Why am I not gaining weight/still losing weight?

alexcpeters

I should start by saying that I DO NOT want to gain weight I’m just curious as to why I’m not. I lost 50 pounds over the last 9 months or so on a 1000-1200 calorie diet. I do intermittent fasting as well and also weight train 4-6 times a week. My boyfriend came home from deployment about a month ago and since he has been home I’ve been eating wayyyyy more than I usually do, not been eating healthy, drinking a ton of alcohol and have only been to the gym a handful of times. Despite all of this I haven’t gained any weight at all and have actually lost 2 more pounds since he’s been home. Everything that I know about Fitness says I should be gaining weight so why am I not?? I’m 5’4 136 pounds 25 years old and female.

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alexcpeters

Noel_57 wrote: »

You don't "mprove" your metabolism by losing 50 lb. If anything your metabolism would have dropped a bit, because you are carrying less weight. more likely, with the weight loss, you are moving more. You probably don't notice it, it's just a subconscious thing. Congratulations on the great weight loss!

Thank you but no I’m not moving. I usually workout 4-6 times a week and have only been to the gym 5 times in the last month which is why I’m confused as to how I’m not gaining weight.

collectingblues

If you

alexcpeters wrote: »

Noel_57 wrote: »

You don't "mprove" your metabolism by losing 50 lb. If anything your metabolism would have dropped a bit, because you are carrying less weight. more likely, with the weight loss, you are moving more. You probably don't notice it, it's just a subconscious thing. Congratulations on the great weight loss!

Thank you but no I’m not moving. I usually workout 4-6 times a week and have only been to the gym 5 times in the last month which is why I’m confused as to how I’m not gaining weight.

But how much are you eating now? You were on a pretty steep deficit before for what you say you were working out/weighing. So it's possible that it's the classic refeed/hormone rebalance, or that you're not eating as much as you think you were eating.

sardelsa

You could have been eating less calories, or lost water weight.. if you reduced your exercise volume you may not be holding on to as much water as you normally do. If I cut even one of my workout days down I get a huge drop in weight

Dnarules

First, you were most likely under eating by quite a bit if you were only eating 1000-1200 calories and working out as stated. If you are not logging food right now, then you don't know how much you are eating, so it is hard to compare. It makes it hard to answer the question.

maura_tasi

You could be eating at or around maintenance (I say around because you said you did lose another 2lbs). 1000-1200 calories isn't very much so maybe you think you're eating more than you actually are since you're so used to eating at a lower caloric level!

alexcpeters

collectingblues wrote: »

If you

alexcpeters wrote: »

Noel_57 wrote: »

You don't "mprove" your metabolism by losing 50 lb. If anything your metabolism would have dropped a bit, because you are carrying less weight. more likely, with the weight loss, you are moving more. You probably don't notice it, it's just a subconscious thing. Congratulations on the great weight loss!

Thank you but no I’m not moving. I usually workout 4-6 times a week and have only been to the gym 5 times in the last month which is why I’m confused as to how I’m not gaining weight.

But how much are you eating now? You were on a pretty steep deficit before for what you say you were working out/weighing. So it's possible that it's the classic refeed/hormone rebalance, or that you're not eating as much as you think you were eating.

I would say I’ve been eating anywhere 1500-2200 per day for the last month but that’s not including alcohol consumption calories. With alcohol it could be up to an additional 1200 on top of the 1500-2200. This is very temporary for me as my boyfriend goes back to Iraq in 2 weeks and I’ll be back to my regular eating/gym schedule. I just had planned on gaining at least some weight while he was home because I knew we would be eating out and drinking a lot. I assumed it had something to do with “refeeding” but I was under the impression that’s usually only done for a few days. I don’t know anything about it though.

TR0berts

With all your additional Calories that you've been eating, you're just still not above maintenance. Simple as that.

stanmann571

If your boyfriend is home from deployment, it's possible that your non-gym exercise time has increased.

And yes that can burn a lot of calories.

Oh, I just saw that he's only home for 6 weeks total. A LOT of calories.

AnnPT77

alexcpeters wrote: »

Noel_57 wrote: »

You don't "mprove" your metabolism by losing 50 lb. If anything your metabolism would have dropped a bit, because you are carrying less weight. more likely, with the weight loss, you are moving more. You probably don't notice it, it's just a subconscious thing. Congratulations on the great weight loss!

Thank you but no I’m not moving. I usually workout 4-6 times a week and have only been to the gym 5 times in the last month which is why I’m confused as to how I’m not gaining weight.

Daily-life movement (non-exercise) is an underappreciated contributor to calorie burn. Anecdotally, some people are more likely than others to unconsciously, automatically increase daily activity (chores, errands, hobbies, fidgeting, etc.) when they increase calories.

Lean59man

Too much sex.

PaulaWallaDingDong

Congrats, because whenever I'm slacking off, the scale tells me about it in detail.

PAV8888

*drop in water weight related to not exercising
*appropriate time of month for lower weigh-ins
*moving from an under-fed severely energy deficient situation to a more balanced deficit at or closer to maintenance and dropping a bunch of water weight as a result (see the refeeds and diet break thread, especially the recaps around page 6)
*Increased NEAT mainly because of your reduction in exercise
*Possibly utilization of some of the energy for your body to make some repairs that had been postponed during the time of low energy availability

A suggestion? Keep monitoring your weight with a trending weight application and, after taking into consideration time of the month variations, when you're going back to your regular schedule reevaluate whether you need as steep of a deficit in order to see acceptable results over time. And whether you have sufficient rest days built into your program.

Weight is not the only determinant of good health.

And I realize that everybody gets excited about these things, but a moderate speed walk is at about MET 3.

https://sites.google.com/site/compendiumofphysicalactivities/Activity-Categories/sexual-activity

lorrpb

I imagine it will catch up with you soon if your description accurately reflects reality.. Sorry.

LAWoman72

'Cause now you're eating at maintenance.

I won't comment on your "before" diet as others already have.