Gained weight with exercise and diet.

[ChristieEliz]

I started with Fitbit eight days ago and I lost 4.6lbs in two in a half days. Today I weighed myself and I gained a pound! When it comes to calories vs calories out I am always under! I physically can't eat as much food to get it into the goal area. I've been walking daily and  Monday through Friday I work and go to the gym and use the arc trainer for 37min burning about 500cal according to arc trainer. I drink more then 64oz of water everyday and eat between 1000 to 1200cal a day. I use MyFitnessPal to track my food and I measure everything! I get more then 10,000 steps a day, walk five miles or more in a day, and get my exercise in five days a week. Have no thyroid/health problems. Why would I have gained a pound? Could I have gained a pound of muscle in my legs? I was wearing the same exact clothing I wore when I originally weighed myself but instead of weighing myself in the morning, I weighed myself in the evening but I hadn't eaten anything yet, only liquids. I physically can't eat breakfast or lunch so I get my calories in at night. Any ideas? Really discouraged me seeing the weight gain. 

[Dominique]

If you lost 4.6 pounds, then gained one, this is still a net loss of 3.6 pounds. In a week or so, it’s a lot. Eight days is a very short period, and your weight is always going to fluctuate on a day-to-day basis. You need to focus on the longer term and on the overall trend, not the daily fluctuation.

If you are logging your weight in your Fitbit account (or have a scale that can automatically sync to it), I would strongly recommend you link your account to TrendWeight, a free web-based service that helps making sense of seemlingly random fluctuations. Its usefulness comes after you have collected a sufficient amount of data, though.

Also keep in mind the impact of your hormonal cycle on weight changes. My understanding (obviously not based on personal experience!) is women should really compare the 1st week of their current cycle to the 1st week of previous cycles, 2nd week of current cycle to 2nd week of previous cycles etc.

You appear to be doing the right things with exercising and nutrition. Just carry on for some more weeks (without focusing too much on the scale) and only adjust if necessary.

[Jenaht]

I would like to add that your caloric intake seems actually too low (in my mind) for all of the activity that you are doing. Our bodies (it's been my experience and I've read this) do need the fuel to move. If they feel they are starving they will hold on to weight. So my suggestion would be to take another look at what is recommended for caloric intake based upon your weight loss goals. Also, how is your sleep? That is a factor.

3500 calories = 1 lb. That is why the generally recommended method (to lose 1 lb per week) is <-500> calorie / day deficit. After 7 days that is <-3500> calories. 

Further, in any weight loss journey there ARE some weeks where you maintain, or even gain a little. There ARE fluctuations. Try not to panic or worry yourself overly much.

[MagsOnTheBeach]

First, weigh yourself naked at the same time everyday on the same scale.  Between my pm weight and my am weight, often there is a 3lb difference.  

Also the numbers on a scale are not weighing just fat, they also weigh fluid.  With your cycle the amount of fluid your body holds will vary.  Finally, check your water consumption.  Try to get in 8 glasses a day, when I don't drink enough water, my body holds on to it causing what looks like a gain.

Last advice - use a tape measure and take body measurements.  Sometimes my scale doesn't move but when I take measurements, I find I have lost on my waist, hips, thighs, arms and neck.  Those are called non scale victories.  I can tell when the measurements are smaller that I am losing fat and have increased muscle even if the scale goes up or plateaus.

[Dominique]

One thing I’d add is you’re starting from a rather low weight and wish to drop quite a bit: if I got it right from your profile, your starting weight was 136 and your ultimate goal is 105, with 120 as an intermediate goal. That would be a total loss of 31 lb, or 23% of your starting weight. This in itself would make a case for losing at a moderate pace (e.g. 1 lb/week). You would need to be shorter than 155cm (5’1) in order to be overweight by BMI standard, and shorter than 143cm (4’8) in order to be considered obese. But maybe you’re taller than 5’1 and thus in the upper range of the normal category? Now I know there are limitations to BMI and some are criticizing it, but it tends to give a reasonably good idea of where we stand, especially when coupled with other indicators like waist circumference.

[Strawberry_Gem]

Your weight fluctuates massively on a daily basis - particularly if you're female - due to water retention, whether you've eaten a big meal, whether you've used the bathroom that day etc. 

A gain of a pound is most likely only temporary if you're doing everything right. You should aim to weigh once a week, wearing the same clothes (or nothing at all) at the same time of the day (preferably the morning).

This is the best way to get accurate results. 

With regards to gaining muscle.. it's harder than you think, and even harder if you're in a calorie deficit. People who gain any serious amount of muscle have to put a lot of effort and time into it, so it's unlikely you'll gained a pound of muscle in a week. Maybe a little bit though! 🙂

[TurquoiseTurtle]

 Be sure to weigh yourself at the exact same time every day. I weigh myself as soon as I get out of bed in the morning before I eat, drink, or shower.  I always weigh 3-4 pounds more in the evening than I do in the morning. It's goes away overnight. Also, I gain 3-5 pounds right before my period no matter how much I diet and exercise.  It stays for about 5 days and then it's gone almost instantly.   And sometimes i gain a pound or 2 other reasons. If I eat a really salty meal I'm up a pound or 2 the next day. It goes away by the following day. Don't worry about being up a few pounds. You might want to start weighing yourself once a week is small fluctuation stress you out. 

[ChristieEliz]

I unfortunately just realized how horrible the step count is on these things. I'm a dog groomer and move my arms constantly and when I'm standing working on a dog it's counting steps just because I'm moving my arm! I thought I was getting 20,000 steps in and probably getting half that or less. So disappointed 😔 

[Dominique]

How long does it take you to groom a dog in average? I would suggest you record one such grooming as a generic "Workout" (if you have a tracker that supports this feature), so as to isolate the stats for that activity. Even if lots of "fake" steps are counted, calories aren’t necessarily off by as much.

There are also trackers that can be worn clipped on your waist (One, Zip) or as a pendentive (Flex 2). They could be more suitable during your working time, if you spend many hours everyday grooming. It’s possible to have more than one tracker connected to the same account. 

[TurquoiseTurtle]

@ChristieEliz I put my fitbit in my back pocket while I work because I can't wear a watch to work.  I have a blaze, and I just pop out the face and stick it in my back pocket.  Maybe you could do that so count steps when your arms are moving.  

[karacooks]

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@ChristieEliz wrote:

I started with Fitbit eight days ago and I lost 4.6lbs in two in a half days. Today I weighed myself and I gained a pound! When it comes to calories vs calories out I am always under! I physically can't eat as much food to get it into the goal area. I've been walking daily and  Monday through Friday I work and go to the gym and use the arc trainer for 37min burning about 500cal according to arc trainer. I drink more then 64oz of water everyday and eat between 1000 to 1200cal a day. I use MyFitnessPal to track my food and I measure everything! I get more then 10,000 steps a day, walk five miles or more in a day, and get my exercise in five days a week. Have no thyroid/health problems. Why would I have gained a pound? Could I have gained a pound of muscle in my legs? I was wearing the same exact clothing I wore when I originally weighed myself but instead of weighing myself in the morning, I weighed myself in the evening but I hadn't eaten anything yet, only liquids. I physically can't eat breakfast or lunch so I get my calories in at night. Any ideas? Really discouraged me seeing the weight gain. 

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Wow! So much going on in this post.  So I'm going to break this down bit by bit and maybe I can help. 

Let's start at the bottom:
"I was wearing the same exact clothing I wore when I originally weighed myself but instead of weighing myself in the morning, I weighed myself in the evening but I hadn't eaten anything yet, only liquids."

If you don't weigh yourself at the same time of day, then the result you get is not going to be consistent. Everyone is much lighter first thing in the morning and their weigh fluctuates throughout the day. And if you drink liquid ... that liquid doesn't just float around in your body. It has weight, too. 1 gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs. So if you drink 32 oz of water? That's 2 lbs that's in your body. 

" I lost 4.6lbs in two in a half days.Today I weighed myself and I gained a pound! "

Most people who start a new diet experience a "whoosh" of weight loss at the beginning. Especially if you're cutting back on sugar and carbs which tend to cause people to hold on to fluids in their body. That's normal but it's mostly water weight. It's not all fat loss. And because it's water weight (and because we're women) that water weight can fluctuate. Where are you in your menstrual cycle? I usually gain a pound or two of water weight around the time I ovulate. I can gain up to 6 lbs right before my period starts and then within a day or two of that, I've lost all of it.

So stop obsessing about pounds. Pounds are a good general guidline but if you freak out at every normal fluctuation, you're going to get discouraged quickly and quit.

Now on to the exercise. The exercise is good, but you're not going to gain a pound of muscle in a week. Women, on general, if they are actually specifically WORKING to gain muscle (as in lifting heavy weights and prioritizing protein intake) will gain maybe 10-13 lbs of muscle in a year. (Source: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/whats-my-genetic-muscular-potential.html/) If you're focusing mostly on cardio, your ability to build muscle is MUCH slower than that. And if you're significantly overweight, it's likely that you'll actually lose some muscle mass as you lose weight (because you won't need as much muscle to support your lower weight). 

I will say that for the amount of exercise you're doing, you're not eating enough. 1000 calories a day on 5 days of solid exercise is not enough. You can't possibly refuel and get enough nutrients on under 1200 calories a day and maintain your weight loss. What will happen is that your body will adapt to both your exercise routine and your extremely low calories and your weight loss will slow down drastically or stall. (This is not "Starvation Mode". There is no such thing as "Starvation Mode" or people wouldn't actually, you know, starve to death.) 

So over all, my advice to you would be:
1 - Relax. This is not a sprint. It's a marathon. 

2 - Don't obsess over the scale. It's the overall trend, not the day to day details that matter. 

3 - Eat more. Not a LOT more, but maybe bump that up to 1500 calories. Veggies and lean proteins.

4 - Be consistent. Weigh yourself at the same time, under the same circumstances or don't weigh at all.

5 - Remember that as a woman, the scale is not always your friend. Your cycle impacts things. 

6 - Relax. 🙂 You'll get there. 

[ShaneGraves]

For weight loss, weighing yourself every day is not a good idea. Carbohydrates, sodium, water and many other variables can cause crazy swings in weight through the course of a day. 64 ounces of water weighs 4.165 lbs, so it's easy to 'gain' 4 lbs just by drinking a double gulp. I recommend weighing when you wake once a week and if you 'do' a re-set/cheat day, weigh that morning. If you'd like to see a more accurate weight, cut or go low carb and sodium a day or two before your weigh in and cut water 8-12 hours before. That'll give you the most reliable weight to log. After 4 weeks you'll have a pretty darn accurate indication of your progress. 

Weigh yourself every day when you're in weight maintenance. That'll keep you aware of any trending gain or loss.

[DCMom2]

Fit bit should integrate with menstrual tracking apps. That would help make the scale our friend VOTE here

community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Tile-for-menstrual-cycles/idi-p/130003

[farmer2]

i agree with everyone, dont let the short term discourage you. i will say though i do weigh daily because it how i can trend my fluctuations. i do however weigh the same time and state everyday. you need to do your best to focus on your main goal. (weight loss, get stronger, or just get healthier) it takes time to gain muscle, it should take time to loose weight (to fast and it will come right back) you will probably notice yourself getting stronger and overall healthier quicker than the other. i would just say dont get discouraged so quick, and lean on the good folks here to encourage you. good luck

[rideenglish]

I am in the same boat... I am eating 1100 calories basically a day but Fitbit says I’m burning half that  I work  out with weights 3x   a week for 1-5  hours each time.I am gaining weight!. Before I consumed under 900 calories a day,, and  I  weighed 98 lbs....?  I’m guessing it cold be just the actual weight of the food. I will go back to eating 900 or under... any ideas out there??? I now weigh 102.8 this morning   use to seeing 98 lbs...thanks.

[karacooks]

98 lb is an exceedingly low weight for the average adult woman, bordering
on unhealthy.
How old are you and how tall are you?