Accidentally gained weight.

jess932015

Ok. So basically i started tracking my macros and lifting last year. It went great and I lost a fair bit of weight and fell in love with lifting.

However, before Christmas I found myself in dangerous territory by only eating 1200 a day (dumb I know). However I felt comfortable at that weight and it allowed me to be a little looser with my eating habits around Christmas.

Then it all went wrong. I've been binging on and off since then and have gained 14lbs back. I have continued to lift and I know I have gained some muscle but I'm wanting to cut back down. I keep telling myself it's an accidental bulk hahah. Do I eat at maintenance to allow my weight to stabilise and focus on not binging or do I need to enter a large deficit again?!

Thanks in advance.

malibu927

How much do you have to lose? A large deficit probably isn't necessary.

Nicklebee93

Wait.. i'm confused. Were you eating at 1,200 because you were wanting to lose weight or were you trying to maintain? Are you lifting to gain muscle? Or just a part of your weight loss routine?

If you know you've been binging its probably weight gain. As in fat. It could very well be a combination of fat and muscle gain though, too. Do you *look* like you've gained? Do you not like what you see? Its hard to understand exactly is wrong...

CafeRacer808

malibu927 wrote: »

How much do you have to lose? A large deficit probably isn't necessary.

I would take it a step further and say that eating 1200 calories/day is probably what led to the bingeing.

OP, you haven't stated your weight loss and lifting goals. But I feel confident in saying that eating at a large deficit again is not the answer when it comes to controlling bingeing.

PAV8888

Focusing on not binging if it is a frequent occurrence sounds more important than having a deficit that gets undone by the aforementioned behavior!

jgnatca

I would characterize this as accidental bingeing after an overly restrictive routine. So cut off the problem at the root. Eat a reasonable amount of food, logged. Lift. Be happy.

VintageFeline

Small deficit if you must but perhaps just get a handle on the binges to begin with by starting to log while eating at maintenance. You seem to think you either do one or the other, super restrict or binge. There is room in the middle and it's a lot healthier.

AnnPT77

VintageFeline wrote: »

Small deficit if you must but perhaps just get a handle on the binges to begin with by starting to log while eating at maintenance. You seem to think you either do one or the other, super restrict or binge. There is room in the middle and it's a lot healthier.

^^ That right there.

Tune up your eating (macros, timing, etc.) to find satiation/satisfaction/happiness, then start a small, slow cut. Priority one, IMO, is a sustainable way forward.

CattOfTheGarage

n1cholee93 wrote: »

Wait.. i'm confused. Were you eating at 1,200 because you were wanting to lose weight or were you trying to maintain? Are you lifting to gain muscle? Or just a part of your weight loss routine?

If you know you've been binging its probably weight gain. As in fat. It could very well be a combination of fat and muscle gain though, too. Do you *look* like you've gained? Do you not like what you see? Its hard to understand exactly is wrong...

Seemed clear to me - OP had a period of over-restricting before Christmas, and possibly as a result, is now struggling with binges and gaining weight as a result.

OP, a maintenance break might not be a bad idea until you get a handle on the binging. Have you ever struggled with it before?

jennifer_417

It's pretty common for those who consistently undereat to fall into binge cycles. It's the body's way of getting the nutrition that it has been deprived of.

Edit because fighting with Autocorrect.

cerise_noir

VintageFeline wrote: »

Small deficit if you must but perhaps just get a handle on the binges to begin with by starting to log while eating at maintenance. You seem to think you either do one or the other, super restrict or binge. There is room in the middle and it's a lot healthier.

Absolutely agreed. Aim to lose .5lbs per week if you have 10-40lb to lose. If you're within a healthy BMI, go to maintenance and continue to lift.

OP, what are your stats (sex, age, height. current weight, goal weight)?
What lifting program are you running?

fitmom4lifemfp

jess932015 wrote: »

However, before Christmas I found myself in dangerous territory by only eating 1200 a day (dumb I know). However I felt comfortable at that weight and it allowed me to be a little looser with my eating habits around Christmas.

Then it all went wrong. I've been binging on and off since then and have gained 14lbs back. I have continued to lift and I know I have gained some muscle but I'm wanting to cut back down. I keep telling myself it's an accidental bulk hahah. Do I eat at maintenance to allow my weight to stabilise and focus on not binging or do I need to enter a large deficit again?!

Why were you in "dangerous territory"?

Unknown

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jess932015

My stats are in 5ft10 and 150lbs previously 190 ish. I would like to lose around 10lbs in order to feel comfortable. I weight train pretty heavy 5 days a week (2 leg sessions, a pull session, a push session and I often rotate what I train on the 5th session) and I have pretty much cut out cardio because my goal was to start moving towards building muscle prior to this weight gain.

Thanks everyone for there feedback already!

malibu927

Then yeah, 1200 was absolutely too low for you at your height. Ten pounds to lose means a half-pound a week goal is the most appropriate. That's only 250 calories below maintenance, and will be much easier for you. Just make sure you start logging everything as accurately as possible, as you will have very little room for error.

size102b

You gained as you ate too low felt deprived and binged