I have 40 pounds to lose and I just keep gaining weight!!!!!

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

I burn 3000-3100 calories a day, i eat 1200-1400 calories a day. Most of the time it is very healthy eating. Lots of lean protien, 6-8 servings of fruits and veggies, complex carbs, No salt, no sugar, no breads, nothing but water to drink, and i eat 5 times a day. But i am gaining weight! For example, this week,  i am at a 10,000+ calorie deficit. BUT I GAINED 3 POUNDS!!! Please help me, i am doing something wrong and i want to correct it! 

[pebble35]

Hello Marcy,

Have you ever heard of the book Wheat Belly or Brain Grain?  Both of these books educate people about what has happened to our food because of GMO's. 

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

No i have never heard of it. 

[HealthyGirl50]

The 'Wheat Belly' book is a great suggestion.  Also, you could have a hormonal imbalance or thyroid issue; both of which would cause you to gain weight.  You could be eating well within your calorie range, but it's the wrong type of food (processed); think lots of vegetables, fruits and lean meats.  Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes is another fantastic book. 

[Prissy]

I also have 40lbs to lose and I'm trying the ideal protein diet to lose weight.  Maybe you should look into it?

[pebble35]

Hi,

no thanks.  I will only do a diet that is real food, no powders or mixes allowed.  I posted a diet I met great success on

[Heybales · Accepted solution]

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@NoMoreFatMarcy wrote:

I burn 3000-3100 calories a day, i eat 1200-1400 calories a day. Most of the time it is very healthy eating. Lots of lean protien, 6-8 servings of fruits and veggies, complex carbs, No salt, no sugar, no breads, nothing but water to drink, and i eat 5 times a day. But i am gaining weight! For example, this week,  i am at a 10,000+ calorie deficit. BUT I GAINED 3 POUNDS!!! Please help me, i am doing something wrong and i want to correct it! 

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The stress hormone cortisol can cause you to retain up to 20 lbs of water.

Guess why you would have high cortisol levels?

Eating less than half what your body wants from your level of activity.

Bigger is not better. If it is - why don't you just eating and get it over with faster?

A healthy body can lose just fat if you do the deficit reasonable, but you crashing your body in to unhealthy territory if you keep this up, then you'll have trouble losing weight or just fat, and it'll include muscle mass - which you'll want later.

You didn't gain fat that fast, don't try to lose it that fast.

Oh, to the math for any quick loss or gain.

Lbs change x 3500 / days = difference between eating level and maintenance if truly fat.

3 lbs x 3500 / 7 days = 1500 eaten daily over maintenance if truly fat.

Since you didn't even eat that much, and maintenance is obviously not 0, you of course just gained water weight.

Normally if starting a new exercise program or such I'd just encourage stick with it - but your plan so far is not going to be good for your body or your mental stress.

With 40 lbs to lose, hopefully you selected the 750 cal deficit at most, perhaps even 500 if lots of cardio.

[Deyadissa]

Don't focus on your weight loss, but rather fat perecentage. You can still gain weight but lose fat.

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

over the weekend i upped my calories and BOOM lost 3 pounds 🙂 thank you for your help!

[Dominique]

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@NoMoreFatMarcy wrote:

I burn 3000-3100 calories a day, i eat 1200-1400 calories a day.

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Your calorie expenditure sounds high, for a woman (even a young one). Is this what Fitbit tells you?

You would need to be very tall/heavy and very active in order to reach 3000+  calories, as per the Mifflin-St Jeor formula that Fitbit uses. For instance, a 25-year old woman 5' 9" tall and weighing 180 lbs (I'm not saying this is you, these are just sample numbers for the purpose of this calculation)  would have a BMR of 1628 calories (I used this calculator). The activity level suggested by your profile (about 8000 steps per day) would not burn an extra 1400 calories.

It's also possible you're eating more than you think, especially since you're having 5 meals a day. That is to say your deficit may not be as large as you think it is.

Anyway, 10 days (the time you've been using your Fitbit so far) is a very short period. If you know you're doing the right things (eat less & healthier food, move more), you should persevere in that direction, regardless of what the scale says. You will see results, eventually.

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

i am tall and heavy lol i am 5'8 and 190 lbs and a womans size 11. however, i have 40 pounds left in my weightloss journey. I started out at 265lbs and a womans size 26 last year! 🙂 so what i am experiencing is sort of a platue. i lost this much weight through eating healthy. and now i am starting exercise to tone up. i started exercising and didnt take into consideration that i should eat more. for the last year if i ate over 1200 calories of healthy food, that was alot of calories for me and alot of food. but as i said above, i upped my calories about 400 a day over the weekend and lost some weight finally, and today i dropped another pound. so i think i wasnt eating enough. when i workout i do so for an hour atleast.

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

i am tall enough that this is what 190lbs looks on me! excuse the mess lol

[TandemWalker]

Hi @NoMoreFatMarcy - On the assumption that you are keeping your diet in check and that your food intake documentation is reasonably accurate, tell us a bit more about your exercise regimen.

I think that your accomplishments so far on your journey is quite commendable. But yes, you may indeed have reached a plateau, whereby your system has gotten used to a certain level of 'punishment'; and now, you have to kickstart your metabolism to respond again. Interval training has done well for me. Introducing new activities in your arsenal can also help kickstart your metabolism.

Hope this helps. Have a great day and again, congratulations on your accomplishment. You inspire me to do more and tonight, instead of sitting on my rump to watch TV after dinner, I'll get to down to the gym and workout! Cheers!

TW

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

i have been reading up on interval running!! i think i am going to start tonight! 😄 thank you!!! How many times a week should i do it??? Currently i workout on the elipitcal 5 days a week for 30 mins, Bowflex 2 days a week also 30 mins, and i also try for kickboxing 3 days a week for 20 to 40 mins. However, i am thinking of doing HIIT running instead of kickboxing. On the days i do not do any workouts i only burn around 1600 calories. 

[Dominique]

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@NoMoreFatMarcy wrote:

i am tall and heavy lol i am 5'8 and 190 lbs and a womans size 11. however, i have 40 pounds left in my weightloss journey. I started out at 265lbs and a womans size 26 last year! 🙂

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OK, so you started with a BMI of 40.3 (265 lbs), are currently at 28.9 (190 lbs) and are aiming for 22.8 (150 lbs). This is a huge transformation in just one year's time (when did you start your journey last year?).

One thing is your rapid weight loss from 265 to 190 lbs may have reduced the rate at which you burn calories. In other words, you may burn less calories than a woman your age, your height and your weight who has had a stable weight for a longer time.

I think your plateau is normal. You need to allow your body to recover from the stress it went through during your rapid weight loss. Eating at maintenance (or just slightly below it) for a while could make sense.

[Heybales]

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@NoMoreFatMarcy wrote:

i have been reading up on interval running!! i think i am going to start tonight! 😄 thank you!!! How many times a week should i do it??? Currently i workout on the elipitcal 5 days a week for 30 mins, Bowflex 2 days a week also 30 mins, and i also try for kickboxing 3 days a week for 20 to 40 mins. However, i am thinking of doing HIIT running instead of kickboxing. On the days i do not do any workouts i only burn around 1600 calories. 

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The HIIT as a specific interval type workout would need to be done outside.

You can do regular intervals on treadmill, as it's just a change in pace, but HIIT is all out max effort for short bursts, can't do that on treadmill.

HIIT is for getting as close to strength training for those that want to do cardio only, for sport related reasons usually.

It's turned in to a fad lately and term applied to everything under the sun that is intense.

I'd really suggest for max body transformation, keep that reasonable deficit, and increase the strength training on the box flex if that's what you got. Longer and more frequency, 3 x weekly.

That will frankly be a better all over body transform than just HIIT on the legs. Though you could do both too, bow flex upper body, HIIT for lower, 1 day weekly. Keep the other 2 days of bow flex, but make it longer and harder.

The reason why HIIT became a fad is because it causes great fat burn, after the workout. Because if done right it's just like lifting. Max effort, tear the muscle down, repair the next 24-36 hrs increases energy usage and fat burn.

But lifting does the same thing - better, if again, done correctly. All out effort for brief time, rest, repeat. 3 sets 8-12 reps will get you there, with last few reps being almost impossible with good form.

If you want the HIIT outside, here's an oldie but goodie favorite routine. Do this a few times, and you may be searching out short hills in neighbor to start hill sprints on!

Track is best, so no street traffic to worry about, or people concerned you are being chased.

Warmup walk 5 min.

Warmup jog slow 5 min.

Slightly faster jog (not run) for 2 min.

Sprint all out for 15 seconds, as hard as you can go. When great fitness, could go up to 45 sec.

Walk for 45 sec. Always 3 x longer than hard part. Near end of time start jogging.

Repeat until you hit 8 times.

Now slow jog for 20 min, this should allow some recovery of legs.

Sprint almost all out for 1 min, so a level effort, won't be as fast as 15 sec sprint of course.

Walk 1 min. Near end start jogging again. You don't want to sprint off from almost stand still or walking.

Repeat until you hit 5 times.

Cooldown jog 5 min.

Cooldown walk 5 min.

60 min total time. Timex has an Ironman watch with interval settings for this. The 15 seconds you might be able to count decently, but probably not.

You'll want to do this workout with totally fresh legs, no heavy leg workout day before you are still recovering from. You only get a benefit when you can truly go all out for what muscles can do for strength.

First part is HIIT, second part is SIT (Short Interval Training), and it'll finish wiping out your legs.

This should either be the most fun you've had pushing yourselve, since it's always based on how hard you can push it - or the best getting sick you've had from a workout.

[TandemWalker]

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@NoMoreFatMarcy wrote:

i have been reading up on interval running!! i think i am going to start tonight! 😄 thank you!!! How many times a week should i do it??? Currently i workout on the elipitcal 5 days a week for 30 mins, Bowflex 2 days a week also 30 mins, and i also try for kickboxing 3 days a week for 20 to 40 mins. However, i am thinking of doing HIIT running instead of kickboxing. On the days i do not do any workouts i only burn around 1600 calories. 

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I do intervals whenever I do cardio workouts on the rower, stationary bike, or walk/jog workouts.

Whenever I go for a walk, I never just walk - I'll do intervals, walking as fast as I can for two minutes and then slow down to a normal brisk pace for two minutes; and cycle through. I don't go for long jogs  anymore, but I do walk/jog intervals, using the same two minute interval scheme.

On the stationary bike, I use a preset program that already has resistance peaks and troughs; but I add to intervals to it, using 30s segments. I will pedal as fast as I can, then slow down to a normal pace and bring the resistance down a bit to help recovery; and bring the resistance back up again and sprint...

My rower is an older model, which doesn't have all the fancy computerized settings that the modern machines have; such that I cannot adjust the resistance unless I stop the workout. So I set the resistance rather low and leave it there for the whole duration of the workout (usually 30 min.), and use the same 30s interval scheme.

I use a small app called Seconds Pro to program the intervals, which works quite well. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of some of the more popular fitness apps out there, but it's very easy to use and you can opt for voice prompts and background music of your choice. What I like best about it is that noone will bug you to join or buy or uprgrade anything.

And look, I know I have said this in an earlier post, but I think you're doing great. You're certainly not lazy and you already do a fair amount of exercise. I like the fact that you do have a good variety of exercise. I think that introducing intervals where appropriate will bring about some benefits. As you have noted yourself from your own recent experience, I think it is of paramount importance to make sure that your provide your body with enough fuel to meet the demand you place upon it. Your family doctor might be the right person to go to for a referral for a good dietitian. If you bring along a synopsis of your exercise regimen and a snapshot of your diet, he or she would be able to offer sound advice on how to proceed in order to continue on your weight loss journey while at the same time providing your body with sufficient nutrients to meet the demand. 

The timing of your food intake in relation to your workout is also important. No doubt that your coach and a dietitian would be able to advise you on that as well.

One last thing. Exercise is good, any exercise. But exercise that is fun to do is so much better. I don't know about you, but when I get on the stationary bike or the rower, it's not fun; it's not something I'm looking forward to, it's not very enjoyable. I'm OK with cycling outdoors and walks/jogs, but working out on gym equipment is more punishment than fun, don't you think?

Depending where you live, you may have a gym in your area, be it a commercial one or at a local high school gym, that offers basketball, volley ball and badmington courts. To me, nothing compares to those types of workouts, workouts that allow you to have a ton of fun develop a circle of friends ... the type of workouts that you will be looking forward to. That makes a big big difference. I don't do these any more, I'm too old. But going back on memory lane, these were the best workouts ever. 

Hope this helps. Have a great day.

    TW     

[NoMoreFatMarcy]

i started losing weight last January. I have been over 200 pounds since i was 16 years old. And i was a fat kid growing up, along with the rest of my German Italian family. Right now i am the smallest person in my genetic family. Everyone dies in their early 60s, they all have major health issues, and i have a son i want to be around for. So last year i decided that i wasn't going to be fat anymore, i wanted to be healthy. My husband is in the army, and we only have one car, so if the weather isnt nice, i cant walk anywhere with my 2 year old. I just got an elliptical last week, so in addition to my bowflex, its my only way to exercise. i will pay close attention to what and how much i eat from now on, and i am going to try intervals as well. i will do my best to follow all of your guys' great advice. my 2 year old only naps for an hour a day, and if i exercise while he is awake he starts screaming and tries to hit and bite me! haha! he is a handful. But because he is so active and wants my attention so much, we play running games around the house and that is how i get my steps in. 🙂 i will try and write down a solid plan today and utilize my time as best as i can, 9 to 5 is the time for me to do everything, when my husband comes home, i don't have much time for myself. Thank you all again for all the information and advice! i appreciate you so much for taking the time out of your day! 

[Heybales]

That running around time can be pretty powerful way to increase daily burn.

Just need to eat less than that to lose weight.

Exercise is for body transformation and improvements, which rarely have weight loss as side effect.

Only thing exercise does for diet is make you burn more daily, so then you can eat more and still lose weight.

And when eating more, perhaps more likely to adhere to the plan.

That's why I'd suggest during that hour you get some good resistance training in on the bowflex.

If you have 6 days available for 30-40 min, you could do a split routine of legs, pushes, pulls. Repeat. That's six days.

While cardio is good for heart health, your running around with kiddo is probably doing more for that than you know.

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/WorkoutMenu.html#anchor1682197

[kimberlytournoi]

Hello I have been eating really healthy I have 40 lbs to lose, Have been eating veggies galore and fruit, fish and chicken. I feel bloated a lot and the amount of cals I have been eating are around 900-1000. Walking about 10,000 steps a day.maybe 3 glasses of water a day.

What is my Problem? Please someone help me too!!

Thank you, Kim