Confused

Swoosh

I have recently undertaken a diet which cut out the badness in my diet for something more normal and "healthy",

Below are the foods

Breakfast - porridge, actimel

Dinner - pork/beef/turkey with veg and potatoes, cottage pie, steak with potatoes peas and sweet corn, yoghurt, pasta

Tea - beans on toast, muesli, eggs

The above is a sample of the foods I have been eating and I've combined this with a fair share of running each day and a kettlebell classtaking me to 25k in 7 days from 0k ever!

I thought that being 5 11 and 16 stone that I'd at least see a pound or two drop on the scales in the first week. You can imagine my surprise when stepping on the scales midweek saw me gain 2 pounds. I was not eating above average portions for meals either

I know my "diet" isn't as extreme as some others on here but can anyone tell me how I put on weight given the plan I've followed?

Also any sample corrections I should make to it to improve without being overly extreme? It was disheartening to put on weight when I had been making a concerted effort

Thrill

How many calories do those average portions add up to in a day?


If it's more than you burn then you will continue to put on weight.

Ant11

Swoosh wrote: »

I have recently undertaken a diet which cut out the badness in my diet for something more normal and "healthy",

Below are the foods

Breakfast - porridge, actimel

Dinner - pork/beef/turkey with veg and potatoes, cottage pie, steak with potatoes peas and sweet corn, yoghurt, pasta

Tea - beans on toast, muesli, eggs

The above is a sample of the foods I have been eating and I've combined this with a fair share of running each day and a kettlebell classtaking me to 25k in 7 days from 0k ever!

I thought that being 5 11 and 16 stone that I'd at least see a pound or two drop on the scales in the first week. You can imagine my surprise when stepping on the scales midweek saw me gain 2 pounds. I was not eating above average portions for meals either

I know my "diet" isn't as extreme as some others on here but can anyone tell me how I put on weight given the plan I've followed?

Also any sample corrections I should make to it to improve without being overly extreme? It was disheartening to put on weight when I had been making a concerted effort

Get rid of wheat, sugars and processed foods. Eat real foods: meat, veg, fish, nuts, fruit, Greek yogurt, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados etc

Afaik actimel is full of sugar, never had it but nearly sure it is.

Get rid of the bread -full of wheat. Read wheatbelly if you want.

You need to workout your maintenance calories and eat a daily deficit to lose weight. The stickies explain this very clearly.

doctorwhogirl

There are a few reasons I can think of for the weight gain, but I'm no expert! Just someone who has had this happen so I've looked into possible reasons a lot!

First off, the fact that there has been a significant increase in your workouts could mean that your muscles are regaining water. That could be part of it.

Secondly, and most likely, I think you may not be eating enough.

At 5ft 11 and 16stone and if you are about 25 years old (just for calculation purposes)
if you are male you need about 2400 calories daily to maintain your weight.
Female, you need about 2200.

Now that isn't accounting for calories burned during exercise. They are you calories for being sedentary and barely moving during the day.

It depends on the person, but sometimes not eating enough will mean your body won't let go of weight.

I do agree with you though, it shouldn't happen when you're only starting a diet, but it is a possibility.

The other thing you mention is that the portion sizes were "average". Perhaps they were average for you, but were sending you over your calorie intake? It can easily happen. Measuring your portions by weighing them is a good idea when you are starting out on losing weight.

The thing I would suggest, if I were you, is use a website like this http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/ and enter in your details to figure out your calorie needs and then you can also see what calories you would need to see a drop in weight.

Then use an app or online application like www.myfitnesspal.com and enter in your food intake for a few days and see are you hitting those calories or are you going over them?

In terms of the food your eating, I think it looks ok! (In my very humble opinion!) The only thing I would suggest is make sure your pasta and bread are wholegrain as they really do keep energy levels more stable and keep you fuller for longer. Also watch yoghurts, some can be very high in calories or very high in sugar. I'd also make sure I got some healthy snacks in like some fresh fruit or nuts.


I hope that helps. There's a lot of conflicting advice so don't get too overwhelmed! Fair play on making these changes and your exercise sounds great!

Thrill

I would also like to say well done for starting out on your weight loss program.

I think it would clear things up a little if you explained what you mean by "average portion size".

Dont forget to drink plenty of water in your diet as well, especially now that you are more active. Your body will hold onto water if you don't drink enough of it, increasing your weight.

Danger781

Just continuing on the average portions thing - Use an app like MyFitnessPal to actually count then calories you're consuming. It has the option of barcode scanning rather than just inputting generic nutrition info. You could very well be surprised about how many calories you're consuming... I know I was

Swoosh

Thanks for the responses lads

By average I really do mean normal portion sizes it could be the holding onto water thing cos I don't really have any during a day

What else is strange is that today I didn't eat at all due to travelling to various matches however I still wasn't really hungry at 7pm I wouldn't imagine that to be normal either