I don't get it...another pound?

Yesterday I wrote a post about how I gained 2 pounds, despite the fact that I am eating less calories (but I still eat 2000 calories a day) and that I am maintaining my daily workouts. Well today I weighted myself again and I'm up another pound! What's up with that? Why am I gaining weight instead of losing it? Shouldn't it be the opposite?

Maybe you should eat less than 2000 calories. Aim at 1500, so you can lose a pound a week.

according to your profile, you're 5-4 and weigh 121 lbs...and you're trying to lose weight because?  I plugged in your info in the BMI tool and you're already at a healthy wgt with a BMI of 20.8....

And that's at the low end of the BMI range of 20-25....

Again I ask, why are you trying to lose wgt?

To be fat, 18.5 is a healthy Bmi but meh.   

...to be fair*

why did i put that? :S  

Technically, 18.5 BMI is bare minimum before you're classed as underweight. 20-22 is the "ideal" BMI range. 

I agree with the others....how much weight are you trying to lose?

How much are you lifting and are you taking body measurements? The 2000 calories might be a little too much for weight loss, given your stature and weight. You could also be gaining muscle mass if you are working out hard.

I would like to lose 5 lbs. I'm 5'4", 123lbs. I feel that when I eat under 2000 I feel deprived and end up binging. Any tips? I eat 5 to 6 times a day, and my meals are very well balanced between carbs, fat and protein.

2000 calories is more than your body is burning, that's why.  if you want to lose the 5 pounds, sure eat the 2000 calories, but go to the gym and burn off a good 700-800 of it.  because eating 2000 will only make you continue to gain.  thats just my input, but i'm not a doctor so.. :)

You may be putting on muscle.  Remember that a cubic inch of muscle weighs three times as much as a cubic inch of fat.  It's a good thing.  Muscle makes you look good and look trim.

Maybe you should stop worrying about the number on the scale and start thinking about overall health and fitness.  A healthy person always looks good.

I agree that you don't need to lose more weight.  2000 calories is the standard amount for maintaining and good nourishment.

I don't like looking at the BMI altogether because I had a phys.ed. /science teacher tell me what I knew on Friday: it doesn't factor in the makeup of your body. I have a friend who has big bones and is very muscular - judging by her weight you'd think she was way overweight, but she always looked fabulous. And there are body builders out there to whom the BMI would say they are obese, when it's entirely not true.

You see what I mean.

121 lbs can look very different on people who are the same height.

I'm pretty sure 2000 calories is too many calories and that's why you keep gaining weight! If you only weigh 120 pounds then you need to evaluate how many cals you need according to your energy needs and I'm sure 2000 cals is too much for your weight unless you are an athlete.

First of all, everyone is taking the BMI calculations too literally.  I am at a healthy bmi according to this site, 21, and i still can see fat on me that i would like to lose.  The only way to accurately assess bmi is by using a caliper or the underwater measure, which is most accurate.  She may be very small framed so her weight is coming from fat and not bone density, and online calculations dont take things like that into consideration.

Second of all, 2000 calories for an active person is not too much.  Depending on how much she is working out, i would doubt she would gain fat from eating 2000 calories a day, especially eating healthy.  However, she may be eating more sodium, thus retaining more water.  Or eating 2000 calories is a higher volume, so she has more food in her digestive system, so on a scale she weighs more, but hasnt actually added fat cells or whatnot.  There is no way she recently gained 3lbs from eating 2000 calories.  Just not going to happen.  So my question is, how much do you workout and how much did you eat before you upped your cals to 2000?  Your body may take a few days to adjust and then you will drop the pounds.  I would'nt worry about it if i were her.

It's probably all muscle.  Maybe tone down your workouts?

I work out 5 times a week, cardio 5 times and weights 3 times. I burn about 650 calories through my cardio.

Okay, I have the same question. I'm 43 female 180 pounds, medium frame, 5'6" tall. I eat between 1200-1800 calories per day. I elliptical 30 minutes a day. I do crunches on the exercise ball 3X a week and have started some light weight lifting. I'm still gaining weight! I've been at this since December and lost 2 pounds, then gained 4 back. I log everything I eat and drink and I drink at least 2 ltrs. of water a day. WTH?? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

BG

What time of day do you weight yourself (either person asking for help)?

I fluctuate a lot towards the end of the day, but my morning weight after going to the bathroom is where I weight myself.   Otherwise i would think after dinner that i had put on a few pounds.

So make sure you are weighing yourself when your body is pretty much empty and not after drinking 4 pounds of water.

Also for the women out there, though you probably know this, you will eight more when on your period.

Also if you weight 121, you shouldn't eat 2000 calories on the days you aren't working out.   You should be eating around 1500 to maintain.

I always weigh in the morning. I hadn't weighed in for a week. Weighed this morning and gained 2 pounds! I'm sooo frustrated.

BG

bgerding2,

It's hard to say what may be going on since everyone's body is different, but my real success came when I decided to start varying my workouts a bit.  Instead of just Tae Bo, I added a balance ball workout, and a few weeks ago I added power yoga.  If you have established a regular workout routine, you might want to try to shake it up a bit and try something different for cardio and/or strength building.  I've read in several discussions that your body can get used to a certain workout, so varying it may help.

In addition, if you're lifting weights, the increase you see could very well be muscle gain (which weighs more than fat, but certainly looks a lot better).  Have you tried measuring your progress with a tape measure instead of a scale?  (Quite a few people have reported that they are losing inches but not pounds.)

I also weigh myself in the morning after I've gone to the bathroom (#1 & #2!). So I know that I am as empty as I can be. On days that I don't workout it's difficut for me to eat less than usual because I tend to feel hungrier on days that I don't workout. Any tips?

I'm not sure if you're still having this problem...but, the main reason why you gained 2 lbs may be because you gained muscle.  Remember muscle weighs more than fat.  You shouldn't really pay too much attention to the scale but more towards how you feel and look.  You're probably losing the fat, but gaining muscle.  Another good thing to try that will also help you in losing weight is to drink 10 8-oz. glasses of water per day.  I've been doing that and have felt amazing....

I've been told just drinking that much water each day alone, and you'll lose weight.