I think this may be it, the problem I'm having is that without exercise my TDEE is so low (I'm really short) and I have so little wiggle room, but even then, I could see how I wouldn't be losing weight but I can't possibly be going over my calories so much to have gained half a stone in about two and a bit weeks? My weight doesn't usually fluctuate much, 2 pounds at the most. My TDEE is currently about 1600 and I'm counting that I'm eating about 1400 a day and I'm absolutely starving to the point I can't sleep, but I'm still gaining weight? It just makes no sense.take a deep breath and remind yourself that this is a long journey which means there will be set backs but also remember that tomorrow is a new day.
you can draw a line under it now & your day one begins tomorrow! You have got this.
what do you think you struggled with most? Just as a reminder, if you are eating in a deficit you will lose weight so if you have gained it seems like you may be eating in a surplus. It might be time to recalculate your TDEE and calorie needs?
ETA: I have just found this thread and am qualified in nutrition so am more than happy to offer support and guidance if anyone needs it.
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This is key to remember! Imagine if you give up on one of the increases. We’ll all get there eventually. It’s a long journey and will never be linear but if you want it, go get it!
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Unfortunately mine looked more like down, down down, then suddenly just up, up, up, up.
How long have you been tracking? Could it be a hormonal fluctuation? Quite a while back on this thread people were talking about seeing some weight gain aweight round ovulation. I’ve never really paid too much attention to my cycle and weight until then but have found the past 2 months that around the time I ovulate my weight spikes up a little then goes back down.
It could maybe also be water retention or something like that.
I completely understand as I’m the same, I am quite dependent on exercise as my BMR it is about 1300 so eating in a deficit is not as suitable for me at all and I have to make up a lot of my deficit with exercise or N.E.A.T
apologies as I’m not familiar with your injury but are you able to walk at least? This is always a great way to bring up your activity level without it increasing risk of further injury.
what level of activity does your TDEE of 1600 account for? If you are eating 1400 but truly burning at a rate of around 1600 you will lose weight slowly, you can’t physically gain weight back consistently in a deficit (with the exception of some extreme cases)
Recovering from injury safely is ultimately more important than weight loss and if you are struggling to eat in a deficit then I would suggest eating at your maintenance figure until your injury is healed and you can safely do exercise and increase your TDEE, you can then begin to lower your cals again and create that deficit for weight loss.
That's my problem, at 5ft dead, I'm too short to loose weight! 
So peed off
So peed off
I've never given this any thought but actually this is a real problem, take a Mars Bar 230 calories, for a 6'+ Man it's a blip in their daily calorie intake but for a smaller person or child it's a much larger %. Maybe instead of the government forcing these companies to change their recipes to reduce calories, they should be forcing them to sell different sized products at a similar price per 10g. Ideally a funsize bar is perfect for children but I don't think you can buy them seperately and if you can, you can bet that price wise they won't be that much cheaper than full size so people end up buying the larger size.That's my problem, at 5ft dead, I'm too short to loose weight!
So peed off
Thank you so much for all this, just reading posts from everyone is calming me. My injury is ankle and I can walk for about 20 minutes a day and do mat exercises, a bit of exercise bike. 1600 is what I measure based on bmr plus activity, I've usually managed to be relatively accurate with exercise cals in the past but for some reason this time seems different. I know i should have other priorities right now but I'm not fitting in any of my clothes anymore and I can't sustain this rate of weight gain!
I hope no one minds me sharing this really useful tool but something I have always found hard with calculating my TDEE is knowing what activity level to choose, recently I’ve found a way to do this using daily steps - if you have a Fitbit or AppleWatch then you may already know what this amount is daily
TDEE Calculation:
visit TDEECalculator.net
Complete the form with your age, gender, weight, height and activity level (more on this below) but do not enter body fat percentage unless you’ve had this measured by a professional.
Activity Levels:
Sedentary <2000 steps a day, meaning you are immobile due to medical condition or bad injury etc.
Light Exercise: 2000-8000 steps a day
Moderate Exercise: 10,000 steps minimum a day
Heavy Exercise: 15,000 steps minimum a day
Athlete: 15,000 steps min a day plus high intensity structured workouts, sometimes twice a day
Once you have calculated your TDEE the results page will give you your daily and weekly Maintenance Calories on the left hand side and on the right hand side will give you recommended calorie allowances for different activity levels including your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
If you are looking to lose 1lb a week then -500 calories from your maintenance amount.
note: if you minus 500 and notice that this number is less than your BMR you have done something wrong or you do not need to lose body fat and should look more into body recomposition (resistance training + maintenance or surplus calories.)
here is an example:
Julie is working out her TDEE. She puts her details into the calculator and estimates her activity level as sedentary because she has an office job but this is wrong. Julie walks 10k steps a day and also does a Zumba class twice a week so she is ‘Moderate’ at least.
on This basis, her maintenance calories are 1965.
to lose 1lb a week she needs to calculate 1965-500 = 1465kcal a day.
note: Julie’s BMR is 1267 so this is okay but if the final number came to less than this either she has entered something wrong or does not need to lose body fat and something else is required.
hope this was helpful! If anyone needs support with this then please let me know!
TDEE Calculation:
visit TDEECalculator.net
Complete the form with your age, gender, weight, height and activity level (more on this below) but do not enter body fat percentage unless you’ve had this measured by a professional.
Activity Levels:
Sedentary <2000 steps a day, meaning you are immobile due to medical condition or bad injury etc.
Light Exercise: 2000-8000 steps a day
Moderate Exercise: 10,000 steps minimum a day
Heavy Exercise: 15,000 steps minimum a day
Athlete: 15,000 steps min a day plus high intensity structured workouts, sometimes twice a day
Once you have calculated your TDEE the results page will give you your daily and weekly Maintenance Calories on the left hand side and on the right hand side will give you recommended calorie allowances for different activity levels including your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate).
If you are looking to lose 1lb a week then -500 calories from your maintenance amount.
note: if you minus 500 and notice that this number is less than your BMR you have done something wrong or you do not need to lose body fat and should look more into body recomposition (resistance training + maintenance or surplus calories.)
here is an example:
Julie is working out her TDEE. She puts her details into the calculator and estimates her activity level as sedentary because she has an office job but this is wrong. Julie walks 10k steps a day and also does a Zumba class twice a week so she is ‘Moderate’ at least.
on This basis, her maintenance calories are 1965.
to lose 1lb a week she needs to calculate 1965-500 = 1465kcal a day.
note: Julie’s BMR is 1267 so this is okay but if the final number came to less than this either she has entered something wrong or does not need to lose body fat and something else is required.
hope this was helpful! If anyone needs support with this then please let me know!
yes!
with 1391 you should lose roughly 1lb per week which is sustainable, MFP suggests 1200 for every man and their dog but it is too low for the majority of (adult) people!! 1391 sounds much better! 
You should be eating less than 1891 to lose weight, the 500 deficit is the 1lb a week but if you can only manage 250 less you'll still lose weight, just more slowly
If I exercise every day for 30 mins (weights and HIIT alternating) does that count as moderate? I don’t know.
Actually. I’ve just put in moderate and it’s not so different. Im currently eating 1500. Should I be having more then? I’m not losing weight despite having that and exercising.
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How do you feel on 1500, is it a level that you can maintain easily or are you starving.
Some days hungry. Some days fine.
I am huuuungry today, so excited for dinner - homemade fish and chips! Managed to squeeze a couple coconut little moons into my day for afters too
I do similar exercise to you, 30mins daily of alternating cardio and weights and putting that in as moderate exercise on TDEE calculator gives me my current calorie allowance in MFP, which has given me a consistent loss. So although I’m not an expert I would say yes? Hope that ramble helps
Are you having around 1800?I do similar exercise to you, 30mins daily of alternating cardio and weights and putting that in as moderate exercise on TDEE calculator gives me my current calorie allowance in MFP, which has given me a consistent loss. So although I’m not an expert I would say yes? Hope that ramble helps
I miss the sunshine 
it was so easy to eat well and fill myself up snacking on fruit last week
It's so gloomy now I'm forcing myself out on a walk instead of saying "it might rain let's not bother"
I'm cold and tired so eating a couple hundred more calories today, definitely feeling that mid week slump
it was so easy to eat well and fill myself up snacking on fruit last weekIt's so gloomy now I'm forcing myself out on a walk instead of saying "it might rain let's not bother"
I'm cold and tired so eating a couple hundred more calories today, definitely feeling that mid week slump
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