Why am I gaining weight?

che_low

Note: I apologize if this is a little long! Just trying to provide enough information so hopefully someone can give me educated advice. All help is greatly appreciated.

To give a little background, I am 5'6" and started at 98 pounds. I have always eaten extremely healthy (no dairy, refined sugars, red meat, etc), but I decided to start working out in February. By April, I'd gained 12 pounds as well as a couple inches on my thighs. I'd like to think that was all muscle, but I decided to join MFP in order to monitor my caloric/nutritional intake, make sure it was appropriate for my level of activity, etc.

Initially, I lost 4 lbs and got down to 106, but for the past month I seem to be gaining weight consistently.I work out 6-7 days a week (burning about 400 calories) and I'm eating 1600 calories a day (adjusted for exercise--I eat 1200 on the occasional days I am not able to exercise). Right now I weigh 108, but seem to be fluctuating between 108 and 110. I understand it's not all about pounds, it's also about inches, but I only lost maybe half an inch off my waist initially, so I'm still at 34-25-34 and haven't lost any of the inches I initially gained off my thighs (currently 18 inches), which is very frustrating.

So, I was wondering if anyone could please help me out and give some suggestions as to why I'm only gaining weight and not losing inches.

maddiey

I would say it's muscle mass. Which is good. Muscle always weighs more than fat, just remember that! It will add some pounds on the scale, but it's healthy pounds. Someone can still weigh 200 pounds and not be fat at all, just made of muscle.

maddiey

Also, you seem extremely petite. I wouldn't really worry about gaining a couple pounds...

mariamarchita

At 5'6", according to this site: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi you should weigh at the lowest somewhere in the 120's. I think you're gaining weight because your weight is too low for a woman of your height. At 98 lbs, your BMI was 15.8 which is underweight. Even at 108 your BMI is not quite high enough to be in the "normal" range. Maybe your body is just trying to get to where it should be.

Take care,
Maria

che_low

Thanks! You're right, it must just be muscle mass--I'm not used to it so it seemed like a lot but that definitely makes sense.

amnsetie

At 5'6", according to this site: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi you should weigh at the lowest somewhere in the 120's. I think you're gaining weight because your weight is too low for a woman of your height. At 98 lbs, your BMI was 15.8 which is underweight. Even at 108 your BMI is not quite high enough to be in the "normal" range. Maybe your body is just trying to get to where it should be.

Take care,
Maria

According to Maria's figures you should reconsider your goals page. You can maintain or gain weight while losing fats when you work out. And this site supports that type of goal.

che_low

That could be true as well, but my only thought is that at 98 I was eating as much as I wanted and not exercising. I've also been around 120 or under my entire life, and my entire family is very petite/thin, so I think I am genetically predisposed to being on the smaller side. You definitely have a point though.

che_low

At 5'6", according to this site: http://www.healthstatus.com/cgi-bin/calc/calculator.cgi you should weigh at the lowest somewhere in the 120's. I think you're gaining weight because your weight is too low for a woman of your height. At 98 lbs, your BMI was 15.8 which is underweight. Even at 108 your BMI is not quite high enough to be in the "normal" range. Maybe your body is just trying to get to where it should be.

Take care,
Maria

According to Maria's figures you should reconsider your goals page. You can maintain or gain weight while losing fats when you work out. And this site supports that type of goal.

Very good point. How exactly should I go about doing that? As in, what should I change about my current routine?

amnsetie

Go to the goals page and down the bottom there is a reset goals
Put in the weight Maria said
then eat more proteins and vegies and fruit to try to get as close to the calories as possible
keep your exercise up, cardio and strength.

do strength on alternate days to give recovery time. some cardio each day but more on the strength rest day.

that power yoga looks awesome - 60 mins a day must be really making you fit.


you will find the extra food gives you even more energy to exercise.

It's all good.

I hope someone with more training knowledge than me comes in here to make suggestions, I think they talk about mixing it up a bit

che_low

Go to the goals page and down the bottom there is a reset goals
Put in the weight Maria said
then eat more proteins and vegies and fruit to try to get as close to the calories as possible
keep your exercise up, cardio and strength.

do strength on alternate days to give recovery time. some cardio each day but more on the strength rest day.

that power yoga looks awesome - 60 mins a day must be really making you fit.


you will find the extra food gives you even more energy to exercise.

It's all good.

I hope someone with more training knowledge than me comes in here to make suggestions, I think they talk about mixing it up a bit

Thank you so much! Great advice. How much should I up my calorie intake?

As for mixing it up, I run/power walk on days I don't do yoga, and if I'm not running or doing yoga I actually already do strength training (which I no longer bother to record on here since it doesn't make an impact on my calorie intake).

amnsetie

when you reset your goal weight it will suggest a calorie range

set for a half pound a week or less

when you get to your goal weight reset to nil gain/loss

You should put something in for your weight training


In the cardio part of the exercise tab there are strength training or circuit to pick from depending on how fast you go between machines

the strength part of the exercise tab is just for people keeping track of their weights and sets and doesn't impact the calories