Any advise to stop constant weight gain?

[suggo]

Hello,

I was wondering if I could get any advice on or if anyone has gone through any thing  similar. I have been using the fitbit for 4 weeks now. I have been right on the border of obese for my bmi. Although my diet is still not perfect (christmas season and all), I have reduced my portion sizes, reduced take out to a small meal once a week, each healthier snacks, don't drink and don't smoke. Every morning I have done an ipad workout and the 30 day ab challenge and have done between 13,000 and 25,000 steps a day. I have walked until my calves are sore and cramped.  I know I am getting much fitter and can even run for 7 minutes non stop now, but throughout the four weeks I have put on 1 to 2 kilos each week and keep putting on more weight. I started at 74 kilos and am now at 80 kilos. Any advice? thanks

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[bedamon]

it  could be that you are  putting on more muscle then you had before, i would give it a few months then see if the weight starts coming off. if not could be a number of issues like mine i have put on lots of weight becasue hypothroidism but that if you become worried talk to your dr about it

[Algenon]

Hi!  Do not give up!   I went through the same thing when I first got the fitbit last January.   I did not see a weight lose until the second month.   The weight will come off.  Several things could be happening...like water gain.  

Your body is mostly water so if you do not drink enough water your body will want to hold on to the little water it has.  Drink more water.

Check your BMI measurements.  I did not lose weight at first but my size did go down.  Is this happening with you?  Sometimes the scale can trick you depending on when you weigh yourself.  I personally only weigh myself once a week at the same time of day.

Good luck!

Mix it up a little.  Try type of exercise one day and another the next.  Sometimes your body needs to exercise different portions.  

[GerriD]

Sometimes are judgements what we think we are eating can be distorted. For example I know I am better to come home eat a good dinner, one piece of chicken breast , sweet potatoe and vegetable, then I know I ate and I am done. However when I don't feel like cooking and think I will just have a bowl of cereal for dinner, I snack a lot more which is more calories.

My advice is count your calories and really write down everything you are eating sometimes it is more than we think. Good Luck and keep steppin, it will work is way out if you keep trying to figure it out. 

[tealily]

Are you using fitbit in conjunction with my fitness pal? (Not that fitbit doesn't have a food diary section - just that I find MFP easier to use) Are you using any other sort of calorie-counting device?

Though it's not uncommon to put on a bit of 'muscle weight' if you're doing lots of exercise, it sounds like you're doing reasonable low-intensity exercise... I'd have to check with some friends but inflammation-related water retention (from any normal microdamage sustained during higher-intensity-than-normal-exercise) probably shouldn't be 1-2kg a week.

Also sounds like you're making a lot of healthier choices (which is great! :D) so without knowledge of your calorie counts, best assumption is that despite the healthier choices your calorie intake may be higher than your calorie expenditure. Even 'healthy' foods can still be high in energy - eg salad dressings, cheese, dips, shakes, breads etc. As a general rule, almost everyone massively underestimates how much energy they're consuming each day, which is why these calorie counting babies are so darn useful ❤️

Other thing is that meat and fatty foods give more satiety (the feeling of 'fullness') so if you are cutting down on your fat content, you may actually be eating more in order to get that 'full' feeling. Nutshell - could be lots of things, and I love MFP because it does all the number crunching for me and all I need to do is tell it what I'm eating.

OR it's just the christmas season. Maybe be a bit more patient - keep doing what you're doing and see what Jan brings when there's no naughty christmas food around ❤️

[Dominique]

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@Algenon wrote:

Check your BMI measurements.  I did not lose weight at first but my size did go down.  

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That would be body measurements (waist, hips, thighs etc.), which Fitbit lets you track. BMI is just a ratio between height and weight. Tracking body measurements is a good idea.

[angieschenk]

How often are you eating and what types of healthy snacks are you eating?
amounts of protein, carbs & fats are more important tha just a number of calories

[tealily]

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@angieschenk wrote:

How often are you eating and what types of healthy snacks are you eating?
amounts of protein, carbs & fats are more important tha just a number of calories

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In terms of pure weight loss - not really. They all end up going through the Krebs cycle and the body happily interconverts all the sources too (think protein can't be converted into glucose? Think again...).

But in terms of overall health, good to be mindful of both in terms of a balanced diet that supplies all required nutrients + avoiding toxicity, eg excess protein intake is a bit dangerous due to buildup of ketoic acids (formed as byproduct of protein catabolism).

[angieschenk]

I agree, I didn't say protein cannot be converted to glucose, however making sure you get your nutrients from a balanced diet of protein/carbs & fats will yield more long term success, and release proper hormones to assist in dropping fat and not just weight.
I have clients who previously would focus on calories in vs calories out, and would end up eating mainly carbs or fats and minimal protein.
everything in moderation, even protein.
So yes I am agreeing with you, just so we are clear 🙂

[JenniferMarie]

I'm not sure how many calories a day you're eating, but maybe it's too much. It'd be unusual to gain that much muscle in that amount of time and without body building. Could be fluid retention if you have a pre existing condition that causes noteworthy retention...

I use My Fitness Pal with the FitBit. I have to because Fitbit doesn't provide an Australian database for foods so it's useless to me. You'd think if they are selling it in this country and talk it up as a tool to guide your calories in/calories out then they should have an Australian database but oh well. A lot of people who use My Fitness Pal with FitBit say the calories fitbit dashboard suggest you eat are kind of off and some people complain of weight gain when following the dashboard's recommendations. I had to put the settings on "kinda hard" to get it closer to the recommendations from My Fitness Pal. Fitbit was telling me to eat 2000-2500 cal a day to lose weight which would not work for me. Well, maybe in 8 years I would have lost the weight lol.

Maybe try increasing your eating plan thing if it's on easy or moderate?

[josephz2va]

I would check with a nutritionist/personal trainer program to alter your system.

• 13000 to 25000 steps a day is a good start, but are you putting an effort into cardio for burning. If you have a heart rate monitor (Polar), be sure you're burning a few minutes in Zone 2 (130-148 BPM average). Zone 1 is minimum effort (below 130) and you don't earn enough calories burned. I generally hit the elliptical machine for maximum 99 minutes hitting between the zone numbers.
• For the nutritionist, be sure you're talking with an expert in losing weight and body composition. Most of those are personal trainers. Avoid foods that you know are pure evil. Donuts, cakes, high in saturated fat, high in sugars, non-clean foods, sodas, etc.
• The average amount of calories you should consume is within the hardest calorie range or if you can manage, consuming less than 1500 calories. I consume on average 1500 a day while in control. My only cheat extras in control if I end up needing it are clean extras (ex: Turkey Sausage Breakfast Sandwiches, low in everything but high in protein)
• If you're taking supplements and whey protein, be sure to not drink more than one dose whey protein a day. There is such a thing as rabbit starvation (overdosing protein) and too many proteins also make you gain weight. My trainer advised me to only drink for breakfast.
• If you're looking to burn fat as I am in strength training, be sure you're monitoring it closely and if it goes up, it may be time to increase the weights during lifting. I currently use Focus T25 at night and when fat increases, I need to start focusing on increasing the weights as it's getting easy for the muscles to turn to fat mass.

[steventaken]

It sounds like you are doing everything right. Don't worry about the extra wait gain. You should check your waist measurement. That is one factor that is not accounted for in the Fitbit calculations and should be. If your waist is staying the same or decreasing and your weight is increasing it means you are increasing your muscles and muscle weighs more than fat. That is why going by BMI alone is incorrect. BMI has been around since the early 1900's. There is a new formula out that takes in to account waist and height as well. If you are doing that much exercise you might think about adding more carbs and proteins, which is what your muscle's need. If you increase your muscle mass it will increase your metabolic rate which will cause your body to burn more fat. 

[susanButterfly]

I agree. There are many authorities suggesting that BMI and waist size are integrated. A smaller waist size place can place an individual in a more favorable BMI category. This is important piece of information that should be added to the Fitbit app.

[jkjacks]

Your waist size has no impact on your BMI.  It will affect your body fat percentage which is a much more valuable figure.  I really wish fitbit had the option to not use BMI.