Gaining weight after long maintain (5+ years)

ratkaj

Hi! I was a long time user for a few years when I was just starting my weightloss journey. Since then, I found my goal weight and have maintained it for about 5 years. Recently I have been doing some different exercises (started spin a little over a year ago) and a regular daily plank challenge (I was a runner but have been having issues with hips and knees for the last 1-2 years so I've been transitioning to other things to stay active). Earlier this year I noticed that my weight was creeping up (5-8 lbs) which I figured was just me needing to keep a closer eye on what I'm doing.

Today I weighted myself and was surprised to find that I'm up 15-18lbs. My clothes are fitting and I was just showing my husband just how flat my stomach was today. I'm a little frustrated and more than a little confused. Not sure if what I'm seeing is added muscle mass or if I'm spiraling out of control!?

My weekly workouts include:
Monday: 1 hour hot vinyasa yoga
Tuesday: Planks
Wednesday: 45 min spin
Thursday: Planks
Friday: Planks
Weekend: Something active like hiking, paddle boarding, etc.

While I don't log my food regularly I eat pretty clean (3-4 days a week vegetarian and little to no prepackaged/processed foods) I try to avoid drinking my calories (sugary drinks, beer, alcohol, etc) and I'm pretty careful about snacking regularly.

Is anyone here a fitness professional or been through this issue before? Can anyone HELP ME??

Vegplotter

Hi! I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but I guess you are beginning to feel the effects of middle aged spread. You've reduced your running (probably a good thing) and your metabolism is naturally slowing down anyway as you get older. The result is slow weight gain that's hard to spot.
Honey, we've all been there.
There's nothing for it but to go back to counting calories. Sounds like your healthy diet will help you keep good nutrition.
Try walking. It's an excellent, easy to maintain all round exercise and non-percussive, so you won't suffer from injuries.

erickirb

With the program you are running there is very little chance of adding muscle, especially 15 lbs of it. That would take eating at a surplus, progressing strength training program and a good year to do.

To me it sounds like a bit of water weight, and possible eating more than you think you are. try logging for 4-6 weeks (weigh solids and measure liquids) to see if that is where the issue it.

rybo

Is your scale broken? Up 15-18 lbs should affect how your clothes fit and be pretty noticeable

ratkaj

Rybo - That was definitely my first thought. I tried it on two different floors in my place and got the same measurement (within .5ish lbs) and then my husband stepped on it too. He said it's on par with the gym when he weighs there too.

ratkaj

The nice thing is that my abs are at least starting to show grooves (which I've NEVER had before) now I just need to get my weight back down and I'll be all set!

Thanks everyone for your advise. While I'm getting older (who isn't) I'm only 31 so I'm not quite sure it's "middle aged spread"... but maybe. I'm not really discounting anything at this point.

Erickirb - Thanks! I'm definitely building muscle but by no means doing weight lifting. I'm finding that I'm getting much stronger (able to do headstands and pikes in yoga, arm balance poses aren't an issue anymore, the plank exercises I'm able to do with 10lb weights and do 10 reps easily these days - http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/5-planks-for-all-over-toning/)

savithny

Up 15 pounds but clothes fitting similarly - did you substitute strength exercises for cardio and you're slowly building muscle?

minniestar55

You're eating more calories than you think. Only way to grab control, IMO, is to spend a few weeks back weighing, measuring & logging your food.

Maxematics

Vegplotter wrote: »

Hi! I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but I guess you are beginning to feel the effects of middle aged spread. You've reduced your running (probably a good thing) and your metabolism is naturally slowing down anyway as you get older. The result is slow weight gain that's hard to spot.
Honey, we've all been there.
There's nothing for it but to go back to counting calories. Sounds like your healthy diet will help you keep good nutrition.
Try walking. It's an excellent, easy to maintain all round exercise and non-percussive, so you won't suffer from injuries.

I hate to be a harbinger of bad news, but the main reason why people gain weight as they get older is due to less muscle mass, not a drastically decreasing metabolism. Besides, as the OP stated, she's only 31. I'm 31 and I'm in better shape than I ever was. Middle aged spread is mostly a result of spreading out onto the couch, lacking as much physical activity due to increased adult responsibility and/or not making getting activity a priority, and taking in more calories than one burns. The body doesn't say "Oh man, I just got one year older, time to put on 15 pounds!"

Anyway OP, I'd say water weight plus some gaining in weight. Also, possible that you're holding extra water due to ovulation or an upcoming period. Keep an eye on it, change the scale batteries, and see what happens in a few weeks. A 15 to 18 pound fat gain would definitely be noticeable by the way of your clothes not fitting properly.

SCoil123

rybo wrote: »

Is your scale broken? Up 15-18 lbs should affect how your clothes fit and be pretty noticeable

It isn't always noticeable for everyone. When I gained weight back I didn't notice how much until hitting the 20lb mark because it took that much to make my clothes tight.

It wasn't muscle or water though. My fat gain was evenly distributed making it less noticeable, but still all fat. Gradual decrease in activity over time without adjusting my intake was the cause.

zyxst

I suggest start logging your food again in order to eliminate over-eating as the problem.

Verdenal

ratkaj wrote: »

Hi! I was a long time user for a few years when I was just starting my weightloss journey. Since then, I found my goal weight and have maintained it for about 5 years. Recently I have been doing some different exercises (started spin a little over a year ago) and a regular daily plank challenge (I was a runner but have been having issues with hips and knees for the last 1-2 years so I've been transitioning to other things to stay active). Earlier this year I noticed that my weight was creeping up (5-8 lbs) which I figured was just me needing to keep a closer eye on what I'm doing.

Today I weighted myself and was surprised to find that I'm up 15-18lbs. My clothes are fitting and I was just showing my husband just how flat my stomach was today. I'm a little frustrated and more than a little confused. Not sure if what I'm seeing is added muscle mass or if I'm spiraling out of control!?

My weekly workouts include:
Monday: 1 hour hot vinyasa yoga
Tuesday: Planks
Wednesday: 45 min spin
Thursday: Planks
Friday: Planks
Weekend: Something active like hiking, paddle boarding, etc.

While I don't log my food regularly I eat pretty clean (3-4 days a week vegetarian and little to no prepackaged/processed foods) I try to avoid drinking my calories (sugary drinks, beer, alcohol, etc) and I'm pretty careful about snacking regularly.

Is anyone here a fitness professional or been through this issue before? Can anyone HELP ME??

The most effective way to lose weight is to reduce calories. As for exercise, planks strengthen your abs, but they don't burn anywhere near the calories of continuous running. If you think cardio helps, you should look into something more rigorous, like the elliptical trainer.