Eating too little lead to weight gain?

ACepero79

I'm 33 years old and I started the journey of fat loss/muscle gain about a year ago. I was approximately 205 lbs. at 5'11" and according to my BMI at that time, I was over weight. I felt sluggish, slow, tired, just downright bad. So with the help of mfp and some web searching, I found that I could lose weight with a change in diet, increased exercise, and focusing on protein intake.

Fast forward a year later and I am approximately 180 lbs. That's a great drop in weight, but I've slowly been gaining weight over the past few months. I've got my caloric intake at 1,700 and I'm starting to think that might be way too low and that might be why I am slightly gaining weight.

I've read a bunch of threads here and using the TDEE method with moderate exercise, my TDEE is 2,890. With a 20% cut, I'm looking at approximatively 2,300 calories a day. That'll be an extra 600 calories a day from the 1,700 I was limiting myself over the past 4 months.

So, could the slight weight gain be attributed to too low of a calorie intake? Will adjusting my calorie goals using the TDEE method produce results?

Chief_Rocka

To gain fat while in a 1,000+ daily defecit for several months would defy the laws of physics.

ACepero79

To gain fat while in a 1,000+ daily defecit for several months would defy the laws of physics.

Well I never said it was fat. I gained weight. I"ve made gains in the gym throughout the year, but a 5lb. gain in muscle would be pretty significant. So it leads me to believe it might be fat.

Either that or I am cheating and not counting all of my calories.

EccentricDad

This is how it was explained to me by other MFP users: Fat loss/muscle gain happens at maintenance, not at a deficient. It's impossible to build muscle on a loss and it's impossible to lose fat on a gain too. If you eat at maintenance, you will be at a loss and at a gain at different times of the day; making it possible to meet both needs.

Look in the mirror, what do you need to do to get the results you desire? If the answer is lose fat, eat at a calorie deficient and do more cardio and resistance training. If the answer is fill your body in with more muscle then eat at a surplus and higher protein amounts and do heavy weights. If the answer is both simultaneously, you will be disappointed with your lack of "progress" unless you are at your maintenance.

The only reason you would be gaining weight is you are over-estimating your burn from exercise and you're overeating as a result. Also, you could be weighing yourself under different conditions. Try weighing yourself the same day every week and before you eat your first meal. Try to keep everything standardized so the weight isn't clothing weight or first meal heaviness.

Good luck.

deksgrl

How much more weight do you need to lose? If you have 20 pounds or less to lose, you should be aiming for a half a pound a week loss. A 1,700 cal diet would have you aiming for 2 pounds a week or something like that, which is not sustainable once you are closer to your goal. As you get closer to your goal, you need to move your calories towards maintenance.

ACepero79

This is how it was explained to me by other MFP users: Fat loss/muscle gain happens at maintenance, not at a deficient. It's impossible to build muscle on a loss and it's impossible to lose fat on a gain too. If you eat at maintenance, you will be at a loss and at a gain at different times of the day; making it possible to meet both needs.

Look in the mirror, what do you need to do to get the results you desire? If the answer is lose fat, eat at a calorie deficient and do more cardio and resistance training. If the answer is fill your body in with more muscle then eat at a surplus and higher protein amounts and do heavy weights. If the answer is both simultaneously, you will be disappointed with your lack of "progress" unless you are at your maintenance.

The only reason you would be gaining weight is you are over-estimating your burn from exercise and you're overeating as a result. Also, you could be weighing yourself under different conditions. Try weighing yourself the same day every week and before you eat your first meal. Try to keep everything standardized so the weight isn't clothing weight or first meal heaviness.

Good luck.

Thanks, this helps a lot.

kellicci

Would be odd if it were muscle too. It's hard to build muscle while in a deficit.

it could be water and glycogen retention. If you've been making gains and pushing yourself a little it may just be your muscles repairing.

If you really burn your TDEE daily then upping to 20% of your TDEE shouldn't cause you to gian overall. So either your TDEE is not correct, you are really underestimating calories eaten or calories burned or you've just hit a wall and need a reset. However if you've been at the large deficit you're at now for quite some time you body may get shcoked by the new eating habit and latch on to a few pounds at first. Try increasing 100 calories a week or every 2 weeks.

How much more do you want to lose? Are you about ready to go to maintenance or maybe building muscle instead? The last few pounds are always the hardest.

ACepero79

How much more weight do you need to lose? If you have 20 pounds or less to lose, you should be aiming for a half a pound a week loss. A 1,700 cal diet would have you aiming for 2 pounds a week or something like that, which is not sustainable once you are closer to your goal. As you get closer to your goal, you need to move your calories towards maintenance.

I'd like to be closer to 170 lbs. In the mirror, that translates to less stomach fat. I'm happy with the mirror scale in terms of face, general appearance, but the stomach fat is stubborn. So, I have to burn a bit more fat to get rid of that.

Chief_Rocka

Well I never said it was fat. I gained weight. I am making gains in the gym, but a 5lb. gain in muscle would be pretty significant. So it leads me to believe it might be fat.

A 5lb gain in muscle would also defy the laws of physics.

Either that or I am cheating and not counting all of my calories.

DING! DING! DING! DING!

ACepero79

Would be odd if it were muscle too. It's hard to build muscle while in a deficit.

it could be water and glycogen retention. If you've been making gains and pushing yourself a little it may just be your muscles repairing.

If you really burn your TDEE daily then upping to 20% of your TDEE shouldn't cause you to gian overall. So either your TDEE is not correct, you are really underestimating calories eaten or calories burned or you've just hit a wall and need a reset. However if you've been at the large deficit you're at now for quite some time you body may get shcoked by the new eating habit and latch on to a few pounds at first. Try increasing 100 calories a week or every 2 weeks.

How much more do you want to lose? Are you about ready to go to maintenance or maybe building muscle instead? The last few pounds are always the hardest.

If I am truly at 180 right now, I'd like to lose another 10 lbs. to arrive at 170. I've also hit a plateau at the gym. I see gains in the mirror, but the increase in weight being lifted has stagnated. Reading everyone's responses leads me to believe that I'm probably too low.

ACepero79

Thank you for all the replies. I've decided to raise my daily caloric intake from 1,700 to 2,300. In addition, I'll strive to make the increased calories come from mainly protein rich foods.

somanyanchors

Can you please share your results with me? if you gain or lose weight from upping your calories? I'm having the same problem, I've gained sooooo much weight on 1200-1600cal