What??!??!??!
 

This week I've exercised more. And I thought my eating pattern had settled down a little. I know its been stressful, and stress can affect weight loss/gain but I've put on 4lbs :( And its not even just a one-off on the scale either. I weighed myself Saturday, Sunday and today. Morning and night. I know I've eaten a bit of junk. I'm not perfect. But with one week to go til my mini-goal deadline I thought I was well on track to reach my 8lb loss. I guess I'll forget about it for now. My goal I mean...not my diet.

I've decided as we're staying in a caravan for our holiday and will have access to cooker/fridge/etc I'm going to keep up with my diet while we're away. I want to do more walking too and will be dancing with the little 'un every night :) I'm not going to stick perfectly to my diet. So will allow myself one treat a day. I'll see what my weight looks like when I get back and think I'll be jumping straight back onto the weight-loss train.

You might be eating too little, I kept cutting back until I realized I was doing it too much :(

Sounds frustrating but it seems like you've got a great attitude :) Have a fun holiday!

Thanks. I will!!

I'm eating about 1500 calories. And doing plenty of exercise. Surely thats enough?

How often are you working out? I would up the calories a bit more, personally. Maybe try 1600 for a few days. I am 5', 163 lbs and work out 5xs per week. If I am to lose 1 lb per week, I am to eat 1400 per day.

Also, are you sore. Muscle tends to retain water for a few days after strenuous workouts to help repair itself. For example, I take a boot camp class and typically gain 2-3lb for a few days

It sounds like despite what the scale read you have a positive and goal oriented attitude! Hang in there hun, if your working out and eating a balanced diet the weight has to come off. Persistence!

It sounds like it is probably water retention. I did a really strenuous hike earlier this month, and gained about 3 pounds. It also stayed for a few days, and then it all wooshed of plus within a few days. Don't worry. Keep on keeping on! You're doing great!

This is a wonderful post. I did some exercises with weights on Saturday and on Sunday I had gained 2 pounds. Those 2 pounds are still with me today. I have been sore from the weights and depressed about the gain. Maybe I am simply retaining water from Saturday's workout.

IMO if you are exercising a lot you should eat at least 1600 calories. So I'd either stay at 1500 and cut down on exercise or up the calories to 1600-1800 and work out more. Remember too much of a deficit in calories can hurt.

So at your weight you are burning say 2100 calories a day, eating 1500 already makes a 600 calorie deficit. Then say you are burning 300-600 calories per workout, so that brings your deficiet to 900-1200 calories a day. I have found through the years if my deficit is more than 800-1000 calories a day I stop losing- don't ask me why I don't get it!

I definitely notice that when I up my workout intensity. My money is also on water retention. I notice that the gain is less painful if I up my water intake.

Thanks. My workouts aren't exactly very strenuous. I'm not very fit and I get a stitch when I do anything like dancing running/etc. So I'm trying to do too big workouts a week and then do a few (i.e.: 3-4) hours walking on all the other days. I'm eating 1500 calories ish. But on the days I workout more I tend to eat more....

I burn 2590 calories a day without any exercise included at my weight. And so as I'm aiming for 2lbs loss a week. I'm using loseit to show me how many calories I've burnt in order to see how much I should be eating. I've been recording my food and exercise and am still coming out at around 100 cals under at least per day.