What am I doing wrong?

[vkpmusic]

Greetings.

I started FitDay about 6 weeks ago as a way to track my nutrition, drop about 20lbs and get healthy. I go to the Y for yoga at least once a week and I try to get some form of cardio in one additional day. I have a lot of back problems and I work two jobs, so it has been challenging, but I make it work. I've even cut out sodas and fast food pretty much completely.

At first, I was steadily declining for a total of about 4 lbs. Then I went up 3, from a few family parties, lost those and started back down the correct path again.

However, over the past week and a half, I have been steadily gaining about a pound every two or three days. My caloric intake has been about 1100-1400 and my activity levels 1900-2400. The last three or four days I've been especially careful about my portion measurement to make sure I was tracking right. Today I have gained a pound from Wed. I really don't think it is muscle tone, because my clothes are not fitting differently.

Any suggestions as to why this is happening and how to make it stop!

[mstitson]

Hi,

I'm not a nutritionist or anything, but is there a possibility that you are trying TOO hard to lose this weight? Only taking in 1100 calories seems pretty low - is it too low? Is your body going into survival mode?

The only other thing is to look again at your activities and intake - it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound, so unless your body HAS gone into shut-down, somewhere the equation has to be wrong :-(

There's no other medical reason that I can think of unless you've got an under-active thyroid? But only a doctor can tell you that.

[desertmountain]

From using Fitday I've learned that certain foods cause me to stall or gain even though I'm eating 1200 calories a day. Check over your food list to see if there's something new you added when the weight gain started happening. My problems are grains & starchy food, but yours could be something else. I read somewhere here about a person who experienced this when eating artificial sweeteners. It's so frustrating, I feel your pain. Just don't give up - you can make this happen.

[cjohnson728]

Only other thought I have is that maybe, assuming you're female, it's that time of the month for you. I will go up anywhere between 3-5 pounds the week before and during.

[vkpmusic]

Thanks. As far as the 1100 calories...I think you may be right. Sadly, I'm not actually trying to go that low. I've just been eating healthier and that's what happened.

Also, I have added a few foods, so I will definitely check that.

[empressmelk]

I agree that it might be water retention, due to that time of the month, or possibly because of high salt intake.

I'd advise taking a look at what you've been eating to ensure that you're getting the right nutrition. Are you taking in adequate protein, vitamins, and minerals? Your body might be stalled, health-wise, because it's not getting what it needs.

Another idea is to switch up your exercise routine. That can help you get off a plateau.

Also sleep. From a lot of things I've read recently, sleep is essential to weight loss. The rest is necessary to recharge the body and let it do what it needs to.

Just like dealing with the stock market, be patient and sensible and don't let your emotions rule you during fluctuations. Slow and steady wins the race!

[almeeker]

I've noticed with my own dieting that I have to watch my carb intake. Even when I'm down on calories below 1300/day, if carbs make up more than 50% of my calories, I'm going to either be up on the scale or stalled. Now the opposite is true if I get lots of protein. If I can keep the protein up to 25-30% then I can have as many as 1600-1700 calories and still be down the next day. And eggs goof up the whole works, if I eat them I can have 3-4 whole eggs in a day which skyrockets my fat percentage, but I will likely be down the next day provided my caloric intake doesn't go over 1700-1800 and I keep my carbs to less than 50%.

So in answer to your question, use the fitday tools to see where your calories are falling, give them a study and maybe that will shed some light on it. It also could be that you're building muscle, sneaky little devils. You might also increase your water intake, 8-8oz glasses/day + an additional 8oz for every 10 pounds you want to lose - ballpark. You also might need to add an additional amount of exercise to get past this plateau. Recently I had to increase my workout by 15 min/day just because my body had gotten used to the old routine. Keep in mind the calories you burn during a workout are based in part on your weight, so the lighter you are the more you have to work to get the same burn.