Why am I gaining weight?

debi_f

Okay, let me get this out of the way. I thought it was water weight when it first started happening, but since I've been steadily gaining since Feb, I don't think it's all water.

I hit my goal (and then some) in Jan, then decided to try upping my cals a bit to maintain. I started gaining weight. I lowered the cals, and kept gaining weight. I upped my exercise and gained more weight.. In total, I've gained back 20 pounds! (And 4 of them just in the last week!)

I eat at a deficit, mostly staying below 1000 cals per day. I exercise 7 days a week. I've only gone over on cals twice in the past 8 months. I log 99 percent of what goes in my mouth (I figure trying to keep the logged foods under 1000 cals makes up for the odd taste of dinner while I'm cooking, since I'm sure I'm not tasting 400+ cals). My carbs are usually under 35 g/day, though I have an occasional carb binge (I even managed more than 100 g/carbs one day this week... sheesh).

I've gained 2 inches in each thigh (though I have to admit that my thighs are pretty rock solid -- I run, ride bikes and do Pilates) and and inch in each area: chest, waist and hips. I know it can't be muscle, because you can't build muscle eating at a deficit.

Major confession: I drink Diet Pepsi. In fact, way too much of the stuff, but that can't be why I've suddenly gained 20 pounds. I drank the same amounts while losing 70!

What in the world am I doing wrong?

tryclyn

If I had to guess, I'd say that you trained your body very well to run on very few kcalories. You may have to start over with a metabolic reset (an initial gain), lose it again slower and then level off into maintenance.

More helpful info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

TINAHUNTER1969

Are you eating enough calories and are you eating your exercise calories back??

Maybe ask a nutritionist to help you out.

Good luck x

sijomial

If you are steadily gaining weight over a period of months you are in surplus and not in deficit....

dieselbyte

If I had to guess, I'd say that you trained your body very well to run on very few kcalories. You may have to start over with a metabolic reset (an initial gain), lose it again slower and then level off into maintenance.

More helpful info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

^This. If you logging honestly, it would seem impossible to gain weight from eating so few calories - but it isn't. Eating less than 1000 calories for a significant amount of time, limiting carbs, while also exercising by doing endless amounts of steady state cardio, you most likely have caused metabolic damage. Your body has gotten increasingly efficient at running on so few calories by slowing down its metabolism. The answer isn't to cut out more calories, because you are already at a dangerously low level. The above link from tryclyn should provide more help. I also recommend searching YouTube for Layne Norton and metabolic damage. You basically have to do a reset by reverse dieting. Increasing your calories by slowly upping carbs and slowing decreasing cardio and training. You will most likely gain more weight, and it isn't an overnight fix. Seek professional help if need be.

The goal is to eat as many calories as possible and manintain weight, not as few calories as possible. In the long run, such a large restriction, coupled with intense training, causes more harm than good. Good luck.

xLoveLikeWinterx

If I had to guess, I'd say that you trained your body very well to run on very few kcalories. You may have to start over with a metabolic reset (an initial gain), lose it again slower and then level off into maintenance.

More helpful info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

This is my guess. < 1k cals long-term teaches your body to adapt to VLCD way of eating.

debi_f

If I had to guess, I'd say that you trained your body very well to run on very few kcalories. You may have to start over with a metabolic reset (an initial gain), lose it again slower and then level off into maintenance.

More helpful info here
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress

Thank you, I'll check them out!

If you are steadily gaining weight over a period of months you are in surplus and not in deficit....

Wow, how low do I have to go to be in a deficit then?

Granted, I'm not a perfect logger, but I do weigh 99% of what I eat, and I log everything except the odd tastes here and there (this is not a daily practice, mind you). Sometimes my salad will have 3 rather than 2 cherry tomatoes or 5 snap peas rather than 4, but would that really put me that far over?

kr1stadee

How much were you eating when you were actively losing weight?
You are gaining on 1000 calories because your body doesn't know what to do with all the glorious food!!

Are you exercising/eating back the cals?

katbirdinpa

I actually implemented a rule, no taste testing, I have my husband taste for seasoning. Also Diet Pepsi is poison.
Good luck!

sijomial

When I said you are in suplus it certainly wasn't meant to suggest dropping calories - just stating the fact that you can't be creating something (additonal weight over a period of time) out of nothing (a calorie deficit).

If your food and exercise logging is accurate (and by implication your metabolism has adjusted downwards to such an extent) then I would urge you to accept that a temporary weight gain is necessary for your long term health.

debi_f

When I said you are in suplus it certainly wasn't meant to suggest dropping calories - just stating the fact that you can't be creating something (additonal weight over a period of time) out of nothing (a calorie deficit).

If your food and exercise logging is accurate (and by implication your metabolism has adjusted downwards to such an extent) then I would urge you to accept that a temporary weight gain is necessary for your long term health.

Sorry, my reply sounds snarkier than it was meant to be. I'm just really confused.

Thanks for the suggestions. I followed the link, and I think I'll do a bit more reading there this afternoon! I'll also check out the YouTube suggestion.

As for the Diet Pepsi, yes, I know it's poison. I've read all the horrible articles... but I just can't help myself! I think they make it with crack... ;-)

dieselbyte

I actually implemented a rule, no taste testing, I have my husband taste for seasoning. Also Diet Pepsi is poison.
Good luck!

Taste testing and Diet Pepsi has nothing to do with the OP's weight gain.

cwolfman13

Just a few guesses to start trouble shooting the issue...

1) you tanked your metabolism eating so few calories when dieting...you probably lost a lot of LBM along the way, thus your metabolism is much slower than someone of similar stats. You could try for a metabolic repair...I'd also advise making resistance training a substantial element of your fitness regimen. Make your body build muscle to help repair the metabolic damage.

2) you are underestimating your intake and thus eating at a surplus. A lot of people who claim to have been eating 1000 calories or less when they were dieting actually underestimated their intake and they're eating for more. This carries over into maintenance because they've never actually learned for real how many calories they are consuming.

People neglect to weigh and measure things...they just eyeball portions...they pick generic items from the database like "Homemade Chicken Soup 100 calories" rather than creating their own recipe or adding the ingredients individually to their diary...'cuz in reality, the chicken soup they're eating is more like 500 calories and 2 servings.

3) you're cheating yourself and not accounting for everything that goes into your body

kordell70

Not sure if you checked, but you may want to check your sodium intake. I once went crazy with eating soups because it was so low calorie and I could eat many cans a day and be way below my daily caloric intake, however I kept gaining weight. Luckily a friend asked me what I ate and then showed me the sodium content in most soups. For the next couple weeks I lowered my salt to 50-60% of daily intake, and weight dropped.

BlueBombers

1000 calories per day is WAY too low, plus you are working out 7 days per week. Your body is in starvation mode.

abbyreciouz

omgggg! reading this made me sooo scared!! wtheck?? metabolic damage?? sometimes I eat aroun 1200, sometimes 700...so according to you guys, if I reach my goal and then start eating at maintenance calorie, im going o blow up??? I feel sooooo hopeless!

sprintto50

Have you had your thyroid level checked recently? It's not unusual for women over 40 to have decreasing levels. Just a longshot.

tiffany5839

OMG I would die if I had to eat only 1,000 cals a day! Especially for how much you work out! I still get hungry eating 1800!

You probably hurt your metabolism doing this for so long.....

juliemouse83

This is why, when you want to take off the pounds, that you do it in a SUSTAINABLE way, so that it's a way of life that you can live with.

I KNOW I can't live happily on 1200 + exercise calories per day for the rest of my life. I love my family and friends too much to do that to us, LOL...

debi_f

Just a few guesses to start trouble shooting the issue...

1) you tanked your metabolism eating so few calories when dieting...you probably lost a lot of LBM along the way, thus your metabolism is much slower than someone of similar stats. You could try for a metabolic repair...I'd also advise making resistance training a substantial element of your fitness regimen. Make your body build muscle to help repair the metabolic damage.

2) you are underestimating your intake and thus eating at a surplus. A lot of people who claim to have been eating 1000 calories or less when they were dieting actually underestimated their intake and they're eating for more. This carries over into maintenance because they've never actually learned for real how many calories they are consuming.

People neglect to weigh and measure things...they just eyeball portions...they pick generic items from the database like "Homemade Chicken Soup 100 calories" rather than creating their own recipe or adding the ingredients individually to their diary...'cuz in reality, the chicken soup they're eating is more like 500 calories and 2 servings.

3) you're cheating yourself and not accounting for everything that goes into your body

Thanks, everyone for replying.

I do measure out everything that doesn't come pre-weighed. For instance, if I use a package of 400 grams of chicken, then eat a quarter of it, I don't measure to make sure I get exactly 100 g if I make it into a stir-fry, but I will weigh a chunk of breast if I eat it separately.

I eat a lot of salads for lunch (because I LOVE them!), and I don't weigh the ingredients. Because I make them basically the same, I count out what I put in (3 cherry tomatoes, 6 snap beans, 1 green onion, etc.). If I'm out of tomatoes, I may add in an extra slice of cucumber (or not), but don't go crazy trying to change my recipe to show such an insignificant change.

If I do add something extra (i.e., tonight I made a salad and added homemade bacon bits and Parmesan "croutons"), I list those separately. I don't like salad dressing, and the seasoning I use is low-cal/low-sodium. In fact, in the amount I use, it doesn't register as having any calories or sodium.

I don't have soups at all, because of the high carb and sodium counts. I love them, don't get me wrong, but I love French Bread and fries, too, and manage to live without them.

Sure, it's possible that I'm not accounting for everything correctly. I guess on some things when I'm in a hurry or just trying to get something in front of the restless natives demanding to be fed. Maybe I am totally fooling myself about the amounts I eat. But I try to be thorough.

nilbogger

Go get a physical.