When to hit the panic button? Weight gain on new program

jeepinshawn

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

quiksylver296

I suspect your muscles are retaining water for repair, due to the new workout (weight lifting). Give it about three weeks, then reassess.

jemhh

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

I would continue as is. I don't think that 5 pounds is something to be alarmed about.

jeepinshawn

Just to be clear, I'm not intending to lose any more weight, 165 was okay for me, and I also realize that as I put on muscle I will likely start weighing a bit more. Im just a little panicked by the idea that I gained 5lbs in a week. It has me questioning my whole fitbit/mfp burn theory. I figured I didn't lose any significant weight during my half training because I didn't have much fat left to lose and I was really just chipping away at muscle mass during that time.

JoRocka

LOL at 5'8" and 170- you should not be considered with putting on weight- that is nto a cuase for panic.

I'm a woman at that height- and I'm sitting at 160-165.

If anything I'd say given you've been running a lot- you could stand a lot more muscle mass.

But no 5 pounds isn't worth panicking over.

Will_Run_for_Food

I agree with JoRocka. 170 sounds nice and healthy to me - maybe still even a little on the lighter side. But if you continue with this routine and gain more weight than you'd like, maybe don't eat back all the calories you exercise since the FitBit can tend to overestimate calorie burn (at least in my experience).

piperdown44

When I go from a deficit to maintenance I gain about 4-5lbs water weight from extra carbs. Add in that you started lifting and the muscles will hold on to water for repair...yeah, I can see an 8 lbs increase strictly due to water.

Not something I'd concern myself about unless over weight continues to climb over the next several weeks. Then I'd look at calorie intake.

McCloud33

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

I'd be more worried about your supposed 500-1000 calorie deficit only and only losing 5-7 lbs over 6 months. At that deficit, you should be losing 1-2lbs per week which would put you at 26-52lb loss over that period. I'm guessing your not logging something right. You're either eating more than you think you are, or you're not burning as many calories as you think you are. I'm 5'9" - 185-190lbs and my maintenance is around 2000 kcal. I HIGHLY doubt you're burning 3000 calories/day. Your TDEE has got to be around 1700-1800 so you're saying you burn 1200-1300 regularly?

Based on how much you lost over the 6 months, I'm guessing you were only running about 100-130 calorie deficit. It's just math...3500 calories per lb.

jeepinshawn

McCloud33 wrote: »

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

I'd be more worried about your supposed 500-1000 calorie deficit only and only losing 5-7 lbs over 6 months. At that deficit, you should be losing 1-2lbs per week which would put you at 26-52lb loss over that period. I'm guessing your not logging something right. You're either eating more than you think you are, or you're not burning as many calories as you think you are. I'm 5'9" - 185-190lbs and my maintenance is around 2000 kcal. I HIGHLY doubt you're burning 3000 calories/day. Your TDEE has got to be around 1700-1800 so you're saying you burn 1200-1300 regularly?

Based on how much you lost over the 6 months, I'm guessing you were only running about 100-130 calorie deficit. It's just math...3500 calories per lb.

I'm on my feet for much of the day, I average close to 20K steps the majority of the week, and I was running about 30 miles a week, so my burns are always pretty high. I find it interesting that your maintenance is so low, by MFP's suggestions at your height and weight you would be sedentary.

Leading up to my half marathon training I lost 120lbs or so in about a years time, I hit 171 or so and switched to maintenance in the app. I went back through and there were days I ate just about at maintenance and other days where I had a pretty good deficit. So IDK, I was a little more lax in my tracking, so your right I was likely eating more then I logged. I know that I wasn't logging things like the half table spoon of butter I used in my scrambled eggs or the lick of the peanut butter knife. Or the tea spoon of sugar in my oatmeal. That's just a few things I could think of off the top of my head. I didn't feel the need to because my deficit was high and I wasn't really worrying about losing more weight. I just figured if it happened it happened and eating as many calories as was recommended was scary having gone year straight with a 1000 cal daily deficit. Now that that information could be useful I regret not being more accurate.

CarlydogsMom

McCloud33 wrote: »

Based on how much you lost over the 6 months, I'm guessing you were only running about 100-130 calorie deficit. It's just math...3500 calories per lb.

And, likewise, 5 pounds worth of calories = 17,500 calories. You didn't overeat by 17K+ calories in a week, right?

Strength training causes LOTS of fluctuations in weight. Scale weight is only one factor that, at least with progressive strength training, switching to maintenance, etc., you should really use to look at overall trends, and not count on for a weekly anecdotal number that may change yet again tomorrow. Figure out your goals, go with your plan, make sure your food measurements are spot on (sounds like they may be off), and go with other things like measurements, fitness, endurance, strength gains, etc.

jeepinshawn

CarlydogsMom wrote: »

McCloud33 wrote: »

Based on how much you lost over the 6 months, I'm guessing you were only running about 100-130 calorie deficit. It's just math...3500 calories per lb.

And, likewise, 5 pounds worth of calories = 17,500 calories. You didn't overeat by 17K+ calories in a week, right?

Strength training causes LOTS of fluctuations in weight. Scale weight is only one factor that, at least with progressive strength training, switching to maintenance, etc., you should really use to look at overall trends, and not count on for a weekly anecdotal number that may change yet again tomorrow. Figure out your goals, go with your plan, make sure your food measurements are spot on (sounds like they may be off), and go with other things like measurements, fitness, endurance, strength gains, etc.

Last week I made it a goal to log everything I could. I realized for weight training I needed to increase my intake, and if I was going to do that I'd need to eliminate any "fudge" factor allowed by eating at a deficit. Last week I logged everything. No your right looking at the math I couldn't have possibly eating that much over. Most days I closed my diary with at least 100-200 calories left, yesterday was a rest day and for the first time in 455 days of logging I was in the red...By about 400 calories.

jemhh

McCloud33 wrote: »

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

I'd be more worried about your supposed 500-1000 calorie deficit only and only losing 5-7 lbs over 6 months. At that deficit, you should be losing 1-2lbs per week which would put you at 26-52lb loss over that period. I'm guessing your not logging something right. You're either eating more than you think you are, or you're not burning as many calories as you think you are. I'm 5'9" - 185-190lbs and my maintenance is around 2000 kcal. I HIGHLY doubt you're burning 3000 calories/day. Your TDEE has got to be around 1700-1800 so you're saying you burn 1200-1300 regularly?

Based on how much you lost over the 6 months, I'm guessing you were only running about 100-130 calorie deficit. It's just math...3500 calories per lb.

I have to ask--is 2000 a typo?

jeepinshawn

jeepinshawn wrote: »

I had been training for a half marathon, completed that with a 2hr2min finish. The issue, as I posted in an earlier thread, was I focused on losing more weight and training for the half. I had been eating at 500 to 1000 calorie deficit, not weight training and over 6 months I went from about 170 down to 163-165. Then I decided I wanted to focus on maintaining a decent( for me) time in the 10K, and improve my physique by weight lifting. I'm doing a full body dumbbell routine. So I alternate every other day I run 6 miles, next day I lift, and I take 1 day of rest. I eliminated my deficit and am eating back all of the exercise calories fitbit/MFP give me.

My problem is after doing this for 8 days I stepped on the scale and found I have put on about 5lbs. I expected to gain 2 or 3 the first week for water weight but 5 was a bit much I weighed 170 this morning. I'm not sure exactly how to proceed, do I go back and start eating less? Do I continue as is for another week and see how my weight ends up?

For consideration I'm 5'9" and on an average day fitbit says I'm burning about 3000 calories per day. I eat pretty close to that usually leaving 200 or so calories for things I don't know for sure how to log like olive oil that we cooked the chicken in or things like that.

I thought I might post an update to this thread. I have continued working out, I am doing a full body weightlifting routine(heavy) 3x per week, I also run around 6 miles 3x a week. Since my initial post I have disconnected my fitbit from MFP, I switched my activity setting from sedentary to lightly active, and I log weight training and my runs as exercise on mfp. The base activity level alone gives me approximately 2350 calories a day to consume, I have tried to eat just the 2350 and felt like my recovery is taking longer than it should, so I have started trying to eat back the calories from my runs(mostly).

I have weighed in every single day since the 11th of july, and my weight has been pretty consistent in the 169-170 range with a few days here and there a lb or two above or below, but otherwise pretty consistent. My running performance has been stagnant, I'm not getting any PR's with the exception of the first mile I can push myself harder and get a faster time there than before, however mostly I'm pretty consistent at the same overall time. On my weight training I have tried to increase all my sets by at least 5lbs every week. The majority of them I have done it with, some it has taken me 2 weeks, but at minimum I'm hitting more reps. I shoot for 6-12 reps, and I increase my weight only after being able to complete 3 sets of 12 reps at a given weight.

I'm unsure at this point if I could consume more calories and not gain weight or not. It has been a month and after that first weeks initial gain, I'm not seeing much movement on the scale. I think my arms and quads may gain a small amount of girth just based on clothes fitment. I also think I am seeing some ab muscles for the first time ever, however like I have mentioned in other threads after losing 120lbs I have a ton of loose skin around my stomach and chest so that is more difficult for me to detect.

At this point I guess I am mostly working on a recomp. I wish that the dxa scans were cheaper I'd get one to see where I'm at for a fat percentage, but I can't really justify it just to give me a number that I'm not sure what I'd do with anyway. I am using the muscle and fitness dumbbell routine, and have just about maxed out what I can do at my small employer sponsored gym, going to have to pony up for a regular gym soon I guess.