Gaining 10 lbs a month

akjone02

I've gained 20 lbs in the last 2 months, almost exactly 10 lbs each month. For a couple years I've been tracking calories with "Lose It!" and it just hasn't worked. Last month I gained 10lbs suddenly so I switched to myfitnesspal to shake things up. This program lowered my plan by about 200 calories so I think that's a step in the right direction. However, a month later and I've gained another 10 lbs.

Some info: I'm 29, Male 6'1'' and 225lbs 2 months ago. My job is 8 hours at a desk, extremely sedentary, but I'm an active runner, biker, and swimmer, and I whitewater canoe. During this 2 month period I was training for a canoe race (2 weeks ago) a 15k (the race was a week ago) and I'm currently training for a triathlon (next weekend).

I know I don't have my fitness journal open for viewing. In the past on loseit! people would check out my food journal, scroll back till the last time they saw a slice of pizza, and promptly proclaim "Where there's your problem!" and that would be the end of any advice I could get. My average calories for the last 30 days has been just over 2000 per day. My BMR is listed as 2125 by the calculator on this site. I understand that I probably won't be losing weight with those numbers, but for this last month I was aiming just to maintain. I have a food scale and weigh every oz of food I eat, I'm confident in the accuracy of my calories. I can also guarantee this wasn't 20 lbs of muscle, my clothes no longer fit correctly.

Any ideas as to how I seem to generate energy from nowhere would be appreciated.

GauchoMark

to gain 10 lbs in a month while keeping an eye on calorie intake is significant, much less 20 in 2 months. That much weight gain is actually hard to do. You would need to be overeating about 8750 calories per week (1250/day). Your BMR is about 2200 calories and your TDEE is around 2600, so you would need to be NETTING 3850 calories per day to gain that kind of weight.

If you are being honest about your calorie intake and exercise, you might want to see a doctor and have some testing done.

akjone02

For calories, I do my best to overestimate whenever I'm not sure about something, but I measure and weigh absolutely everything. I look at it like this: even if I'm somehow off, I can't possibly be off by 1500+ calories a day which is, as you say, what I would need to be gaining this kind of weight.

On Lose It! I followed my plan religiously and maintained for 2 years without gaining or losing. (In theory their plan had me losing 2 lbs a week... it never happened). The only time I've ever actually lost weight was before that. I dropped 60 lbs in 2 years, but I wasn't tracking calories at the time. I was eating next to nothing and training up to my first marathon (breakfast was a granola bar, lunch was yogurt and apple, etc). When I started tracking calories I realized I was only at like 1200 calories a day net. People keep telling me that's not healthy but it's the only way I ever lost, and now I'm gaining it back

StormyGal8

I would see your doctor. There are several problems (thyroid for example) that can cause rapid weight gain.

akjone02

Thanks for the replies. I went in to see my doctor about the alarming gain. Both he and the nurses replied with "wow" when I told them how much I was up in such a short time. Their scale agreed with mine, although their last weigh-in of me was almost a year ago, the doctor stated that even 20 lbs in a year would be something to watch.

However he found "nothing medically wrong." He suggested that I speak with a nutritionist about my diet. I told him how I'm tracking my foods, but I could tell he was very skeptical. I don't blame him, or anyone on the forums who doesn't believe my calorie numbers. I wouldn't believe it if someone told me they were at a calorie deficit and still gaining this kind of weight.

Doing my triathlon tomorrow and feeling pretty darn bloated for it, but not much I can do unfortunately.

taylor5877

What's your sodium intake and how much water are you drinking? water weight is at least partly the answer as I agree 10 pounds in a month is hard to do.

laurazj73

Are you taking any medications? Some specific medications, especially antidepressants, can cause weight gain.

akjone02

I'm not taking any anti depressants, my only medication is a prescription for my heartburn. My prescription/dosage hasn't changed in a couple years.

Unfortunately I haven't been tracking my water or sodium intake. My sodium is kind-of tracked with the foods I put in, but I'm not 100% accurate with the 'brand' of my entries. For example, if I make homemade leek soup, I add generic leek soup of the appropriate calorie amount in MFP. If I make lasagna, I figure out how many calories per corner it is then add "Lasagna-homemade" to track the calories. I've never had problems with high blood pressure, etc so I've never closely tracked my salt.

now_or_never12

For things you make at home you can make your own recipe in the tracker and add the calories to your diary that way to ensure it is the most accurate it can be. Always try to find the exact item that you are eating as the calories and nutritional information in the database is wrong a lot of the time (at least for the things I'm looking for).

Are you sure your scale is correct? Maybe you gained less than what you think even though clothing is a touch tighter? Sodium could be the cause of the gain.... Possibly an intolerance of some sort that is making you bloat?

akjone02

In the 2 weeks since i last checked this topic ive stopped 'eating back' my calories from exercising. For example, this last weekend i averaged 800 calories under my program each day ( which is itself about 1000 calories per day under my maintenence). This change has slowed the weight gain from 5 lbs to 3, but ive still gained 3 more lbs.

Im about at the end of my rope. Yesterday i couldnt finish an easy 6 mile run i was just so tired, and the doctor says im fine medically, but i cant stop gaining weight. I appreciate the replies people are posting here, but honestly, will tweaking my sodium or carbs possibly compensate for 23 lbs in a month and a half when im already sooo far under my calorie limits?

GauchoMark

no, you don't have 23 lbs of water weight. I would go get a 2nd opinion and print out your food and exercise logs for the past month to show the doctors. I would also insist on bloodwork.

GauchoMark

by the way, what is your average calorie intake for the last couple of weeks? You can run a report to see quickly.

And you might want to open your diary so we can see your log.

youcandooeet

This has to be something medical. I agree, get a second opinion.

Did the doctor even do any testing?

ZipperJJ

What does your doctor mean by "medically fine"? Did he do any tests or just talk to you? Any blood work?

I agree with the above poster who says you need to put your own recipes in to MFP and track that way.

litatura

This might seem like a stupid question, but are you sure that you've gained that much weight and it's not just a faulty scale? Are your clothes fitting tighter or do you look physically bigger?

TheRealParisLove

Have you ever had your heart checked? Heart disease causes massive water retention and causes weight gain because of it. I realize that you are very active and watch what you eat, but young athletes die suddenly because they were unaware of a heart problem.

I highly recommend that you get in to see a cardiologist right away. With your rapid weight gain, heart burn and fatigue, there is definitely something wrong. I'm no doctor, but I have several family members with heart disease, and these are the warning signs of heart attack. Have you been tested for sleep apnea as well? Also can be a contributing factor to heart failure.

Go to a Cardiologist ASAP!

grandlakegirl

you are probably adding muscle mass since you are training

GauchoMark

you are probably adding muscle mass since you are training

???

Do you know how hard it is to gain 23 lb of muscle? Much less in 2 months? This is something else.

Marianeyda

you are probably adding muscle mass since you are training

she would be able to see the diffrence in her inches!

ElviraCross

he*

grannygethealthy1111

First, open your diary so we can see what you are eating and how much you are exercising. If you are measuring and weighing all of your food and recording it daily and you are gaining weight on 1200 calories, you need to seek a 2nd opinion from another doctor.

Are you on any medications? Steroids for asthma or arthritis, beta-blockers, antidepressants, or diabetic medications? All can cause weight gain. Your doctor needs to check you for hypothyroidism and for Cushing's syndrome ... both can cause this kind of weight gain and give you a complete physical. So can lack of sleep. So can extreme stress. So can recently quitting smoking. So can heart failure.

You are a young man, so whatever is going on will probably be something that is easy to fix. Go get a 2nd opinion and good luck!

AJ_Pete

I was going to ask if you were pregnant until you said you were male. I would talk to a doctor to see if something more is going on.

albayin

I was going to ask if you were pregnant until you said you were male. I would talk to a doctor to see if something more is going on.

LOL...I am glad I double checked OP's post as...He's ...MALE.

harmanee2000

Are you allergic or have sensitivity to any foods? i was on weight watchers and for 2 years straight couldn't lose a pound. I let them see my food journal and was really strict about everything. I was working out 6-7 days a week. Every leader just assumed I was lying about my points. I found out I am gluten intolerant. My body and joints swell really bad when I eat gluten. Even though I workout all the time, I get tired and can't lose weight with gluten in my diet. This may be something to check out.

Capt_Apollo

i'm 2" taller then you, and that is where the differences end. i eat a lot, and things i like too, like pizza and ice cream. i'm training for triathlons and mud races.

if you are gaining that much weight either you have a medical condition, or you are over estimating your work outs and under estimating you food intake.

heybales

if you are gaining that much weight either you have a medical condition, or you are over estimating your work outs and under estimating you food intake.

Ditto's.

If very aerobically efficient, your BMR and TDEE is probably lower than expected. Not just daily activities, but during exercise too.

I was surprised to find when I wore my HRM all day (not for calorie burn estimate which is NOT valid, but just avgHR) on non-exercise day, it was 56. 45 sleeping and at the desk, quick recovery from any activity back down to that low.
Just a very efficient system that means less calories burned.

If you are going by HRM calories for what you burn, you may have your HRmax default being too low for your true HRmax, so it would be inflated calorie burn.

Besides all the other great advice on seeing Dr for other things.

It's hard to imagine a surplus of calories on that order resulting just from mis-estimating foods and exercise, if it was truly fat storage.
Which should be felt in the clothes. So probably a combo of things.
Glucose/water stores can increase in muscles somewhat too, not by that much though.

akjone02

Wow, thanks for all the replies. I'll try to hit as many points as I can here.

Yes, given my gender I'm reasonably sure that I'm not pregnant, so at least I can rule that one out (though I suppose you never know)

I can run a report on my calorie intake for the last few months but all it gives me is a graph, not my numeric average. For my previous post I actually manually added all my days together and divided by the number of days to get my average. Is there a faster way to do this within the system?

The doctor ran various blood tests, but he said that everything looked good. I plan on calling him today to tell him that things are still looking bad and, if he has nothing further for me, seeking a 2nd opinion. He said his next step was to send me to a nutritionist to get a food plan. I am concerned that something could be going on, but I can't find anything online that could account for such ridiculous weight gain in so short a time. I feel like the fatigue symptoms are mostly because I'm not eating but I'm still exercising.

HeyBales: This is something I've wondered about. I've been very active since I was young. For my entire life (save for a few months here or there where I was injured) I've exercised daily. My resting heart rate is less than 60, no idea what it is sleeping. Could it be that I'm just not burning anywhere near as much as expected?
My only concern here is that my program is theoretically set for 2 lbs of loss a week. Instead I am gaining an average of more than 2 lbs a week. Unless I'm mistaken, that's a 14,000 calorie swing per week (2000 calories per day). Unless I'm completely nuts, could I really be underestimating food and overestimating exercise to the tune of 2000 calories daily?

heybales

HeyBales: This is something I've wondered about. I've been very active since I was young. For my entire life (save for a few months here or there where I was injured) I've exercised daily. My resting heart rate is less than 60, no idea what it is sleeping. Could it be that I'm just not burning anywhere near as much as expected?
My only concern here is that my program is theoretically set for 2 lbs of loss a week. Instead I am gaining an average of more than 2 lbs a week. Unless I'm mistaken, that's a 14,000 calorie swing per week (2000 calories per day). Unless I'm completely nuts, could I really be underestimating food and overestimating exercise to the tune of 2000 calories daily?

You should wear the HRM while you sleep, see what avg and max is. Then another day that has no exercise, typical day, where it all day. As mentioned, forget the calorie estimate it provides, unless Garmin with Firstbeat algorithms.

I found it very interesting. I used Garmin, so I could literally see all the data points, when it went high, how quickly it went back to rest. Waking up and moving at night. And even at night, how long it took to go low. That really surprised me, actually was higher most of the night than sitting at work.

But I agree, those inaccuracies couldn't overcome a deficit and create that surplus normally.

You should ask Dr for your actual results on blood test. Usually they just confirm nothing fell out of the safe range, but your own looking could reveal several values near the edge that while perhaps not "un-safe", aren't great either. And sometimes there is disagreement on what is a safe-range.

But if you are feeling clothes getting tighter, and really gain weight, your TDEE is much lower that calculated and exected. Since that is based on your base metabolism, that is probably slower too. And since the HRM estimate of calories burned is based on that too, it is inflated.

You might benefit from taking a week off exercise, just have one variable that you control - diet.
See what you get for a week. Take the exercise time to do research on blood test results.

akjone02

For the last 2 weeks I've tried ending up under my plan's preset limit. I'm averaging 200 - 300 calories per day UNDER my plan, which is, in theory, 1000 calories below what I need to maintain my current weight. At 1200 - 1300 calories below maintenance, I am finally holding steady in weight (I'm at the same weight now as I was last time I posted, hurray!)

Unfortunately, to lose a pound a week it looks like I would need to be around 1800 calories under the normal maintenance level for someone of my height and weight. That puts me at about net 800 calories for a day. I can achieve that with exercise, but it just sounds insane. None of this sounds healthy, but I've already tried months of following the plan strictly only to gain, and weeks of being BETTER than the plan, only to maintain.

After several attempts, I got my doctor to send me a note detailing my bloodwork (just a summary though, not the actual results). The letter states that I have "metabolism level outside normal range" but that the results were not odd enough to warrant follow up. I'm a bit unhappy with what I've been sent since a phrase like "metabolism level" strikes me as very vague and unofficial. I was expecting to see actual numbers or readings of... well... STUFF that is in my blood. Whatever STUFF might be that they look for. I'm going to follow up with him again, but the earliest he said he could see me again would be October. In the meantime I might seek a second opinion.

heybales

For the last 2 weeks I've tried ending up under my plan's preset limit. I'm averaging 200 - 300 calories per day UNDER my plan, which is, in theory, 1000 calories below what I need to maintain my current weight. At 1200 - 1300 calories below maintenance, I am finally holding steady in weight (I'm at the same weight now as I was last time I posted, hurray!)

Unfortunately, to lose a pound a week it looks like I would need to be around 1800 calories under the normal maintenance level for someone of my height and weight. That puts me at about net 800 calories for a day. I can achieve that with exercise, but it just sounds insane. None of this sounds healthy, but I've already tried months of following the plan strictly only to gain, and weeks of being BETTER than the plan, only to maintain.

After several attempts, I got my doctor to send me a note detailing my bloodwork (just a summary though, not the actual results). The letter states that I have "metabolism level outside normal range" but that the results were not odd enough to warrant follow up. I'm a bit unhappy with what I've been sent since a phrase like "metabolism level" strikes me as very vague and unofficial. I was expecting to see actual numbers or readings of... well... STUFF that is in my blood. Whatever STUFF might be that they look for. I'm going to follow up with him again, but the earliest he said he could see me again would be October. In the meantime I might seek a second opinion.

Not sure where you are, but in the US, even if insurance paid, you have the rights to your tests. You could have the Dr's office give you the name of the lab if you don't have it, and get them directly.
You should get a list of everything they tested for, like this:
http://www.bloodbook.com/ranges.html

And for everything on the edge, you can go do some research on how good or bad something really is. Like 3 things on the edge of safe individually may not look bad, and for a Dr looking for the little flag on the levels would never stand out - but taken together those three things are bad.

Incredible. I remember one Dr office calling and leaving message that everything looked fine. I called back, they said that's all they were planning on giving me. I demanded more - they sent a stupid post-card with a checkbox for Acceptable marked!
Talk about patient confidentiality too.

Nice test though.

Trying to recall, was your estimated TDEE based on BMR of age,weight, height, or based on weight, bodyfat%?

akjone02

I'm going off of all the myfitnesspal tools. Mfp tells me that my BMR is 2,085. I work a desk job so I set my TDEE at 1.2 x BMR, which give me about 2500. My fitness pal puts me closer to 2600, but that's ok, same basic range. Right now my program is set to let me eat 1600 calories per day, net. I am running, biking, or swimming 6 days a week (friday is my only rest day) but I'm not counting that exercise against my calories. It's only been about 3 days of combining that low a program AND ignoring exercise, but so far so good. I am exhausted though.

Edit: I misspoke. My previous setup was 1600, counting exercise, but aiming to be 200-300 under my goal (so 1300-1400 net). A few weeks of that helped me maintain (but not lose). Currently I'm set around 1800 but completely ignoring exercise, so with a normal day's workout I end up around 1000-1200 net or less.