why did i gain?

yesterday i ate about 1100 calories and exercised for about 40 minutes and this morning i was up .8 pounds. why did that happen? shouldn't i be down a little bit from yesterday?

Weighing daily is dangerous as your weight can fluctuate day to day just due to water, hormones or one off factors.

I suggest weighing weekly and actually looking for a trend not expecting that every day you will decrease as this rarely happens.

Also did you eat enough?  1100 calories is below the 1200 they suggest is the minimum anyone should eat especially coupled with the exercise.  What was your calorie deficit for the day?  If you eat too little you can actually start gaining weight as your body thinks you are starving and starts storing as much fat as it can to prevent your bodies inability to function from lack of calories eaten.  Not saying this is the case for you but worth mentioning.

Are you typically eating less than 1200 cal? Based on your profile, you are a teen and need to be eating at least 1500. And that's if you are sedentary. If you are exercising, you need to eat more.

i usually eat between 1200-1300 for weight loss and 1500-1700 for maintaining.  also i'm expecting my period on the 29th. maybe im getting some gain from that coming up?

Let me repeat (and if I'm not mistaken, you've been told this already):

As a teen, you need to be eating at least 1500. And that's if you are sedentary. If you are exercising, you need to eat more.

You are still growing (even if not getting taller, you are still developing). You need more calories, and eating too little is not going to help you.

Original Post by ashley_marie714:

i usually eat between 1200-1300 for weight loss and 1500-1700 for maintaining.  also i'm expecting my period on the 29th. maybe im getting some gain from that coming up?

Please stop posting if you are not going to take the advice you have already been given. If you are going to undereat, at least don't flaunt it on this site. CC is about healthy weight management; not crash diets.

Ashley, you have already been advised several times on how to deal with your weight in a healthy way.  To start with, you need to be eating a minimum of 1500 calories as a teen.  This is the bare minimum.  You have been told this many times, on this thread, and this thread, this thread, this thread and numerous others.

We have told you what you are doing wrong.  Under-eating for long periods of time is not a good thing.  Crash dieting will do nothing to help you lose weight as the weight will likely come straight back on, and undereating can easily do more damage than good. Think about it - your health or your vanity? Weight is easily lost if you do it in a healthy and sustainable manner which is what CC is all about. 

I think you ought to read the following link: An Unofficial Calorie Count Guide to a Fad-Free 2009. It covers the basics of calorie counting, largely in how to do so safely and sensibly without resorting to drastic methods. And please remember:

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management.  We cannot and will not support a teen eating less than 1500 calories a day.

From the ASK MARY section of Calorie Count:

Why eating only 1200 calories or undereating doesn't work

In the long run, you won’t lose weight faster by eating 1200 calories a day.  Under-eating deprives your body of essential nutrients and leads to muscle breakdown to provide energy.  With less muscle, you require fewer calories and you reach a weight low plateau more quickly.  Restrictive dieting also places you at risk for binge-eating which can lead to weigh gain and a life of yo-yo dieting. Use the Calorie Target calculator in the Tools section to figure out how many calories a day you need and set yourself up for lasting weight loss success.

Calorie Count's mission is to promote healthy and sustainable weight management. Please help our moderators follow this vision and respect the following guidelines.

• We can only at this time accept postings in English.
• Your post is subject to modification or deletion by our moderators. Repetitive, off-topic, disruptive, and frivolous posts will be removed. We will take down any posts that violate either the letter or the spirit of any of these rules.
• Advertisements, product announcements, and self-promotional posts are prohibited. Links to personal sites, pages, and blogs should be placed on users' profile pages.
• Promotion of starvation diets or habits that exhibit signs of an eating disorder ("pro-ana", "pro-mia", etc.) is prohibited.
• Copyrighted works including newspaper or online articles, web pages, press releases, or book excerpts are not allowed.
• Please avoid threatening other members, making inflammatory comments or posts, or using foul language.
• Basic HTML formatting tags (<b>,<i>,<ul>,<ol>) and links can be used in the message body.

the reason i think its ok for me to eat 1200 calories is because when i first started my weight loss journey (well when i first got totally serious about it ha) in january my doctor said i should eat at the least 1200 calories.  and in 4 months i did lose 12 pounds. but you could be right that i need more calories. do you guys think that zig zagging my calories would be alright? like 1200, 1500, 1300 1500? something like that? this little weight gain is making me really frustrated and i just want it gone; so i want to do this the right and healthy way!

Original Post by ashley_marie714:

the reason i think its ok for me to eat 1200 calories is because when i first started my weight loss journey (well when i first got totally serious about it ha) in january my doctor said i should eat at the least 1200 calories.  and in 4 months i did lose 12 pounds. but you could be right that i need more calories. do you guys think that zig zagging my calories would be alright? like 1200, 1500, 1300 1500? something like that? this little weight gain is making me really frustrated and i just want it gone; so i want to do this the right and healthy way!

I remember you. I think we are the same height (or close) and last time we spoke I was 122-124 pounds and now I'm 119-120. Trust me, just eat 1,500 and you'll lose. Our bodies are like children. If you starve your child he will probably be sluggish and cranky and will rebel. Let your 'child' thrive! It's ok to deny your child dessert but to deny him a healthy filling breakfast/lunch/dinner is just... child abuse, lol. So always remind yourself if you wouldn't do it to a kid why do it to yourself, ya know?

Hopefully that metaphor makes sense. And you know, I used to be just like you. Trying to eat 1,000 or so calories. I didn't lose much and it made me into a super b*tch. Now I'm happy and losing a pound a week or so.

G'luck.

Original Post by ashley_marie714:

the reason i think its ok for me to eat 1200 calories is because when i first started my weight loss journey (well when i first got totally serious about it ha) in january my doctor said i should eat at the least 1200 calories. 

Doctors typically get very little training in weight loss or nutrition if that is not their specialty. Your doctor might have recommended to eat at least 1200, but that doesn't mean that it's appropriate to eat only 1200.

And when we say "eat 1500", we don't mean eat less than that most of the time, but occasionally eat up to 1500 - we mean, "eat 1500"

soupcanx:

very nice metaphor! so how much exercise do you do a day, what kinds, and how many days?

40-120 minutes walks 6 days a week, usually most of my walking are done in malls. Simple stuff, I wish I had a treadmill, I'd probably be walking more than that.

So walk around town, the mall, on a treadmill, around the park, on the beach, etc. Mix it up, have fun.

Remember to not put too much pressure on yourself. When you finally get the hang of thing it shall all workout.

so even with exercise that is low intensity (walking) you are still losing weight?