Gaining weight on maintainance. Haven't changed a thing.
Jpost001
Posts: 26 Member
My weight has been 'wonky' lately. Typically if I don't eat a certain amount of calories I can drop 10+ pounds like nobody's business in a matter of days. But lately I've been gaining a little bit of weight (roughly 5 pounds so far) on my mantainance calories. Yes even counting liquids, condiments, salad dressing, etc. Everything. Any idea of what might be going on? I seem to only gain weight in my belly too (lower, not upper) and I look bloated a lot.
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Replies
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How much actual weight gain in what length of time?4
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TavistockToad wrote: »How much actual weight gain in what length of time?
5 pounds. I don't know maybe a week ago. My weight goes up and down. It was 130 two days ago but it went down to 128. It could go back up to 130 tomorrow. But I normally I would be dropping weight way more easily than this. I have to watch calories or else I could go down to 115 pounds or less in a blink of an eye. I just feel like I'm holding weight that I normally wouldn't be holding. Yeah I'm about 12 pounds underweight but I have a muscular condition so my weight is where it should be. But I don't like being over 130 because I seem to only gain weight in my lower abdomen/ pelvic area. I went on medication a few years ago that made me go up to 140 and I looked 3 months pregnant.3 -
My weight has been 'wonky' lately. Typically if I don't eat a certain amount of calories I can drop 10+ pounds like nobody's business in a matter of days. But lately I've been gaining a little bit of weight (roughly 5 pounds so far) on my mantainance calories. Yes even counting liquids, condiments, salad dressing, etc. Everything. Any idea of what might be going on? I seem to only gain weight in my belly too (lower, not upper) and I look bloated a lot.
Not weighting your food and over estimating calorie burn.
I weigh my food. When I work out I use my elliptical which has a heart rate monitor.1 -
If it is 5lbs in a few days there is little chance it is fat.
It could be water retention- new exercise or higher intensity, and/or a higher sodium meal are the most obvious.
It could also be a bit of extra food transiting your body. Are your bowel movements regular?
Monitor for a week or so more to see if you drop the weight.
Cheers, h.12 -
I think you'd benefit from using a trend weight app to help you understand the fluctuations9
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First, five pounds in a week may be within normal weight fluctuation, especially if you're holding onto additional water weight due to any number of factors, such as hormonal cycles or eating a salty meal.
Second, you say you're 12 pounds underweight yet are worried about potentially gaining 5 pounds. What does your doctor think about your weight?7 -
Water retention? Bowel movement less?4
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I had that same issue after five years of maintenance. Part of it may be age. Part of it was that I count exercise calories and I play the banjo and so I was slowly overeating because banjo was counting as steps (no joke). Part of it was my carbs got too high. When I adjust my carbs to under 35% of maintain or lose. Over that I slowly gain. So I need to keep my protein HIGH.
I also find I absolutely have to walk every day or it creeps up. Good news is that I dropped all the weight I had gained by upping protein and exercise. But I HAVE to up protein and exercise. My calories have not changed at all.5 -
Same thing happened to me. Maintained 5 years. Randomly gained a few lbs. I started weighing everything again and tightening to see where the issue was. Found I had been eating a few hundred extra a day than I thought 2600-2900 calories instead of my 2100-2600 I thought because the lenny and larry cookies I was eating daily were actually more than on the package lol.
However, if the gain was within a week, that is nothing to worry about and is probably water or due to normal fluctuations.1 -
First, five pounds in a week may be within normal weight fluctuation, especially if you're holding onto additional water weight due to any number of factors, such as hormonal cycles or eating a salty meal.
Second, you say you're 12 pounds underweight yet are worried about potentially gaining 5 pounds. What does your doctor think about your weight?
I have MD so my weight is perfectly normal considering. I meant underweight according to the charts and BMI but not for my condition. I don't know if it's actually 12 pounds. According to my frame size a 'normal' person my height should be 132-145 and I'm at 128. If I gain weight it goes to my belly/ pelvis. It starts to show after I get past 135ish. I was up to 140 and it made me look a little pregnant... Which is not the look I'm going for. I prefer to stay around 127-130 and no doctor has never said anything about that.
It could be hormonal. That's fairly likely. I actually typically take hormone balancing supplements but just haven't got any more for a bit... I didn't even think about that. I don't eat a ton of salt. I have been eating more sugar than normal lately though.3 -
I had that same issue after five years of maintenance. Part of it may be age. Part of it was that I count exercise calories and I play the banjo and so I was slowly overeating because banjo was counting as steps (no joke). Part of it was my carbs got too high. When I adjust my carbs to under 35% of maintain or lose. Over that I slowly gain. So I need to keep my protein HIGH.
I also find I absolutely have to walk every day or it creeps up. Good news is that I dropped all the weight I had gained by upping protein and exercise. But I HAVE to up protein and exercise. My calories have not changed at all.
Bango. I don't know why but that made me laugh quite a bit.
Yeah I was hoping it's not age. I'm 33 and it doesn't seem like that stuff should start happening until at least 40. But I guess it depends on the person. I think my carb intake might be a bit high lately. Also possible it's water weight. I don't know why but I get bloated really easily. I've been taking enzymes and they seemed to be helping for a bit.
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I was thinking about it and even when my hormones were out of whack I didn't hold weight. I got up to 140 because of medication I was on but I haven't been on that for quite some time now and my metabolism went back to normal. It's not a matter of what I'm eating either. My body is literally gaining weight on nothing. I mean I'm not eating nothing...I eat between 1400-2000 calories. But I shouldn't be gaining. I checked again today and I've gone up a few more pounds. It's definitely nothing to do with my food believe me. My maintenance calories to maintain 128 were 1910 but the past week I've been restricting them more and I'm still gaining. May not seem like a lot but my thinking is if my metabolism is slowing down then 5 lb turns into 10 lb which then into 20 which then turns into a whole big mess. And because of how my body only seems to gain belly fat it feels like my belly balloons up. It feels gross and it actually hurts. Another problem is that even a few pounds equals an extra inch or so onto my waistline as well. I measured and I'll go up a full inch after gaining only 3 pounds! I can't stand that my body does that. It would be different if gained weight more all over... But this whole holding weight thing is totally new and different.1
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'eating more sugar than normal' - I know when I eat more sugar than usual it reflects on the scale as a spike up for a few days.
Keep monitoring your weight, as others have said, use a trending weight app, give it a few more weeks to see if things settle down - it could be hormonal.
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I was thinking about it and even when my hormones were out of whack I didn't hold weight. I got up to 140 because of medication I was on but I haven't been on that for quite some time now and my metabolism went back to normal. It's not a matter of what I'm eating either. My body is literally gaining weight on nothing. I mean I'm not eating nothing...I eat between 1400-2000 calories. But I shouldn't be gaining. I checked again today and I've gone up a few more pounds. It's definitely nothing to do with my food believe me. My maintenance calories to maintain 128 were 1910 but the past week I've been restricting them more and I'm still gaining. May not seem like a lot but my thinking is if my metabolism is slowing down then 5 lb turns into 10 lb which then into 20 which then turns into a whole big mess. And because of how my body only seems to gain belly fat it feels like my belly balloons up. It feels gross and it actually hurts. Another problem is that even a few pounds equals an extra inch or so onto my waistline as well. I measured and I'll go up a full inch after gaining only 3 pounds! I can't stand that my body does that. It would be different if gained weight more all over... But this whole holding weight thing is totally new and different.
if you're bloating so much that its painful then you need to see your doctor.4 -
TavistockToad wrote: »I was thinking about it and even when my hormones were out of whack I didn't hold weight. I got up to 140 because of medication I was on but I haven't been on that for quite some time now and my metabolism went back to normal. It's not a matter of what I'm eating either. My body is literally gaining weight on nothing. I mean I'm not eating nothing...I eat between 1400-2000 calories. But I shouldn't be gaining. I checked again today and I've gone up a few more pounds. It's definitely nothing to do with my food believe me. My maintenance calories to maintain 128 were 1910 but the past week I've been restricting them more and I'm still gaining. May not seem like a lot but my thinking is if my metabolism is slowing down then 5 lb turns into 10 lb which then into 20 which then turns into a whole big mess. And because of how my body only seems to gain belly fat it feels like my belly balloons up. It feels gross and it actually hurts. Another problem is that even a few pounds equals an extra inch or so onto my waistline as well. I measured and I'll go up a full inch after gaining only 3 pounds! I can't stand that my body does that. It would be different if gained weight more all over... But this whole holding weight thing is totally new and different.
if you're bloating so much that its painful then you need to see your doctor.
I saw my doctor a while ago because my stomach was bloated and hard. I went off the bc pill and the bloating went away after a bit. It's not as bad anymore but it seems to bloat up a bit when I gain a few pounds. I take these pills called pHi-Zymes which are a systemic, proteolytic enzyme formula. They are supposed to be the best enzymes you can get. Pretty expensive (but a bottle lasts a good amount of time). I used to take DIM and Inositol. I might try going back on them. And maybe chromium for sugar cravings.0 -
LivingtheLeanDream wrote: »'eating more sugar than normal' - I know when I eat more sugar than usual it reflects on the scale as a spike up for a few days.
Keep monitoring your weight, as others have said, use a trending weight app, give it a few more weeks to see if things settle down - it could be hormonal.
Yes. I am going to try taking chromium to see if it helps with sugar cravings.2 -
TavistockToad wrote: »I was thinking about it and even when my hormones were out of whack I didn't hold weight. I got up to 140 because of medication I was on but I haven't been on that for quite some time now and my metabolism went back to normal. It's not a matter of what I'm eating either. My body is literally gaining weight on nothing. I mean I'm not eating nothing...I eat between 1400-2000 calories. But I shouldn't be gaining. I checked again today and I've gone up a few more pounds. It's definitely nothing to do with my food believe me. My maintenance calories to maintain 128 were 1910 but the past week I've been restricting them more and I'm still gaining. May not seem like a lot but my thinking is if my metabolism is slowing down then 5 lb turns into 10 lb which then into 20 which then turns into a whole big mess. And because of how my body only seems to gain belly fat it feels like my belly balloons up. It feels gross and it actually hurts. Another problem is that even a few pounds equals an extra inch or so onto my waistline as well. I measured and I'll go up a full inch after gaining only 3 pounds! I can't stand that my body does that. It would be different if gained weight more all over... But this whole holding weight thing is totally new and different.
if you're bloating so much that its painful then you need to see your doctor.
I saw my doctor a while ago because my stomach was bloated and hard. I went off the bc pill and the bloating went away after a bit. It's not as bad anymore but it seems to bloat up a bit when I gain a few pounds. I take these pills called pHi-Zymes which are a systemic, proteolytic enzyme formula. They are supposed to be the best enzymes you can get. Pretty expensive (but a bottle lasts a good amount of time). I used to take DIM and Inositol. I might try going back on them. And maybe chromium for sugar cravings.
I think you have it the wrong way round, you weigh more when you're bloated, not you're bloated because you weigh more...
What are these enzymes supposed to do exactly?
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TavistockToad wrote: »
I think you have it the wrong way round, you weigh more when you're bloated, not you're bloated because you weigh more...
What are these enzymes supposed to do exactly?
Whoops yeah. Lol. I wrote that really quickly when I was busy doing about five other things and my mind wasn't really on semantics. I guess I don't know if it's bloating or weight gain though so that's why I said "it seems". Because I'm not sure at this point. Either I bloat up easily or my body naturally gains weight in my belly first.
I got them for surgery recovery as they are supposed to reduce inflammation (and other stuff). I was mistaken thinking they were an all around enzyme but they aren't. As in they aren't a digestive enzyme. They go straight into the bloodstream and you don't take them with food. I do have a digestive enzyme but I wasn't liking the side effects. Supposedly that means they're working but I'm not sure how long it will take for my body to get used to them. I took them for 2 weeks and well... was not good. At least I work in a retirement home so I would just blame it on the old people... kidding.0 -
I look 5 months pregnant the first couple days of my period (and it's super painful too). I'm a special case (sigh), but it's totally normal to retain some water at that time.0
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It's a bummer to see those five pounds on the scale, but five pounds +/- is normal for a lot of women.3
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I have read that the body fights weight loss, and when you lose weight it causes your maintenance calories to be lower than before or less than someone who has never dieted and weighs the same.9
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TavistockToad wrote: »
I think you have it the wrong way round, you weigh more when you're bloated, not you're bloated because you weigh more...
What are these enzymes supposed to do exactly?
Whoops yeah. Lol. I wrote that really quickly when I was busy doing about five other things and my mind wasn't really on semantics. I guess I don't know if it's bloating or weight gain though so that's why I said "it seems". Because I'm not sure at this point. Either I bloat up easily or my body naturally gains weight in my belly first.
I got them for surgery recovery as they are supposed to reduce inflammation (and other stuff). I was mistaken thinking they were an all around enzyme but they aren't. As in they aren't a digestive enzyme. They go straight into the bloodstream and you don't take them with food. I do have a digestive enzyme but I wasn't liking the side effects. Supposedly that means they're working but I'm not sure how long it will take for my body to get used to them. I took them for 2 weeks and well... was not good. At least I work in a retirement home so I would just blame it on the old people... kidding.
anything you take by mouth is going to be broken down by stomach acids and then passed through where it needs to be. it also depends on the medicine too. if you were given something to reduce inflammation it definitely wasnt an enzyme. why did you think that? usually anything taken for surgery recovery are usually pain pills of some kind. but most say to take with food to lessen the effect of it bothering your stomach0 -
I know I retain more weight weather it be bloat or water on days I carb cycle.and lower weight on low carb high fat days0
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Hi,
Sorry for jumping in here and this may not be if any help but have you looked into IBS?
I suffer with it and my weight can fluctuate daily by 2 to 3 pounds depending on what I eat. If I eat something that doesn't agree I can look 9 months pregnant and can take a few days to go down and I can be quite windy. Look up fodmaps diet and see if you can see any links to what you are eating and when the bloat happens.
Hope you sort the issue soon.0
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