Gaining Weight :(

froggetty
froggetty Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
Please help me. I dont' know what is going on. I am gaining weight, and staying under my calorie goals. It is getting very frustrating as to why. I walk daily and have been using the elliptical daily. I enter everything I eat. Thoughts of giving up of this eating healthy, if I keep gaining weight.

Replies

  • agent99oz
    agent99oz Posts: 185 Member
    Having a really quick look at your food diary...

    Where are your vege's? Fruit, good carbs (Sweet potato), stuff that isn't from a packet? Also Protein powders can make you hold weight :)
    Are you drinking all your water/ Also how much sodium is in the packet stuff?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Looks like water weight.

    You eat a lot of carbs.
    Adjust MFP to reflect 30% protein and 30% fat.
    That wil adjust carbs down to 40%.

    Be sure to eat all your protein daily for optimal fat loss.

    I do notice you hit pretty high on the cals.

    Are you by chance somewhere near 5'9"?
  • kimmianne89
    kimmianne89 Posts: 428 Member
    Hello, A few suggestions to look at:

    Have you arranged your macros yourself or have left it to what MFP set it to? as it tends to set Carbs very high and protein quite low. Also you could possibly be having too much sugar or salt.

    Have you tried only eating half your exercuse calories back? as there could be a chance that you are under estimating calories eaten and over estimating calories burned and end up over calories.

    Good luck with your goals!
  • athensguy
    athensguy Posts: 550
    Are you weighing your food? How are you calculating calories burned?

    I don't see a problem with your macro ratios, but your food is much too processed for my tastes.
  • froggetty
    froggetty Posts: 6
    I usually don't enter my fresh veggies. I eat them for lunch and dinner everyday. I figured they amount to little of nothing for calories so didn't enter them. I will start putting them in. I love sodium and sweets. I have tried salt substitutes but they are awful. I salt everything, so trying to keep track of what amounts that add up to are difficult. I will try and watch my intake of these. Thanks for some feedback, I am always open to it. Thank you :)
  • froggetty
    froggetty Posts: 6
    5"3 is my height. I just go by the calories MFP gives me. I usually walk 2-4 miles each day and then elliptical for 30 minutes so this gives me an extra average of 600 calories a day. I was told I was not eating enough, and that was part of the problem, so I started eating more, but I struggle to get all of my calories met.
  • kimmianne89
    kimmianne89 Posts: 428 Member
    Are you weighing your food? How are you calculating calories burned?

    I don't see a problem with your macro ratios, but your food is much too processed for my tastes.

    Just by looking, the protein is very low at just 57 compared to 208 carbs on 1,510. I am on 1380 and my settings are only on 20% protein at the moment and even mine says 69 for protein so it must be a fairly low percentage.

    I would take a look into it and adjust accordingly :)
  • froggetty
    froggetty Posts: 6
    I don't weight my food. I am not sure how to change the % of protein, etc. I will check into that.
    Thank you!
  • Emancipated_Tai
    Emancipated_Tai Posts: 751 Member
    My suggestion is to eat less processed foods. Your sodium is really high. Also work on lowering carbs and getting more healthy fats and protein.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    5"3 is my height. I just go by the calories MFP gives me. I usually walk 2-4 miles each day and then elliptical for 30 minutes so this gives me an extra average of 600 calories a day. I was told I was not eating enough, and that was part of the problem, so I started eating more, but I struggle to get all of my calories met.

    How long have you been at the higher amounts?

    Do you lift weights at all?
  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
    Having a really quick look at your food diary...

    Where are your vege's? Fruit, good carbs (Sweet potato), stuff that isn't from a packet? Also Protein powders can make you hold weight :)
    Are you drinking all your water/ Also how much sodium is in the packet stuff?

    Please source for protein powders making "you hold weight"
  • camelgirlmn
    camelgirlmn Posts: 226 Member
    I too use to salt everything. But I came across something called no salt salt. theres no sodium in it and it dont taste as good but you will get used to it!!!
  • Catherinekaycorner
    Catherinekaycorner Posts: 23 Member
    Muscle weights 3 times more than fat, so if your excersizing you might be gaining MUSCLE which means it will be heavier than the fat, an accurate account would be to keep measurements, I bet any money your loosing inches, don't rely too heavily on the scales, it can dishearten you, keep measurements still to your calorie goals xoxo
  • now_or_never12
    now_or_never12 Posts: 849 Member
    Muscle weights 3 times more than fat, so if your excersizing you might be gaining MUSCLE which means it will be heavier than the fat, an accurate account would be to keep measurements, I bet any money your loosing inches, don't rely too heavily on the scales, it can dishearten you, keep measurements still to your calorie goals xoxo

    Sorry but muscle doesn't weigh three times more. On a calorie deficit you don't add muscle.

    To the original poster... It could be water weight, TOM if you are a female, or just natural changes. Watch your sodium, increase water, and fibre and fresh foods... The weight will come off soon
  • roland72
    roland72 Posts: 58 Member
    Hi, just had a look through your diary and I'm a bit puzzled by what you eat. To me there is hardly any "food" in there. Almost everything you eat is processed food, out of a packet, cereal bars, etc. This is something you really need to look at because this really is not going to help you to lose weight and get healthy. Watching calories is one thing, but it is also important to look where they come from and in your case most of that is from junk.

    Not eating normal food (e.g. unprocessed food) will also make you deficient in vitamins and minerals and will make you feel like crap.

    When it comes to your sodium intake, my goodness! Most days you are 10-20% over what is recommended, I bet with those amounts of sodium in your system your blood pressure must be pretty high. High sodium levels will also make your body store more water, so quite a bit of your weight will be water.

    I know what you mean with liking salt, it was a big downfall for me too (crisps, salted bisuits,...), but this really is one of the easiest things to get off and adjust yourself to. it will take a couple of weeks and your body and taste buds will fight you for it, but reduce the amount of salt you put on things and salty stuff you eat and soon you will find that you don't crave it as much. I don't use salt or hardly ever use salt in most of my food anymore and I don't miss it. Keep in mind that in a lot of processed foods salt is added for flavour to mask the real taste of what is in it.

    Finally, the calories to eat each day can be quite confusing on MFP sometimes. Especially the message that says you are eating too few calories. I used to eat all my daily allowance including the calories gained from excercise and I didn't lose weight but put weight on. Now I tend to aim for my daily goal of calories what I am supposed to eat (some days I eat more, we all have indulgent days), but don't eat the additional excercise calories. This seems to work very well for me in losing weight / getting healthy.

    That is my experience, yours may be different.
  • roland72
    roland72 Posts: 58 Member
    Muscle weights 3 times more than fat, so if your excersizing you might be gaining MUSCLE which means it will be heavier than the fat, an accurate account would be to keep measurements, I bet any money your loosing inches, don't rely too heavily on the scales, it can dishearten you, keep measurements still to your calorie goals xoxo

    sorry, but that is not correct. Muscle and fat WEIGH the same, they don't take up the same amount of volume. A lot of people on here seem to get confused about this.

    The same with people saying that the calories of vegetables and fruit are negligible. A calorie is a calorie is a calorie. Our body doesn't know if the calorie comes from an apple, a carrot, steak, chips or a tub of lard. All it knows is that it's energy and it will burn it just the same.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Muscle weights 3 times more than fat, so if your excersizing you might be gaining MUSCLE which means it will be heavier than the fat, an accurate account would be to keep measurements, I bet any money your loosing inches, don't rely too heavily on the scales, it can dishearten you, keep measurements still to your calorie goals xoxo

    No, muscle and fat weigh the same. A pound of fat = a pound of muscle. Muscle is more dense, making the same amount appear leaner, but it weighs the same.

    And it is next to impossible to gain muscle when eating at a deficit. When people think they are getting more muscular, it's really because they are shedding the fat on top of the muscles, making what they already have more visible.

    To the OP - you need to track everything. And get a food scale and start weighing your portions so you know exactly what you are eating. I got one for $11 on Amazon.
  • p0pr0cksnc0ke
    p0pr0cksnc0ke Posts: 1,283 Member
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evKOibP6_Yw
  • gatorginger
    gatorginger Posts: 947 Member
    Too much sodium. I also suggest you only eat half your exercise calories back
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    You would probably be better off eating some real food. Stop getting stuff from packets. Lean protein, veggies, fruits will help you more than constant liquid calories and will give you more of what you need.
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
    My suggestion is to lower your carbs, increase your protein and lower your sodium. I had the same problem and that is what I started doing and it worked instantly.

    And than fire whoever sold you the Body By Vi for lying about being a miracle powder.
  • havs23
    havs23 Posts: 68 Member
    how do you change your macro settings?
  • Spice_4_Life
    Spice_4_Life Posts: 225
    Sodium is a huge factor! Try staying around 1500 to 2000 for sodium. You could definitely use to eat some fruits and vegi's. Also try lowering you calories a bit and drink lots of water!! Good luck on your healthy journey!!!
  • Sharyn913
    Sharyn913 Posts: 777 Member
    Another suggestion would be to change your work out routine. You're body may be getting used to what you are currently doing and not burning as much. Try doing intervals while walking. Jog. If you can't jog, there is a great app/routine called C25K that guides you along and transitions you from a walker to a jogger/runner. It could help. If you are on a treadmill, increase the incline dramatically. Confuse your body so that it works harder. Instead of using the elliptical, maybe there is a stair master? Or arc trainer? You don't have to do something different each day, but strive to change it up a little bit here and there.
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    Maybe I just don't recognise things as I'm in the UK, but I can't see much 'real' food in your diary, seems to be alot of drinks and dips.
  • recoiljpr
    recoiljpr Posts: 292
    Sorry to beat a dead horse, but sodium is one of your big issues. Since I've been working pretty hard to keep my sodium levels down, I know how much sodium can cause you to bloat and hold onto excess water. On any days I ended up above the 2,000 mark or so, I would "gain" a few lbs in water the very next day. You don't realize how much Sodium affects you until you start working hard to reduce it. I know in the past 40 days since I have been watching my sodium my blood pressure has gone down a LOT!!! From 137/82 to now around 124/76. I know it's only from sodium because I have kept my exercise levels the same now as they were pre-watching what I eat.

    Give it a try, you won't be disappointed. Like Roland said, it's hard at first, but once you get used to it you don't miss it as much. And when you do eat a salty afterwards, you will begin to realize just how much salt you were eating.
  • daisyyyy123
    daisyyyy123 Posts: 11
    oh no :( I know the feeling and it's so disheartening !
    some things to consider could be that if you are exercising a great deal, especially using weights then you could be building muscle which is (I believe) heavier than fat.

    Another thing could be if you are eating lots of carby stuff like bread and pasta, that could be sticking around a lot longer than if you were to swap it for brown rice or salads.

    Booze too is like liquid cream cakes, if you have been drinking at all? As a student I can sometimes have a binge and not consider it, then question why I'm gaining pounds whilst eating healthy!

    Don't let it get you down though, if you are sticking to your diet plan then I'm sure soon enough it'll all drop off and you'll be back where you were headed! Don't give up!!
    :) xxx
  • shelk76
    shelk76 Posts: 58
    Im the same, i havent lost any since i logged in this year...depressing ;o(
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    Lot's of processed foods. And you seem to be drinking a lot of your calories. I'd ditch the protein shakes or limit yourself to one a day. Maybe invest in a protein powder that you can make a more nutritious shake out of....the ones you are drinking now only have 14g of protein. And eat more healthy whole foods - apples, bananas, yogurt, eggs, grilled chicken, lean meats, veggies, cheese.

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