How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight??

[youngwolf]

39 F SW 185.6 CW 186.8
I started 75 hard April 1. My diet is not too restrictive, but I must eat at least 90g protein (typically it’s over 100g) and stay under 1700 calories (LoseIt app has this at a deficit for lightly active lifestyle and I’m typically coming in around 1500). I weigh and track everything down to a stick of gum. My diet isnt drastically differently than before but definitely consuming less, selecting protein forward meals/snacks and consuming much less sugar.
I workout for at least 45 minutes twice a day. This is a mix of walks, spin classes, strength training classes, Pilates, and yoga when I need a “rest”.
Last week I was up 2 lbs! Weighed in at 188! This week I’m still up a pound. How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight??

I’m feeling stronger which is enough to keep me going. I wasn’t really concerned about losing a bunch of weight but would have liked to see maybe 10 lbs in the course of 75 days.

I could be NOT exercising and eating whatever I want and staying at this weight though. It’s perplexing! Help me make sense of it please.

*please do not suggest that I’m not honest with my tracking. If anything, I overestimate how much I am consuming when serving size is difficult to calculate accurately.

 

[iamgr8tful]

@youngwolf Just 3 weeks? It’s likely just water. My weight loss goes in “whooshes.” I will see no loss or slight I creases, then I will just be 3lbs lighter all of a sudden. 3 weeks is not a lot of time, typical fat loss is 1-2lb per week. It’s possible you are actually adding a bit of muscle tissue so you might not see the scale go down.

Over all you can try to look for other indicators like how your clothes fit. If you want to speed it up you can decrease calories a bit more bit don’t go too crazy. Remember that 3 weeks isn’t that long and just keep at it.

 

[batmanspiderman]

@youngwolf A lb or 2 is nothing to freak out over. The body fluctuates throughout the day. It could be water retention, inflammation from training, bloating from your period coming, etc. Are you drinking enough water throughout the day? Pick one day/time a week to weigh yourself. Weighing yourself everyday can cause you to over focus on the number being shown. How are non-scale goals? Are your clothes fitting better?

 

[simslions]

@batmanspiderman Hot take: a target weight should not be a primary goal, but only as an indicator of progress. I think there is a time and place to weigh daily. You do what you're supposed to, track CICO, get up and move around, drink water, go to the gym, and compare the difference. It can be really helpful for tracking BMR within reason, and making longitudinal tracking of progress.

You don't lose a ton of weight just to celebrate with a high calorie treat, quit the gym, or the other habits you form to get what you want. So, it stands to reason that using a specific weight as the primary goal is, ultimately, short-sighted and potentially self-defeating.

The key (and this is so, so hard) is to be dispassionate with your body and the number you get back from the scale. Remember that someday you will hit the number you want, and then you'll have to keep going and hitting that number and not be discouraged days when you don't.

You goal can and should be things like strength, endurance, health, comfort. Things that can be very qualitative (do I feel stronger, can I go longer, do I feel better, do I ache less?) that are backed up by numbers (1RM, body weight, fat%, LDL, RHR, V O²Max, etc.) that aren't actually the goal.

 

[peacefulwarrior71]

@simslions I weight myself twice a week. Tuesday morning and Friday morning. First thing in the morning before eating or drinking.

The nice thing about those times is I have Monday to recover from the weekend, and Friday if Tuesdays weigh in is higher than I’d like due to the various factors listed by OC.

Daily weigh ins are fine too, but you have to be comfortable with variance and find a way to focus on longer term trends.

Even with all this, I might gain weight due to muscle gain, which is obviously not a bad thing and it’s important to look at the whole picture as you clearly outlined

 

[simslions]

@peacefulwarrior71 Well said! I always found Wednesday to be the sweet spot after the weekend if I'm weighing weekly. I'll compare T-F though, that's a good idea.

A great example is this AM when I weighed in, I was 2.5 lbs heavier than yesterday, but I could see my abs today and yesterday I was a little bloated and felt flabby. It's just a number! It's one data point in a sea of data I have to check. And I know I worked hard in the gym yesterday, and I'll work hard again tomorrow. The numbers matter, but not as much as I probably realize, and fixating on them doesn't change them.

 

[living_abundantly]

@youngwolf Are you sure that activity level on Lose It matches your level. I used it routinely years ago and realized months in that I was using the wrong activity setting. I can't remember the details of the error but I searched online at the time and it was a common mistake people made

Edit*** I looked it up. Not saying this is the case with you but the activity level on the app is about your activity level excluding exercise. So me driving to and from work and seated around a desk during the day wouldn't make me “somewhat active” but the level below that...despite exercising 3-4 times a week

 

[youngwolf]

@living_abundantly Still… I know I’m not at a significant deficit. I wanted something sustainable as my goal is not to just drop a bunch of weight fast and then have it come back when I stop dieting.

 

[living_abundantly]

@youngwolf Gotcha. I say keep at it for a few more weeks. If you're feeling stronger and not irritable / cranky /always tired...youre probably on the right track and its just a matter of time.

 

[angelj]

@youngwolf Those app calculators are pretty terrible at estimating caloric needs.

Track weight and calories for 6-8 weeks, and that will give you a much more accurate number.

Edit: For example, if you maintain the same weight over 8 weeks, you know your daily average of calories is your maintainence amount. If you lose 4 lbs over that time, you know you're at about a 250 calories deficit.

 

[youngwolf]

@living_abundantly I selected light activity which is described as walking about 3 miles a day. I do that in one of my workouts.

 

[living_abundantly]

@youngwolf See me edited reply above

…and also. As a 39F hormonal changes may or may not play a role in your weight loss…be gentle with yourself if the process becomes stressful.

…another and also*...gaining 2 pounds isn't necessarily a bad thing. Could just be water weight but it could also be that you're gaining muscle. If you continue the numbers will start falling.

 

[sergiomonterroso]

@youngwolf If you are un-trained and train properly, you might gain muscle mass (not in 3 weeks). Forget the scale and use a tape measure at your waist and limbs. It should give you more trustworthy and continuous progress vs the scale. Also are you putting all the food on a scale? I would start a diet at 2000 kcal for the first month anyway - and go down from there. You only really cut down calories very low at the end of the dieting period eg month 3-4.

 

[boss121]

@sergiomonterroso Had to scroll way too far to find this.

Body measurements (waist, hips, quads, biceps, shoulder width, chest, neck) are important metrics along with bodyweight, energy levels and training volume.

There are a few reasons why a person might gain weight on the scales whilst also benefiting from the effects of exercise and fat loss.

Making the scale your sole measure of progress is a trap, as is taking individual weight measurements as indicative of success or failure in fat loss rather than the weekly and monthly average.

If OP is doing as they say, working out and properly measuring diet, fat loss is inevitable.

My all-time highest bodyweight went hand in hand with my lowest body fat percentage, because I was muscular. If I'd been focusing on the scales I'd have been wondering what the hell went wrong - fortunately I was more worried about the tape measure and the mirror.

 

[estherrising]

@youngwolf You aren’t the exception to the Laws of Thermodynamics.

That said, as someone already pointed out, your daily weight fluctuates a great deal. Eat more salty foods or just began creatine? Your body is going to add water weight.

IMO, the best way to track your progress and not drive yourself apeshit is 1) Weigh yourself every morning, after you hit the can and before you consume any food or water. 2) Write that number down and forget about it 3) After 7 days take the average for the week. 4) Write this number down. Circle it. This is the number you care about. 5) Repeat the next week. Take the average.

If your average weekly weight is the same you’re, likely, still at caloric maintenance. Eat less or walk/exercise more. Eating less is more effective. If your average weekly weight is less? Congratulations! You are in a caloric deficit. Tweak your diet if you want to lose weight more or less quickly. As you go along on your weight loss journey you will have to reduce your calorie intake over the weeks and months, as you shed pounds, to continue making progress.

To lose 10 pounds in 75 days will call for, approximately, a 500 calorie deficit/daily. Good luck!

 

[aegte]

@estherrising This is the answer.

 

[striveforagape]

@youngwolf

How could I possibly eat less and exercise a sh*t ton more, and actually gain weight??

Water weight or you're just wrong about tracking calories. You've only been at it for three weeks and you don't seem to like the suggestions people are offering, so just keep doing what you are doing for another couple weeks and if you aren't getting results find a dietician or doctor to ask.

 

[curtswill]

@youngwolf YOU ARE NOT BEING HONEST WITH YOUR TRACKING

And/or, you need to eat even less. And give it a week more

 

[jazideezap]

@curtswill Its been three weeks. They could be eating next to nothing and still see the scale go up 2 lbs if it were a particular part of her hormonal cycle. Its a little premature to tell someone to eat less.

 

[curtswill]

@jazideezap Which is why I also said to give it another week or two