Weight gain instead of loss???

[SunsetRunner]

I started using my FitBit Flex about three weeks ago. Since then I've gained six pounds...

I'm a 3-4 times per week crossfit athlete, I cycle 15-30 miles on the weekend, jog regularly if I can't make crossfit, go on regular 2-3 mile dog walks, and get at least 7,000 steps on my sedentary days.

I eat between 1400-1800 calories a day and have a typical deficit of 500-1000. I do my best to stay away from processed foods and typically bring healthy leftovers to work for lunch. I'm an apple and granolabar kind of snacker, allowing myself a small slice of cake if there is an office birthday or something, and drink 4-5 24oz Tervis tumblers of water every day on top of my tea, coffee, and the water in my food. I drink alcohol, but limit myself to 1-2 drinks 2-3 times a week at most. 

I've been tracking my food on MyFitnessPal and weighing myself once a week in the morning, but the steady incline of numbers has been particularly frustrating. The feeling of "why work so hard if it isn't doing anything" has crept into my daily life.

Help!

[carl669]

how much weight do you have to lose?  500-1000 may be too high a deficit if you only have a few pounds to lose (i have about 10 more pounds to lose and my deficit is set to 250).  more deficit is not necessarily better.  i had to actually start eating a bit more in order to continue my weight loss.

@Heybales has the following advice on valid weigh-in days which i find to be pretty spot on:

"Morning after rest day eating normal sodium levels, not sore from last workout. ... So not high or low sodium eating on rest day compared to normal."

[SunsetRunner]

I currently weigh 170 and I'm 5'3. I'm aiming for 30lbs slowly, as to keep it off. I'm getting married next August which is propelling my motivation right now. 

I really watch my sodium intake. I noticed a few months ago that if my sodium levels were lower I just felt better overall and rarely hit the "you can have this much sodium" level on MyFitnessPal.

[carl669]

i also just noticed that you've been wearing the fitbit for 3 weeks.  have you also been doing the exercise you listed for 3 weeks?  or have you been doing that a lot longer?  if you were doing all the exercise previously, did you notice any trend in your weight?

if you've only been doing the exercise for 3 weeks, i'm inclined to say give it some more time.  3 weeks may not be long enough.  the body needs time to adjust.  especially if you've gone from relatively sedentary to crossfit/jogging/cycling regularyly.

finally, weight loss happens in the kitchen.  the same way of eating does not work for everyone.  i did low fat for a long time and nothing good came of it.  i switched over to low carb (high fat, moderate protein) and that did the trick for me.  so, maybe that apple/granola bar isn't the right thing for you?  it can be incredibly frustrating to figure out what works for you.  but, stick with it.  you will figure it out.  it just might take some time.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been involved with Crossfit for over a year at this point, but the summer was difficult to get in 3-4 times a week. I generally made it twice and supplemented wtih dog walks, cycling, etc. I increased my workouts a bit now, but not drastically.

The kitchen thing is all too true - I focus on clean eating with healthy fats, moderate carbs, etc. For a while in 2012 I was sticking to a really strict Paleo diet while involved with another Crossfit box and dropped about 20 pounds, but it simply isn't sustainable to do Paleo for me.

Perhaps 3 weeks of an increase in working out and tracking my intake/output isn't an adequate view on what my system is going through right now. 

[SophieSue]

I'm not sure if you're using the fitbit to determine calories burned, but I find that it overestimates.

When I first got my fitbit, it was recommending that I eat around 1800 calories per day. (Thats with hitting 10-12,000 steps per day.)  I gained weight.

It wasn't until I dropped to 1200-1500 calories per day that the scale started to move.

For me anyway, I think the discrepancy was created because my BML is lower than average (due to a blood pressure medication that keeps my heart rate low.)

[SunsetRunner]

That's actually a really good thought. I use MyFitnessPal to track my workouts and my eating, but there's no good way to track "crossfit" - it's not like I'm jogging at a constant pace for 35 minutes. Sometimes it's jumping rope, situps, pushups, and running all over the course of the time I'm there.

I noticed that there is an option to have my fitbit on my dominant hand and change how sensitive it is to movement - I wonder if I keep it on my non-dominant, but lower the sensitivity to movement if it'll calculate calorie burn more accurately...

[Heybales]

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@SophieSue wrote:

I'm not sure if you're using the fitbit to determine calories burned, but I find that it overestimates.

When I first got my fitbit, it was recommending that I eat around 1800 calories per day. (Thats with hitting 10-12,000 steps per day.)  I gained weight.

It wasn't until I dropped to 1200-1500 calories per day that the scale started to move.

For me anyway, I think the discrepancy was created because my BML is lower than average (due to a blood pressure medication that keeps my heart rate low.)

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Fitbit doesn't measure blood pressure or heart rate, so heart rate being lower than normal would be unknown to the Fitbit.

Having the stride length off, seeing false steps, ect, will increase calorie burn off reality.

But since the Fitbit underestimates actually, that's pretty good sign your food logging may be off, and while you have a certain figure of 1500 you hit, in reality it's more. So when you thought you were eating 1800, it was more and wiping out your deficit.

Also underestimates a fair number of exercises - some by a lot.

But good job adjusting to results. That always works with accurate or not food logging.

[Heybales]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

That's actually a really good thought. I use MyFitnessPal to track my workouts and my eating, but there's no good way to track "crossfit" - it's not like I'm jogging at a constant pace for 35 minutes. Sometimes it's jumping rope, situps, pushups, and running all over the course of the time I'm there.

I noticed that there is an option to have my fitbit on my dominant hand and change how sensitive it is to movement - I wonder if I keep it on my non-dominant, but lower the sensitivity to movement if it'll calculate calorie burn more accurately...

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So you are replacing Fitbit's estimate of what you burned with a manual logging on MFP?

That would be correct on many non-step based exercise, many that you list, but not all of them.

I find that many don't log the exercise accurately like many others don't log food accurately by weight.

Was crossfit class really 60 min of the normal intense activity, or watched a demo, did some warmup and stretches, stood a lot between waiting for equipment, ect?

Crossfit would normally be circuit training or calisthenics, for the real time it was done, if you wanted to manually log it. And probably good idea since so much isn't step based.

[KC12]

Perhaps the exercise is resulting in muscle gain. The number on the scale doesn't always tell the whole story. I find that the fit of my clothes is a good weight loss measure.

Also, have you mentioned this to a doctor? Maybe there is an unknown medical condition (like PCOS or hypothyroidism) that's making it hard for you to lose weight, despite being so active.

[SunsetRunner]

I've been evaluated for PCOS and thyroid issues. I've been on birth control since early high school and have noticed weight fluctuation based on the combination levels and types of hormones, but right now I'm on one that's always been good to me. I do have a pretty significant vitamin B-12 deficiency and struggle with IBS. My overall body system can be difficult to get going properly and I find if I'm not taking my supplements properly I'm sluggish, so I stay on top of my health as much as I can.

A year ago my body fat percentage was at 33% and in March last year it was down to 27% - I haven't been analyzed for quite some time. 

I do like to go based on how my clothes feel - but there are sometimes days back to back where the same clothes fit completely differently.