Gaining weight at 1500 calories..

patriciapowerswilliamson

dc315 is SPOT on. Something seems off about this original post. 112 pounds at 5'7 is not good.

p_emmel5

Thanks for your help everyone. I will eat more so that my body weight exercises will not go to waste.

Most excellent. That's first step. Don't worry if you can't do all the repetitions at the recommended weight. We all started somewhere. And for most of us that somewhere was light weight and low reps. But, if you keep at it the gains come quickly

mtforrest07

Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but if you have consistently been eating 1200 calories and you bumped it up, you will always put back on glycogen stores. We all hold on to a bit of water weight but when you cut back, you will lose this first and if you increase by any means, you will put a little back on. That's the nature of the beast. This is completely normal and not something to worry about. Recently I've transitioned from not giving two craps about the number on the scale and instead on how I felt on the outside...too obsessed with the number but that doesn't really matter.

ahoy_m8

I think people are jumping to conclusions to pronounce eating disorders or dysmorphia based on height and weight alone. I'm also 5'7", and at your age you sound a lot like me. I worked in a gym teaching old fashioned aerobics 10+hrs/wk, and my weight was 110-115 lb. Thin, yes, but not dysmorphic or eating disordered. That was back in the bad old "eating fat makes you fat" days, and young women were striving for "thin" not "lean" or "toned." Misinformation was everywhere. It was what it was.

If I could go back to my 20's and do anything differently, I would. #1 I would do weight training. There was a little resistance training in aerobics, but when I graduated and got a real job I enjoyed running and nothing else. So I agree with the other advice to do a body weight/resistance strength conditioning routine at home. Here are some reasons:

(1) weight training preserves LBM. 30 lb in 6 months is fast, especially for someone starting out at a "normal" weight. The thing that would explain feeling "fluffier" despite a weight loss is you lost more muscle than fat. By comparison, I maintain a 5 lb range. When I am 5 lb up, it takes me 3 months to lose it. Because I am starting out pretty lean.

(2) weight training builds bone mass. I am guessing you are small boned, like me. I read (but can't cite--maybe someone else can) women get the most bone benefit from lifting in their 20's. My Dr. praised my good condition but urged me to lift to prevent osteoporosis, and in my 20's I really didn't care about that. It was a missed opportunity. I started weight training in my 40's and have better tone than I have since college. Progesterone promotes bone growth, and as progesterone levels diminish (or plummet when ovulation stops), so does bone growth. Build as much as you can now!

Springfield1970

When you eat more calories you add weight because of

Glycogen and water in the liver and muscles
Water retention generally in the body
Waste and food accumulation in the system. Etc etc....
Hell even your hair and bones probably get heavier.

It's NOT fat.

At your weight allow a 3/5 lb bounce up then level off.

All your stores have been depleted at the constant under fuelling.

I'm 5'7" and feel too big when I'm over 129lb. I like to be about 127lb, but I've been recomping my body for a few years now and have high lean body mass and ALL my stores are pumped full, and my belly is always full. I eat 1750 cals a say when resting, and eat all my exercise cals back.

I've been 123lb and flabby, but am much better now after doing Strong Curves and eating.

philwrightfitness

Very little to go on but... Firstly I agree with other posters your metabolism could have crashed so what you think is your maintence level isn't ...also don't discount water weight if you are eating additional carbs your muscle could be refilling with glycogen which will incur additional intra muscular water retention ...my advice would be to set a calorie regime and stick to it for at least a month then reevaluate and get some skin calipers and monitor your visceral fat increase

Liftng4Lis

At 112 pounds and 5'8 I wouldn't be worry about this, but my first thought was if you didn't have a scale at home do you at least have one in the kitchen? How do you know how much you're eating?

merisaOct3

Clover40, your most recent post is that you have actually *lost* weight eating slightly more. Honestly, that is not totally far-fetched. I would recommend that you stay away from the scale for a few weeks. A better approach from the beginning might have been using a tape-measure. But at 112 (or whatever you're at now) and 5'7", I'm concerned that you're going to see *NORMAL* water weight fluctuations and hormonal bloating as "weight gain" however you measure.

I have to echo that you should work with a nutritionist. And check out some of the threads about women and weight lifting.

Graelwyn75

I have a similar problem.

I lost almost 50 pounds by exercising daily and eating about 600-800 calories a day (quite normal for me, has been my calorie intake for years). Then doctors told me I was not eating enough. So I started eating 1,800 calories a day (still exercising), and I promptly gained back almost every pound I had lost. Everyone keeps telling me "it will even itself out in time", meanwhile all of my clothes are too tight and I feel extra pain on my already-chronically-sore joints.

I did what my body told me- I cut my calories back down to 800-850. Hoping my weight starts to decrease again soon.

And you think it is worth destroying your health rather than waiting this out, then cutting to a more sensible amount?
You think you can spend the rest of your life on 800 calories? You think you will not lose, then gain it all back all over again unless you do remain on 800 calories if you take this route? You are not being sensible at all, and the impact on your body and metabolism will be disastrous.

ken994

I'm running into this problem. Because of my hypothyroidism, my weight usually fluctuates up and down in a 20 lb range between 220-240 no matter what i do. I am male, age 46, 6'2". About six months ago I started a job where I could bike to work everyday and I do so unless it is pouring rain, but 95% of the time I am riding because of this for 15 min each way, 30 minutes total. I also about the same time started trying to cut my carbs and just eat meats and fresh vegetables and a clif bar in the morning. I never eat sweets. Over the past month I have started to put on a lot more weight and I think I am now over 250.

I never counted calories before, but after a lot of teasing from the family about how fat I was getting, I decided to download the MFP app and it told me I should target 1992 calories per day to lose 1.8 pounds per week. Great, but when I entered in all the food and drink I consume daily, I find that I take in between 1500-1700 calories per day, so now I am at a loss as to why I am gaining so much weight. I just had my blood work done and my thyroid medication level checked two months ago. I have noticed I am tired all the time, but I thought this was because of the weight gain. I am very am hesitant to increase my calorie intake for fear of gaining even more weight.

Not sure what to do now.

middlehaitch

@ken994 you need to weigh all your food with a digital food scale. Measure liquids with measuring cups and spoons designed for liquids.
If the problem doesn't resolve in a couple of weeks of tighter logging start your own post.

Cheers, h.

lemonychild

You regaining weight because you're underweight

LivingtheLeanDream

it sounded like you were a healthy weight BEFORE you started your diet

and for what its worth, in a week and a half you wont have gain more than a few pounds and they'll be mostly water. You've not been eating enough for your height and your metabolism is messed up is whats happening. You need to stick with eating those 1500 for a while so you body adapts and gets used to those extra cals. At your height you will not gain eating that amount, I'm only a small fry and I don't gain eating 2100+ cals.