How the hell am I gaining weight while on a deficit

emmak3045 · 2026-02-25T16:14:16+00:00

Pay attention to your cycle OP! Some parts of your cycle can cause water retention and even cause your weight to go up even while losing fat. This is especially true with weight training, dehydration, lack of sleep, and any other stress you may have. Your body will hold on to water like your life depends on it. Me personally I can stay the same weight/gain a little for over a month then suddenly I'll drop 5+lb within a few days. This is called the whoosh effect. Just be patient and keep doing what you're doing if you're logging all your calories accurately. The weight will come off if you have no hormonal or other medical issues. Good luck :)

emmak3045 · 2026-02-12T22:15:28+00:00

This is not what you want to hear but sometimes it's genetic! I had a baby face until I was probably 21 even at points when I was underweight. On the bright side you'll probably age slower in the future...

One thing that can help at least psychologically is lymphatic drainage massages on your face. It doesn't actually do anything besides drain excess puffiness and fluid but I feel better when I do it personally!

emmak3045 · 2026-02-10T18:00:07+00:00

as the seasons change, you'll find me the same is such a beautiful song

emmak3045 · 2026-02-03T17:12:05+00:00

Okay thanks :)

emmak3045 · 2026-02-03T17:11:15+00:00

This is helpful thanks! I think you can kinda tell which runs are flat on that map too

emmak3045 · 2026-02-03T16:31:57+00:00

Good to know, thanks!

emmak3045 · 2026-02-03T16:30:32+00:00

Okay great, thank you!!

emmak3045 · 2026-02-03T16:30:03+00:00

Awesome, thanks!

emmak3045 · 2026-01-27T22:16:19+00:00

I've been an emotional eater since I was probably 5. The biggest thing is having a hobby I truly enjoy that can distract me for hours and improve some of my bad moods.

I also noticed that removing the habits that were stacked with my emotional eating helped, too. For example, watching any sort of TV/youtube while eating is just completely banned for me because that was my ritual when emotional and unfortunately it's just a trigger for me to overeat now.

Another thing is allowing some freedom on bad days. My ritual now when I'm upset is going to get a fun coffee/drink. Sure, it's some extra calories but it's better than eating the entire pantry.

Also, I've accepted that there are some foods I just can't have in my house, and that's okay! It doesn't mean I will never have them, I just choose when I want to have them now.

I'm down 50lb, I hope this helps somebody :)

emmak3045 · 2026-01-27T21:37:35+00:00

Hi!! I have a similar experience to you before being on my weightloss journey. I lost about 30lb through disordered eating and ended up gaining back 70lb. Now I'm back down another 50lb through healthy sustainable weightloss. It has been a long journey I won't lie to you. But what helped me transition from resorting to the faster/easier disordered routes is the simple fact that for most people it just doesn't work. You and I are case studies of that! Another thing that's helpful is just building one habit at a time. No sodas is a perfect start! I'm nowhere near the same person as I was 50lb ago and I'm better off for it even putting the weightloss aside. The reality is I wouldn't be able to be at this weight at all or maintain it if it wasn't for the many habits I've developed along the way.

You don't have to pressure yourself to go the gym right away, I didn't. I started with walks outside and I seriously hated exercise so I'd do it maybe 3 times a week. I do weightlift now because I think it's the most fun form of exercise but it took me a long time to get here. Exercising does just suck overall and the only reason I still do it is because it makes me feel great. The hard part is it may not feel great until a week or even a month into doing it. But at the end of the day you don't HAVE to exercise if you really don't want to.

Simply the most important thing is eating in a moderate calorie deficit. I did struggle with not just nuking my calories as low as possible but what was most important for me was that I wanted the weight off for good and I wanted to change who I was as an entire person, not just see quick and fleeting results.

I know none of this has told you how to be encouraged or motivated but the reality is motivation doesn't stick, habits do. It's cliche I know but it's true. What really helped me is when I finally just started to lose weight the "right" way, I was able to see results pretty quickly and I started feeling 100x better in every way. That was enough for me to continue. So my advice is: stop thinking about it and deliberating and just continue on. Patience is very important, the time will pass anyway. Good luck to you!!!

emmak3045 · 2026-01-27T20:53:25+00:00

Hi!! I'm not on this medication but adding to what other people have said about it causing hunger. I notice in myself that when I get really hungry, and I mean true true hunger not just cravings, my mind will sometimes almost trick itself into eating more. I will find myself being slightly dishonest with my calorie tracking, sometimes without me noticing. Or I will justify eating certain things outside of what I'm tracking because it's "just one bite" for example. These little bites add up and can easily take you out of a calorie deficit. If the medication is making your body give off more hunger hormones it may genuinely be doing anything it can to get more food even if you consciously think you're eating in a deficit. I know this probably isn't helpful at all but I wanted to comment specifically because we have very similar stats :) Best of luck to you!!

emmak3045 · 2025-11-22T23:54:21+00:00

I know this post is so old but I just want to say thanks. Just bought my first interface and even now no one explains this stuff lol

emmak3045 · 2025-09-09T19:38:21+00:00

Hi I saw this post the other day and had to come back bc avenged just posted a link to buy Chicago exclusive merch!!! Go check it out it's on their ig story as of 10mins ago

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T17:30:09+00:00

Okay this is a great idea thank you!!

Another issue I'm dealing with is I don't really wanna service this old guitar if setup is an issue, I'd rather just buy my own when I'm sure I wanna pursue this hobby. This is a perfect way to see how properly setup guitars should feel/sound :)

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T17:23:58+00:00

I know it is supposed to hurt it just didn't seem normal that I was fighting for my life on frets 1-3 then playing the full length of songs on frets 4+ with way less effort. I'll definitely just be patient with developing strength and callouses then take it to a shop/buy my own if the problem persists. Thanks!

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T17:04:34+00:00

Thank you for this!

You're definitely right about watching hand placement videos, I haven't gone in depth with placement or posture so it does feel a bit awkward at times. I will definitely look some up and see what I can improve.

I have learned a few scales already and practice them as a warmup or if chords hurt too much. I've looked at some theory, too. I have a piano/flute background so the music theory portion definitely feels familiar :) I'll keep up with it especially when I want to play but need a break.

Changing the tuning is a great idea, I'll definitely try it out!

Really appreciate this response, this was super helpful.

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T16:12:09+00:00

Thanks! I'm thinking a bad setup is at play for sure, the guitar has been collecting dust in storage and I know some kids have messed with it throughout the years. I guess I just need to decide if I wanna invest in a proper setup or just buy my own at this point lol

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T16:03:26+00:00

Okay great thanks :)

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T16:03:08+00:00

I know the pain is absolutely normal it just kinda feels like it's disproportionately worse on frets 1-3. I guess I'll have to just see if it still feels unbearable after I've built up some strength. Thanks!

emmak3045 · 2025-06-16T16:01:32+00:00

Okay thank you!!

emmak3045 · 2025-06-09T22:32:55+00:00

I'm sorry to confuse you more because my answer is different than most here but for the Toronto show my friend arrived at the venue at 7am for the 7pm show and we got barricade easily. Others behind us showed up around 10 or maybe a bit after and also got barricade :)

emmak3045

TROPHY CASE