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Original poster

Why am I putting ON weight?

183 replies

Daffodilpup · 23/04/2025 12:24

Can anyone help? I read all this stuff about what you should eat and do and what you shouldn’t and it all mixes up in my head so I decided to go simple.

I did a calorie counter and worked out to lose a pound a week I needed to eat 1700 calories. (I’m 14 stone and 5ft 3)

I did this the first week and lost a pound. Week 2 ,3 and 4 I have regained that oound and another 3!

I have started doing weights too so have heard the theory that while I might be loosing fat I will be gaining muscle but don’t think that’s the case when I’m bigger that when I started? Would understand if I was the same. Also I’m only lifting 2kg and 4kg weights as I’m a beginner.

just getting fed up that I’m eating healthily and in a deficit and exercising (walking too) and I’m bigger than when I started.

OP posts:
Original poster
Daffodilpup · 23/04/2025 12:36

I don’t add on exercise calories. I’m 45 and do around 10k steps a day too.

OP posts:
MiddleAgedDread · 23/04/2025 12:36

You're not going to be building much muscle from weights that size I'm afraid, particularly not to gain 4lb in a couple of weeks. It could be fluid retention if you're new to exercising, or quite simply, you're eating too much.
Are you tracking calories and weighing everything you eat?
Are you drinking more water than before?
If you have periods then you may get a monthly pattern of fluid retention too. I never lost weight the week before my period was due.

DogsOnThePlane · 23/04/2025 12:35

If the only exercise you’re doing is those weights, I’d be surprised if your maintenance calories is 2200 and therefore 1700 to lose 1lb a week. Or are you doing other exercise? How old are you?

Original poster
Daffodilpup · 23/04/2025 12:35

I don’t think I’d survive on 1200 a day but may have to see if it helps.

so breakfast is usually bran flakes with milk and a banana. All weighed out. Lunch is a salad - tuna or chicken with a little mayo - again measured out or if I’m really hungry I’ll have a fresh soup and seeded bread. Dinner varies - jacket potato and salad, last night was chicken potatoes and peas, sometimes pasta. All weighed and calculated. I walk 10k steps most days and do 20 mins of weights 3-4 times a week.

I feel so fed up gaining weight. Wouldn’t even mind if I was staying the same but gaining! Might as well
go back to little exercise and snacks again as getting nowhere!

OP posts:
DUsername · 23/04/2025 12:32

Are you adding on calories for your exercise? It's notoriously difficult to accurately work out how many calories you burn when you exercise so you shouldn't add 'exercise calories' on.

The other thing that strikes me is you're only talking about the difference of a few pounds here which could just be normal fluctuation. It sounds counter intuitive but it can be good to weigh every day. You'll be amazed how much your weight fluctuates day to day but you should see a downward trend.

Nannyfannybanny · 23/04/2025 12:29

I did the bmr calculator and only require 1200 cals per day. You could try that. The majority of people underestimate the cals, not counting things like sauce, salad dressings and the like.

GreyCarpet · 23/04/2025 12:28

Well, you're going to get a lot of arguing and conflict on here around what constitutes healthy eating, but if you want to share what an average day's meals look like, then I'm sure people will try to help.

Alternatively, Dr Jason Fung does an excellent podcast available free on Spotify called The Obesity Code, which challenges a lot of current ideas about 'healthy eating' and might help.

(Including the simple calories in calories out model).

Also a lot of information about how the body actually processes food.

c3pu · 23/04/2025 12:27

Simplistically, calories in is currently greater than calories burned.

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