I've been tracking my calories for a week and exercising pretty much every other day, at least a mile of walking a day with that. I've been keeping track of all the calories with an app on my ipod touch and when I put in the exercise I do, it says I can get more. I've been eating a net calorie balance of 1300 cal a day which is supposed to be what I need to eat to lose 2 pounds a week but instead of losing weight, i've gained two pounds....I'm so incredibly discouraged...please help

I don't concern myself with net calories--it is guesswork at best. I keep my calorie level below x and move all I can. You may also be dealing with fluid retention.

i hear you, sometimes it can get very frustrating!!! could it be possible that you are gaining musle weight. or if you are excersising alot and not eating enough calories, or protien your body will go into starvation mode. i know personally i need to eat ever 2 to 3 hours to keep my metablism up, and not go into starvation mood..and remebr to get protien.

dont give up..it will come off,i knowhow you feel


best of luck

angela

it's most likely water weight you have gained. it gets discouraging but keep it up and the pounds WILL come off slowly. I "gain" about 6-7 lbs during my montly cycle then a few days later I get on the scale and it is gone.

I do think you could increase your walking to 2 miles to start, too- 2 miles at an easy pace should give your metabolism a boost too.

Keep in mind that you will lose only about 100 calories walking one mile. Good luck....just keep adding to your work-out and learning about what works for you on your healthy food energy!

I agree that it's water weight. It's impossible for it to be fat weight since you have started exercising and have cut way back on calories. Have you been consuming much sodium? Are you drinking enough water?

I'm not sure you're eating enough. I plugged your stats into a basal metabolic rate calculator (I guessed at your age...I made you 25) and it spit out 1583 calories just to maintain your basic life support. You're 250 calories below that AND exercising regularly. I plugged your stats into a calorie calculator and it said that, to lose 1 lb a week, you need 1569 calories per day. To lose 2 lbs. a week, you'd chop another 500 cals from that and get 1069 cals per day - wayyyyyy fewer than is healthy.

It sounds counterintuitive, but if you don't eat enough calories, your body will hang on to every ounce it can because it will think it's starving.

Jennelle: Would you mind posting links to the calculators you used? Thanks....

If you are out of shape it could be water weight from your muscles and body getting used to the exercising. 1300 seems ok and not enough to cause you to go into starvation mode so soon, if you are concerned you can bump it up to 1500 and maybe 1 1600-1700 calorie day a week.

If you are really out of shape just walking can be more of a workout than most think. I struggle with just 1 mile on the treadmill, and around 2 I get winded and have to really push myself to keep going or stop- one reason I always say I not only want to be thin, but fit, who wants to get winded walking 2 miles? lol

I agree I think it's water weight - one of those annoying things that happens to all of us when we start out.

maybe you had something solty and solt keeps the water in?

It seems you need to up your exercise... one mile several days a week generally doesn't give you the 2 lb loss you want

You might also have too much sodium in your diet.

Hope this helps!

~ tea

I really do hope it's water weight! and the hour of walking a day is a minimum. I go to the gym for an hour about 4 days a week and do a lot of cardio like elliptical and bike. I feel better today so I'll try to continue to keep my mood up and not let the numbers get to me too much

I tried counting all my calories during the day and subtracting my exercise calories (at least what I can figure from either fitday or my treadmill) and I gained weight. Instead I count what I eat and leave it at that. I have much better results with that. Also, I find that when I diligently weigh and measure I will lose. If I eyeball it, then it isn't accurate and I find that I either don't lose or I gain.

I am using Lose It on my touch too. I LOVE IT

I don't get obsessed with it being exact but it still has worked for me. I have it set that I stay under 1200 a day (which I haven't EVERY day). Needless to say, it has kept me on track for the most part.

Funny story: I weigh myself every morning so I can track that on the touch and I went away this past weekend. Since it was one of those "extremely cheating weekends", I didn't track everything. So a friend of mine was asking me about the whole thing and I told him that that day didn't count since I couldn't weigh myself while I was away. He was hysterical...but back to you. Remember, we have monthly cycles so we can gain/lose sporadically. Just stick to it...you can do it!!!