Need advice about recent weight gain

Panthers89

Provide your stats (height/weight/age/bodyfat% if you know it/) - Male, 6'0" (large frame), 240 lbs, will be 46 YO in April, estimated 25-30% BF

What's your current gross intake of calories, on average? - Around 2300-2400 kcal daily - TDEE is somewhere between 2700-3000 kcal

What's your current average intake of protein, carbs, and fats, in grams? (GRAMS, not percent!) - Protein 150 g, Carbs 180 g, Fat 80 g

Do you use a food scale and measure everything? Yes I have a digital food scale and I am very accurate at the house. No I don't measure everything because I eat out a lot for my job (sales)

Do you track all of your intake, daily? (Everything?) Yes, over 1000+ consecutive days

Do you take cheat days or days off? Usually on Saturdays, probably 3 times per month. I have had a few bad days recently (March 13, 15, and my anniversary March 17)

How much weight have you lost so far and over what time period? Lost 70 pounds from April 2011 to June 2012, have gained 40 pounds from September 2012 to present.

Describe your activity (exercise and non exercise) and did you change that activity withing the last couple of months? I usually walk / run a combined total of 30 miles per week. I am doing dumbbell work once a week now, aiming to increase this frequency when given the OK from my doctor to exercise

How long have you been stalled and if it is not a complete stall please be very specific as to how much you have lost over the stalled period? I have been stalled for at least 2 months since I began exercising again.

Do you have thyroid issues/risks or PCOS? Bloodwork from November 2013 indicated thyroid functions are normal.


This thread is a new one - we recently communicated with each other in January 2014. Things have changed rapidly concerning my weight gain since then. I had a spinal cervical fusion (C6-C7) on January 10. I actually lost weight during the time I was not allowed to exercise (daily goal was set at 2360 kcal)- 4 pounds from late December to late January - about a pound per week - I was down to 231 pounds. In late January, I was given the OK by my doctor to resume walking again, and I quickly got myself built up to my previous level - around 25-30 miles weekly. I was on light duty for work, not permitted to drive. I also purchased a Fitbit Force, and the measured calories burned is very accurate to what I had been recording over the previous 2 1/2 years. I have not seen 234 pounds since I started using the Fitbit.

In late February, I returned to full capacity at work and was given the OK to increase exercise to jogging / running, and I have registered to participate in a 5K on April 19. My only restrictions are to not lift weights with any strain on neck and shoulder muscles for another 6 weeks. Therefore, I am limited to dumbbell exercises such as bench and incline butterflies. I plan to join a gym within the month as I will be allowed to lift weights more vigorously. But I am now pushing 240 pounds. My most recent run was Saturday 3/16, and I ran a sub 9-minute mile pace for 14-15 minutes without stopping. I'm optimistic that I'll be fine for the April 19 5K as I am building my stamina.

I can't figure out why I keep gaining weight. I have worked out like crazy for nearly 3 years, and since I hit 199 pounds in June 2012, I have gained nearly 40 pounds. In the 15+ years prior, I rarely exercised, ate a lot of bad foods and had terrible eating habits in general, chewed tobacco, and I "only" gained 35 pounds during that time period.

What is going on? Why have I gained so much so fast, especially with my working out. I realize my workouts need to change, and that's why I plan to increase my weightlifting frequency. However, this most recent weight gain doesn't make any sense to me. There is no way that I am eating as much as I was when I was fat and out of shape - in fact, it's not even in the ballpark.

I have lowered my calorie goal from 2360 to 2200 per day over the past month, and it is not making a difference. I'm prepared to lower my goal again if I need but I'm getting to the point in which I am always hungry. Previously when I set under 2100 daily, it was very tough for me to maintain it for more than a few weeks, because I get so famished. In addition, when I was losing weight successfully during 2011-12, I never lowered my daily goal below 2020.

What do you guys think? I haven't been able to dial in the right mix of intake for nearly 1 1/2 years. I looked at myself in the mirror this morning and I can see that I am getting fat around my midsection. My eating has been consistent for 3 years as has my cardio exercise. I would venture to say I exercise more frequently now than in 2011-12 when I was losing weight.

Any advice or suggestion would be appreciated. I'm really getting frustrated.

Sarauk2sf

Tagging

Sarauk2sf

Hi!

You have a few homemade entries in your diary. Do you use the recipe builder for these or do you select the closest entry you find from the database?

Panthers89

I use the Recipe Builder function on MFP. I also forgot to mention on my previous post that I have been trying to increase my protein intake over the past 6 weeks, adding more chicken, beef, and protein powder than I had previously been eating.

Panthers89

I use the Recipe Builder function on MFP. I also forgot to mention on my previous post that I have been trying to increase my protein intake over the past 6 weeks, adding more chicken, beef, and protein powder than I had previously been eating.

I cook from scratch and usually grill or bake meats. I also use the slow cooker. My strategy is to burn the fat off the meat before adding ingredients. It has been very effective for me in the past and it keeps me from eating processed foods.

Sarauk2sf

Sorry for the delay. Bumping this up so we get to it soon.

Panthers89

Thanks!!! I lowered my intake goal to 2020 kcal / day beginning Monday 3/24. I'm not sure it will work as successfully as a few years ago, and I'm not sure how many days I go before I will crash this number. I usually go 3-4 days, incrementally higher, until I go over, then start the cycle over again. I've seen this happen on the bar graph for 2-3 years, so I figure it's how I'm wired.

Tonight I talked to a customer who works out a lot and he suggested to me to go in the other direction, up to 2600 kcal / day (or more) and concentrate on more protein.

I'll wait for your suggestions before I try to swing upwards.

Sarauk2sf

Upping calories will not improve fat loss - it will do the opposite, unless it means that you have less adherence issues and your average is lower.

Looking at your average for the week is fine if your preference tends to be 'swingy'.

Do you think a few planned 'spike days' would alleviate any unplanned increases?

Panthers89

I'll give it a shot at this level and try to maintain my average for the week. When do want me to check back in?

SideSteel

Regarding calorie intake and satiety:

Ultimately if you're having satiety issues whenever calories go below a certain point you can look to manipulate macronutrients, you can just eat more calories (and risk not losing weight), you can look at nutrient timing and/or meal frequency, you can look at your individual food and beverage selections to see if you can make choices that may effectively blunt hunger.

In your case, we would suggest that you do the following:

Given a 2020 calorie intake:

Protein: 160g
Fat: 65g
Carbs: 200g

In addition, you should make some consideration towards the following items in your diet:

a) Fruit intake
b) Vegetable intake
c) Beer intake

The first two items on the above list are going to blunt hunger. The last item on this list is probably going to make you happy but it's probably not going to blunt hunger or influence good choices.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting you stop drinking beer. You can fit some beer into your diet. I am suggesting that if you cannot maintain adherence to your calorie intake, you should consider moving some "beer calories" towards foods that promote satiety such as fruits, vegetables, etc.


Feel free to comment or inquire on the above, and follow up with us in 1 week.

Panthers89

I have purposely backed off fruits over the past 1 1/2 years because I kept blowing out my sugar macro on my goals. I have decided to take your suggestion and another friend's to again eat more fruit. It is my favorite thing to eat and I have no problem eating more to satiate myself. A friend told me last week he ate an endless amount of fruit and continuously lost weight. Thank you for confirming my belief. I'll report back in a week as you suggested.

Panthers89

Following up after a week - I'm going to stick with the 2020 cal / day thru mid May when I will go to maintenance for a few weeks due to work meetings.

I feel my continuous jogging / training for my 4/19 5K is helping the most - my pants seem to be looser. In addition, I joined a gym last Friday 4/4 after my surgeon gave me the thumbs up for additional weightlifting and I now have no restrictions. I have been pretty diligent over the past few weeks getting dumbbell work in for my arms and chest. I'm going to add shoulders this week.

I have been able to stay under my weekly calorie goal for the past 2 weeks and it's because I have exercised cardio nearly every day. My Fitbit is telling me I'm burning between 3000-3300 calories per day. Hopefully this will be the right formula for a few more weeks to get me back in the right direction.

Any new advice...or do I stick with the plan and report back in a few weeks?

Sarauk2sf

What has your weight done since last week?

Also, just confirming that you are eating to a flat 2,020 and not eating exercise calories back.

Panthers89

I am hovering around 237-238 as of 4/9. I have not been over 240 since I began running more frequently - (at least a 8:30 mile for 8 consecutive days). I gave my legs and knees a rest yesterday 4/8 and had my "spike" day. I am reporting my weight at 234.2 to MFP and Fitbit as to not increase the website's calculations on my calories burned during daily activity.

I am eating back most exercise calories on days when I am running.

Today's Fitbit weekly report received this morning 4/9 (see below)
Hi panthers89, here are your weekly stats.
3/31/2014 to 4/06/2014


WEEK'S MOST ACTIVE DAY
Sun, Apr 6
WEEK'S LEAST ACTIVE DAY
Thu, Apr 3


TOTAL STEPS
95,560
DAILY AVERAGE
13,651 steps
BEST DAY
14,978 steps

TOTAL DISTANCE
47.28 miles
DAILY AVERAGE
6.75 miles
BEST DAY
7.49 miles

TOTAL FLOORS CLIMBED
278
DAILY AVERAGE
40 floors
BEST DAY
93 floors

TOTAL CALS BURNED
23,657
DAILY AVERAGE
3,380 cals
BEST DAY
3,536 cals

CALORIES IN VS OUT
-6204 WEEKLY TOTAL
23657 cals burned
17453 cals eaten

WEIGHT CHANGE 0.0 lb
LIGHTEST 234.2 lb
HEAVIEST 234.2 lb


By this data above, I should have lost at least a pound (nearly 2) over the past week. In the past, I have tried to look at my weight change over a longer period than a week...maybe by the end of next week (April 17 or 18), I hopefully will get a better feel if this intake @ 2020 cal / day is working or not.

Panthers89

236.0 when I stepped on the scale first thing this morning.

SideSteel

Just posting this here for Sara and I when we review:

I've got the following averages from 3/31 to 4/8 for intake:
Calories: 2492.5
Carbs: 292
Fat: 93
Pro: 141

Just eyeballing this in comparison with goal intake it would appear that you're just about 500 cals over intended target for intake, which may explain lack of weight loss for that time period.

chrisdavey

Something seems strange here. I know you said bloodwork was normal in Nov but I'd be getting a double check now.

If you are accurately reporting 2500 odd cals per day with that activity level at your weight, gaining weight doesn't seem right to me.

Panthers89

The oddest thing to me is my cardio / calories burned are not offsetting my intake. Last year, I thought that I might have been overestimating exercise calories burned which is why I purchased a Fitbit. After wearing it for 2+ months, I now believe I was measuring accurately the entire time.

Wouldn't or shouldn't my intake, even at 2400-2500 cals per day, be offset if I am exercising in the way of cardio and strength training? This data is the part not making sense to me...If I burned an average of 3300 over the course of time in which I ate an average of 2500, this still approximates to a 5500-5600 calorie per week deficit. At worst, I should be maintaining, not gaining.

The other concern I had was losing weight when setting an intake goal at 2350 in January (when not allowed to exercise after spinal fusion surgery), compared to gaining weight after getting physician's OK to begin walking, now running / jogging / training for 5K, and now adding strength training.

Again, if I hadn't had success 3 years ago losing 70 pounds by using this formula (eat less and work out cardio), I wouldn't be so concerned.

I'm also in the nearing the end of Lent, and I gave up pizza and hoagies. I think the last slice of pizza I had was in early March. I had a few gyro sandwiches on Saturday 4/5 if that qualifies as a hoagie. :laugh: Guess what I'm going to eat in about 10 days - a lot of pizza. Am I going to gain more?

Anyway, I'm not going to give up...I'll continue to work out as hard as I can (hopefully 5x weekly minimum), maintain consistent eating / drinking habits, and see what happens over the next few months.

Thanks again for what you guys do...I'm sure it's not easy but I want to tell you I appreciate your time in trying to help me out. I'll await your next correspondence and report back as suggested.

SideSteel

Something seems strange here. I know you said bloodwork was normal in Nov but I'd be getting a double check now.

If you are accurately reporting 2500 odd cals per day with that activity level at your weight, gaining weight doesn't seem right to me.

With no disrespect to you or to the OP, the bolded part is a very big If, and given that the majority of research (some of which done on RD's who are well trained in intake tracking) shows that people eat more than they think, I would lean towards this being likely in this particular case.

Panthers89

I guess I'll agree to disagree with you. I can't eat much less nor work out much harder. I have a group of MFP friends that have open diaries and I compare what I eat to them, as well as comparing exercise habits. I probably do as much cardio as anyone in my group and would also be one of the most active overall. I seem to be the only one stalled with my weight.

I came to you for advice, not to be a pain in the ***, and I will listen to your suggestions. So, I now understand that I do not eat back exercise calories - I was under the impression that I was to eat them back. I will also weigh everything at my home when I eat there, and I'll attempt to add proportionate calories to any unmeasured meals.

To be honest, I have done this calorie counting thing for nearly 3 years. I can't believe I could lose 70 pounds and then regain 40 by being inaccurate for this long, but I'll reevaluate everything to see what needs to be changed or tweaked.

I'll report back in a few weeks.

Panthers89

Reporting back after a little more than 2 weeks. Completed 5K on Saturday 4/19 without stopping at 28:08. I am satisfied with this time because of my surgery in January and had only been OK'd by the surgeon to begin running on 2/19. My profile picture was taken after I got home from the race.

I saw my family doctor on 4/15 and he told me that I "look great, get out of my office, I can't make you any healthier." I did ask him about my weight gain. He really believes my thyroid functions are fine but we are going to run more bloodwork when I see him for my annual physical in August. He thinks I should be eating around 1800 calories per day - he wasn't clear about eating my calories back or not.

I have noticed a shift in proportion around my waist - I have lost a belt loop over the past month. I joined a gym on 4/4 and have been lifting weights 3x weekly to combine with my cardio. I'm trying my first Spin class in about an hour.

Weight has hovered between 234 and 237 over the past week. I decided to eat at or around maintenance for this week and will go back to not eating my calories back beginning Monday 4/28. I am keeping the previous 2020 cal / day goal.

Overall I feel great and the soreness from adding high reps in my weight training actually feels good. I think I will be able to lose the 20 vanity pounds over the summer if I keep up this pattern.

Feel free to comment or make suggestions. I'm all ears. Thanks again!!!

Sarauk2sf

Hi!

A couple of points:

- you do appear to be losing weight, albeit a little slowly. You started at 240lb on March 18th - about 5 weeks ago.
- you are currently about 3 - 6lb less than that
- you average intake has been at about 2,400 since then.
- in the last 2 weeks, since we re-iterated our advice for your intake at about 2,000, your intake has been at about 2,300
- you started lifting recently as well as having a long run which may have you retaining more water weight.


Based on the above, we would still give the same advice that we gave before - try to get your intake to about 2,000 with the following macros:

Protein: 160g
Fat: 65g
Carbs: 200g

Panthers89

Reporting back after a month. I have been eating more, a lot more over the past few weeks due to the holiday weekend and a work meeting in FL. Guess what...I am maintaining my weight...and I have accomplished some body recomposition in the process. I saw a friend for the first time in 2 months and he couldn't believe the gains in my chest and upper arm muscles over this period. I also have noticed my waist getting losing some girth (my pants and shorts are looser) and overall, I feel fantastic.

I have been lifting 3x weekly, cardio 5-6x weekly, and my Fitbit reports an average of 40 miles of steps weekly over the month of May. I bumped my cal goal back up to 2150 last week and have tried to follow your advice to not eat back the exercise calories.

I record everything, so my beer drinking over the past month will skew my numbers, but I think you guys solved my problem. I got myself in the habit last year of eating back all exercise calories, because the TDEE calculators I was researching suggested I wasn't eating enough. Looking back, it is probably the main reason for my weight gain.

I'm fine now. Hopefully I'll drop 10 more pounds over the summer and achieve my desired leaner look by continuing my cardio and dumbbell work. Thank you for your help and suggestions. :happy:

bostonwolf

One small suggestion. Instead of focusing on the scale, take some measurements. I do neck, both arms around the bicep, waist at belly button, hips, and quads.

My wife helps me take the measurements about once a month. That way if the scale isn't moving but the inches are dropping where I want them to, the scale takes on far less importance. It's just one number of many.

Sarauk2sf

Locking for admin purposes. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to PM either myself or SideSteel and we will unlock so you can do so.