Weight gain

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dehaunch
dehaunch Posts: 11
in Motivation and Support
So, last week was my first week checking calories. I lost 7 pounds!!! Then this week, I did the same thing and I somehow gained back 3 pounds. How is this possible?!? I've actually been watching calories closer, and lowered it a little. Just on calories, I should have lost at least a pound. I weighed myself at the same time of day etc. Any thoughts?

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  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    It's probably not possible. It's water, PMS, ovulation, changes in salt or water consumption, or something. And, you likely didn't REALLY lose 7LBS last week. To truly lose 7LBS you'd have to have a deficit of 24,500 calories.
    So, really, the truth likely lies somewhere between.

    This is a marathon, not a sprint. It's hard to hear that, I know.

    Try to chart your weight at the same time of the day (morning, after voiding your bladder, naked), and only CHART once a week. Look for a good downward trend over time.

    ps: very often the first week looks GREAT because you're losing some excess water.

    Good luck!
  • RavynSuicide
    RavynSuicide Posts: 2
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    did you do a lot of exercising? you could be gaining muscle..... well that's what my friend Eric says....
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    water weight. There is no way you lost 7 lbs of fat the first week, a lot of that would have been water, and now your body re-stored 3lbs of that water.

    And no it will not be muscle, muscle takes months to grow by 3lbs, and on a caloric deficit is not very likely.
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
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    My strong suspicion is that it's water weight or the weight of food or waste in your digestive tract. It's extremely difficult to gain significant fat or muscle in a week and impossible on a calorie deficit. You would have had to have been eating a significant calorie surplus over and above what you need to maintain your current weight, exercise and activity level. Think about how long it took to gain weight, eating, probably many, many more calories than you ate this week. I wouldn't worry about it unless you are consistently going up in weight with no fluctuations. Keep in mind that It is almost certain that a portion of that 7 lb initial rapid loss was due to water weight as well. On the bright side, you lost 4 lbs in 2 weeks. That's nothing to sneeze at. Congratulations on your loss :).
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
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    did you do a lot of exercising? you could be gaining muscle..... well that's what my friend Eric says....

    Sadly, there is no way you gained 3 lbs of muscle weight in a week. However, if you recently seriously ramped up your exercise your muscles could be retaining water.

    And that initial 7lb loss was not all true fat loss. As pp's have said, a lot of it was water weight.
  • RavynSuicide
    RavynSuicide Posts: 2
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    good point..... i didn't read that correctly... my bad! XD :embarassed:
  • dehaunch
    dehaunch Posts: 11
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    Ok. This makes a lot of sense. I figured some of the 7 lbs had to just be water, since I've been trying to watch salt intake.

    Is there a point where too few calories can have a negative effect? I'm doing the 1200 recommended plus another 300 because I'm breastfeeding. I usually have around 100 calories or less at the end of the day I didn't use.

    Thanks for all the help!! Coming out to 4lbs over 2 weeks sounds about right :)
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Ok. This makes a lot of sense. I figured some of the 7 lbs had to just be water, since I've been trying to watch salt intake.

    Is there a point where too few calories can have a negative effect? I'm doing the 1200 recommended plus another 300 because I'm breastfeeding. I usually have around 100 calories or less at the end of the day I didn't use.

    Thanks for all the help!! Coming out to 4lbs over 2 weeks sounds about right :)

    I would suggest your 1200 +300 for breastfeeding and also eat back the cals you burn from exercise or your body will not get the fuel it needs for milk production, exercise and general functions. so if you burn 400 cals in the gym your should be getting 1900 (1200+300+400) to lose your goal amount of weight/week.
  • dehaunch
    dehaunch Posts: 11
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    Ahh! I had not been eating the calories that I burned back. I wasn't even logging them, thinking it would help me lose faster.
  • KatieJane83
    KatieJane83 Posts: 2,002 Member
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    Ahh! I had not been eating the calories that I burned back. I wasn't even logging them, thinking it would help me lose faster.

    MFP already has your calorie deficit built in, before any exercise, so any cals burned can be eaten back. If you don't you may risk netting too few cals each day.

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