Why am I gaining weight?

[Joolie567]

I have a FitBit Charge HR. I'd like to weigh between 130 -135, and I started running/jogging/walking (from doing nothing). When I started, I weighed 141.3 lbs (I'm a 29 year old, female, 5'3), and I've been logging about 3.5 mi per day for about 2 weeks now. Between 3/7 - 3/13, according to FitBit, I burned 13,641 calories & consumed 11,155 for the week, so that should be a deficit of 2,486 calories. When I stepped on the scale this morning, I weighed 146.8 lbs, meaning I gained 5.5 lbs. 

The calorie deficits really confuses me - FitBit will show I have calories left, but the calories in/out will show I'm over budget. When I set my weight loss goals, the app shows I should have a 500/day deficit (3,500/wk) to lose 1 lb per week. I definitely fell short of that my first week, but shouldn't I still have lost SOMETHING (or remained the same) due to the 2,486 deficit?? How many calories should I be eating daily?

[awood08]

Just because you ate at a deficit, alot has to do with your quality of food. Are you eating whole grain, healthy, fresh, and all natural foods?

Something isn't adding up if you are actually doing everything right. At 13641 for the week you are averaging under 2000 per day that you are burning. Do you know what your average BMR is based on your height and weight? Sometimes Fibtit can be very innacurate with the calorie burn average.

[Joolie567]

Hey awood. I try to eat healthy, but I know I sometimes miss the mark (work, college, and just being lazy).

Here's an example of what I ate yesterday:

Breakfast: 1 c cheerios w/ skim milk, 1 banana & homemade ice coffee (1 tbsp sugar w/ 2 tbsp creamer)

Lunch: Grilled cheese on wheat bread (2 slices American Cheese), 1 pickle. 

Dinner: 1/2 chicken breast grilled w/ mushrooms, 1 c wild grain rice, 1 beer. 

Snack: 1 green apple, 1 greek yogurt, 1 cookie.

I used a BMR calculator I found on healthstatus.com & picked lightly active - it said my BMR was 1990.60.  

[awood08]

I think diet is your problem.

Your morning breakfast has a lot of carbs. Plus sugar and creamer is awful for some people...me included. I have a hard time loosing weight that week if I have had any added sugar, and additives like creamer.

Lunch is not great, grilled cheese is not a fufilling and healthy meal. American cheese is not good it's processed with lots of added sodium. Dinner is okay (minus the beer lol) beer will pack on the pounds regardless of calorie intake.

Just my suggestion, and what has worked for me, you need to work on your diet. I know it gets stressful and hard to keep on track, (I'm a mom of two, work full time and go to the gym for an hour after work at least 3 times a week plus keep up with all the housework that comes with kids lol.) Nutrition ultimately will be your defining factor in weight loss. Someone who has alot of weight to lose could possibly get away with some unhealthy choices, but judging from your goal weight range and where you currently are, you are in a much different category. I'm 5 pounds from my goal weight I the last 10 have been brutal. Do you have the ability to take your lunch to work or maybe bring a shake?

[JayJo]

I exactly have same problem and in-process of trying to understand the gap. I currently weigh 185lbs, 5" 10' height and my goal is 170 lbs. Usually friday evening my weight go low as 181lbs, but monday morning I'll be back to 184 lbs.

Below is my workout/diet schedule:

1. 30 mins jogging/30mins musle workout

2. Almond Milk 300ml

3. Breakfast: Old fashione Oatmeal (with blueberry, straberry, walnum, almonds)

4. snack: Orange/Apple

5. Lunch: Indian Roti(2), Lentils curry or Spinach

6. snack: either pitted dates(6-8) or Walnut or Almond(small cup)

8. Grilled Chicken/Salmon with Steam Vegetables. or Chick/Salmon Salad.

9. Carona/Bud Lite 12oz (2 on Saturday & 2 on Sunday).

10. Sleep (61/2 to 7 hrs)

Now the problem is weekends, I'll add rice to my lunch, sometimes ice cream..and my weekend sleep habit is big screw up.(hangout with friends/late night movies etc.)

From my analysis Beer, Sleep habit, Extra unhealthy food on weekends are causing damage on my goal..Sorry i don't know about your sleep or weekend food habits...but I'm sharing my experinece. hope it will help. From "awood08" comment, I understood Beer is cauing major dent for both of us for sure.

Please share anyone has different opinion/suggestion, it will help Joolie567 & me to correct.

[jwis86]

---

@awood08 wrote:

I think diet is your problem.

Your morning breakfast has a lot of carbs. Plus sugar and creamer is awful for some people...me included. I have a hard time loosing weight that week if I have had any added sugar, and additives like creamer.

Lunch is not great, grilled cheese is not a fufilling and healthy meal. American cheese is not good it's processed with lots of added sodium. Dinner is okay (minus the beer lol) beer will pack on the pounds regardless of calorie intake.

Just my suggestion, and what has worked for me, you need to work on your diet. I know it gets stressful and hard to keep on track, (I'm a mom of two, work full time and go to the gym for an hour after work at least 3 times a week plus keep up with all the housework that comes with kids lol.) Nutrition ultimately will be your defining factor in weight loss. Someone who has alot of weight to lose could possibly get away with some unhealthy choices, but judging from your goal weight range and where you currently are, you are in a much different category. I'm 5 pounds from my goal weight I the last 10 have been brutal. Do you have the ability to take your lunch to work or maybe bring a shake?

---

I'm sorry but there is so much no in this answer. 

How do you gain weight if you are truly in a calorie deficit?  You don't.  Beer won't make you gain weight.  I have lost 80+ lbs and beer has been part of my diet the whole time.

Calories are the determining factor for weight loss.  Nutrition is for overall health.  It really is a simple as Calories In VS Calories Out.

Unless you are weighing your food (With a food scale, to the gram) you are eating more than you think you are. 

Calories are a unit of energy, we burn more energy then we consume our body will get it from its reserves.  Unless you have been living in a prisoner of war camp there is no such thing as starvation mode.  Even then its different the most people would state.

You cannot gain actual weight (you might have a water weight flucuation) while in a calorie deficit.  That would mean you have created energy, which violates the laws of thermodynamics.

My suggestion is to get a food scale, weigh everything.

You are also probably burning less then you think too.

Yes what I said sucks, but it works.  I've lost 80+ pounds just by simple CI vs CO. 

[awood08]

@jwis86

You are certainly entitled to your opinion however, what has worked for my 70 pound weight loss is avoiding certain foods and beverages. Like beer specifically. I have had nights of a beer or two and it affects my body completely different than it may affect you. My opinion was offered based on my personal experience. What works for all may not work for the rest. My advice was simply to focus on better nutrition since that's what helped me.

[Dominique]

---

@awood08 wrote:
what has worked for my 70 pound weight loss is avoiding certain foods and beverages.

---

Yes, but your weight loss was made possible not because you managed to eliminate certain "bad" foods and beverages and replaced them with "good" ones, but because the previous "bad" ones were high on calories and the new "good" ones were lower in calories and/or consumed in moderate amounts, which led to a caloric deficit. So it’s still calories in calories out.

The "healthiness" of a food (or a beverage) will not automatically lead to weight loss. A lot of healthy food is high on calories (think: avocados, nuts etc.), same with beverages (think: freshly squeezed juice from organic oranges, no sugar added). If consumed without moderation, they will lead to weight gain. Likewise, "unhealthy" foods or beverages will not automatically prevent weight loss: as long as they are consumed in moderate amounts and you have made room for them in your calorie allotment, you can still lose weight (as  @jwis86 has noticed with beer).

[Urchin]

Amen, amen, amen, Jwis86!

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I am glad that certain things are working for certain people, but I am so tired of the "carbs are evil" fad. It's no different than the "fat is evil" fad of the 90's (and look where that got us).

I agree that you're doing a lot right, but perhaps you need some tweaking. You calculated your BMR and that is a great tool! 

The error I am seeing though, is that at your starting weight, your BMR is closer to 1300-1400 calories, NOT 1990. That might be a major error there. At your beginning weight, a healthy and realistic weight loss rate is .5 to 1lb per week. Do not eat less than 1300-1400 (probably a good caloric intake would be 1500-1700 cals per day)

I also agree that weighing out your food and making sure you're not over estimating calories burned through exercise (or eating back exercise calories) would be a good idea.

If all else fails and you're still gaining weight, you may want to have a checkup with your doctor. There are a variety of medical problems that effect metabolism, and you might want to make sure ok in that department!

Don't lose heart. Keep up the good work!

[Joolie567]

Hey Guys. Thanks for all of the input. I do agree with awood to an extent. I know when I eat a lot of salty foods and overdo it on the beer, I get bloated and retain water for a few days after, so I do think a healthy diet would help. I'd be less puffy, less water weight, and I'd have more energy to burn more, so it's a win-win. 

I never thought about actually weighing my food out, so thanks for that tip Jwis86. I also LOL'd at your comment about Thermodynamics 🙂 

Thanks Urchin; I double checked my BMR on a few other web-sites, and I got an average of 1,363. Just to make sure I understand the cal in vs. cal out: if I want a 500 calorie defecit and my BMR is 1,400, I should have 1,400 cals eaten vs. 1,900 cals burned? Just as an example. Also, hypothetically if I burn 2200 cals in one day, but I only ate 1200 cals, that's 1000 defecit. . . should I eat SOME of the cals back, just to balance it out?

I had used the myfitnesspal app prior to getting a FitBit, and it had my cals in at 1,200, which I found impossible to stick too. I'd do well in the morning, and then by evening, I'd be eating my entire kitchen. 

[jwis86]

Joolie567, Thanks for the thermodynamics =).  I am a chemist and a major science geek!  Sorry if i came of harsh, but I have to go with what the science supports not personal stories.  I am just a very straightforward person that doesn't beat around the bush. 

Even though it is only water weight it can affect our activities, who wants to work out when bloated? I don’t that’s for sure! I have some foods that I have eliminated from my diet that do this to me.

You're absolutely right about a healthy diet too!  I was just saying that you can lose weight if you eat nothing but butter, so long as it fits in your calories for the day.  I think it’s a pretty safe bet though that you won’t be happy or healthy on a diet like that. If you have to eliminate foods it’s because they don’t work for ‘you’ not because they are necessarily bad. There is a difference.

I am much more satisfied with lean proteins, fresh veggies (or those nifty frozen steamer bags), fresh fruit (or fruit in water, not syrups).  

Weighing food does not have to be a chore either. I used to be very strict about it until I learned what actual portion sizes were. Now I am not as strict about it but still do it for most calorie dense foods. Some of them a lot of tend to way over estimate. Have you seen what a actual serving of peanut butter looks like? It’s sad.

But you’re right about CI vs CO. Here is an example. If you have a BMR of 1,400 and you burn an extra 600 from activity throughout the day you have 2,000 calories to consume if you wanted to maintain your current weight. 1,500 would put you in a 500 calorie deficit, or about 1lb a week.

Keep in mind that BMR is what your body needs to function properly. It is what you would use if you were laying there all day with no activity. Just being up and moving ads to the activity total. The BMR calculators are also a guideline. Yours may be slightly higher or lower.

A large deficit of 1000 is hard to maintain for most people when you are closer to your weight goals. If you are very over weight it can be easier but it certainly doesn’t work for me at my current weight.  Eat some of those calories back. Your net calories should be -500 for the day.

Keep in mind too that you don’t have to set a goal of 0.5lbs or 1lb a week you can go between them. I am shooting for about a 300-350 calorie deficit per day. I am trying to get to my marathon weight of about 172lbs. I also know that to be happy and have good runs I need to fuel the body so a larger deficit doesn’t work. That’s about 0.7lbs a week.

Good luck!

[jwis86]

Ah yes one very important thing that I forgot to post that Urchin said in hers too. Don't go below 1,200 calories. It's the very lowest recommended calories for a woman to consume. At this point you are probably not getting enough nutrients and could become malnourished.

[Mukluk4]

In awood's case, she's limited her routine to 3 days a week, so she had to make dramatic food choices.

You can out-exercise bad food choices.  My routine is 6-7 days a week with anywhere from 40 minutes to 3 hours a day and I still eat all kinds of crap (just less of it).  Could I lose weight faster? Sure.  But Chocolate, Ice Cream, Wife's cooking, and French Fries are F'ing awesome.  And I'd hate to waste the flavors of the world just for an increased % chance of living longer.    

[awood08]

@Joolie567 

You can eat at a 1000 calorie deficit if you want. It's not going to hurt you, but depending on what your weight loss goal is if you want to be that strict. I found 1000 calorie deficit was a little too much long term. Definitely try to stay 1200 and above. As long as day to day you have a deficit, whether that's 250-1000 each day, you should be fine. If you are hungry, don't deprive yourself.

Higher protein foods will fill you up and keep you fuller longer. I tend to eat most of my protein at night.

[Swuzz]

I don't have a lot of new advice to add other than asking you if you are taking probiotics.  My weight loss came to a lull until I added in the probiotics (10 unique strains / 10 Billion CFU).  I realize that every metabolism is different, but I also know that it is important to have a health digestive system in order to process and metabolize the calories we consume.  

[wj53]

Well I am having the same problem, I weighed 284 and am trying to get to 225 lbs. After 2 weeks using the fitbit app I am up to 291 and I am weighing and measuring all I consume. I have a calorie deficit of 1000 calories a day to achieve 2 lb/wk. I am consuming 1500 calories a day, 140g to 180g carbs, 20g or less saturated fat, 50g fat, 70g protein black coffee no sugar or cream, no processed foods only whole foods. I know I'm less active in the winter but even during the summer seating and walking 6 miles a day I would drop a couple pounds and it would come right back. I don't eat cookies or cake or junk food other than some popcorn occasionally. A piece of fruit if I want sweet and I am really disgusted cause for a year its been the same. I was never this big until I went to the dr and they put me on BP medication and then Lipitor. I've since stopped taking both because they caused serious medical issues and my BP was never high, it was pre-hypertensive at maybe 130/85. I became pre-diabetic because of the weight gain which really sucks so I no longer trust dr's.

[shipo]

@wj53, I can relate, and maybe, just maybe, my experience will help you.

I'm only 5'8" and by the time I was 55 I was well over 250 pounds due to family and work pressures, I don't know how far over because I was afraid to get on a scale.  I have never been one who could diet, and I mean "never", however, exercise was something I had previously been able to rely on to manage my weight.  Just before my 56th birthday I changed jobs, cut my work day from 14 hours to 8, cut my daily commute from 150 miles to 40 (and the new commute was a "reverse" commute), and found I had enough time to start running, albeit, very-very slowly and very short distances.

A year later I broke out down in the 180 pound range and was able to run almost literally as far as I wanted, and even logged a 5K race in under 22-minutes.  The difference was stark; hopefully you can find something which works for you, and maybe it will be running.

Keep us posted on your progress.

[wj53]

Thanks for the reply, I guess I should have mentioned I was always 220 to 225 as an adult and never had a problem til the dr was convinced I was a candidate for heart disease and put me on BP medication. The odd thing was I was always healthy and during this time I was going through a divorce,raising 3 daughters and had just started a new job so naturally I was stressed. After a few months on the meds I had gained a whopping 60 pounds even though I was still very active. They changed my meds and for 5 years I complained about chest pain when I exerted myself but they just kept saying itwas because I was so over weight. I switched drs and found through a blood test my potassium levels were near life threatening and the medication washigh triglycerides. Since stopping the medication I just bounce up and down 10 lbs. I can't run anymore because now I have a hiatal hernia which interferes with my diaphragm moving the was its supposed to so I get out of breath easily. I'll stick to it and maybe my body just has to learn to adjust again since medications usually suppress normal body chemistry.  

[JuanFitbit]

Hi @shipo , thank you for sharing your experience! 

@wj53 , wow, that's a very complicated situation you had. I'm glad that the "new" drs. could recognized the issue with your medications at the right time.  

My dad had a similar situation as you.  

As he couldn't move fast, to exercise, he walked at least 30 minutes a day on a low pace. If he could he did an hour. This not only helped him with his heart issues, but also maintain and loose weight.
I'll recommend you , if possible, to ask your specialist what kind of exercise does he recommend you, for your situation, as I assume mobility for you is difficult due the hernia!

Also, medications can cause weight variations, depending on the medication. 

[wj53]

Thank you for your support and response!