Should I be losing weight or building muscle?

breer13

Hi I’m 22(f) and I just started using MyFitness Pal more seriously. I’m 5’1 and at ~120lbs. I recently gained about 10lbs over the past 2 months. The only thing that I can think caused this was quitting smoking. I haven’t done anything else different. I was even working out 3-4 times a week (spin classes) while I gained.

I want to get back down to 110lbs but ever since I started using the app (about 2 weeks ago) I’ve only seen myself gain weight. Started at 115lbs and now I’m getting closer to 120lbs. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong because I’ve been following the 1200 calories (plus anything I’ve burned working out) and up my exercise to 5-6 days a week (running, spin, jump rope). I’ve been trying to eat protein>carbs>fats.

Should I be doing something different? I’m planning on doing more weight exercises, but anything other than that?

Retroguy2000

With that much exercise, even if the rest of your day is sedentary your TDEE should be close to 2,000. If you're gaining weight on 1,200 then you're most likely making big mistakes in your tracking, whether from incorrect entries, incorrect portion sizes, not counting alcohol, condiments, forgetting cheat meals/days, etc.

I'm guessing you're fairly lean so unless you have noob gains to come from lifting, you probably aren't going to build much if any muscle while going from 120 to 110.

Your first priority should probably be figuring out why your tracking estimates are so off, and halt the ongoing weight gain.

springlering62

Young female. I hate to ask the obvious but no chance you’re pregnant?

Sorry to intrude, but that’s where this grandma’s thought process immediately heads.

AnnPT77

Given that it's only been 2 weeks, I don't agree with the above, even though I often agree with Tom.

Since it's only been 2 weeks, I don't think you've truly tested your new routine enough to know the average effect. (What he says may apply if you don't see loss after 4-6 weeks-ish.)

A couple of things:

You significantly increased exercise. That's typically going to add water weight (for muscle repair). It can be several pounds, and that can mask gradual fat loss on the scale for a surprisingly long time.

You're a 22 y/o woman. I'm betting that means you have monthly cycles. It isn't the statistically most common pattern, but there are women here who've said they only see a new low weight once per month, at a certain point in their cycle. Most everyone who has cycles sees strange water fluctuations from hormonal effects, though the exact pattern differs from one woman to the next. You'll learn your personal patterns after you track for a few monthly cycles. For now, looking over just two weeks, there could be a hormonal water weight distortion in the picture.

Water weight fluctuations tend to be relatively big and quick, while fat loss is gradual and a smaller change daily. It's fat loss we really care about, right? Plus water weight fluctuations are part of how a healthy body stays healthy, so we don't want to try to defeat or game that.

In case you haven't seen it, this is a good read (especially the article linked in the first post), highly recommended:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

I know it's frustrating to work as hard as you are and not see progress on the scale, but IMO your best strategy right now is patience for long enough to see a reliable trend.

Ideally, go for long enough that you can compare your body weight at the same relative point in at least two different monthly cycles. Since you ramped up exercise quite a lot, you might want to go even a little longer.

P.S. I get why you might reduce fats, because they're calorie dense. But don't go toooo low. Fats (certain essential fatty acids) are essential nutrients. You need to eat a certain minimum of those for cell health, absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, smooth digestive throughput, and more. Carbs are the macronutrient that are more flexible, can be fine-tuned based on your personal energy level and appetite reactions to them. (They aren't an "essential nutrient" in the technical sense that protein and fats are.)

It's calories, not macros, that are the direct factor in weight loss. Macros can have an indirect effect on weight through satiation or energy level, and are important for nutrition/health, but calories are the fat gain/loss determiner.

Best wishes for success!

nossmf

Re-read what @AnnPT77 said above, it's absolutely worth reading twice.

I will tack on an observation that since you're only 22, you may not have reached your full adult size. Note I said "size" not "height." At age 12, I was the same height I am today as an adult. But my body didn't finish maturing in terms of overall proportion (width of shoulders, thickness of torso, etc) until I was about 25. I was in the military and quite athletic at that point in my life. As I pushed 30 is when my bodyfat started to balloon up, which then had to be brought back under control after I hit 30. Point is, you may simply still have a little physical maturing left in ya as an additional possible source of changes.

As to your original question embedded in the title of the thread, since we're only talking about 10 pounds from your chosen "ideal" weight, you can probably work on losing fat OR gaining muscle, whichever floats your boat. People who have large amounts of weight to lose need to worry more about proper order of attack.

breer13

Thanks for the comments and help all I really appreciate it! I’ll see what happens as time goes on! )

ninerbuff

2 weeks only? If you started a new workout program, it is NOT unusual to gain weight for the first couple of weeks.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition