Going crazy and need advice

[LiciKitty 88]

Everything was fine until last week. I hit my lowest weight since surgery at 204.4. And I began a new workout schedule. I run 1 mile and do light weights 3x a week with intentions to move to 5x before the end of the month. Here comes Thursday and I gained 2 lbs. But as of today, I am at 209. I don't feel bloated and my clothing doesn't feel tight. I cannot figure out what is wrong. I am a little over three months out. On average I consume about 700 calories a day (I have been trying to force down more but have been unsuccessful). I eat almost exclusively Protein with some vegetables (zucchini and broccoli). Occasionally I will have bread of some sort ( as in in these 3 months I have had it only 3 times because it makes me feel terrible). Any advice on how to start dropping again or if anyone has suggestions for what the reason for the gain to be?

[Missy161 395]

Everything was fine until last week. I hit my lowest weight since surgery at 204.4. And I began a new workout schedule. I run 1 mile and do light weights 3x a week with intentions to move to 5x before the end of the month. Here comes Thursday and I gained 2 lbs. But as of today, I am at 209. I don't feel bloated and my clothing doesn't feel tight. I cannot figure out what is wrong. I am a little over three months out. On average I consume about 700 calories a day (I have been trying to force down more but have been unsuccessful). I eat almost exclusively Protein with some vegetables (zucchini and broccoli). Occasionally I will have bread of some sort ( as in in these 3 months I have had it only 3 times because it makes me feel terrible). Any advice on how to start dropping again or if anyone has suggestions for what the reason for the gain to be?

Im also 3 months out. I hit a stall a few weeks ago but started losing steadily again. I'm going to be pretty blunt- are you having regular bowl movements? Seemed like I wasn't and the. I got more regular and now I'm dropping 2-4 pounds a week again. I also consume 700-850 cal per day but I have been eating some not so good carbs lately in small amounts. I read on this site that if you stop losing add another 100 calories and it should kick start you. It worked for me. A few crackers with Peanut Butter or something like that. Might help. Keep us posted.


Mich W
Hw 223, SW 217 CW 184 GW 135

[Mhy12784 423]

If your weight increases one week its not the end of the world. Theres all kinds of stuff happening with your body (water, glycogen, stool, undigested food). You look at the numbers over time.

If its 3-4 weeks with a problem with the numbers then something could be wrong. Otherwise dont make yourself crazy, when theres a fairly good chance its nothing (assuming youre doing all the things youre supposed to be doing)

[XYZXYZXYZ1955 675]

There's also the whole thing with muscle weighing more than fat, so it could be that you're building some muscle with your exercise. I'm not sure I totally understand this but goodness knows I've heard it many times. More to the point, I've also read that you should basically track your weight by month rather than by week once you get going--there will be stalls as well as possible gains followed by a loss.

Good luck . . .

[Apple1 2,572]

The same thing happened to me when I started running. When you first begin exercising it can cause some Water weight gain in your muscles. It will come back off in week or so. Exercise stresses our bodies and that plays a roll.

[NewShauna 49]

I agree with the one comment. Increase your calories by 100. You have to account for the increased physical activity.

Sleeved 8/10/17 HT: 5'2
HW: 214 SW: 212 CW: 196 Goal: 155

[AZLoser 103]

I disagree with increasing your calories. You don't want to eat back what you're losing through exercise. Keep on plan and you'll start losing again.

[MBird 298]

Don't increase calories. Dumb idea, you'll make yourself sick. Keep doing what you're doing, it's great!

You may be retaining Water if weather is warm there and you are doing light weight training which will add water to muscle at first. Also for feminine biological reasons, so try and increase water a bit and see what that does.

You may want to try Ezekiel bread rather than regular bread. Ezekiel will aid in weightloss as its higher in Protein.

[NewShauna 49]

LiciKitty when I saw my NUT for my 4 week follow up last week she said my min daily calories should be 800 and gave me the range of 800-1000. She also told me I will hit stalls if my calorie intake is too low and that i will need to make slight adjustments to my calories and Protein when exercising on a regular basis.

Sleeved 8/10/17 HT: 5'2
HW: 214 SW: 212 CW: 196 Goal: 155

[Apple1 2,572]

I think you have to experiment and see what works for you. Some people can exercise eating 600-800 calories and still lose weight, others need to bump up their calories a little.

[dreamingsmall 1,125]

8 hours ago, MBird said:

Don't increase calories. Dumb idea, you'll make yourself sick. Keep doing what you're doing, it's great!

You may be retaining Water if weather is warm there and you are doing light weight training which will add Water to muscle at first. Also for feminine biological reasons, so try and increase water a bit and see what that does.

You may want to try Ezekiel bread rather than regular bread. Ezekiel will aid in weightloss as its higher in Protein.

There's no need to call someone else's idea dumb lol it wasn't even my idea ha but reading comments. That was rude saying you disagree covers it lol. Its not a dumb idea. Some people that works. Some it doesn't.

[Berry78 4,261]

I know everyone scoffs at calorie in vs. calorie out, but it's useful for illustrative purposes.

Say we want to lose 2lbs a week. A pound of fat is 3500 calories, so a caloric deficit of 1000 calories a day should do it. (It's much more complex than this, but we have to start somewhere).

How many calories were you eating (and maintaining your weight on) preop? Let's say it was 2500.

Your body did change postop, but not in a way that would make it need fewer calories. If anything, it would need more calories after surgery to keep the same weight (faster metabolism). But, since we can't prove a faster metabolism, we'll just call it equal.

So, your body still needs 2500 calories and the same amount of exercise as preop, postop. Consuming 1000 fewer calories.. means you'll lose 2lbs a week eating 1500 cals/day.

What if you only ate 1800 preop? Then that's when people start seeing slower losses when they eat more than 800 calories.

BUT, while the patient is trying to maximize losses, the 800 calorie diet keeps him/her from building muscle that will increase the metabolism. The muscles get smaller and more efficient, burning fewer calories.

Then, when goal is reached, the patient finds they GAIN FAT on 1200 calories.

Personally I was eating about 3000 calories preop. I am now losing an average of 3lbs a week eating 1300 calories. My math almost works: 1300+1500=2800.

Where do I go from here? I start weight lifting to build/maintain my muscle mass. I want as much lean body mass as possible because that is what will allow me to eat more calories long term.

I want to be sure NOT to drop any lower on my nutrition, because there won't be the nutrients required for building. The energy is present in my fat, but the actual building materials come from the diet.

Think of a construction project.. building a skyscraper. You need diesel fuel/gasoline to run the machines, but you also need glass, wood, steel, carpet, etc. Our fat stores = diesel ... but we still have to eat all that other stuff.

The potential problem with relying on Vitamin pills and Protein Shakes is there are bound to be missing nutrients. Your skyscraper will never be finished if you're missing building components.

Sure, the skyscraper can stand, and people can still go inside and work. But it just isn't complete without windows. If something more important is missing.. the foundation blocks.. you know something is wrong right away, and that is likely to get fixed.

But what if it's a hidden supply that's important but not so visible. The reinforcing rebar? You think everything is just dandy, but the first big gale comes up (might take 15 years), and tips the whole dang thing over!

Ok, I forgot what we were talking about, so I'll end this here and go take some fish oil.

[Mhy12784 423]

30 minutes ago, Berry78 said:

I know everyone scoffs at calorie in vs. calorie out, but it's useful for illustrative purposes.

Say we want to lose 2lbs a week. A pound of fat is 3500 calories, so a caloric deficit of 1000 calories a day should do it. (It's much more complex than this, but we have to start somewhere).

How many calories were you eating (and maintaining your weight on) preop? Let's say it was 2500.

Your body did change postop, but not in a way that would make it need fewer calories. If anything, it would need more calories after surgery to keep the same weight (faster metabolism). But, since we can't prove a faster metabolism, we'll just call it equal.

So, your body still needs 2500 calories and the same amount of exercise as preop, postop. Consuming 1000 fewer calories.. means you'll lose 2lbs a week eating 1500 cals/day.

What if you only ate 1800 preop? Then that's when people start seeing slower losses when they eat more than 800 calories.

BUT, while the patient is trying to maximize losses, the 800 calorie diet keeps him/her from building muscle that will increase the metabolism. The muscles get smaller and more efficient, burning fewer calories.

Then, when goal is reached, the patient finds they GAIN FAT on 1200 calories.

Personally I was eating about 3000 calories preop. I am now losing an average of 3lbs a week eating 1300 calories. My math almost works: 1300+1500=2800.

Where do I go from here? I start weight lifting to build/maintain my muscle mass. I want as much lean body mass as possible because that is what will allow me to eat more calories long term.

I want to be sure NOT to drop any lower on my nutrition, because there won't be the nutrients required for building. The energy is present in my fat, but the actual building materials come from the diet.

Think of a construction project.. building a skyscraper. You need diesel fuel/gasoline to run the machines, but you also need glass, wood, steel, carpet, etc. Our fat stores = diesel ... but we still have to eat all that other stuff.

The potential problem with relying on Vitamin pills and Protein Shakes is there are bound to be missing nutrients. Your skyscraper will never be finished if you're missing building components.

Sure, the skyscraper can stand, and people can still go inside and work. But it just isn't complete without windows. If something more important is missing.. the foundation blocks.. you know something is wrong right away, and that is likely to get fixed.

But what if it's a hidden supply that's important but not so visible. The reinforcing rebar? You think everything is just dandy, but the first big gale comes up (might take 15 years), and tips the whole dang thing over!

Ok, I forgot what we were talking about, so I'll end this here and go take some fish oil.

There's a lot here but basically the math around the building muscle calories is significantly exaggerated. Muscle burns calories yes, but it's hard to add substantial pounds of muscle and it burns a lot less calories than one would think

[Berry78 4,261]

1 hour ago, Mhy12784 said:

There's a lot here but basically the math around the building muscle calories is significantly exaggerated. Muscle burns calories yes, but it's hard to add substantial pounds of muscle and it burns a lot less calories than one would think

There is a direct relationship between lean body mass and basal metabolic rate. Men may have an easier time of it, but any improvements either gender can make will help.

Lean runners also have high metabolisms, so there are also other ways to increase metabolism.

[Mhy12784 423]

1 hour ago, Berry78 said:

There is a direct relationship between lean body mass and basal metabolic rate. Men may have an easier time of it, but any improvements either gender can make will help.

Lean runners also have high metabolisms, so there are also other ways to increase metabolism.

There's a direct relationship between mass and BMR. Weight whether fat or muscle burns a comparable amount of calories although I don't think there's solid reliable numbers (the old myth that a pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories a day has been debunked its less)

But putting on slabs of muscle just isn't feasible for many people except for the genetically gifted. While they can certainly get stronger and in better shape . Putting on say 10 pounds of muscle is an extraordinary feat for the majority of people. Gaining pounds of muscle is much more difficult than people think