why am i gaining weight?

sarakristin

i am training for a 1/2 marathon and am running about 25 miles per week right now. i am also watching what i eat and sticking to the 1200 calorie diet. at first, i wasn't losing any weight because I was gaining muscle back, but now I am gaining weight. To make matters worse, I weighed myself about 10 days ago and did have a 5 lb loss but all of a sudden, its back (plus 2 lbs)! I am getting really frustrated. I am not trying to lose a lot of weight, just those last pesky 10 lbs. any thoughts to why this is happening?

thanks, sara

wgrape

Make sure you are eating at least one half of your exercise calories back. If you don't, your body can actually start to gain weight thinking that it is in a starvation mode! Try it, and see if it helps :happy:

ashleyh3156

maybe you aren't eating enough? I was doing 1200, I have an active job and TRY to exercise 3x a week about 2 miles at a time. I had some advice from a mfp and took the advice adding 200 cals, and voila first week down 2lbs. Starvation mode might be what your body is in..running that much and only eating 1200 cals, your body probably needs more to function at its daily activities. Good luck!

rachelkrivanek

Hi Sara,

Best not to be too dicouraged. My trainer always determines my progress my measurements... not weight. It can vsry far too much.. wtaer, muscle... etc. Try weighing yourself monthly (at the same time of day), and... measuring yourself weekly (also at the same of time of day)... this should give you a better outlook. Hope this helps.... Rach

TheIncredibleShrinkingDan

You are probably already taking this into account but are you weighing yourself the same time every time (e.g., first thing in the morning)? That would help control variables like hydration levels. I'm 200 lbs (6'3") and sometimes my weight in the morning after a hard workout is six pounds different than before I went to bed when I was fully hydrated. (I know I'm not drinking enough). So I weigh when I wake and before I workout.

I also keep a 7 day average of my weight to smooth out inevitable daily fluctuations.

Food for thought...

ladyhawk00

You aren't eating enough. I'd recommend reading these threads that discuss metabolism.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/61706-guide-to-calorie-deficits

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/10589-for-those-confused-or-questioning-eating-your-exercise-calo

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/153704-myth-or-fact-simple-math-3500-calories-one-pound-eat

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/196502-for-the-people-who-work-out-like-crazy-and-are-not-losing?hl=exercise+like+crazy

natskedat

You may not be getting enough food. Running 25 miles a week puts a lot of demands on your body, and if it's not getting what it needs to thrive, it's going to hang on to everything you put in it. Increase your calories, and you'll likely see the weight start to come off.

lazywriter

25 miles per week + 1200 a day = weight gain because you're not eating enough. Agree with the others. Up to it like 1500/day. Carb up on days you run.

rdn4fit

Don't think you are consuming enough calories. 1200 sounds real low for your exercise level. If you have not used MFP to help guide your calorie goal (and other nutrition goals) you may find it as useful as I have.

hajjcomb

I know other people who have gained weight training for a full marathon. I don't think it is terribly uncommon. I remember watching a NOVA show that followed a group of people training for the Boston marathon. The focus of the show was about the physiological changes that the body and its different systems go through throughout the training regimen. One thing that they noticed was that weight loss was not dramatic. I believe even some of the more overweight participants lost weight initially, but then hit a plateu.

rileysowner

If you are only looking at losing a small amount of weight you should shot for a per week loss of no more than one pound. I would suggest setting your per week weight lose goal at half a pound in light of your training. Your body cannot handle a large calorie deficit because it does not have a lot of fat to use.

northernchic

bump

daddyratty

25 miles per week at your current weight is probably burning about 2500-3000 calories per week.

Is your 1200 calories after eating back your exercise calories? While not a hard-and-fast rule, it is not a good idea to get below 1200 NET calories per day. In other words, you are burning an average of 350-425 calories per day, so you should actually be consuming AT LEAST 1550-1625, so that you are clearing 1200 per day.

And as others have suggested, you might try cycling your calorie totals ... try adding an extra 500-1000 calories every 3rd or 4th day. It's extra fuel for the calorie burning machine. You'll probably be quite surprised.