Why you gain weight if you eat more than your cut

mushie

bump

ndj1979

bumping to refer back to ...

Entmoot

Bump for later. Thank you.

cosmonew

saving for maintenance time

marleniap

Look like good reading for later, when I get to that point.

BUMP

auddii

Tagging this because I keep referring people here.

crazybookworm

bump for later. Thanks!!

Springfield1970

This awesome post has answered the question that I have been struggling with for about 25 years since I first gained weight as a teenager. Thanks so much! I am going under by 5 and I can't wait to fill my glycogen up and be a healthly looking slim person rather than a confused slightly fat, always on a deficit one! ThANK YOU MRS BIGMACK

Fivepts

Nothing to add except that when I first saw the thread title I had some lint in my eye and I thought the title was "Why you gain weight if you eat more than your cat" and all I could think was "WTF???"

Now I'm picturing the "don't eat more than your cat" diet sweeping MFP.

Not sure how many calories are in a cat but it's probably a good daily intake for a lot of people.

Fivepts

LOL. Thanks for a little humor on this weighty subject.

Luthien007

Bump. Thanks for this

heathersme1

Bump

MACnificence

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

candiceh3

I think that 5 lbs is about right (for an average).

When STARTING a diet, I tend to lose about 5 lbs of water weight from carb depletion (and not to mention that my diets are usually lower in salt and so I lose some of that fluid as well).

So it makes sense to expect to put some of that fluid (not fat) on again when maintaining.

Great OP.

Haters be haters.

candiceh3

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

How tall are you?

sijomial

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

Be aware that although this scenario may be true for some people it certainly isn't going to be the case that everyone has glycogen depletion and will experience a sudden gain. There's going to be loads of factors at play including the size of your deficit while losing, how long you have been cutting, your body composition and training.

Reading this thread and randomly deciding to over-shoot goal weight by 5lbs is a mistake in my opinion - you could just as easily taper off your deficit on the way down or build up your calories slowly once you get to maintenance weight. See no reason why either of those strategies wouldn't work.

I'm concerned that people will latch on to this as a way to justify an unnecessary and prolonged restriction.

To answer your "walking up calories" question - I lost my last few pounds slowly and when I reached goal I increased my calories to maintain and saw no mysterious weight bounce.

MACnificence

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

How tall are you?

5'2

MACnificence

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

Be aware that although this scenario may be true for some people it certainly isn't going to be the case that everyone has glycogen depletion and will experience a sudden gain. There's going to be loads of factors at play including the size of your deficit while losing, how long you have been cutting, your body composition and training.

Reading this thread and randomly deciding to over-shoot goal weight by 5lbs is a mistake in my opinion - you could just as easily taper off your deficit on the way down or build up your calories slowly once you get to maintenance weight. See no reason why either of those strategies wouldn't work.

I'm concerned that people will latch on to this as a way to justify an unnecessary and prolonged restriction.

To answer your "walking up calories" question - I lost my last few pounds slowly and when I reached goal I increased my calories to maintain and saw no mysterious weight bounce.

Ya so the answer seems to be quiet individual to a person , so maybe I should just continue to walk my calories up and see where it's takes me , I wouldn't be as concerned only that I've too head strong men monitoring me at the moment haha..
My doctor kind of dismissed the whole gaining weight due to glycogen stores aswell I just don't think he wanted to enable to me to justify losing more weight

Siansonea

Great post. Luckily, I like a softer silhouette, I don't go for major definition, so I'll be happy with the post-repletion body I get. But the "lose 5 more pounds" trick is one I'm filing away, it's a great idea. :drinker:

michellekicks

Just wondering how do you know it's 5Ibs of glycogen stores and your not actually gaining by eating a surplus of calories , like is there a time period you should wait out and see do you continue gaining or if you gain more than 5Ibs then you know your eating too much

Has anyone found walking up calories prevents this or will it more than likely happen anyway or again is it completely individual ?

One of my reasons I ask is because my boyfriend is freaking at the thought of me dropping below 8stone his genuinely unhappy about it but I've tried to reassure him that there's a strong chance ill put on 5Ibs which will bring me back up again but his not buying it and aswell my doctor is currently monitoring my weight so I also have him to answer to. I want to maintain between 110-115 so I don't know should I drop to 110 with chances of that 5Ib gain taking me to 115 again

I know it's only a stupid number on the scale but can't help that it does bother me

Be aware that although this scenario may be true for some people it certainly isn't going to be the case that everyone has glycogen depletion and will experience a sudden gain. There's going to be loads of factors at play including the size of your deficit while losing, how long you have been cutting, your body composition and training.

Reading this thread and randomly deciding to over-shoot goal weight by 5lbs is a mistake in my opinion - you could just as easily taper off your deficit on the way down or build up your calories slowly once you get to maintenance weight. See no reason why either of those strategies wouldn't work.

I'm concerned that people will latch on to this as a way to justify an unnecessary and prolonged restriction.

To answer your "walking up calories" question - I lost my last few pounds slowly and when I reached goal I increased my calories to maintain and saw no mysterious weight bounce.

Yes, for someone who is 5'2" and 110-115lbs I think 5 lbs is WAY over shooting it. You may store maybe 2-3 lbs of glycogen and water combined... I'm really certain it has to do with quantity of LBM (the glycogen is stored in the muscle).

And yes, stepping up calories gradually, by say 100 calories daily for a week at a time until you find your maintenance also works:

Suppose, for instance, you have a 500 calorie daily deficit to lose, when you step up slowly, you still have a 400 calorie daily deficit for a week followed by a 300 calorie daily deficit for a week, followed by a 200 calorie daily deficit for a week etc. As you can see, you'll continue to lose fat as you're replenishing glycogen and it will all balance out in the end. Or, you just cut down a few extra pounds and up to maintenance all at once and see a bounce. Both do exactly the same thing.