Why am I gaining weight?

[KatieKate]

Hi all!

I just got a Charge HR last month after being sedentary for almost 2 years due to illness. I had major surgery July 18 (kidney transplant) and have been back to a normal life with exercising 5-6 days a week. Of course, I lost weight (not intentionally) after surgery, but I'm gaining like no tomorrow and quick. I'm in my sister's wedding in 5 weeks and scared to death, the trend will continue. I'm 4'9", 40, and 108, but feel more comfy around 105. I've been tracking my foods diligently on here, but have been gaining 1-2 pounds almost overnight. Like I said, some weight gain was expected b/c 96 lbs was under for me. I workout light-moderate doing hiking, treadmill, outside walking, and yoga. I'm confused about the in vs out, and in the zone. If I put my food plan to -750 a day, I should be 105 by the end of the month. How many cals should I really be eating to at least lose 1-2 pounds a week? I eat well b/c of my health and taking care of it. But, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. More exercise should lose not gain!! For my size, 5 pounds is more noticeable vs a person taller than me. I'm trying to stay on the low side so that other issues won't come up ie high blood pressure, heart conditions, etc. Thanks for any advice!

[Dominique]

750 is probably too high for you, a petite woman who’s already in the normal weight range (BMI: 23.4). Your calculated BMR is 1034. Depending on activity level, your total energy expenditure may vary from 1400 (light activity) to 1800 (highly active). I’m getting these numbers using this online calculator, btw. How many steps do you get in average per day? Asking in order to estimate your activity level (based on my experience, you would need something like 15-20k to qualify as "highly active" (as per said calculator). How much does your Charge HR say you burn per day in average? If you’re burning 1500 and your deficit is 750, you’re eating well below your BMR, which is not good (especially for someone who don’t really have extra weight to lose).

As to your question regarding how much you should be eating to lose 1-2 pounds a week: it is generally considered you need a 3500 calories cumulative deficit to lose one pound. That’s 500 per day. You would need a 1000 calorie deficit to lose two pounds a week. Not realistic IMO given your size and your current weight. 

[KatieKate]

I generally burn 1300-1500 daily. Still only not only 2 months post surgery, so still not back to my normal habits ie working, so steps vary between 5000-10000 currently. I've had my food plan set to -500 but I wasn't getting anywhere. And no, I agree. 1000 deficit isn't realistic in my situation.

So, here's the confusion. There's so many numbers on the dashboard. According to several BMR calcs, I'm only a tad over 1000. I just want to make good and sure I don't keep adding to the scale!

[Dominique]

You probably need a smaller deficit, like 200-300 calories, which means it will take you a bit more more time to lose these 3 pounds.

The problem is calories burned according to your Fitbit is just an estimate (more about this here). Likewise, even if you count the calories you’re eating very carefully, there’s also a margin of error (more about this here).

It’s not impossible your Fitbit overestimates calories burned by 250 and you underestimate your intake by 250, in which case a 500 calories deficit turns into no deficit at all.

In any case, any daily fluctuation of 1-2 pounds is most likely water weight, which can be caused by a number of reasons. You shouldn’t pay too much attention to it.

[KatieKate]

Thanks for the info! I'll set it to -250 and try that for a week or 2. Hopefully, will notice a small change vs going the wrong way!

I definitely know about water weight and flux. No biggie in my opinion for day to day. I figured there's a margin of error for everything!