Gaining on a deficit.

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loubeth22
loubeth22 Posts: 72
in Fitness and Exercise
So I had a bad day yesterday. I still ate under my goal but I didn't have the heart to get on my elliptical. I've been weighing myself every day so that I can establish a trend for myself. When I'm about 800-1000 cal below maintenance I lose about 0.2 kg. Yesterday I netted only 500 under and I gained 0.3 kg.

I doubt its muscle and I've not had any extra water or anything. I've got a friend's birthday this weekend - we're going camping and all my food is being cooked for me. I expect to go over on these days so I was trying to create a sort of leeway zone that meant come Monday I'll still have lost some weight.

I'm going to go do some squats now. Hopefully entice that 0.3kg to park itself in my flat butt.

Replies

  • pamelak5
    pamelak5 Posts: 327 Member
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    I gained 3 pounds in a week and freaked out (and posted about it). All of it went away, and then some. Salt and water retention has a lot to do with it. Per my scale I gained five pounds in the last 3 days, but I am just going to go ahead and ignore it.
  • ReneeElizabeth26
    ReneeElizabeth26 Posts: 144
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    Stop weighing everyday. Search net calories and eating exercise calories back. Good luck!
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    I gained 3 pounds in a week and freaked out (and posted about it). All of it went away, and then some. Salt and water retention has a lot to do with it. Per my scale I gained five pounds in the last 3 days, but I am just going to go ahead and ignore it.

    That is encouraging!
  • mpyle1114
    mpyle1114 Posts: 6 Member
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    weigh yourself once a week at the same time of day. i also recommend taking pictures every two weeks... as for getting to the gym... it is a never ending struggle for us all. when i don't feel like going to the gym, i think about that feeling right when i'm done. the blood is flowing better through your veins and your body is looking to burn through fuel (food) for the next couple hours. i started using a heart rate monitor and it keeps one honest with the calorie burn. hang in there and remember, no one makes you go to the gym- you have to do it yourself.
  • loubeth22
    loubeth22 Posts: 72
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    I gained 3 pounds in a week and freaked out (and posted about it). All of it went away, and then some. Salt and water retention has a lot to do with it. Per my scale I gained five pounds in the last 3 days, but I am just going to go ahead and ignore it.

    That is encouraging!

    It is encouraging, thankyou.
    I've been trying to work out why I'm only losing about 0.1kg or so a week (about 1/4 pound for those not working in metric) even though I've been careful with my diet and I go to the gym and hiking for at least 5 hours a week. Thats why I'm weighing every day. So that I can work out what I am doing that is stalling my weight loss.

    I've been trying to lose weight on my own since January and I've managed just under 2 kgs. My problem is when I was only weighing myself every week or so I would slowly lose 5kg over the course of two months and suddenly gain 4 kgs the next week, which I would spend the next two months losing only to repeat the cycle.

    I'll keep that post gym feeling in mind mpyle1114. All I wanted last night was to curl up in the corner with a huge bag of chocolates and a good book. I ended up with only a tiny handfull of dried cranberries and almonds. I resisted the mopey feeling, but not as well as I'd like. Can anyone suggest any excercises I can go to firm the bum or at least work off extra calories through the day? I've got one flight of stairs I'll be tackling at least 5 times today. I think I'll try to get in my workout before it gets dark and cold so I wimp out.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
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    Judging your progress on a daily basis is pointless. You gain and lose lots of weight constantly. If you're going to stress over your daily weight you should probably switch to weighing once a week or once a month instead. If you continue to weigh yourself daily just realize that you're going to see crazy fluctuations. One week I gained a pound every day for no apparent reason. The next week it all went away and then some. Why? Who knows. Don't worry about it. Chart your progress on the long term, not the short term.
  • loubeth22
    loubeth22 Posts: 72
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    So massive gain. I ate as best I could - turned down the birthday cake, biscuts, bacon, sausages, chips, fried egg and buttered toast, but still gained so much weight. A full kilo. I feel bloated and awful and even before I knew I'd gained I've had the worst mood. I've either been crying or so angry I want to break something. This is not a hormonal thing.

    I AM going to keep weighing myself every day. I NEED to know why, even when logging absolutely every little thing I still gain disporportionally to what I eat. Seriously, a full kilo when I still managed to hit only 500 above maintenance on the worst day and 200 below on the second worst? The Friday and Sunday cals more than negated the Saturday cals but I gain a kilo?

    Looking at my weight loss since March its all the same, I'll stay around 1200-1500 all week and then once a month or so I'll have an event that I simply cannot avoid eating at and BAM +2kg from eating only 500 cal extra. I work stupidly hard to get rid of that extra weight and them BAM another event and +2kg. When I wasn't bothered with my weight I could go a year without the scale moving up more than 2 kg. Now I'm going a few weeks and steadily gaining. It is ridiculous.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    You just need to stop freaking out about it. I can gain and lose 4 pounds in a day depending on when I weigh myself. You can't eat a couple of hundred extra calories and then the same day gain loads of weight from it, it just doesn't work that way. Other factors have much more impact as others have stated. Mostly it's water. Like others have advised, you need to step away from the scale for a little while before you become unhealthy obsessed with what you're reading there. That way lies madness......
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    I AM going to keep weighing myself every day. I NEED to know why, even when logging absolutely every little thing I still gain disporportionally to what I eat. Seriously, a full kilo when I still managed to hit only 500 above maintenance on the worst day and 200 below on the second worst? The Friday and Sunday cals more than negated the Saturday cals but I gain a kilo?

    1kg of fat would require consuming a surplus of over 7,000 calories. Assuming you're logging your calories accurately you know it's not fat.
  • loubeth22
    loubeth22 Posts: 72
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    I AM going to keep weighing myself every day. I NEED to know why, even when logging absolutely every little thing I still gain disporportionally to what I eat. Seriously, a full kilo when I still managed to hit only 500 above maintenance on the worst day and 200 below on the second worst? The Friday and Sunday cals more than negated the Saturday cals but I gain a kilo?

    1kg of fat would require consuming a surplus of over 7,000 calories. Assuming you're logging your calories accurately you know it's not fat.

    Gee thanks for restating that for me again. I KNOW that. How about explaining to me why that 500 Cal which is 100% correctly logged (possibly even logged more than I ate as I round up food and round down exercise) has resulted in a sudden and CONSTANT gain of 2 kg ie. not going away after more than 2 months. I was 74kg, I ate enough over a week to be at 73.5kg and weighed in at 76kg = total GAIN of 2.5kg unexplained, not disappearing weight. I put up with it and worked it off as though it was in fact fat and then it happens again.

    Oh, and guess what? Because I have been weighing myself every day, I can see that the gain of 1 full kg is in fact only a gain of 0.4 kg - Still more than makes sense, but less than what originally showed up. I'm not freaking out but logically and mathmatically it doesn't make sense unless 1 kg isn't worth 7000 calories when gaining, rather something like 4000/5000
  • dakotababy
    dakotababy Posts: 2,406 Member
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    Your sarcasim does not create a relationship for others to want to help you. You need to stop weighing yourself everyday. As soon as i read this, i could not help but think you may have obsessive issues with your diet/weight loss.

    Also, consider measuring yourself instead of just basing your information on the scale.
  • AsellusReborn
    AsellusReborn Posts: 1,112 Member
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    For what it's worth you can retain water even if you're not drinking a lot of water - it may seem counter intuitive but your body will hold water weight and lose water weight if you drink enough to flush yourself out.


    Also peeking at your diary, you have some very high sodium days; that can cause the scale measurement to go up because excess sodium can cause a gain (temporarily - goes away within a few days) with water weight.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    OK , how do you KNOW what your maintenance calories are, and your BMR? Just based on what MFP told you?

    I mean, that's a best guess estimate for a healthy person, but in reality people's bodies don't always work like the calculator predicts. I, for example, have a lower BMR than any of the calculators would predict because I have thyroid disease. Is there any possibility that you have a medical condition that would affect your BMR? Or for some people with metabolic disorders, foods affect them differently too- like some people have to limit carbohydrates.

    Did you ever experiment by logging the calories that cause you to maintain your weight to find your TRUE TDEE? (over a period of time, like a week or two, not daily)
  • roguestates
    roguestates Posts: 223
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    For what it's worth you can retain water even if you're not drinking a lot of water - it may seem counter intuitive but your body will hold water weight and lose water weight if you drink enough to flush yourself out.


    Also peeking at your diary, you have some very high sodium days; that can cause the scale measurement to go up because excess sodium can cause a gain (temporarily - goes away within a few days) with water weight.

    Yes, I agree about tracking your sodium intake. Maybe that will help you figure out where your "gain" is from.

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