Posts: 9 Member
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    just remember that just cause ur under your calorie intake you will lose weight. you have to make sure your not over your fat, carb, % protein is ok to go over if you work out so your muscles take in the protein. also to help lose the weight drink lots of water water helps with the metabolism and helps get bad toxins out of your body. the other advise it to try and eat around the same time everyday. by doing so you trick your body in knowing that it will get fed and it wont store food in your fat cells it will burn them b/c it knows it will get fed again. also once you lose enough you will start to balance out when that happens when u dont lose weight anymore you have to play around with your calorie intake. one day eat 200-300 less another eat 100-200 more you have to play with this zig zag Technec until your body shocks its self into burning more calories.i hope this helps a little i know its all over the place and alot of info but im doing multiple things at once here lol
  • kyt1206
    kyt1206 Posts: 101
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    I have friends who flex 2 lbs in a day. So, I wouldn't worry too much.

    Don't drink too much water, drink enough to not begin to feel thirsty. Drink before you exercise, drink before you go out for the day, drink during all your meals, but don't drink before bed time. :P That one always wakes me up at night.

    The 8 cups of water is really a myth, there's scientific basis for it. I did some article research (I'm a biomed scientist) and I couldn't find proof of it. In other words, everyone's body is different, drink to YOUR body, not what the AVERAGE is, because as we like to say in physiology: No One is Average when it comes to metabolism. That's why they call it an average, they combine everyone's stats and put it together.

    Now if you're having trouble losing weight, the question would be if your caloric intake too low? Too high? Not enough carbs or protein or something?

    I've bounced back and forth and I've noticed that whenever I do that, it's because I did *too much* of one thing and not enough of the other:

    Example 1 - Too much cardio, not enough strength... not increasing my muscular strength gave me less endurance and I was slower to work up to the ideal cardio I wanted to do. Musculature help support our bodies.

    Example 2 - Too much carbs or too much protein... not enough carbs makes me irritable and moody and lessens my desire to maintain a healthy eating pattern or do cardio. Not enough protein makes me feel like my teeth is rotting from the inside out from all the carbs and my meals get boring real fast.

    So now my goal is to keep up the "balancing" act to get it right this time :)
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
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    To gain 5lbs. Of fat, You would have had to of ate 5lbs. x 3500 (equals 1 lb.) = 17,500 calories over your regular intake and I doubt you did that... Just stick with it and drink your water in case your sodium intake has been high...
  • chachadiva150
    chachadiva150 Posts: 482 Member
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    How do I know I'm not doing something wrong?
    You know you're not doing something wrong by creating a plan and following it.

    You're a woman, the weight gain could be due to your cycle. Are you watching your sodium intake? Are you exercising?

    Stay within your calories, watch the sodium, get a few good sweaty workouts in and the scale will go down.
  • ByrdMessy
    ByrdMessy Posts: 94
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    Thanks all.

    Lots to keep in mind. I have definitely been finding the 8 cups of water a day to be a challenge. Maybe I'll try to make it a more do-able, consistent 4 for now.

    Despite being a pescetarian (fish is the only meat I eat, and maybe twice a week), I've been surprised to find myself over my protein goal more often than not, even when I'm not over in calories. This is where adding more than cardio to my exercise will help, eh?

    If I'm over in fats, it's 90% from "good" fats like avocado, salmon or seeds. Sodium is still a guilty pleasure, but I'm sure it's been lower than typical lately. I've been trying to buy things with sea salt instead of regular, too.

    I just finished my period, but I've been sleeping very poorly since I've had a change in my work schedule--hopefully I can reconcile that now that things are going back to 'normal'.

    I can try to eat at the same time everyday, but it'll be a challenge with my schedule changing daily.

    I am wondering if my goals need to be adjusted, but perhaps it's too soon to tell.

    I appreciate the support. I definitely feel better, so I'm gonna stick with it. The last time I lost weight, it was cuz I was in a foreign country and too poor to buy enough food. Granted, I was also walking EVERYWHERE. I'm doing this to be healthier, so I want to make sure I do it right.

    Thanks again!
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    Strength training does help with weight loss as it gives you more muscle to burn fat. However, eating over MFP's daily alloted protein doesn't mean much as MFP has protein set low with carbs being the highest macro. You can change that if you'd like.

    The thing I've been keeping an eye on lately is my sodium intake so that I can drink extra water accordingly.

    Your period ending is probably exactly why you gained weight. I always track my weight and loss during that time of my cycle so I know how much to expect to come back off within a couple weeks. I have heard of women gaining as much as 10 pounds during their cycle and often at the end.

    You don't necessarily have to eat at the same time every day but it seems like a good idea. I had to set myself a food schedule so I make sure I get enough to eat in a day. It is extremely helpful to schedule food if you have a hard time meeting calorie goals. However, if you are working 7-3 one day and 3-11 another, it would be way too difficult to keep your food schedule that rigid. Instead, you could do breakfast within so much time from waking up, snack 2 hours later, meal in another two hours, snack 2 hrs later, meal, then final snack. Something like that goes off your time awake instead of rigid by the clock.

    It is definitely too soon to tell if your goals need to be readjusted. However, in case I am wrong, here is a really informative link for you to check out:
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits
  • ByrdMessy
    ByrdMessy Posts: 94
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    That was definitely helpful. It suggests reading the "mousetrap" posts, and I'm sure I will--I'm one of those people who insist on knowing everything.

    But... the one thing I found confusing was eating back exercise calories. I exercised for an hour and burned 740 calories Friday. There's no way I could have eaten back all of those exercise calories! I'm not about to go have a big mac just to be able to eat back those calories. I was so proud of that workout--if I can't eat back the calories, it doesn't mean I shouldn't work out that much, does it?
  • dovesgate
    dovesgate Posts: 894 Member
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    You really ought to try eating back your calories - however. And this is a big however - if your calories burned are estimated by MFP and not by your own heart rate monitor, I'd only eat about half of your calories back because MFP's calorie burns are stacked a bit high. If they are from your HRM, try eating as close as you can. A serving of peanut butter is 2 tbsp and is 200 calories. Nutella is the same. Last time I was over 500 calories from goal I grabbed a tortilla and put a serving of each on it. Tasted just like a Reese's peanut butter cup and wasn't so filling I was stuffed.

    Once you start eating and exercising (keep in mind your calorie deficit will get smaller as you get closer to goal so you will automatically have more calories to eat the smaller you get) you will eventually start feeling hunger signals. You'll end up eventually working out just so you can eat more. This is a good thing.

    Also, if you plan a work out like that, you can make your meals and snacks earlier in the day more substantial so you aren't stuck eating 700+ calories at night when you are already full.
  • ByrdMessy
    ByrdMessy Posts: 94
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    "Once you start eating and exercising (keep in mind your calorie deficit will get smaller as you get closer to goal so you will automatically have more calories to eat the smaller you get) you will eventually start feeling hunger signals. You'll end up eventually working out just so you can eat more. This is a good thing. "

    I've definitely done that once already. I'm probably hungrier on days I don't have time to exercise. I think I'd change my goals to eat less calories and expect eating more exercise calories, but I know there's no guarantee I'll be able to plan for that.

    Maybe I should pay more attention to weekly numbers? But it's not like going over calories six days and working out one to balance it is ideal either.

    Peanut butter and nutella. Mmmmmm.
  • kyt1206
    kyt1206 Posts: 101
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    I eat more frequently to keep from getting hungry and parcel out my calories over those meals - altho sometimes I miss the satisfaction of eating a well rounded 5 course meal and there's no proof that eating smaller meals over time is a bigger benefit to eating a single meal a day, it definitely improves my mood throughout the day when I'm not a ravenous hungry b**** and start yelling at people to get their work done.

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