Weight gain with exercise and diet

mamafish2313

OK, I have been doing my fitness pal since January. I started at 122. now at 133:(- I am small framed. I am 5ft 3in and 30 years old, female. I work out every day with a heart rate monitor, chest strap style. I usually burn approximately 700 calories and I work out 6 days and week and have been known to work out 7. I run, lift weights, cardio and HIIT. Having done Insanity and Asylum p90x and Supreme 90. SO I have been steadily gaining weight. My husband assured me it was muscle but I have gained 11 lbs. since January! Its almost all around my midsection besides the muscle I have added to my legs, (which is great if thats what your going for but I can't wear my pants anymore). SO increased belly fat majorly. You can see it. I have had issues with the Net calorie thing but I try to take in 1600 cals under the food heading with the exception of an off day (1370-my BMR). Last week i tried cutting down exercise to 400-500 cals and upping my intake and I gained another 3 lbs this morning! Some one please give me guidance. I take no medications and have no hormone issues or medical issues. Should my net equal my BMR-1370?:sad:

mamafish2313

bump

bpotts44

Open your food diary. Why are you trying to lose weight at 120 lbs?

DanaDark

Hey there!

Well, if you let MFP set itself up for you, you should eat back some of the calories you exercise. Additionally, you should manually set MFP's goals for 30% protein given your exercise level.

To me, it sounds like the classic crash and burn method that is creating your difficulties. AKA, you're trying TOO hard.

You will need to ensure you are getting enough protein every day given that level of exercise. You should also make sure your deficit is roughly 500 calories a day for 1lb a week, +/- 250 for either 0.5lb or 1.5lb a week.

Tilran

Honestly if you are excersising with that much variation in routine and sticking to your calorie intake truthfully, then I am at a loss.

I'd recommend taking pictures and measurement to see if your husband is correct about muscle weight. I am actually going through the same thing kinda. I am putting on muscle and losing fat (I can see it in my belt size and muscles), but I am not droping weight. That being said, 11 pound gain means you are either becoming wonder woman with muscles or something is wrong.

If you are using a HRM and it is telling you that you burn 700 calories a workout every single day, and you intake 1500 calories, you are net 800. Are you consuming back to 1500 or staying at 800? You want to experiment with both options to see which gives you results. I would recommend NOT eating those calories back, but that could possibly put your body in starvation mode, so again...experiment with both options.

Wish I could help more, but you are doing everything right if you what you stated is all true.

mamafish2313

Oh no I am 133 this morning, I would be extremely happy back at 120. I am trying to figure out how this happened when I work out every day and log my food etc. I know what I burn vs. what I eat and I don't get it.

mamafish2313

how do I open it?

mamafish2313

Thats my next step trying to eat 1800 cals or whatever I need that day per my exercise to get my net back at my BMR goal of 1370. Does that sound right? It is truly devastating to work hard and see no results or to be getting the opposite results of what you work for. I had been using a protein shake+ nonfat yogurt as a post workout meal but keeping it within my caloric goals and my legs (which are naturally larger) have gotten huge! Muscle I believe but I'm not a gladiator. SO I nixed that and am making sure to eat protein with every meal/snack which I do every 2-3 hours, I try to eat as cleanly as possible. Drinking only water, etc.

mamafish2313

Open your food diary. Why are you trying to lose weight at 120 lbs?

its open and 120 was my starting weight

albayin

Did you also gain inches?

OK I re-read your post and you did gain...:(

sd225303

Are you on any medication? I had this problem for a year or so and discovered that my medication had stalled my weight (and caused excessive weight gain-- TWICE) . I just quit the same guilty medication in June (why he kept putting me on it I will never know) and now have to wait 2 or so months for it to get out of my system. I am about your size and age, actually. I am also trying to get back down to 120.

mamafish2313

Are you on any medication? I had this problem for a year or so and discovered that my medication had stalled my weight (and caused excessive weight gain-- TWICE) . I just quit the same guilty medication in June (why he kept putting me on it I will never know) and now have to wait 2 or so months for it to get out of my system. I am about your size and age, actually. I am also trying to get back down to 120.

no medication at all. but i may need some if I can't figure this out :laugh: I should have tried to maintain at 120 instead of pushing myself so hard and now I don't know how to get back to where I was. I had read about a supplement called CLA and then ketones, I heard they were supposed to help you get rid of fat but I don't know a whole lot about it.

invisibubble

Measure yourself. Often. Weight means little especially when exercising a lot. Also, you eat too little given your workouts IMO.

albayin

Are you on any medication? I had this problem for a year or so and discovered that my medication had stalled my weight (and caused excessive weight gain-- TWICE) . I just quit the same guilty medication in June (why he kept putting me on it I will never know) and now have to wait 2 or so months for it to get out of my system. I am about your size and age, actually. I am also trying to get back down to 120.

no medication at all. but i may need some if I can't figure this out :laugh: I should have tried to maintain at 120 instead of pushing myself so hard and now I don't know how to get back to where I was. I had read about a supplement called CLA and then ketones, I heard they were supposed to help you get rid of fat but I don't know a whole lot about it.

Totally feel your pain. Is it possible you could be overtrained? Back off bit on exercise and try to eat normal without being too stressed out over this stuff might help.

NoahandPresleysMom

Measure yourself. Often. Weight means little especially when exercising a lot. Also, you eat too little given your workouts IMO.

ditto

mamafish2313

Measure yourself. Often. Weight means little especially when exercising a lot. Also, you eat too little given your workouts IMO.

ditto

OK then back to the Net calorie vs what I burn vs BMR. My BMR is 1370. I try to burn about 700. I want to lose .5 to 1 lb a week. I would settle with anything right now so how many calories should I take in on a normal 700 cal burning day? not net just under the food heading?

Also, regarding inches, I have noticeable fat around my belly that I didn't have before and after 3 kids, I don't want it back but it has settled there in the worst way.

mamafish2313

Did you also gain inches?

OK I re-read your post and you did gain...:(

Yes on my arms and shoulders noticeable muscle. My legs are ripped. My husband likes an athletic type but even he said you need to stop doing legs, they have gone from sexy toned to bulky...I'm short so this doesn't help. I gave up the protein shake post workout and am only doing cardio. Insanity, Turbo Fire, Cathe but no leg videos and staying away from plyo.

Feelnpurdy

Just throwing this out there no offense... pregnant maybe?

mamafish2313

Just throwing this out there no offense... pregnant maybe?

\

Would have to be Divine Intervention. 3 c-sections, Dr said no more, so had the tubes tied. I wish though, I would love a little girl with these 3 rough boys I have!

yarwell

Tell me about this 700 calorie burn - how do you do it ? how long does it take ?

mamafish2313

Tell me about this 700 calorie burn - how do you do it ? how long does it take ?

mamafish2313

I did Insanity Cardio max 47 min long with 2 lb hand weights and then I did Turbo fire 30 min with hand weights this AM. I wear a chest strap heart rate monitor. I usually do 2 videos or 2 things to keep it diversified. AND BURN THEM UP! Cathe has some serious videos that make my heart beat and when I run, I hill train and run for about 70 minutes.

yarwell

So typically 70 minutes at 10 cals per minute ? That's a pretty high work rate, is the HRM tuned up for your actual fitness level - they tend to overestimate in "default" settings, especially for ladies - by up to 1/3. You should also subtract 70 calories per hour that you would have used anyway, in order not to over-account for the burn and consequently overeat.

albayin

So typically 70 minutes at 10 cals per minute ? That's a pretty high work rate, is the HRM tuned up for your actual fitness level - they tend to overestimate in "default" settings, especially for ladies - by up to 1/3. You should also subtract 70 calories per hour that you would have used anyway, in order not to over-account for the burn and consequently overeat.

I always wondered about this.

bpotts44

Sounds like you have gained some muscle mass. At a BMR of 1370 and exercise averaging 700 I think you should shoot for 1700-1800 per day.

mamafish2313

It's set with my weight age and sex. Also with my target heart rate zones both low and high. I have been know to hit 184 but usually around 155-170 when i llok at my watch. My max target heart rate is 190. Resting is 70.

happypath101

I'm no expert. But, I notice that when I'm really hitting hard, e.g. eating no more than 1500 calories a day and working out like crazy (so, I'm netting 1200 or less), then I often see my weight go up. If I slow down for a bit, e.g. I have a major deadline at work, a vacation, or I get sick, then I'll see it suddenly drop. It's weird, but I've seen it enough times to expect it. I am trying to rely more and more on the measuring tape and less on the scale. (I'm also fairly petite and near my "ideal" weight. I think it might be more a phenomena the slimmer you get.)

michcakes

maybe try changing up what you eat. i was stalled out and decided to cut out the carbs - bread, pasta, sugar. worked like a charm!

graelwyn

I would suggest cutting down the exercise for a while, and keeping your eating the same and see what happens.
Also note the things you have changed in your diet since you started gaining this weight, and see what might be a possible source of the issue. It sounds really frustrating, I think I would freak if this happened to me.

natasha150

i had the same thing for a while and my trainer was at a loss at to why i was either putting on weight or not losing at all.

ultimately it came down to two things:
1. i was over training and my body did not have enough time to recover. i learnt that our muscles hold on to glycogen which binds with water to carry out muscle repair. so all that water you are drinking during the course of the day is being retained till your body manages to repair itself.
2. your creating too much of a deficit and may not be giving your body enough nutrition it needs to work out and to sustain a healthy weight loss and is causing it to plateau

ultimately as hard as it sounds, it may be an idea just to give your body a rest by reducing the frequency of your work out. i reduced mine from twice a day to once ever second day. and also increasing your calories and actually relaxing a little bit with the whole diet thing.

i plateaued for 2 months at 60 kgs. so for the last month i have stopped hitting the gym and just watching my calories the old fashioned way and have lost 1.5 kgs (6 pounds?).

i am slowly aiming to ramp up my work outs again to try to beat the water retention and the dreaded plateau.

good luck and dont forget to keep changing things up