How can I be gaining weight??

Kimia

Hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me. I've been eating at a deficit now for almost 10 weeks and although I lost a bit initially, now I've started to gain weight again!

I've worked it out to a tee - I am allowed 1200 calories a day in order to be 500 under per day, resulting in a deficit of 3,500 a week which would equal one pound. I'm 5"4, female.

I should be on 8,400 calories a week. Maintenance would be approx 12,000.

I've been recording everything and here's how my weeks look:

Week 1: 9,340
Week 2: 8,880
Week 3: 8,950
Week 4: 9,500
Week 5: 8,700
Week 6: 8,640
Week 7: 8,850
Week 8: 8,800
Week 9: 8,960

My weight beginning was 147, I got down to 142 and now I'm 143.5. I just don't understand.

I also go to the gym 3 times a week which includes a very vigorous yoga class. I'm mostly doing free weights.

My diet I think is ok - nothing processed. My typical day would be no breakfast, salad for lunch with a good bit of protein, lots of vegetables for dinner with protein and dark chocolate for snacks. Once a week I have a larger dinner and drinks (maybe 5-6 vodkas). Occasionally I'll break out and have a packet of crisps (maybe once a week). No bread, no rice, no fast food, very very small amount of potatoes (the odd time).

Can anyone help?

El_Dangeroso

That's really odd.

Do you have any other symptoms? Are you tired? Do you normally have trouble losing weight? Have you had the thyroid checked out? (A full panel not just TSH)

double GG

1.5 pounds is not a whole lot. It's about 700g, so thats really just over a pint of water. It is most probably water after you've been drinking. Perhaps you weighed yourself last time when you were quite dehydrated and this time after a bit of water.

Smartguy

No need to panic. You seem to be doing the right things. It is probably just a bit of water weight.

gymfreak

How did you calculate your calories-1200? To be honest it looks very low for someone that weighs 140odd lbs.

I'd advise you to check out the nutrition stickies at the top of the forum..one of them provides a very, very detailed note by G'em on how to calculate calories if you want to lose, gain or maintain weight. From my own experience, these calculations have worked out waaaay more accurately then others.

Also, are you using a website similar to fitday.com to track your nutrition?

Kimia

gymfreak wrote: »

How did you calculate your calories-1200? To be honest it looks very low for someone that weighs 140odd lbs.

I'd advise you to check out the nutrition stickies at the top of the forum..one of them provides a very, very detailed note by G'em on how to calculate calories if you want to lose, gain or maintain weight. From my own experience, these calculations have worked out waaaay more accurately then others.

Also, are you using a website similar to fitday.com to track your nutrition?

I used the stickies to calculate the daily allowance which is 1700. I took away 500 a day to allow for a loss of 3500 a week, or one pound.

I'm using myfitnesspal for counting and I find it great. I also make sure to overcount instead of overcount so the numbers are accurate.

I don't have a thyroid problem to my knowledge, no other symptoms.

I am getting so demoralised as it's been 10 weeks and I've only lost like 3 pounds.

Even though I've been slightly over each week I'm still far below maintenance and still nothing.

What am I doing wrong! It couldn't be the numbers I really did double check my allowance...

El_Dangeroso

Could you be retaining water? You can carry up to half a stone in excess water. How are the ankles, that's usually an indication of water retention.

Kimia

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Could you be retaining water? You can carry up to half a stone in excess water. How are the ankles, that's usually an indication of water retention.

I could be, my stomach always has the potential for bloating, but I am so careful. No pasta, no bread, no crisps (except maybe once a week). How could I be bloating so much to explain this? Ankles are fine, nothing out of the ordinary .

I am just so disappointed. I didn't even realise it had been this long that i had been restricting but there it is.

I don't know what else to do. I ant each much less than I'm already eating!

Gummy Panda

I get a much higher calorie allowance for you. Around 1500 calories for a deficit.

Weight could be water retention due to time of month. Also you're nine weeks on this diet. Have you tried a full diet break, a period of 1-2 weeks where the dieter goes back to eating at maintenance?

It helps with metabolic slowdown.

Lyle McDonald - Full Diet Break

Alopex

If you drink alcohol are you including it in your calories?

Kimia

Gummy Panda wrote: »

I get a much higher calorie allowance for you. Around 1500 calories for a deficit.

Weight could be water retention due to time of month. Also you're nine weeks on this diet. Have you tried a full diet break, a period of 1-2 weeks where the dieter goes back to eating at maintenance?

It helps with metabolic slowdown.

Lyle McDonald - Full Diet Break

That's interesting.. I don't understand how I'd lose weight eating 1500 cals a day instead of 1200.. How would that work!

I haven't tried a diet break, I'm too scared that I'd end up heavier than when I started 10 weeks ago and all this effort would be for nothing!!

Kimia

Alopex wrote: »

If you drink alcohol are you including it in your calories?

Yes, I include everything. Its mind boggling!

accensi0n

Kimia wrote: »

I've worked it out to a tee - I am allowed 1200 calories a day in order to be 500 under per day, resulting in a deficit of 3,500 a week which would equal one pound. I'm 5"4, female.

I also go to the gym 3 times a week which includes a very vigorous yoga class. I'm mostly doing free weights.

My diet I think is ok - nothing processed. My typical day would be no breakfast, salad for lunch with a good bit of protein, lots of vegetables for dinner with protein and dark chocolate for snacks. Once a week I have a larger dinner and drinks (maybe 5-6 vodkas). Occasionally I'll break out and have a packet of crisps (maybe once a week). No bread, no rice, no fast food, very very small amount of potatoes (the odd time).

Can anyone help?

Maybe change things up a bit.

You could try something like this for 8 weeks and see how you go:

Deficit of 300 - 400 per day.
Eat breakfast.
Cut out the crisps.
Cut out the chocolate.
Cut out the alcohol.
Make up the reduced cals with more veg, good fats, protein.
Change your workout so that what you deem the most useful isn't "a very vigorous yoga class". (I may be wrong about this, what else do you do in the gym?) i.e HIIT, heavy weights using mostly big compound movements.

Gummy Panda

Kimia wrote: »

That's interesting.. I don't understand how I'd lose weight eating 1500 cals a day instead of 1200.. How would that work!

I haven't tried a diet break, I'm too scared that I'd end up heavier than when I started 10 weeks ago and all this effort would be for nothing!!

When I calculated it, your maintenance was 1900-2000 calories.

El_Dangeroso

I'd LOVE for you to try higher cals and see what happens. I've seen anecdotes on the net of people upping cals and losing more weight but that could all be BS.

I trust you to tell us the truth..:D

Kimia

At this stage I'm willing to do anything tbh. Ok, from the stickies, here are my stats:


1) So.. first off you need to figure out your resting metabolic rate (RMR) or the calories your body requires just to exist if you were lying down for 24 hours:

Me: (64.4kg x 14.7) + 496 = 1442

2) Then calculate your lifestyle daily energy needs:

Activity level
me: mostly seated or standing RMR * 1.4

1442 * 1.4 = 2019

3) Then estimate your daily exercise expenditure by working out how much exercise you do a week and divide by seven for an average daily value:

me:
Yoga: 120 cals
Misc Training (weights + 15 mins cardio): 150 x 2 = 300
Total at gym: 420/7 = 60

So add that to my daily energy needs.. 2019 + 60 = 2079

My maintenance calorie needs every day are 2079 cals/ day.


For weight loss: I need to reduce my calories by about 15% a day:
2079 * 0.85 = 1765 cals/ day

WOW!! I feel so silly. :eek::eek:

Why does MyFitnessPal tell me 1200 a day? And all those other calculators on the cursed internet?

Edit: Oh I'm embarrassed. I rechecked MyFitnessPal and it tells me that my basal metabolism is 1360 (which multiplied by 1.4is around 1900 which minus 500 is 1400).

I wonder if eating too little has made me stall??

El_Dangeroso

Kimia wrote: »

I wonder if eating too little has made me stall??

I don't know but it would be really interesting to find out. That's not the first time I've seen people accidentally get too low cals from myfitnesspal either. Don't forget your basal metabolism is what you burn lying in bed doing not moving a muscle all day.

I'd recommend a re-feed day every 14 days too. Basically it revs up the metabolism by topping up leptin (or so I can surmise, not exactly clinically proven).

A re-feed is just eating a little above maintenance for a day - not an excuse for an all out 'f*ck it' day but enough to enjoy a nice meal out as a treat.

Kimia

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I don't know but it would be really interesting to find out. That's not the first time I've seen people accidentally get too low cals from myfitnesspal either. Don't forget your basal metabolism is what you burn lying in bed doing not moving a muscle all day.

I'd recommend a re-feed day every 14 days too. Basically it revs up the metabolism by topping up leptin (or so I can surmise, not exactly clinically proven).

A re-feed is just eating a little above maintenance for a day - not an excuse for an all out 'f*ck it' day but enough to enjoy a nice meal out as a treat.

I'm going to try it. From today I'm upping to 1450 cals a day, and keeping my regular exercise. I'll report back in a couple of weeks to let you know. I am nervous that i'll actually end up gaining weight but i'm getting nowhere right now.

Oh and i'm all over those re-feeds!! i have a cheat meal once a week, where I go maybe 5-600 over my usual cals but i'll up it to go over maintenance.

Thanks for your help and if you think of anything else I am doing that has caused this please let me know!

Edit: Also on that MyFitness Pal thing. I re-checked and my BMR is 1360 or so. Then when I use their recommended settings to lose a pound a week, they give me 1200 a day. That doesn't make sense.

gymfreak

Yeh..I had a feeling that you'd miscounted alright. Up your calories and monitor your weight so you know if your gaining/losing.

The other thing I think you should note is that calories on the websites myfitnesspal and fitday aren't always accurate..I'd always read the labels of foods and tot up the calories in my head aswell as logging.

Just see how you get on with those two simple strategies and let us know.:)

Kimia

It's the weirdest thing. Now that I think more and more about how I'm feeling, I feel pretty bloated today which is so weird as I've only had about 900 calories.

I haven't felt thin in a long time. I don't know what it is, but something's going to have to change. I'm going to up the protein and fat (fat most of all) and see how i get on.

gymfreak

Kimia wrote: »

It's the weirdest thing. Now that I think more and more about how I'm feeling, I feel pretty bloated today which is so weird as I've only had about 900 calories.

I haven't felt thin in a long time. I don't know what it is, but something's going to have to change. I'm going to up the protein and fat (fat most of all) and see how i get on.

Would you mind telling us exactly what your daily food intake is? Someone might be able to point you in the right direction about minor tweaks you could make.

echosound

Just throwing this out there for you to consider - are you coming up to your time of the month? I find I can be up to a few pounds heavier in the few days leading up, water retention or whatnot I guess. Gone again when I weigh myself the week after.

Are you also measuring yourself (waist, bust, hips, thigh, arm...) rather than just relying on the scales? I lost 2 stone+ about 2 years ago, and found that although there were weeks at a time where I didn't see too much of a change on the scales, my measurements were going down and clothes were looser. Doing weights and exercise in general had the effect of changing my body composition a bit, but it wasn't showing immediately on the scales.

Two non-nutrition related, very simplistic points I've made I know, but may be worth asking!

Gummy Panda

When measuring cals for cutting, I just go by Hanley's advice - bodyweight in lbs x 10-12

So 142 x 12 = 1704

I tested this before by doing a long winded calculation on a muscle site. There was a difference of 50-70 cals

Kimia

Ok, typical day. I'll do today:

Breakfast: nothing

Lunch: Large spinach salad with chicken, crunchy noodle stick things, light asian dressing

Dinner: Big bowl of homemade stew with lots of veggies & 1 small spud

Snack: After eight (20g)

Other snack (after doing this thread): Pistachios (to up the calories)

And yes Echosound, I have lost a couple of inches off my waist but thought nothing of it tbh. I suppose it's because the scales are telling such a different story!

Glowing

Why don't you eat breakfast Kimia?

Gummy Panda

Glowing wrote: »

Why don't you eat breakfast Kimia?

To be honest, breakfast isn't as important as people think. You can skip it as long as you don't snack with muffins and chocolate till lunchtime.

I've seen a few lads on the myprotein forum have great success with the lean gains version of intermittent fasting.

Dotcomdolly

Hi Kimia,
I'm 5'3 and 128lbs (aimin for 125.5, was 161 when I started losing weight
in '09)
Like yourself MFP gave me 1200, and it has given SO many people I know the same!
But I listen to great podcast called fat2fitradio and their idea is eat/live like the slim person you wnat to become and you will (slowly) get there - so it's a lifestyle change rather than a "diet". Have a listen to the "top audio clips".
They have some great bmr calculators on their site too and following that I upped my cals from 1200 to 1600 - and guess what? I still lost weight, just as erratically as when I was on 1200 But I was a hell of a lot happier!!
I wrote all about it on a post mfp forum post here

Once a month I take a photo of front & side in bra and knickers and do my measurements with the tape. If you have lost around the waist you should be happy! As the guys on Fat2fit say, you don't walk around with your weight tattooed on your forehead!

Best of luck. Feel free to add me as a friend of MFP, my food diary is public so might give you some ideas.

gymfreak

Hey Kimia, I'd agree with Dotcomdolly on alot of her points, very sound advice there.

Kimia wrote: »

Ok, typical day. I'll do today:

Breakfast: nothing

Lunch: Large spinach salad with chicken, crunchy noodle stick things, light asian dressing

Dinner: Big bowl of homemade stew with lots of veggies & 1 small spud

Snack: After eight (20g)

Other snack (after doing this thread): Pistachios (to up the calories)

And yes Echosound, I have lost a couple of inches off my waist but thought nothing of it tbh. I suppose it's because the scales are telling such a different story!

I think a really important aspect of 'dieting' for most people is making it a lifestyle change as Dotcomdolly has said above. Your diet has to work for you and your goals. I always find that reading up about food choices and educating myself naturally led to me making more nutritious choices. Looking at your diet above it's hard to tell because you don't specifically say how much meat, veg etc that your eating whether your diet is lacking in protein or whether your overeating. Have a flick through the nutrition stuff on www.dominicmunnelly.ie he has a few good articles for beginners as regards nutrition.

With regards the diet, I'm the same height as you and I weigh 117lbs (losing weight at the moment for a weight classed competition) and generally aim to eat 1400-1500kcal daily...just to give you an example of my day yesterday.

Breakfast: 2egg omlette with brocolli, peppers, onions, mushrooms and turkey.

Lunch: Salad-Tuna, sweetcorn and red onion

Dinner: Lean Beef and loads of veg (brocolli, onions, mushrooms, pepper, aubergine, courgette, cherry tomatoes)


Snacks: apple, 3/4 carrots, 25g of mixed nuts, 2plums
I like to eat little and often because I get bad blood sugar crashes if I don't, and my diet is pretty simple, eggs,meat, veg..and maybe a few pieces of fruit!!

Kimia

gymfreak wrote: »

Hey Kimia, I'd agree with Dotcomdolly on alot of her points, very sound advice there.

Kimia wrote: »

Ok, typical day. I'll do today:

Breakfast: nothing

Lunch: Large spinach salad with chicken, crunchy noodle stick things, light asian dressing

Dinner: Big bowl of homemade stew with lots of veggies & 1 small spud

Snack: After eight (20g)

Other snack (after doing this thread): Pistachios (to up the calories)

And yes Echosound, I have lost a couple of inches off my waist but thought nothing of it tbh. I suppose it's because the scales are telling such a different story!

I think a really important aspect of 'dieting' for most people is making it a lifestyle change as Dotcomdolly has said above. Your diet has to work for you and your goals. I always find that reading up about food choices and educating myself naturally led to me making more nutritious choices. Looking at your diet above it's hard to tell because you don't specifically say how much meat, veg etc that your eating whether your diet is lacking in protein or whether your overeating. Have a flick through the nutrition stuff on www.dominicmunnelly.ie he has a few good articles for beginners as regards nutrition.

With regards the diet, I'm the same height as you and I weigh 117lbs (losing weight at the moment for a weight classed competition) and generally aim to eat 1400-1500kcal daily...just to give you an example of my day yesterday.

Breakfast: 2egg omlette with brocolli, peppers, onions, mushrooms and turkey.

Lunch: Salad-Tuna, sweetcorn and red onion

Dinner: Lean Beef and loads of veg (brocolli, onions, mushrooms, pepper, aubergine, courgette, cherry tomatoes)


Snacks: apple, 3/4 carrots, 25g of mixed nuts, 2plums
I like to eat little and often because I get bad blood sugar crashes if I don't, and my diet is pretty simple, eggs,meat, veg..and maybe a few pieces of fruit!!

Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to reply. I am definitely going to have a look at that Dolly, it sounds ideal for me.

I don't eat breakfast because it always makes me feel queasy. Has since I was a kid for some reason. I would only eat breakfast on the weekends and only after being up a few hours.

I'm going to up the cals to 1450 a day and see how I get on, staying quite paleo.

El_Dangeroso

Gummy Panda wrote: »

To be honest, breakfast isn't as important as people think. You can skip it as long as you don't snack with muffins and chocolate till lunchtime.

I've seen a few lads on the myprotein forum have great success with the lean gains version of intermittent fasting.

I've come to the realisation that skipping breakfast doesn't suit everyone. It doesn't suit me. I started getting pudgy round the middle and getting insomnia when I waited too long for lunch without breakfast. Something to do with people's different levels of cortisol. And at the end of the day the operative word in IF is 'Intermittent'. Doing something every day isn't intermittent, it's chronic. I completely respect the results some people get out of it, but it's not mandatory or even advisable for everyone.

I also get queasy when I eat first thing, but when I eat something totally bland and low in fat I'm OK (heresy amiright? ), so usually have a cold chicken breast and maybe a little plain rice or potato within 30 mins of waking. It's totally functional, non-enjoyable but it means I sleep better and am sharper brained all day long.

Bubs99

Would it not simply be the fact that muscle is heavier than fat?!

You did say that you are doing weights, maybe not intense but you are going to the gym and doing yoga so naturally you're toning and the fat is turning in to muscle. That's a good thing!!!

Be proud. You don't need to starve yourself on such a strict diet. From your height and weight, you seem perfectly slim imo. Just keep going to the gym and enjoy your food in a relaxed manner.

Good luck.

Gummy Panda

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I've come to the realisation that skipping breakfast doesn't suit everyone. It doesn't suit me. I started getting pudgy round the middle and getting insomnia when I waited too long for lunch without breakfast. Something to do with people's different levels of cortisol. And at the end of the day the operative word in IF is 'Intermittent'. Doing something every day isn't intermittent, it's chronic. I completely respect the results some people get out of it, but it's not mandatory or even advisable for everyone.

True, should always listen to your body. I don't do IF but I don't like the mantra of you must eat breakfast.

I asked before about how it was intermittent if it was the same fast everyday and was told they do occasional 24 hour fasts. To be honest, I think IF works in that they have a shorter window to consume so many calories. Nothing magical.

Kimia

Breakfast was never my thing. Even going out for breakfast - meh. I love eggs but I get so sick of them and I'm not into sweet things really. I don't eat cereal and since I'm in Canada i have no glorious sausages. Canadian bacon is ok but it's just not the same.

I have a duck breast roasting gently in the oven to go with my huge spinach salad dressed in soy sauce & a touch of honey. I am liking this new calories increase!

I still can't get my head to wrap around how I will probably lose weight by eating more calories. I always thought the starvation thing was a myth!!