Why am I putting ON weight?

[Daffodilpup]

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.

Yes. Fasting is a good idea imo. Also raising your heart rate consistently.....so try jogging instead of walking for 30 minutes a day

If you’ve introduced new exercise then it can be water retention. You don’t say what you are doing with the weights?

you may also see massive fluctuations through your cycle anyway. It can be really bloody difficult not to see the scale move just because you’re ovulating or about to have your period.

Isn't 1700 calories maintenance? Yet you want to lose weight?

I’d try and up the weights if you can. You don’t need to be doing like 20
reps with light weights. We’re better off doing 4-7 reps with a heavier weight. So whatever you can lift to failure in 7 reps - with good form and without getting injured of course.

At our age some kind of sprint interval training (can be done on an exercise bike) is also good.

I’m not getting in to another argument on here about calories but definitely do not restrict too much. The exercise should not be fasted (increases cortisol).

I’d definitely switch your breakfast from cereal to something more protein heavy such as Greek yogurt and fruit/nuts or eggs.

1700 should be your intake average without dieting at your height.

2000 is based off someone a lot taller.

Continue to exercise it will definitely benefit you.

1700 was too much for me for weight loss and I'm 49, 5'7" and do a sedentary job but about five gym sessions a week. I was losing a pound then putting it on again. Eating 1400 calories I have gone from 13st 4lbs to 12st 3lbs in 7 weeks. It gives me a little wriggle room to go over a bit at the weekend or not always count accurately when I'm eating out. FitBit thinks I burn off about 2500 calories a day but I think it overestimates by some way.

Eat less.

My body seemed to respond well to not eating many carbs and each meal was so satisfying and tasty I honestly did ditch all snacks and junk.

If only it was that simple.

I find when someone including myself is overweight, you get into a vicious cycle.

You tey to cut out lots of unhealthy things, then you snap and you eat eat something unhealthy.

Then you berate and criticise yourselffor being useless.. And the cycle starts again. And you Try to start again the next day.

Losing weight is a mental thing as much as a physical thing.

I tried to lose weight for years.

1700 is too many calories for somebody of 5ft 3. I am 5ft 5 and became very over weight on that amount never mind losing. Lots of these calculators over estimate how much you can eat. People generally are much less active than they think they are and burn fewer calories than they think even if they go to the gym. Also, a 14stone of mainly fat body has a lower energy requirement than a 14stone body with a bit of muscle. The calculators are generic and depend on algorithms but people take them as gospel.
Realistically you will need to be at 1200 to 1400 per day.

I have halved my body weight and maintained the loss but on 1000 per day. More than that I gain weight. Unfortunately some people just have a low calorie tolerance before they slip into weight gain. You could be one of them but you wont know until you eat less. 1700 really isnt a lose weight level of calories in a 5ft3 woman.

No I meant much less.

This! I’ve just had some chocolate as I’m feeling fed up! What I don’t get though is I have stayed at 14 stone for a while eating more than 1700 calories but now I’m eating less calories (although still too much!) I’m gaining? Weight loss should be easy - eat less and move more, but it never is!

I haven’t read the replies, but I’m also 5ft 3, and I’d gain weight if I ate 1,700 calories a day.

I haven’t counted calories for years, but estimate that I generally eat 1,500 or so most days

Could you be in perimenopause OP?

Thats it. We get into a cycle of failure and then we beat ourselves up mentally for failing.

What can help is: don't cut out all nice things. Just Try to have one or two squares of chocolate instead of the whole bar. If you try and cut out everything unhealthy, you will snap and crave it and give in to the craving

Also don't try and think of all the weight you have to lose as you will start to panic.

Think of two pounds at a time. Think "I have to lose two pounds" and focus on those two pounds st a time

What I've started doing aswell is weight loss hypnosis meditations on YouTube . I think they can help to get your mind a bit more positive about it

get your thyroid checked! I was you and only sorting my thyroid/ vitamin imbalances and exercising to build muscle helped. Im currently losing weight on the following 1800cals (165cm, 72kgs goal of 65kg by November, started at 82kgs last summer) before I was eating 1500 and gaining weight!

typical days food
2 crumpet thins with butter and jam/honey
milky coffee with collagen added for protein boost
about 400cals

big salad, one slice of naice toast with cheese/avo/pate/eggs/ham on it/chicken noodle soup/5 itsu gyoza
about 500cals

snack mid afternoon, yoghurt/fruit/nuts/chocolate
about 200cals

150g beef meatballs plus sauce and about 80g(dry) pasta and 100g brocolli/seafood curry with veg and brown rice/ etc
about 5-600cals

sometimes drinks or icecream or cake

I do 3x90 minutes of exercise a week and walk about 5k a day

BMR calculators don't really work well if you're below average height or have any other medical conditions or have unusually low muscle (or abnormally high fat) composition.

What you should have done is count how much you're eating (honestly) for 2 weeks before you started and cut 100 cals a day to give you a deficit of 700 cals a week. That should always be where you start any weight loss programme. Then if you can afford to do so buy a body composition scan / bloodwork that measures your actual metabolism & muscle mass.

I’m 5ft11 and my weight loss calories are 1783 and I go to the gym loads. I think you’ve possibly miscalculated your cals

I'm currently in the middle of weight loss and it's going well. Things that work for me:

Eating a high volume of low calorie foods so I never feel hungry (veggie soups, apples, carrots, black coffee, herbal tea)

Very few carbs - I find they spike my sugar/chocolate cravings.

Smaller eating window - I tend to skip breakfast and then have an early lunch and early dinner, eating 12pm to 6pm or so.

I'm 5'7 and my maintenance calories are 1850 or so. I aim to lose a kg a week, so try and have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories across the week. Things do slip, but I still lose.

Weigh daily on HappyScale to monitor things over time.

If I'm away on holiday/out for a meal with friends etc - I will eat what I want. Perhaps a smaller portion, but I won't restrain myself. Makes it easier to continue long term.

If you’ve increased your exercise, you are probably retaining water. Drink loads of water every day for the next week (3 litres per day), lower your carbs slightly, and you should lose the water weight.

Completely agree. On holiday last week we walked ten miles a day and I was careful with what I ate , no puddings, decent breakfast negligible lunch sensible dinner so you’d have assumed I’d be in a calorie deficit. Whilst I did not put weight on i certainly didn’t lose any. Oh and I went to the gym most days doing weights so squats and lunges with c20 kilo weights (which I know is very light!).

It doesn’t , unless you are doing hours of it. Your body just slows down its calorie burn for the rest of the day, it’s an incredibly clever machine. I can’t remember the name of the tribe they studied. It’s like Tour de France cyclists, what six hours a day in the saddle and they still have extremely restricted diets.

That’s what I found, I noticed if i exercise a lot on that day I’d also do more sitting around ‘resting’ than normal. I also can’t be trusted with the oh I’ll have a bigger chunk of bread etc as I’ve walked so much today.
So I took additional exercise out of my personal weight loss equation and 💯% tackled it in the kitchen.

Can you link that? I can't find anything on this, I'd be interested to read on it. I can't currently run but I am walking on treadmill, on high incline, at a fast pace and I'm definitely losing weight and my fitness really improving again. If it's not the best way I'd be interested to read so I could find a better way. But there are people jogging beside me but actually way slower pace, would they be having more impact?

Ah wait I may have read your original message incorrectly. Are you saying it won't help at all or it doesn't matter what exercise you do it's about diet? I've read it as walking is pointless exercise and actually works against you in losing weight, alongside good diet?