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MyFitnessPal Community

I gained 4 pounds this week....

willot0722

I never went over any of my calories, carbs, or sodium this week. I burned 3,000 calories in workouts this week. Yet this morning on my weekly weigh-in, the scale went up FOUR pounds!

I am really feeling discouraged about it because I have no idea what is going on. Can anyone offer any insight?

Thanks

*I do want to say that I am allowed 1,950 calories per day but I usually keep it down at 1,200-1,400.

Replies

ssauvola

If you work out and don't increase enough water your cells will hoard what little they have because they are dying of thirst literally. Make sure you have enough water to keep up with your exercising dehydration is a dieters nightmare. Hope this will help. keep it up.

gthicks

No worries, probably went from fat to muscle, try doing tape measuring instead and feel how lose your clothes will fit. Stay away from the scale for awhile, try one month and then check again.

deadstarsunburn

so do you think the weight will just increase then? I know I've gained muscle, but not happy that I'm putting on and not losing

If you have been exercising it could be muscle increase and not fat. You could have lost inches, but just gained muscle.

You can't gain 4 pounds of muscle in a week.

You're probably just retaining water, this is part of the weight loss journey, it happens. Accept it, don't beat yourself up over it.

Keep up the great work!

TRISTAR

My measurements have increased though

My arms, that I hate are getting even bigger

Step away from the scale, repeat step away from the scale!! The scale is evil and is not your friend. Don't rely on it to track your progress, especially in early stages. Get a measuring tape and go by that instead. When I started a new program after three weeks my weight stayed the same, but I lost 6 1/2 inches. Don't trust the scale, the number is not what's important. What is important is you are confident with you how your body looks and that you feel healthy.

Leslie85

No worries, probably went from fat to muscle, try doing tape measuring instead and feel how lose your clothes will fit. Stay away from the scale for awhile, try one month and then check again.

Haha. Impossible. If only it were that easy to gain muscle that quickly. Fat doesn't just magically turn into muscle after a week- especially since she's netting NEGATIVE calories some days.

Gaining 4 lbs of muscle in a week is impossible.

robin52077

I am going to stab a fork into the eye of the next person who says "gained muscle"..or worse, "turned into muscle."

jennileam

The same thing happened to me. I was working out like crazy and controlling my eating, but somehow gained 7lbs in 2 weeks! I felt horrible.

I asked around and found that I was doing too much weights and not enough cardio. I have now worked in pure cardio days every other day, and after working out with weights, I finish with cardio (ex. 30 mins weights, 30 mins cardio). The weight started falling off after that point.

Bob314159

I was losing nicely a week ago, and then went up 3 pounds, no explanation, exercise and food was fine. It took 5 days to get back to where I was last week I did one day with only 1300 calories. I woke up this morning and could feel I was lighter and I had lost 2 pounds since yesterday, that's 2 pounds less than my low of last week.

Weight fluctuates wildly sometimes

willot0722

OKAY.. thanks for the positive posts- it is a lot to take in and I am going to try to fix it. BUT can you guys recommend some foods to fill up my calories but NOT my carbs? That's my biggest problem and often the reason I don't eat very many calories.

Also, the machines and MFP are all I have to go off of regarding calories burnt. I cannot afford a HRM (I'm a substitute teacher and it's summer time) but I can tell you I often work out almost 2 hours straight doing crossfit workouts monitored by my gym owner so I don't feel like the calories burnt are that far off.

Also, I do drink lots of water in a day I just don't log it. I have a 32 oz water bottle that I drink 3-4 of per day.

Pomoch325

What they said... PLUS...

Don't weigh yourself after you "get drunk", never a good idea. Edit to add: That wasn't you, sorry... but still not a good idea

Kara_xxx

I am going to stab a fork into the eye of the next person who says "gained muscle"..or worse, "turned into muscle."

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Leslie85

I am going to stab a fork into the eye of the next person who says "gained muscle"..or worse, "turned into muscle."

Maybe you took my post wrong. When I said "Fat doesn't magically turn into muscle after a week" it was meant jokingly. As in, it would be pure magic if that could actually happen...b/c I know that fat doesn't just "turn into muscle."

BimBamBomBum

If you work out and don't increase enough water your cells will hoard what little they have because they are dying of thirst literally. Make sure you have enough water to keep up with your exercising dehydration is a dieters nightmare. Hope this will help. keep it up.

Agree 100%. I can't tell you how much difference increasing my water intake per day has made. I feel better for it, my skin looks better and it's helping me reach my goals. Get that H2O on board!

antoineel

Hello, I suggest you stick to the 1950 calorie goal because if you don't get what your body needs you go into starvaing mode and the body holds onto the fat you're trying to lose. Stay on the suggested calorie intake for a week and see what happens. And, try journaling your feelings throughout the day so you can process your thoughts and track all your negative thinking. I have found that negative thinking is also a factor in weight loss. If you lighten up, you will Lighten Up, literally!. Have a good week.
Annie

robin52077

I am going to stab a fork into the eye of the next person who says "gained muscle"..or worse, "turned into muscle."

Maybe you took my post wrong. When I said "Fat doesn't magically turn into muscle after a week" it was meant jokingly. As in, it would be pure magic if that could actually happen...b/c I know that fat doesn't just "turn into muscle."

totally didn't mean you darlin'

referring to the people who said she DID gain muscle. :flowerforyou:

you're awesome.

monty619

ur macros are wack... to many carbohydrates not enough fats or protein

BimBamBomBum

OKAY.. thanks for the positive posts- it is a lot to take in and I am going to try to fix it. BUT can you guys recommend some foods to fill up my calories but NOT my carbs? That's my biggest problem and often the reason I don't eat very many calories.

Egg whites are great on wholemeal pitta or bread. I would worry more about the nasty refined carbs than the wholemeal ones. We all need carbs. Also, I'm a fan of cottage cheese, though many aren't. I use a hand blender to turn it to a creamy mixture and then sneak it into other foods, like pasta sauce for example. It's so nutritious and packed with protein. I would not be without it. Plus if you are not a vegetarian (like me) you have plenty of good options like fish and lean meat. Good luck!

ellie0213

OKAY.. thanks for the positive posts- it is a lot to take in and I am going to try to fix it. BUT can you guys recommend some foods to fill up my calories but NOT my carbs? That's my biggest problem and often the reason I don't eat very many calories.

Also, the machines and MFP are all I have to go off of regarding calories burnt. I cannot afford a HRM (I'm a substitute teacher and it's summer time) but I can tell you I often work out almost 2 hours straight doing crossfit workouts monitored by my gym owner so I don't feel like the calories burnt are that far off.

Also, I do drink lots of water in a day I just don't log it. I have a 32 oz water bottle that I drink 3-4 of per day.

Proteins have little nor no carbs: chicken, fish, beef, pork, cheese, nuts.
I don't think anyone here is going to recommend that you eat 300+ grams of carbs! That's huge!

Hang in there!

Tourney3p0

Also, the machines and MFP are all I have to go off of regarding calories burnt. I cannot afford a HRM (I'm a substitute teacher and it's summer time) but I can tell you I often work out almost 2 hours straight doing crossfit workouts monitored by my gym owner so I don't feel like the calories burnt are that far off.

If it's telling you to eat 1900 a day, that's 1900 a day pre-exercise. If you then log 1000 exercise calories for example, you're supposed to instead eat 1900+1000=2900 calories.

I'm afraid your situation puts you in a very difficult spot. MFP and the machine will give you a reasonable rough estimate, but it's still just an estimate that will likely be off (and typically is, sometimes by up to 30%). So you have an area of uncertainty there, and this area grows the longer you work out.

My recommendation would actually be to work out considerably less. I'm not saying exercise is bad. On the contrary, it's great. But two hours of it is overkill, especially when you can't accurately gauge how much progress you're making. This will also make your caloric requirements drop, so you won't need to eat as much. That should eliminate two concerns with one solution.

Your only real other option is to eat more. This option depends on getting an HRM for being able to accurately determine how many calories you've burned. Estimate high and weight loss will come to a crawl due to too small of a caloric deficit. Estimate low and you undereat (as is happening here), which results in muscle and skeletal tissue being consumed. That leads to organ damage and an overall loss of metabolism due to muscle loss.

anat0my

Eating below your recommended can potentially put your body into starvation mode where you will gain. Remember to adjust your intake according to your weight c:

_stephanie0

OKAY.. thanks for the positive posts- it is a lot to take in and I am going to try to fix it. BUT can you guys recommend some foods to fill up my calories but NOT my carbs? That's my biggest problem and often the reason I don't eat very many calories.

Also, the machines and MFP are all I have to go off of regarding calories burnt. I cannot afford a HRM (I'm a substitute teacher and it's summer time) but I can tell you I often work out almost 2 hours straight doing crossfit workouts monitored by my gym owner so I don't feel like the calories burnt are that far off.

Also, I do drink lots of water in a day I just don't log it. I have a 32 oz water bottle that I drink 3-4 of per day.

feel free to follow my diary... i eat 1700 min- 2000 calories per day... 40/40/40 split

ironanimal

feel free to follow my diary... i eat 1700 min- 2000 calories per day... 40/40/40 split

:huh:

Alpine005

It's likely just a swing at the starting weight and ending weight.

Maybe you were a little too dehydrated when you started and holding too much water when you ended the week. No worries it wil even out. Just keep to your plan.

miracle4me

Step away from the scale, repeat step away from the scale!! The scale is evil and is not your friend. Don't rely on it to track your progress, especially in early stages. Get a measuring tape and go by that instead. When I started a new program after three weeks my weight stayed the same, but I lost 6 1/2 inches. Don't trust the scale, the number is not what's important. What is important is you are confident with you how your body looks and that you feel healthy.

To the woman who wrote the above,Thank You so much for what you just wrote this just confirms what I believe is happening to me.

FitLink

I never went over any of my calories, carbs, or sodium this week. I burned 3,000 calories in workouts this week. Yet this morning on my weekly weigh-in, the scale went up FOUR pounds!

I am really feeling discouraged about it because I have no idea what is going on. Can anyone offer any insight?

Thanks

*I do want to say that I am allowed 1,950 calories per day but I usually keep it down at 1,200-1,400.

Well, 4 pounds is 14,000 calories, so it's not real "weight gain." I vary by 2+ pounds throughout the day, just due to fluids and meals. Water weighs around an ounce per ounce, so a cup of water is half a pound or so.

signgrrrl

Unless your power lifting I doubt you are gaining muscle...Water retention. From the work out.. drink more water

FitLink

OKAY.. thanks for the positive posts- it is a lot to take in and I am going to try to fix it. BUT can you guys recommend some foods to fill up my calories but NOT my carbs? That's my biggest problem and often the reason I don't eat very many calories.

Also, the machines and MFP are all I have to go off of regarding calories burnt. I cannot afford a HRM (I'm a substitute teacher and it's summer time) but I can tell you I often work out almost 2 hours straight doing crossfit workouts monitored by my gym owner so I don't feel like the calories burnt are that far off.

Also, I do drink lots of water in a day I just don't log it. I have a 32 oz water bottle that I drink 3-4 of per day.

Proteins have little nor no carbs: chicken, fish, beef, pork, cheese, nuts.
I don't think anyone here is going to recommend that you eat 300+ grams of carbs! That's huge!

Hang in there!

She says she eats 1200 - 1400 calories per day. 300 grams of carbohydrate is 1200 calories, so she's NOT eating 300+ grams of carbs. The math just doesn't add up.

HartJames

Protein!!!! Shakes after workouts, more chicken/fish at meals.Also can add in some chia seeds and hemp hearts to yogurts, salads, shakes.

sarahrbraun

I eat so few calories because I find it very hard to eat close to 1900 calories without going over on carbs. My doctor told me as long as I eat when I am hungry my body will not go into starvation mode. Could you guys elaborate on how I am doing severe damage to my body?

OK...I totally understand your dilemma. I struggle daily to get enough calories and keep my carbs low. How low are you trying to keep your carbs? Are counting net carbs or total carbs? I am trying to keep my NET carbs below 100g ( net carbs are total carbs minus fiber and any sugar alcohols). Although some people would blast me for it, I have been eating 1-2 atkins or metrx meal bars a day to boost my calories without too many carbs. Yesterday I ate an atkins baked square (140 cal/6 net carbs) as part of lunch and a metrx chocolate fudge *something* ( about 310 calories/also about 6 net carbs) for an afternoon snack and I DID manage to have a net intake of almost 1100 calories by the time I went to bed.

_stephanie0

feel free to follow my diary... i eat 1700 min- 2000 calories per day... 40/40/40 split

:huh:

LOL dont give me that "HUH" face !! haha....she asked how to get more calories without using carbs so i said to look @ my food log for ideas cause i eat lots of good cals and not all from carbs!!