What am I doing wrong?

[Huxterstone]

Half way through week 3 and I've gained 1lb! Been sticking to 1400 cals per day, and have upped my exercise considerably. I'm wondering what I'm doing wrong. Feel totally disheartened now, so any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone]

Hi and welcome, Huxterstone

Have you checked your calorie range on the NHS BMI calculator, as 1400 is a generic amount, unsuitable for most? Too little to eat will put your body into starvation mode healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

You could also take a look at this and see if it rings bells healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh... and then have a look at this phcuk.org/wp-content/upload...

Follow this link to our chat thread and a list of all the activities we run. We've found active participation to be key to success, especially with our weigh-ins and Daily Diary.

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

To make navigating the forum easier, we've put all the information you'll need in a newbie pack and here's the link

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh...

Please take the time to read it carefully, so that you're able to enjoy everything that we have on offer.

We ask that you also read this important information about internet privacy and security.

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Wishing you all the best

[Huxterstone in reply to moreless]

I did check my bmi and the lower range of calories is 1464. Hardly starvation mode😉, and I've been through all the various links and am following the healthy eating.

[moreless Administrator 7 stone in reply to Huxterstone]

Following the healthy eating described by the PHCUK, ie low carb?

Maybe you could log your menus on our daily diary, so we could make more informed suggestions?

[Keeppushing]

How much do you weigh? And have your checked you body measurements with like a tape sometimes the scale doesn’t change but you have actually gotten smaller. You may have gained muscle mass ? Muscle weighs more then fat.

[Huxterstone in reply to Keeppushing]

Measurements are exactly the same. I'm only walking, so I really don't think muscle mass comes into it, but thank you.

[philt5150]

Hello Huxterstone, I'm not a qualified nutritionist or dietician, but would like to think I'm pretty well read on diet, health and wellbeing! Calorie counting isn't a long-term solution in my opinion, as it's essentially a form of starving yourself, so failure is inevitable if you are human! Unfortunately, seems I can't post a link, but Google 'why calorie controlled diets fail' or something similar. I also agree with keeppushing; scales are not the most accurate method measuring progress. They don't take into account body fat percentage, muscle weight, fat mass, body measurements etc. You may have gained 1lb in muscle mass. My advice would be ditch the numbers, calories, measurements etc. Eat when you are ACTUALLY hungry and consume healthy, non-processed foods and drinks. Exercise little and often. Tune in to your OWN mind/body and discount the 'generic' advice a little more. Good luck!

[Slimforsummer Visitor]

Hi at 3 weeks in you might not be doing anything wrong. Weight can fluctuate from to day by if we have been to the loo or not, are dehydrated or having more fluids, or are eating more calorie dense foods or more green vegetables. I am told by a nhs nutritionist that exercise is only about 5% of the losing weight equation. The main driver for losing weight is eating less calories from whatever source. Of course exercise is very important too for building muscle mass and keeping heart etc healthy. Stop worrying as long as you are eating healthy whole natural foods and cutting back on processed unhealthy foods whilst only eating until you feel satisfied you will lose weight. Good luck! You can do this! 😀

[HereWeGoAgain72 1 stone Restart August 2023]

That must be confusing & frustrating. Aside from the good points already made my thoughts are 1) are you logging/writing down all your calories (sometimes I forget I've eaten something if I don't immediately log it!) 2) are you weighing/checking the calculation of calories is correct e.g. not confusing per 100g with per serving or per half a bag, when you're eating a whole bag? Sometimes the labels can be very cleverly worded on things!

I'm sure you're doing everything right but 1 + 2 are the only things I thought might be worth checking just in case!

best of luck to you

[Huxterstone in reply to HereWeGoAgain72]

Yep, weighing everything. Calorie counting for me is a last resort as I hate the faff of weighing and calculating.

[Hidden]

A couple of points which I hope won’t make things confusing

- it won’t be muscle gain in a couple of weeks. Humans cannot build muscle that quickly.

- it will be water of some kind, somewhere in your digestive system.

Drink lots & keep going. If you are eating a lot less than you were, you will lose weight.