Why am I gaining weight?

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2

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  • maggierose100
    maggierose100 Posts: 1 Member
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    If your doing weight and strength training regularly your weight gain is probably because your gaining muscle! Muscle weighs more than fat, so don't always trust the scale. Sometimes its helpful to go by how your body looks and how your clothes feel to judge weight loss. If you are working out a lot, make sure your getting enough calories (the good kind of calories!) to power your body and heal your muscles. Good luck!
  • NotJustADieter
    NotJustADieter Posts: 229 Member
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    Thanks stef!
    Ok to recap (and clarify), I'm ok and not panicky at all. This was only to gain knowledge of the reasons for something like this.
    I will be upping my calories for sure and I won't be weighing myself more than bimonthly to have a better view of my general weight loss trend.
    I'm upping my cals to 1800 a day btw (I need a deficit as well you know. Can't eat my maintenance can I)

    Your BMR is not your maintenance. Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is. You need to eat at least your BMR. I do TDEE - 20%, which puts me a bit above my BMR. Here's a good basic tutorial on calorie counting and nutrition. http://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/faq#wiki_12._what_are_the_basics_of_calorie_counting_and_nutrition.3F Even though it is from a women's site, it stays true for men.

    A possible culpret for your weight gain that no one seems to have mentioned- muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. If you're putting on muscle, the scale will reflect that. I lift, and I've been taping (using a measuring tape to measure waist, chest, legs) instead of using a scale and it shows my results far better as you can be losing fat but staying the same weight.
    No he's not putting on muscle.
    No muscle does not weigh more than fat.

    OP, yes I could easily be water fluctuations but no don't ignore the people that tell you it could be miscalculations in your logging. That's always a possibility. Monitor you weight trends for the next couple of weeks to get a better idea of what's going on.

    What planet are you from? Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat- a pound of muscle is far less, in terms of mass, than a pound of fat. This is a biological fact. Furthermore, as a 19 year old male lifting, he is most likely putting on muscle.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,724 Member
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    http://justinowings.com/understanding-bodyweight-and-glycogen-de/
  • pkteen
    pkteen Posts: 121 Member
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    Guys! I just got the tape measure out and I've definitely not gained anything measurement wise. It's definitely water retention.
    Also, I am definitely gaining muscle. Lots of visible growth there's literally no denying that.
    About the portions, yes I am weighing my food! These entires are my own recipes that I've saved in the app's settings so when it comes to macro and calorie accuracy, my diary's on point for sure.
    And again guys, this isn't something that was particularly worrying me. Sheer curiosity was the reason for this thread.
    And again, for the people saying I'm not gaining muscle and far weighs more than muscle, you're wrong on both points lol
  • pkteen
    pkteen Posts: 121 Member
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    This is my picture from a month ago.

    http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/permalink/progress-photo/shahrezsyed/42867061

    This is me today:

    http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/permalink/progress-photo/shahrezsyed/45102492

    And MrM27 is right. I'm lucky to not have reached a plateau yet in terms of building muscle but I will soon because as he said, I am on a deficit.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Thanks stef!
    Ok to recap (and clarify), I'm ok and not panicky at all. This was only to gain knowledge of the reasons for something like this.
    I will be upping my calories for sure and I won't be weighing myself more than bimonthly to have a better view of my general weight loss trend.
    I'm upping my cals to 1800 a day btw (I need a deficit as well you know. Can't eat my maintenance can I)

    Your BMR is not your maintenance. Your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) is. You need to eat at least your BMR. I do TDEE - 20%, which puts me a bit above my BMR. Here's a good basic tutorial on calorie counting and nutrition. http://www.reddit.com/r/xxfitness/wiki/faq#wiki_12._what_are_the_basics_of_calorie_counting_and_nutrition.3F Even though it is from a women's site, it stays true for men.

    A possible culpret for your weight gain that no one seems to have mentioned- muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. If you're putting on muscle, the scale will reflect that. I lift, and I've been taping (using a measuring tape to measure waist, chest, legs) instead of using a scale and it shows my results far better as you can be losing fat but staying the same weight.
    No he's not putting on muscle.
    No muscle does not weigh more than fat.

    OP, yes I could easily be water fluctuations but no don't ignore the people that tell you it could be miscalculations in your logging. That's always a possibility. Monitor you weight trends for the next couple of weeks to get a better idea of what's going on.

    What planet are you from? Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat- a pound of muscle is far less, in terms of mass, than a pound of fat. This is a biological fact. Furthermore, as a 19 year old male lifting, he is most likely putting on muscle.
    I know what you are trying to say, but a pound of anything is still just a pound. However, muscle is less dense than fat and therefore takes up less space. That is what you mean, correct>

    As for a 19 year old putting on muscle, that's not correct, especially if he's truly eating at a deficit as he says he is.
  • _Terrapin_
    _Terrapin_ Posts: 4,301 Member
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    OP: first glad your diary was open. Second, you are logging inaccurately. Third, add your calories for the past week and judge for yourself. Roughly you are showing 1,500 calories per day. At 5 feet 10, and between 202 to 242 you need more calories to maintain the weight- - - > add to this your workouts and you ought to get the picture. So, eat it(weigh it), log it, live it. Last severly obese folks typically aren't 39 pounds from overweight when they start to drop weight given your height. Obese, yes. Overweight for you is 203, again best of luck.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
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    He says he's eating at deficit. How is he gaining muscle????????
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    Guys! I just got the tape measure out and I've definitely not gained anything measurement wise. It's definitely water retention.
    Also, I am definitely gaining muscle. Lots of visible growth there's literally no denying that.
    About the portions, yes I am weighing my food! These entires are my own recipes that I've saved in the app's settings so when it comes to macro and calorie accuracy, my diary's on point for sure.
    And again guys, this isn't something that was particularly worrying me. Sheer curiosity was the reason for this thread.
    And again, for the people saying I'm not gaining muscle and far weighs more than muscle, you're wrong on both points lol
    That's called an optical illusion. As you strip away some of the overlaying fat it will start to reveal muscle that is there. That coupled with the addition of glycogen as a result of resistance training gives the illusion that the muscles are getting much bigger.
    I agree.
  • christinapapandrea
    christinapapandrea Posts: 4
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    muscle ways more than fat of course!!! youre getting stronger now :)
  • glenelliott5872
    glenelliott5872 Posts: 150 Member
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    Relax about your weight loss. Be accurate with weighing ALL foods. Be accurate about exercise calories.(I use a heart rate monitor). If you eat at a small deficit then fat will melt away revealing muscle. I find I needed to increase fibre to help things move along. I still don't eat enough but it still helps "transit"
  • pkteen
    pkteen Posts: 121 Member
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    Oh that makes a ton of sense @MrM27
    OMG EVERYONE READ THIS: I'm not logging inaccurately. All of the things that say stuff like "portion" on it is my own recipe. I've decided on the portions. You can go into settings and add your own recipes for accuracy.
    The point of this all is that I need to stop looking at the scale this often. I'm not obese anymore. I'm 191lbs and a bit overweight.
    I'll keep on exercising like this till I lose most of the belly fat. Then I'll start eating in caloric excess to gain muscle.
    I agree with MrM27 about the muscle though.
    And @terrapin I'm eating less because I need to lose weight. I'm not eating to maintain.
  • tycho_mx
    tycho_mx Posts: 426 Member
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    Barring inaccuracies in logging (we all have slips here and there. Sometimes significant, sometimes not), it's easy to gain weight when you eat something high in electrolytes (increased water retention), more carbs than usual after a depletion phase (glycogen storage), or simply lots of fiber in the intestinal tract.

    I can easily fluctuate 4 lb. in a single day if I ate lots of carb in preparation for a long ride. And I used to freak out the day after having Chinese food (Sodium). I now use trends as opposed to points to track my weight.
  • pkteen
    pkteen Posts: 121 Member
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    The moral of the story is : Keep on exercising and eating healthy and don't weigh yourself too often.
    :D thanks guys!
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
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    I will be upping my calories for sure and I won't be weighing myself more than bimonthly to have a better view of my general weight loss trend.

    Generally speaking, more data points yield better trend accuracy. As other have said, water retention can obfuscate the picture. If you happened to have had an unusually high sodium or high carbohydrate or high cortisol day right before your bi-monthly weigh in, you might not get a very accurate snapshot on that day. There's nothing wrong with that! And most people on here would say it's good not to obsess over a number. But if you are interested in seeing an accurate weight loss trend, try weighing consistently (e.g. after waking & using the restroom but before consuming anything), and averaging it bi-monthly. If you note your daily weight in excel, you can chart a 15-day rolling average, but some might consider that in obsessive territory. ;-)

    Haha. I like you!

    PS: screw the moral of the story! (See OP post above :bigsmile: )
  • pkteen
    pkteen Posts: 121 Member
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    I will be upping my calories for sure and I won't be weighing myself more than bimonthly to have a better view of my general weight loss trend.

    Generally speaking, more data points yield better trend accuracy. As other have said, water retention can obfuscate the picture. If you happened to have had an unusually high sodium or high carbohydrate or high cortisol day right before your bi-monthly weigh in, you might not get a very accurate snapshot on that day. There's nothing wrong with that! And most people on here would say it's good not to obsess over a number. But if you are interested in seeing an accurate weight loss trend, try weighing consistently (e.g. after waking & using the restroom but before consuming anything), and averaging it bi-monthly. If you note your daily weight in excel, you can chart a 15-day rolling average, but some might consider that in obsessive territory. ;-)

    Haha. I like you!

    PS: screw the moral of the story! (See OP post above :bigsmile: )

    HAHAHAHAHAHA. I like you now! :bigsmile:

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