Been at it for 3 weeks and weight going up!

[Sebani]

So i've been tracking my foods at myfitnesspal and for the most part i'm trying to be as accurate as possible. when I go out for meals i just guesstimate and I think I'm more on the high end than low end of estimates. Well for the most part my weight stayed steady, then it went down 1 lb and immediately, the following 3 days i shot up 1.5lbs. 

I can tell you that I am not over eating. I am basically starving myself cause all i think about is how hungry I am. Additionally I am the most active i have ever been thanks to the fitbit, yet I am STILL not losing, but gaining? what?

Please give me some advice. This is extremely discouraging since I'm hungry all the time. 

[Raviv]

If you're passing up good food in favor of a few glasses of wine at night, then that's probably not the best way to lean up.

Wine isn't bad per se, but it's calories that could be better spent with more nutritious foods that will fill you up and make your body function well.  And alcohol slows you down so you're not burning calories at the same rate anyway.

[tine2 · Accepted solution]

I guess thats right...

[Mogs]

As others have said, it may sound counterintuitive, but eating more often will lead to more weight loss. When you skip meals your body goes into starvation mode. It will slow down metabolic function because it isn't expecting food for awhile. When you eat more often your body is forced to process those calories quickly to make room for a new batch of calories that will be coming soon. Also, even though you may weigh more on a scale, you may find that your clothes are fitting looser. Thats fairly common. When you build muscle your body work to feed it. In essence you're burning fat.

[tine2]

I'm confused how can you be over on the tile on the dashboard And still have more calories to eat for the day

Sent from my iPhone

[Raviv]

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@tine2 wrote:
I'm confused how can you be over on the tile on the dashboard And still have more calories to eat for the day

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There are two tiles - one that looks like a gas gauge and tells you whether you're on track to eat the right number of calories if you eat the same all day, and another that says how many calories you have to eat as just a number.

I have deleted the fuel gauge tile myself.  If you have a big breakfast, then skip lunch and have a normal dinner, it will tell you throughout the day that you are over in calories, under in calories and right on the money.  Useless.

The other tile that just gives a number CAN change, but it will do so on a more consistent basis.  If you exercise, your calories remaining will increase in direct proportion to the calories burned.  Sit on your butt all day and it can go down a little.  It's a lot more accurate if you're not the type to sit around and graze all day long.

[tine2]

I don't sit all day I exercise everyday and I have to eat more than I can that's the problem I don't eat enough I need to adjust something

Sent from my iPhone

[Raviv]

I wasn't saying you do sit on your butt all day, just that inactivity will cause your allowed calories to decrease and activity will cause it to increase.

[tine2]

O I know I am just saying I'm active but I don't want to eat all the calories but I guess I have to loose I wasn't imposing

Sent from my iPhone

[Rhythm]

Hi tine2,

You mentioned in an earlier post that you are eating less than you burn but you are not losing weight. How long have you been tracking with the fitbit?

I would recommend going for a specific deficit for a week (and better track a "weekly" deficit rather than daily, since our activity tends to differ throughout the week). Then check your weight loss progress for that week. For 3,500 calories per week deficit you should be able to lose 1lb in that week. Keep in mind though, that if you are starting a new diet or workout routine, that number can be off due to water weight, so maybe don't use that particular week as a gauge. Anyway, determine what fitbit thought your deficit was and how much weight you've lost. Since there could be mistakes in your calorie counting or even mistakes in the fitbit measurements (they are based on averages after all), maybe to lose 1lb your fitbit needs to show a 5,000 calorie deficit. 

[awood08]

The best thing to do is use My Fitness Pal with your Fitbit and have them sync all day. My Fitness Pal will automatically allow Fitbit to make adjustments to your total calorie burn based on your activity. I have had MUCH better tracking & results doing this. Before I was getting less than 1000 calories some days just using Fitbit because it constantly said I was over budget. My Fitness Pal has a set amount of calories daily and takes into consideration your activity.

[tine2]

I actually just started on Saturday using fitbit.... As of right now this is the confusing part and maybe still confused on how it calculates Im in the zone 645/1252 burn calories on the guage and calories left for the day 445 to eat on the plate tile with 645/1090 to eat..so if I eat the 445 calories left it usual says on the guage im over on the dashboard and no longer in the zone.. My deficit right now for the week is -4,465 ....so if you could explain this part to me..Thanks

[tine2]

I did sync with  my fitness pal yesterday it was said I am on target.. with 17 calories to spare I have 10,088 steps walked today does it adjust with fitbit for steps for more calories?

[Rhythm]

Well, the under/in zone/over changes through the day based on your activity and the food you have logged. For example, I like to add all my food for the day in the morning, so I will always be over until I burn enough calories to get that deficit to what you set as a goal. You burn calories every minute of the day, but you can't eat every minute of the day 😉 so that gauge will keep moving. .
The important thing is if it said you were in the zone at the end of the day.
As far as calories left to eat, that's also based on your target deficit for the day. .. so if you happen to exercise more that day, it will tell you to eat more. But personally I don't like using that. I know how many calories I need to eat to be able to lose weight, so I use MFP and ignore the food gauges on Fitbit.

[Rhythm]

And yes, fitbit will tell MFP that you have had some activity. That is the "fitbit adjustment" you see in the "cardio" section.

[salim]

Why is everyone focusing on FAT. Muscles plays a big role in weight fluctuation. If you are active the normal, than you are building muscles, so its very normal, the first few weeks you would have weight fluctuation, most of the time you would weight higher. But once your body adjust and the extra muscles kicks in and kicks out the fat, you would start loosing weight

And remmeber, at the end of the day, its not how much you weigh, its how is your body shaped and how that pants or dress looks on you.

[Rhythm]

That's not entirely true. Yes, you are building muscle but it takes time to build enough muscle to see a difference on the scale. Also, for those who are trying to lose weight and are trying to reach a calorie deficit, it is a lot harder to also grow muscle. Not impossible of course, but it is difficult to carry out both programs at the same time - muscle growth requires more calories, not less.