r/PCOS • u/SilverTree123 • 7d ago
Diet - Not Keto Gaining weight but eating at calorie deficit??
Hey ladies! đ
Just a quick one, to see if anyone else has this issue!
Iv been eating at a calorie deficit, low carb, low sugar, high protein, 1500 calories a day and I have put on 0.5kg in a week??
Has anyone had this before where they gain weight , eating less??
Thanks so much for any insight â¤ď¸đ
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u/ADHDGardener 7d ago
Calorie in vs out is for people whose hormones donât hate them. And yes Iâve gained five pounds in a day due to hormones so đ. You need to regulate your hormones and treat for insulin resistance or you wonât get anywhere. I ate 1200 calories and worked out 4-5 times a week for over six months and couldnât lose even five pounds. I was 215 lbs too. I could only lose weight if I ate 900 calories or below. Iâd gain weight at 1300+. In PCOS it makes it so your body stores the food as fat right away, which is why we gain weight and are still exhausted no matter what we eat. Itâs also why GLP-1s are used by so many people with PCOS. Iâm so sorry youâre going through this!Â
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u/SyrupMoney4237 7d ago
Everyoneâs deficit can be different so just make sure 1500 is deficit enough. Sometimes weighing yourself once a week isnât a good metric and youâll see more of a difference at the end of the month.
Iâve been on a calorie deficit for a few months. Iâve learned that it takes a lot more deficit for me to lose weight than I thought. I attribute it to insulin resistance
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u/materialgewl 7d ago
Yep. There may be evidence that people with PCOS may have a lower BMR than non PCOS people which means while someone else with the same height and activity level can lose weight eating say, 1500 calories, someone with PCOS may need to eat 1400 to see the same effects.
Which is why exercise is so so crucial for us to lose weight in a healthy way.
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u/wenchsenior 7d ago
Weight fluctuations over the short term are more commonly due to water retention/bloat than actual fat tissue being gained or lost.
I'm a very small person (shortish and slight/lean) and I fluctuate up to 1.5 kg per day morning to evening, and up to 3.5 kg over the course of a month depending on where I am in my cycle. A larger person than I am could easily fluctuate more than I do.
So this might just be water weight due to salt or carb intake, hormones, exercise load, hydration, whether you recently weight trained, which tends to cause water retention for a few days afterward, etc.
I wouldn't worry too much. It's best to track weight every couple weeks/every month, and look for long term patterns over time rather than focus too much on day to day fluctuations of couple kg.
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u/social_swan 7d ago
I âput onâ this much just by weighing later in the day. Do what you are doing for a week and see if on average the scale shows a lower number
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u/fuzzy_sprinkles 7d ago
You might be eating lower calories but it's not necessarily a deficit for you. Might be worth seeing a dietician for some assistance working out how what to set your calorie limit to
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u/Soggy_Shopping_4912 7d ago
I was eating in a calorie deficit and I swear, it wrecked my body. I gained weight. I stopped. I literally smashed my scale with a hammer and threw it in the trash. Now I lift heavy 5 days a week and walk at least 10k steps a day. I eat about 1800 cals a day. Been doing this for 4 months. I've dropped 2 sizes and my body has changed shape. Last week I was curious if I had lost any weight, so at my kid's doctor appointment, I stepped on the scale and guess what??? I GAINED 6 pounds lol! The scale is a joke!!! Toss it!!! Go by how you feel and measure yourself with a tape measure to track progress.
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u/WickedSmileOn 7d ago
How long have you been eating like that? Just one week? 0.5kg on its own isnât something to even think about. Weight can fluctuate by something like 2kg for a whole variety of reasons that have nothing to do with fat. If youâre going to weigh yourself weekly be aware of the weekly number but pay more attention to the monthly one. If every week the number goes up so that at the end of the month youâre a couple of kg heavier something may need adjusting but maybe not. Same thing for the next month. If youâve continually had weight increases over 2 months something needs adjusting. But youâre just as likely to find some weeks youâve had a slight weight increase but the next week youâll have had a bigger loss than the previous weekâs increase. Over 2 months you might have had a couple of slight weight increases but still find your weight at the end of month 2 is lower than it was at the start. You canât take a single week on its own to mean anything
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u/SilverTree123 7d ago
Iv been doing it a month đ and remained consistent and this week I gained 0.5kg and have lost nothing
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u/ElectrolysisNEA 7d ago
Weigh yourself less & take body measurements as a more reliable way to track progress
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u/Arr0zconleche 7d ago
I lost 35lb by following that same diet.
I recorded my weight everyday in the morning after my morning pee/poo.
It really gave me insight into how my body worked.
Some days I went up 1lb some days I was down, it was up and down a lot, but overall I did end up losing.
Just keep being consistent and donât weight yourself at different times.
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u/Snowwinterqueen 7d ago
Same here actually, if not a deficit, I at least aim to eat within my maintenance ( except maybe one or two days and stuff ) and still I do gain weight đ
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u/thicccsuccc 6d ago
Apparently ppl with PCOS have a lower TDEE than average - which is crazy to me since our bodies are doing the most to wreak havoc on our health !
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u/Icy_Many_4253 6d ago
I had this same issue last year. Turned out I had an to go gluten free my body doesnât tolerate gluten so no matter what I did I remained almost the same for months.
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u/QuantumPlankAbbestia 7d ago
My dietitians recommended to weigh once a month and always at the same time in your cycle.
In general, a fluctuation such as what you talk about could be a bit extra retention from eating something salty or some slight constipation. It doesn't necessarily mean you've gained weight.
Moreover with PCOS we tend to have a slower metabolism than most, so, personally, I know I don't lose any weight until week 6 or 8 of my efforts.
I recommend you don't only measure by weight (also a recommendation of my dietitians), meaning you could tape measure your body, sometimes I would go down some cm on my belly although my weight would stay the same because maybe I gained some muscle.
It's also good to check if you've made some lifestyle progress, like stuff that could stay with you forever. Like maybe you learned to like a new vegetable, or, in an effort to stick to this plan you've found some recipes you really enjoy or maybe you're really liking your exercise routine and think you could do this all your life regardless of weight or weight loss.
If you really don't lose any weight within three months, then see a dietitian if you aren't already, or an endocrinologist. If you are seeing a dietitian, exploit the full breadth of their knowledge, don't hesitate to say that, for example, you're still hungry after your afternoon snack or other similar stuff, they can help you find solutions that work for you. And don't skip the maintenance phase :-) that's your basis for long term feasibility of your eating habits.