Eating at calorie goal, exercising and gaining weight

aerodancer

I recently had a metabolism test. Great news is I have a very fast metabolism for my age which is 49. I'm a fitness instructor and personal trainer. I have 4 children and was looking to drop 5-10lbs. I weigh 164 and I am 5'9". I eat properly and exercise. Thing is, scale is going up. Yes, I know muscle mass is denser than fat. My question is this: if I am eating in accordance with my calorie goal, how much of my "extra" calories from exercise should I be including? I know I need to eat more when exercising but how much more? I was not eating enough calories, as per my endocrinologist....now, I am eating the correct amount and macros. Thought?

ziggy2006

How long have you been eating "the correct amount" and gaining weight? If it has been less than a month and the weight gain is minimal, I'd say stick with your current calorie level for a month and then reassess. Since you are looking to lose such a small amount of weight, you are looking at a slow rate of weight loss, which can easily be masked by normal weight fluctuations.

Make sure to keep the conditions (time of day, clothing, hydration level, etc.) as similar as possible and use the same reliable scale each time you weigh. I like weighing daily and recording it using something like Trendweight, which helps me see the overall trend of my weight rather than getting distracted by normal fluctuations.

If after a month you continue to see weight gain, then you will need to increase your calorie deficit. That can be done by decreasing the calories you consume, eating a lower percentage of the calories you add due to exercise, or increasing the calories you expend. Try a modest adjustment, give it a month, and reassess.

sijomial

If your weight is going up as a trend then one of your estimates is off and you are in calorie surplus.
Significant food logging inaccuracy is very common. Your food diary is closed so no idea if you are weighing your food.

If your aim is to lose weight then adjust your calorie balance downwards.

You don't say how you are estimating your exercise calories but as you are gaining doing what you are doing now the answer isn't to eat more.

LivingtheLeanDream

As above replies already say/ask...how much are you eating currently? how accurately are you tracking your meals?
Of course eating back exercise calories are a good idea, we just have to be careful not to eat them all back as the burns are usually over estimated. Eating back 50-75% is considered the best approach.

terbusha

What I do and what I recommend to people is to eat at a calorie level that allows you to make good progress towards your goal. If you are trying to lose weight, eat so you drop 1-2 lbs/week. This assumes an average calorie burn from you getting in all of your workouts. This will be different for everyone, so you'll have to do some trial and error to figure it out. I'd start ~1600 cal/day. Hit this goal, along with your macros and getting in your workouts, for 2 weeks. If you lose 1-2 lbs/week, you're good to go. If you lose too much, increase your intake and repeat. If you don't lose enough, reduce your intake a bit and repeat. After a few cycles, you'll figure out what works for you in your situation.

Also, if you're body measurements are not getting bigger (particularly your waist measurement), then you're probably adding muscle. If they are, then it may likely be body fat.

Dove0804

aerodancer wrote: »

I recently had a metabolism test. Great news is I have a very fast metabolism for my age which is 49. I'm a fitness instructor and personal trainer. I have 4 children and was looking to drop 5-10lbs. I weigh 164 and I am 5'9". I eat properly and exercise. Thing is, scale is going up. Yes, I know muscle mass is denser than fat. My question is this: if I am eating in accordance with my calorie goal, how much of my "extra" calories from exercise should I be including? I know I need to eat more when exercising but how much more? I was not eating enough calories, as per my endocrinologist....now, I am eating the correct amount and macros. Thought?

Everyone else pretty much said it already, but here's your likely culprit. You are eating too much. I'm not sure what your calorie goals were/are, but as others said, make sure you are accurately logging- preferably using a food scale for everything. Good luck!!!

Francl27

You're either retaining water or eating more than you think. Probably the latter.

aerodancer

Thanks everyone! I am going to reevaluate what I've been doing.

Lleldiranne

How was your metabolism evaluated? These tests may not always be accurate (especially if it was not done by a medical specialist). The weight gain is a clear indication that you are, most likely, eating more calories than your body uses (unless it is over only a week or two, which could be hormone fluctuations, sodium, or something else causing water retention). I agree with the other posters, drop calories by 300 a day for a while, then assess again.

Best wishes!

MarkusDarwath

Being a trainer, if you included that in your overall activity level to determine your daily energy needs, then you should not eat back your exercise calories. That is basically double-dipping. Either set calorie targets by activity level and don't track your exercise burn, or set your activities as if sedentary and eat back your actual exercise.

Personally, I set my activity level below my actual -and- I don't track activity. In other words, I leave my physical activity as an uncalculated "bonus" deficit, but I have large amounts to lose (22 pounds down and 50 to go) so I can exceed 1000 calories/day in deficit while still getting plenty to eat for nutrition (my target is 2200 per day).