Good diet and exercise but putting on weight!! Help please??

njs030

Over a couple of years I put on a bit of weight and trying really hard to lose it but the lbs are still going up and I can't work out why. It's really driving me insane!!!

I eat the correct amount of calories a day for weight loss (I use my fitness pal and also checked with the link in the sticky on here)
I don't eat crap, 99% of my diet is freshly made at home with good ingredients.
I walk 3/4 miles a day with my dogs- fast walking with occasional jogging.
It seems that one week I lose 2lbs but the following one I'm up by 3!!!
Any advice please? Before I cry!!

Stench Blossoms

You obviously aren't eating the correct amount of calories if you are putting on weight.

Post up your stats plus a typical days food intake.

njs030

Thanks for the reply, what are stats?

A typical day would be something like-
(All portion controlled and weighed properly)

Breakfast-
Granola with natural yoghurt and berries. Or

Boiled/poached egg with 1 slice spelt toast.

Lunch-
Big salad made from spinach, kale, rocket, cabbage, peppers, tomato, cucumber, onion and whatever other veg is floating around. With cheese (usually mozzarella or feta), seeds and beetroot.

Dinner- I don't eat meat so usually something from the good life range (tonight it's a nut cutlet) with lots of veggies. If I'm hungry I'll have a small boiled potato too.
Once a week I have a yummy baked potato with cheese and beans instead.

Snack mid afternoon- usually either 1/2 avocado with sunflower and pumpkin seeds or
Raw veg dips and houmous or
Apple slices and peanut butter.

I love coffee but cant take it without sugar (and won't entertain sweeteners) so I have 2 cups in the morning and that's it.
Everything else is water or herbal teas.

oscar_mike

Height? weight? Level of activity?

njs030

Sorry!!
5ft 9 female, about 2 and a half stone to lose.
Apart from the dog walking every day, I do yoga twice a week, otherwise fairly sedentary, work from home- mostly sitting down.

Alf Veedersane

If you're using MFP to track your calories, how many calories are you averaging at on any given day?

2xj3hplqgsbkym

notjustsweet wrote: »

Sorry!!
5ft 9 female, about 2 and a half stone to lose.
Apart from the dog walking every day, I do yoga twice a week, otherwise fairly sedentary, work from home- mostly sitting down.

What is your current weight and how many calories do you consume?

njs030

It's given me 1210 before exercise.
I don't really use the extra from exercise just in case I'm slightly off on portions or anything- like a safety net!

I also used the fitbit app (I have the flex tracker thing) but it was giving me calories of about 1600/1700 after exercise which seemed a huge amount in comparison.

Thanks for the help!!

El_Dangeroso

Are you definitely eating only 1200 cals a day?

I'm your height and can lose weight eating more than that.

Could you be gaining muscle? I lost a whole dress size once and didn't budge on the scales.

All presumably OK with thyroid?

I wouldn't even call it a pattern unless you do it consistently for 6 weeks with no results. As a woman your weight will fluctuate up to 7lb over the course of a month.

I'd maybe focus in on more protein, eggs, beans and lentils are your friends here as a veggie.

Mitzy

Hi notjustsweet

I've been in exactly the same position as you & have tried everything to lose weight but no matter what I cut from my diet I kept putting it on.
Just after christmas (in a moment of despair) I went to Weightwatchers. My leader looked at my food record that I had taken & told me that I wasn't eating enough. I had to increase by food intake by about 1/3 per day (about 1500-1600 cals).
I was extremely skeptical but slowly it's started to come off. I'm down 9lbs now.
I know you are probably thinking that I'm mad to suggest you go to WW but it's a good way to track your progress. If you lose half pound a week that's 2 stone in a year!!

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Perhaps you just aren't eating enough, have you tried eating more for a few weeks?

njs030

Thanks again everyone for the help.
I think I'll try eating what the fitbit app says as it's a bit higher and see how that goes for a while as suggested by a few people. I'll try upping protein too.

Fingers crossed it works this time!!

Stench Blossoms

notjustsweet wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, what are stats?

A typical day would be something like-
(All portion controlled and weighed properly)

Breakfast-
Granola with natural yoghurt and berries. Or
How much granola? How many calories?

Boiled/poached egg with 1 slice spelt toast.

Lunch-
Big salad made from spinach, kale, rocket, cabbage, peppers, tomato, cucumber, onion and whatever other veg is floating around. With cheese (usually mozzarella or feta), seeds and beetroot.
How many calories?


Dinner- I don't eat meat so usually something from the good life range (tonight it's a nut cutlet) with lots of veggies. If I'm hungry I'll have a small boiled potato too.
Once a week I have a yummy baked potato with cheese and beans instead.

Snack mid afternoon- usually either 1/2 avocado with sunflower and pumpkin seeds or
Raw veg dips and houmous or
Apple slices and peanut butter.
Again...How many calories?

I love coffee but cant take it without sugar (and won't entertain sweeteners) so I have 2 cups in the morning and that's it.
So does this mean you are having sugar with the two cups of coffee? If so, how many calories does this add up to?
Everything else is water or herbal teas.

TBH I think you are eating probably more than 1200 which is fine because 1200 is stupidly low, but without knowing how much you are actually eating it's going to be hard to determine why you aren't losing weight.

You need to tell us how much you weigh as well.

njs030

Thanks again for the reply, this is yesterday's food- I was hungry so used some of the exercise calories and came to 1320.

Breakfast- 378 total calories
50g granola 245 cals
Yoghurt 90 cals
Dried cranberries 43cals

Morning coffee x 2 150 total calories
Coffee - 10 cals
4 x teaspoons brown sugar 60cals
Milk (2/3 cup) 80 cals

Lunch - 223 total calories
1/2 avocado - 161 cals
Pumpkin seeds - 62 cals

Afternoon snack-232 total
4 crackers-140 cals
15g peanut butter-92 cals

Dinner- 337 total calories
Nut cutlet - 115 cals
Salad- 80 cals
Quinoa 1/4 cup- 116 cals
Feta cheese 10g - 26 cals

Plus a 4 mile fast walk with the dogs, a walk to town and back (around 35mins) and 45 mins yoga 2/3 times a week.

Stench Blossoms

You are not eating enough food. I eat 200-300 calories more than you and I'm 90lbs lighter than you and I lose weight eating that much.

You need to fuel to burn fat and you are not fueling your body enough.

Your food choices aren't great either.

njs030

Brilliant thanks. So what would you suggest food wise? I don't eat meat or fish so they aren't an option.

Someone else said to add more lentils beans and eggs which I will do.

quaalude

Hi notjustsweet -
I'm on MyFitnessPal and a vegetarian, and have had very successful weight loss this past year 14 months - I'm gonna PM you now.

seosamh1980

Your lunch is tiny, half an avocado and some seeds?? That's a snack, not a meal. I'd be starving after that.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

notjustsweet wrote: »

Brilliant thanks. So what would you suggest food wise? I don't eat meat or fish so they aren't an option.

Someone else said to add more lentils beans and eggs which I will do.

As far as I can see you still haven't given your weight, or am I just missing it somewhere? If you are underweight maybe that is why you aren't losing weight?

Stench Blossoms

Tristian Uptight Guitarist wrote: »

As far as I can see you still haven't given your weight, or am I just missing it somewhere? If you are underweight maybe that is why you aren't losing weight?

She gave her weight then looks like she edited it out.

220lbs.

njs030

Yes I edited it out as I preferred if it wasn't there all the time.

Thanks though.

2xj3hplqgsbkym

Well then you are definitely not eating enough. I am 5ft 6 and weigh 135 lb and my fitness pal recommends 1200 calories for me, so you would certainly need more.

I think you should continue with your weighing and the types of food you are eating but add more, such as a home made soup as well as your avocado at lunch time. My favourites are mushroom and spinach, curried parsnip or spiced chickpea.

Maybe try carb cycling a little, so some days when you exercise more have 3 servings of healthy bread cereals or potatoes. Then other days two and others one.

Dont be discouraged you are on the right track, it just needs some tweaking.

Try to keep track of measurements too, not just weight, as you may notice progress there.

ford2600

Needs to consume more calories to lose weight?

Doesn't that contradict the calories in/ calories out hypothesis?

Alf Veedersane

ford2600 wrote: »

Needs to consume more calories to lose weight?

Doesn't that contradict the calories in/ calories out hypothesis?

The law of diminishing returns.

Stench Blossoms

ford2600 wrote: »

Needs to consume more calories to lose weight?

Doesn't that contradict the calories in/ calories out hypothesis?

Her body is probably clinging onto the calories she does consume and storing them as fat because it thinks it's never going to eat again.

ford2600

She is putting on weight despite calorie restriction. She is exercising.

Just finding it hard to tally with the "count the calories message" nearly always given here.

I never count calories, can eat as much as I want and never gain weight. There are many like me and many more like op

Gumbi

ford2600 wrote: »

She is putting on weight despite calorie restriction. She is exercising.

Just finding it hard to tally with the "count the calories message" nearly always given here.

I never count calories, can eat as much as I want and never gain weight. There are many like me and many more like op

Just because you eat as much as you want doesn't mean you will gain/lose weight. It just means yiur definition of "as much as you want" falls handily into the "just abiut enough" category.

Alf Veedersane

ford2600 wrote: »

She is putting on weight despite calorie restriction. She is exercising.

Just finding it hard to tally with the "count the calories message" nearly always given here.

I never count calories, can eat as much as I want and never gain weight. There are many like me and many more like op

The calories in/calories out holds for the majority. When you get into extremes, which 1200 calroies a day for the OP would be, then it doesn't because the body goes into starvation mode, as SB said, and holds onto fat. Your metabolism slows to a crawl to hold onto what it has.

ford2600

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The calories in/calories out holds for the majority. When you get into extremes, which 1200 calroies a day for the OP would be, then it doesn't because the body goes into starvation mode, as SB said, and holds onto fat. Your metabolism slows to a crawl to hold onto what it has.

So on calorie restriction, you go into starvation mode and gain weight?

So the calories in/calorie holds except for the caveat where your calorie restricted?

If that's correct and I reduce my calories to below maintenance I'll gain weight?

Alf Veedersane

ford2600 wrote: »

So on calorie restriction, you go into starvation mode and gain weight?

So the calories in/calorie holds except for the caveat where your calorie restricted?

If that's correct and I reduce my calories to below maintenance I'll gain weight?

The key word was 'extremes'.

ford2600

Gumbi wrote: »

Just because you eat as much as you want doesn't mean you will gain/lose weight. It just means yiur definition of "as much as you want" falls handily into the "just abiut enough" category.

Am I just lucky so, have I some inbuilt subconscious facility, which allows me to eat the exact right amount so I don't gain or lose weight.

I've never counted calories(once actually, had a 2000 kcal omelette last week)

ford2600

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The key word was 'extremes'.

Define extreme for me.

38 yr old 80kg male.

Gumbi

ford2600 wrote: »

Am I just lucky so, have I some inbuilt subconscious facility, which allows me to eat the exact right amount so I don't gain or lose weight.

I've never counted calories(once actually, had a 2000 kcal omelette last week)

You could be very active as well. I mean the calories go somewhere, they don't disappear.

ford2600

Gumbi wrote: »

You could be very active as well. I mean the calories go somewhere, they don't disappear.

It doesn't matter, at moment very active, other time not so.

Yet never gain weight. Same belt since I was 15. Now 38.

People come on here looking for advice. It's obvious standard answer doesn't work for OP.

Calories in/ calories out leaves no room for manevoure for different people. It doesn't explain people like me or people like op.

I used to eat 60-70% carbs no weight gain. No 50% fat, no weight gain(a little fat loss however).

Everybody is not the same.

Quoting calories/calories out to OP is about as useful as exchange rate of dollar to yen

Alf Veedersane

ford2600 wrote: »

Define extreme for me.

Given the OP's stats, 1200 calories as a daily average is too low.

If you just want to be obtuse, I'm not interested. A calorie deficit that is too big sends the body into starvation mode.

If you don't buy it, that's fine. It doesn't seem to be an issue for you.

But it would be one of the more plausible explanations for the OP putting on weight.

ford2600

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Given the OP's stats, 1200 calories as a daily average is too low.

If you just want to be obtuse, I'm not interested. A calorie deficit that is too big sends the body into starvation mode.

If you don't buy it, that's fine. It doesn't seem to be an issue for you.

But it would be one of the more plausible explanations for the OP putting on weight.

I'm not being obtuse, I'm asking questions.

I don't have the answers either. Asking questions seems a good place to start.

Alf Veedersane

ford2600 wrote: »

I'm not being obtuse, I'm asking questions.

I don't have the answers either. Asking questions seems a good place to start.

Fair enough.

Calories in/calories out holds in the majority of cases.

But if you go too low and you're getting less calories than your body needs to sustain normal functions, then it goes into starvation mode to hold onto its stores rather than burn them.

The threshold where you've gone too low differs from person to person because it's the BMR. The calories your body burns if you did nothing but pretend to be in a coma for 24 hours.

Get more calories in than your BMR but less than your TDEE.

njs030

When I did the equation in the sticky at the top of the page, the amount of calories that I needed to consume just to maintain my weight was 2888.
Dropping that to 1210 (advised by mfp) is less then half the amount I needed for maintenance and then adding 400/500 calorie burn daily on exercise was dropping the amount actually taken in to 800 or less.

It confuses me a bit but after the advice given and some research I can see that possibly what happened is my body decided to hold on to all the extra fat as something crazy had happened in a dramatically sudden time frame.

So I've upped the daily calories to 1500, will eat the extra from exercise and will report back in a few weeks!!

(Hope I've explained that correctly!)

Stench Blossoms

I'd up it to 2000 minimum.

njs030

stench blossoms- when I include eating exercise calories it is around 2000. Or do you mean 2000 excluding exercise cals?

It's so confusing!!!

Stench Blossoms

What brand of heart rate monitor do you have?

njs030

I don't?

Stench Blossoms

Then how do you know how many calories you are burning?

MFP is just an estimate. Unless you've a HRM (Which is still an estimate just a better one) then don't log them. Eat 2000 calories everyday for 2 weeks. See how you get on.

njs030

I have the fitbit flex which is an exercise monitor.

Ok cool I'll try your way for two weeks so.

Thanks

Stench Blossoms

Whoever it was that said to pm about a vegetarian diet, did you pm them?

njs030

Yep I did speak with her, she's a great help, have lots more ideas now.

Thanks everyone for the help- I'll report back in a few weeks

syklops

So I've upped the daily calories to 1500, will eat the extra from exercise and will report back in a few weeks!!

notjustsweet wrote: »

stench blossoms- when I include eating exercise calories it is around 2000. Or do you mean 2000 excluding exercise cals?

It's so confusing!!!

What do you mean the extra calories from exercise?

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

do 300 cals worth of exercise, then eat 300 cals of food

koriko

Not sure if it has been mentioned, I haven't read the entire thread but sleep is a key aspect of weight loss. Are you getting adequate amounts of sleep that's good quality? From friends I've spoken to who lost weight and, been successful keeping it off, sleep was a major part, along with diet & healthy eating obviously!

quaalude

Stench Blossoms wrote: »

Whoever it was that said to pm about a vegetarian diet, did you pm them?

I did indeed, and opened my MFP diary to her so she can see what sort of things I eat. I log all food and exercise rigorously.
I eat 1440 calories a day plus all exercise calories, so I eat around 2000 most days - which agrees with what you recommend, Stench Blossoms.

Alf Veedersane

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

do 300 cals worth of exercise, then eat 300 cals of food

Usually becomes, 'bank 200 cals from a run, and cash in 947 cals in the chipper'